Croatian Blenheims

[Boris Ciglic]

1502 took off at 10.40 for a probe flight from Zemun. Pilot Zdenko Gorjup was beaten and disabled by second pilot Djordje Djuričković and technicians-factory controllers Jožef Žuran and Vladimir Uzelac. Somewhere over Aegean Djuričković got lost in thick clouds and Gorjup pleaded them to let him take the controls and try to reach Turkey, which they did. They landed near Ankara.

1506 was prepared for a training flight by instructor Salih Islamović, Milan Delić and Dragutin Sokol at Rajlovac airfield. At 9.50 it taxied to the initial point where Islamović asked Sokol to get out in order to enable Delić to make solo flight. As he got out Leo Korošec went in. They took off at 9.55 and force-landed at Mugla near Izmir.

One of the Croatian Blenheims was the ex-Yugoslav B-5 long-nose version, similar to British Mk.IV.
One Blenheim Mk.I was used in post-war Yugoslav AF.

[Brian]

Many thanks Boris

Just the information I was seeking.

Were there other defections/internments in Turkey of other Croatian AF types?

Cheers
Brian

[Larry deZeng]

B.C. beat me to the punch with the crew information, which I also found early this morning. However, here are a few additional items that I located that might be of some interest.

According to documents from the Vojnoistorisjski institut in Belgrade and Profile Publications Profile 93 (Blenheim), on 6 April 1941 the Royal Yugoslav AF had the following Bristol Blenheim I bombers: 2 (purchased from the U.K. in Nov 1937, Registrations G-AFCE and G-AFCF) + 20 (purchased between 1938 and 1941, Registrations YU-BAA to YU-BAT) + 16 (license built by Ikarus in Zemun and completed by April 1941) = 38. These were distributed among the 1st and 8th Bomber Regiments and the 11th Independent Bomber Group. A further 24 were on the assembly line and nearing completion when the Axis attack began on 6 April. Yugoslavs sabotaged the factory so these were lost as well as the means to produce any more.

06 May 45: In the final months of the war, some enterprising Croatian airmen at Zagreb-Borongaj were able to make an unserviceable Blenheim I (that had probably been damaged during Allied air attacks in 1944-45) operational and flew it north toward Austria with Zdenko Kučera in the pilot’s seat. The rickety machine barely made it and made an emergency landing just over the Austrian border. There is no mention of who else was aboard.

So it appears that 3 of the original 8 Blenheims in Croatian hands were "misappropriated" by aircrew personnel prior to the end of the war.

Larry

[Mikael Olrog]

Hi, I don't think that all Blenheim material was sabotaged beyond use since Finland bought quite a lot of Blenheim related stuff from Germany (originating from Yugoslavia) for their continued production during the war.
/Mike

[Juha]

I agree with Mikael on the Finnish acquicition of Blenheim material.

Juha

[Larry deZeng]

It sounds like the Germans seized and repaired the jigs and other manufacturing equipment and sold it to the Finns. Swarms of salvage, manufacturing and raw materials people followed the troops into Yugoslavia in April 1941 and later, including teams from Junkers and Messerschmitt (and probably other aircraft companies, too). No doubt the Ikarus plant in Zemun was one of their targets of interest.

Larry

[Pilot]

http://www.letletlet-warplanes.com/2...-4-in-finland/

[newcomer]

Hi to all,

yugoslav aviation factory Ikarus in Serbia produced 40 (not 16) Blenheim Mk.I under licensee.

kind regards

Newcomer

P.S. Longnosed Blenheim was B-4 (not B-5) and production of it supported by original technical documentation. It was Mk.I with nose of Mk.IV.

[Larry deZeng]

16 + 24 = 40. But thanks, anyway.

[Lastan]

...toward Austria with Zdenko Kučera in the pilot’s seat. The rickety machine barely made it and made an emergency landing just over the Austrian border[/quote]

He was in fact volksdeutscher and while served in Luftwaffe you may find him in documents: Zvenko Kucerrau! Allso, he was pilot in crew at one of two CAF JU-52 belonged to Poglavnik, dr. Ante Pavelić...

Lastan