Soviet air attacks in June 1941

[johnny_bi]

I have heard about the Soviet bombers attacking Bucharest in June 1941... Could some one bring some details about those attacks?

[Victor]

The VVS conducted 2,651 raids over Romanian soil in 1941 with 7,817 aircraft. They launched 7,308 bombs and killed 520 people and wounded 820. They destroyed 428 houses and damaged 1,217

[allanteo667]

Can anyone tell me something about a well-known romanian ace Agarici ? There were songs post war who glorified him!

[MaxFax]

Some info about Cpt. Av. Horia Agarici you can find at: http://www.arr.go.ro/p014.htm There was a song with some connections to Agarici, but at that moment I don't have any info.

[Dénes]

Below is the photo caption on Agarici, included in my forthcoming book on Rumanian fighter aces of W.W. 2:
"Horia Agarici became the darling of the Rumanian people because he was seen as a typical hero in the fight against the feared Soviets. He was cast in this rôle by wartime propaganda, which exploited his one major success to the fullest extent. In the early morning of the war’s second day, Lt av Agarici hastily took off in Hurricane ‘Yellow 3 ‘, minus the engine cowling, and single-handedly downed all three Soviet bombers attempting to attack Constanta harbour. By the evening, when word of his feat had spread, he had instantly became a national hero. A song was hastily composed in his honour, based on the coincidence that ‘Agarici’ rhymed with ‘bolsevici’ (Rumanian for ‘Bolshevik’, or Soviet), so that the jingle ran, ‘Agarici has gone to hunt bolsevici’. It quickly became popular all over Rumania, and although Agarici become an ace with six confirmed kills and two probables, amounting to 13 victories, he failed to achieve any further major successes, sometimes even being reluctant to take up battle with enemy warplanes. And the song was to return to haunt him when the ‘bolsevici’ became Rumania’s masters in late 1944. In this official photograph..."

Dénes

[i16stealth]

I've a question:

At the first day of the war romanian bombers (probably, SM.79, something about 50 planes) protected by fighters (about 30 planes) were captured by 50 I-16 (67 IAP). Result: 5 romanian fighters and 3 bombers were shot down. My question: do you know the model of romanian fighters and the soviet losses (if you have an another version of this fight, please note)?

[Victor]

No Romanian fighter was shot down on 22 June 1941. Several were damaged however.

Here is an overview of the Romanian perspective on that day:
http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/firstdayarr/...firstdayarr.htm