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Thank you. I also saw here and on different sites there were two paint schemes for the RRAF Blenheims. I read what I was able to find on the internet about the Romanian Blenheims, but I was interested if there's a way to find out the number of this plane (by correlating this image to other pictures out there, maybe). Also, what was this "15 days" training they had in June '41? Why were there women there? Finally, who's the cool pilot with the glasses?Romania ordered 40 Bristol Blenheims in 1939, but only 37 made it to Romania, the rest being lost on the way. They equipped 4 long range reconnaissance squadrons (1st-4th) and played an important role in providing information on the movement of forces on the USSR, Hungarian and Bulgarian borders.
a couple of pictures ..
Bristol Blenheim in Romanian Service - Destination's Journey
Photos of Romanian Bristol Blenheim Mk.I bombers for the Royal Romanian Air Force, 39 of which were delivered by November 1939.www.destinationsjourney.com
You're right, I made a mistake, it's 6 VI 941. I'll edit the original post.Possible our Romanian members could add someting more. But it may require some time to them to come.
Anyway you wrote date 6 V 1941. It may be helpful. But the "V" month is not the June but the May.
It's actually "Rapciune", but nobody uses it. The original writing on the back of the photo is "6 VI 941", I made a mistake in my original posting. People were using roman numerals for months until the end of the 20th century in Romania.Wasn't "Viniceriu" the traditional Romanian name for September?
Wasn't "Viniceriu" the traditional Romanian name for September?
That's correct. V is "May" (5 in Roman numerals). On the back is VI (six in Roman numerals) which is June.Possible. But the Roman digit "V" in the data writing means the"5" what is the May.
A third bomber unit, Flotilla 3 bombardament, was formed on 26 November 1940. This unit was based at Craiova, Wallachia, and inherited the remaining bomber aircraft — I.A.R. 37s, Bloch 210s, and Potez 543s. The regiment also took charge of all 35 Bristol Blenheim Mk Is. The Blenheims had been acquired the previous fall for the long-range reconnaissance mission, but also possessed a secondary bombing capability. Additionally, the 3rd BF received the obsolescent P.Z.L. P.23 Karas light bombers which were used to form Escadrila 73 bombardament. (p.48)
Another aircraft that appeared in the Ipoteza 32 plan was the British-built Bristol Blenheim Mk I. Blenhiems equipped five long-range reconnaissance squadrons, each with a theoretical strength of eight aircraft. The Blenheims had been acquired for reconnaissance duty, however, they also possessed a limited bombing capability. Only 35 of the original 40 Blenheims remained in service in 1941. This resulted in only four escadrile de recunoastere-bombardament (reconnaissance-bomber squadrons) — Nos. 1 through 4 — being fielded. These four squadrons were assigned to the three existing flotile de informatie, each covering one of the three major provinces of the pre-war Rumanian Kingdom. Escadrila 2 and 4 of Flotila 1 informatie were based at Iasi, Moldavia, while Escadrila 1 of Flotila 2 informatie was based at Cluj, Transylvania. Escadrila 3 was assigned to Flotila 3 informatie at Galanti to cover Wallachia and Dobruja. (p.64)
Thank you, this is great info.The book Rumanian Air Force — The Prime Decade, 1938–1947 by Dénes Bernád has this to say about the Blenheim I (Squadron/Signal Publications, 1999):
This chapter of the book goes on in several paragraphs to describe the use and actions of the Blenheim and other reconnaissance aircraft on the Eastern Front.
Thank you, Alex. Lots of interesting research, but not that much info on Romanian Blenheims. Should I post this picture in that forum, as well, maybe it generates more info?Some time ago I posted on the TOCH forum details of these Blenheims, and others exported to Finland and Yugoslavia and Turkey.
Here is the link -
Bristol Blenheim's - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
Bristol Blenheim's Allied and Soviet Air Forcesforum.12oclockhigh.net