Page 462 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo I

462 XXXIX Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

their missions, managing to secure the area of operation. At the same time, the strategic
consequences were significant, creating in the north of Southern Carpathians a bridgehead
of about 50.000 square kilometers, something that facilitated the concentration of
Romanian and Soviet forces for the ample operation with the code name “Debrecen”,
which included the liberation of the territory ceded to Hungary through the Vienna
Diktat (August 30, 1940).
The operation initiated by the Romanian army on August 23, 1944, had also a western
component (American and British). On August 24, 1944, at 7:30 in the morning, a LARES
aircraft took off to Ankara, carrying colonel Ştefan Niculescu and colonel Georges de
Chastelain, member of the group “Autonomus” . The two informed the diplomats on the
18
changes in Bucharest and pleaded for the support of the British-American aviation. On
this basis, on August 26, 1944, a large American air formation, comprising 240 aircraft,
bombed the area Băneasa-Otopeni, occupied by German troops. After this action, but
also under the attacks by the Romanian forces, the German troops gave up the attempts
of occupying Bucharest, withdrawing in the north. The convoy was intercepted south-
east of Ploieşti by the Romanian 4 Army, which was regrouping from Moldova.
th
The second episode in the Romanian-western cooperation consisted in the flight by
the famous aviator Constantin (Bâzu) Cantacuzino, with a Me 109G aircraft, to the air
base in Foggia (Italy). In the cabin of the aircraft there was the American colonel Gunn,
who, once he arrived at the destination, informed the authorities on the good condition
of over 1 000 American and British prisoners in Romania. They were evacuated by air
in early September 1944 .
19
Geopolitical and geostrategic consequences
The combined operation that was launched on August 23, 1944, virtually came to
an end by the end of the month, when the entire territory under the jurisdiction of the
government in Bucharest was under the control of the Romanian military forces. On
August 30 and 31, 1944, the Soviet troops entered Bucharest, Romania’s capital, a city
which, since August 26, was under the control of the Romanian military command. The
participating Romanian forces and the results of the operation unfolded in late August
1944 are presented in annexes no. 2, 3, 4, 5.
The success obtained by the Romanian army had significant political, economic and
strategic consequences on the situation in Romania, but also on the unfolding of the
Second World War, in general. However, the constraints in terms of space and time do
not allow us to detail them. That is why we shall limit ourselves to highlighting the most
important aspects from a military and strategic point of view.
The success of the combined operation led to the collapse of the entire German
disposition in the Balkans, which included Army Group “F”, deployed in Yugoslavia,
and Army Group “E”, in Greece. Thanks to the actions of the Romanian forces, the Soviet

18 Detalii în Ivor Porter, Operaţiunea “Autonomus”, traducere de George G. Potra şi Delia Razdolescu,
Humanitas, Bucureşti, 1991.
19 Aeronautica Militară Românească (The Romanian Military Aeronautics) Editura Curtea Veche, Bucureşti,
p. 225.