Gruparea Aerienă de Luptă Gruparea Aerienă de Luptă (GAL), was constituted in mid-June 1941 as the main
Royal Romanian Air Force (ARR) unit to participate in the upcoming
Operation Barbarossa. Subordinated to the GAL were the
1st Fighter Flotilla with the 5th and 7th Fighter Groups, 2nd Fighter Flotilla with the 8th Fighter Group, as well as the 1st Bombardment Flotilla with the 1st, 4th, and 5th Groups, the 2nd Bombardment Flotilla with the 2nd and 6th Groups, and the
2nd Guard Aviation Flotilla with the 1st and 2nd Guard Groups. During the campaign, it operated around 253 combat aircraft. of the 7th Fighter Group in 1942 Participating in the
battles for Bessarabia and the
Siege of Odessa, the GAL pilots flew in over 800 missions with over 250 aircraft claimed in battle for the loss of 16
fighter aircraft. After the 1941 campaign, GAL was disbanded and then re-established on 6 September 1942 under the command of General
Ermil Gheorghiu. After the 6 October meeting between General Gheorghiu and
Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen, it was established that GAL was to collaborate closely with
Luftwaffe units of
Luftflotte 4 and its Fighter Groups (
6th, 7th, and
9th) were to escort the German bombers attacking
Stalingrad. At this time, fighter units of
Grupul 7 Vânătoare began converting to the Bf 109G, with several pilots being transferred to
Jagdgeschwader 3 for training. Bombardment units like
Grupul 5 and
Grupul 6 began converting to the
Ju 88 bombers, while
Grupul 3 converted to
Ju 87 dive bombers.
Grupul 8 was converted from a fighter unit to an
attack aircraft unit equipped with the
Hs 129, and all units of the Air Corps were standardized to 12 aircraft per squadron, with a further nine aircraft in reserve for each group. In June,
Escadrila 2 Recunoaștere Îndepărtată converted from the
Do 17M to the Ju 88D-1 reconnaissance airplanes.
Grupul 9 began transitioning from the
IAR 80 to the Bf 109G in August, however, due to attrition suffered by
Grupul 7 the conversion process was delayed. The Air Corps became operational again on 5 June 1943. A grand parade attended by King
Michael, Marshal
Ion Antonescu, and other high-ranking
Luftwaffe officers was staged at
Kirovgrad to mark this event. On 16 June, the Air Corps moved its headquarters to
Mariupol and began flying combat missions in support of the Axis forces on the southern part of the Eastern Front. General
Emanoil Ionescu was appointed as the new commander of the Air Corps on 28 September after General Gheorghiu was recalled to the general staff of the Undersecretary of State for the Air. In the autumn and winter of 1943, the bombardment units of the Air Corps supported the German and Romanian units on the
Kuban bridgehead,
Mius line, and in
Crimea. The 8th Assault Squadron also supported the German
1st Panzer Army and
Army Group A in their operations around
Donets and
Krivoy Rog, while the 2nd Long Range Reconnaissance Squadron carried out extensive reconnaissance missions of Soviet lines and airfields. By early 1944, the strength of the 1st Air Corps was reduced due to losses suffered in battle. It also was forced to retreat due to the
Soviet advance. In April, the Corps fell back to Bessarabia. Due to the nature of the air combat missions, the Romanian Air Force staff determined that a further two Air Corps should be established. However, due to the lack of time and resources, only one Corps was established. On 25 October 1944, the 3rd Air Corps was merged with the 3rd Air Region, the 1st Air Corps remaining the only large air unit on the front. The Air Corps was transferred to the command of the Soviet
5th Air Army on 9 September and began flying missions in support of the Romanian
Fourth and
First armies, as well as of the Soviet
6th Guards Tank Army,
27th, and
28th armies on the Transylvanian front. From 25 October,
Corpul 1 Aerian was composed of 14 squadrons with around 176 aircraft. On 14 November, the headquarters of the Air Corps were moved to
Turkeve in Hungary while other units were moved to nearby airfields. An important mission carried out by Ju 87 and Ju 88 bombers of the Air Corps happened on 13 January 1945 during the
Siege of Budapest, when the bombers were instructed to attack the Budapest
Chain Bridge and the
Erzsébet Bridge. ==Commanders==