List and chronology of the allied airforce missions operating above Serbia, October 20th, 1943 – November 23rd, 1944

Pavlović, Pavle (2017) List and chronology of the allied airforce missions operating above Serbia, October 20th, 1943 – November 23rd, 1944. Srpska politička misao, 58 (4). pp. 351-369. ISSN 0354-5989

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Abstract

After the capitulation of Italy in September 1943. Allied airforce, transferred to the south of Italy, started going on bombing missions in Italy. Systematic operations that Allied airforce carried in Yugoslavia are made possible by newly created political frame and the agreement of the Allies, made in late November, In Tehran, about helping Partisan forces in Yugoslavia, as well as the establishment of an Allied military structure. The bombardment of targets in Serbia can be observed systematically from 20th of October 1943, when the units of the 12th Airborne Fleet bombed the railway station in Nis, to November 21st 1944, when, at the invitation of the Partisan leadership, Allies bombed already liberated Uzice, in which the German forces had returned. The units of the US and British Air Force carried out over 120 strategic bombing missions over the territory of Serbia. They dropped no less than 9.500 tons of bombs. More than 3,700 bombers took part in these bombings. At least 26 bombers were shot down. Allied planes bombed targets in a total of 34 towns / settlements in Serbia, Nis was bombed 15 times, then Belgrade with 12 or 13 times, while other cities were bombed less than 10 times.

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