The Hungarian air force after 23-08-1944, Its strength and availability for fight

Why did that happened?
To leave

without aerial support?
What was the problem, the gasoline or the number of planes able to take off?
I know 1944 was a hard year for every Axis country, but Romania also sustained continued attacks (sometimes daily, for weeks) since March 1944. Needless to add here, Romania lost many planes and pilots (some of them aces) due to the American daytime attacks.
However, elements of the Romanian aviation made their mark in the events following August 23, 1944. I understand that the Hungarian aviation had to cover a wide area, but this was also the case with the Romanian aviation. However, the Romanian planes involved themselves not only above Paulis, but also around Bucharest/Bucuresti and other areas.
From the airfields of Szeged, Hodmezovasarhely and Bekescsaba even a Stuka could be above Arad in less than a half of hour.
I think it would be very interesting if you would mention more about the readiness for fight of the Hungarian air force at August 23, 1944, and if you can mention how many planes were in Transylvania, and how many were in mainland, around Budapest etc. Also it would be interesting to learn how many planes positioned in Hungary were moved to Transylvania as a result of the events of August 23.

This post has been edited by Florin on March 07, 2006 02:58 pm

Just 3 weeks before August 23rd the Germans attempted a major offensive in Normandy, practically without aerial support, which shows something about the status of Luftwaffe in August 1944. That offensive ended with the worst German disaster to occur in France in 1944. It worth to notice that while the German armored units were bombed mercilessly in France, the Me-262's already deployed were in Germany, far away from action.

However, in the days after August 23rd Luftwaffe was pretty active in Romania, including in the transportation of ground troops arriving from somewhere else.
I know I started the topic about the strength of the Hungarian air force at 23rd of August, 1944, and its effectiveness in the following weeks, but I think this addition helps for the overall picture.

This post has been edited by Florin on March 08, 2006 03:54 pm