Yugoslav squadron of the Royal Air Force
Military unit
No. 352 Squadron RAF
was a
Yugoslav-manned
fighter-bomber squadron of the
Royal Air Force
during the
Second World War
. The squadron was also known as First
NOVJ
Squadron.
History
[
edit
]
Formed at
Benina
,
Libya
on 22 April 1944, the squadron was the first Yugoslav-manned fighter unit to be formed in the Mediterranean. Equipped with
Hurricanes
initially, it received
Supermarine Spitfires
in June and in August moved to Italy to join
No.281 Wing RAF
. The squadron provided escort for fighter-bomber squadrons and engaged in ground attack missions for the rest of the war, using the
island of Vis
as an advanced base until 1 January 1945, when the squadron's air echelon became permanently based there.
The squadron was organized by the war formation prescribed for RAF mobile fighter squadrons, having two flights with eight Supermarine Spitfires in each flight. The flying and technical staff were composed of personnel from the
Royal Yugoslav Air Force
moved to NOVJ, and staff from the
First Air Base NOVJ
.
The squadron carried out its first operational mission on 18 August 1944.
The first squadron commander was
Captain
Mileta Proti?
, and the
political commissar
was
Franjo Kluz
, commander of "A" flight was Captain
Ratko Jovanovi?
, and commander of "B" flight was Captain
Arkadije Popov
. All three of these men were killed by the end of the year: an indication of the intensity of the fighting in the ground-support operations at the time. Proti? and Popov are commemorated on the
CWGC
memorial in Malta, and Jovanovic in the CWGC cemetery at Belgrade.
Hinko ?oi?
took over as Squadron Commander and the new Flight commanders were
Branko Kraus
and
đuro Ivan?evi?
. Ivan?evi? survived the war and became the Regimental Commander of the short-lived 1st Fighter Regiment, the amalgamation of the two RAF-trained squadrons.
During the war, 27 pilots became casualties, of whom 10 were killed, including the Squadron Commander and both Flight Commanders, and
Franjo Kluz
, first
partisan
pilot and
national hero
of Yugoslavia.
Through the nine months of the war, No. 352 Squadron RAF carried out 367 combat operations with 1210 take offs. These tasks include supporting troops in Yugoslavia, fighter protection and reconnaissance. The squadron used
Canne
,
Vis
and
Zemunik
airbases.
Headquarters remained in Italy until it was moved to the Yugoslav mainland to join its air echelon in April 1945 and the squadron disbanded from the RAF on 16 May 1945. On 18 May 1945, together with
No. 351 Squadron
it formed
1st Fighter Regiment
of
SFR Yugoslav Air Force
.
Aircraft operated
[
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]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- Notes and citations
- Bibliography
External links
[
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]
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