Romanian Messerschmitt Me 410 A-1/U5

[comrade harps]

a/c 48, 41st Bomber Squadron, 8th Bomber Group, Royal Romanian Air Force
Mykolaiv, Axis-occupied Ukraine, December 1943
Personal mount of Căpitan-Comando Mirel Rădoi (pilot) and Sergent Vlad Chiricheș (gunner)



When Romania joined the Axis offensive into the nations of the Moscow Pact, the Romanian Air Force had a large but obsolete inventory of light bombers. This included 63 Fairey Battles that had been sent to Romania for use by Poland in August and September 1939, the plan having been for the Poles to train on the Battles in Romania. When the German invasion of Poland put paid to this, the Battles were simply delivered to the Romanian Air Force. 32 PZL.23 Kara light bombers flown to Romania by escaping Polish aircrew filled out the light bomber brigades.




Neither type could be replaced by more of the same, so Romania looked to its new Axis allies for other designs that could replace its diminishing light bomber force. Dazzled by the sleek and hi-tech promise of the Me 210, Romania and Germany agreed on an order for 150 Me 210 A-2s in November 1941. However, as the Me 210 program suffered from a series of delays due to dangerous handling problems, Romania was forced to find alternatives to replace the substantial combat attrition its bombers were experiencing on the Eastern Front. To compensate for the Me 210's failure, the RLM provided a mix of Hs 129 B-2 and Ju 87Ds to Romania, but neither in sufficient numbers to replace attrition. Although Romanian and Bulgarian relations were strained due to territorial disputes, the Romanian's were desperate and even ordered the Bulgarian DAR-12 in 1942.




By 1943 the Me 210 program and had been replaced by the Me 410 and these became available to the Romanians in the second half of the year. The 41st Bomber Squadron, 8th Bomber Group entered combat with the Me 410 in December. All were of the Me 410 A-1/U5 version, which featured underwing racks for 50 kg bombs. The Romanians had required this feature because, unlike the Luftwaffe, they intended to use the Me 410 as a close air support bomber capable of flying several sorties a day. They were concerned that the standard loadout, which concentrated the bombload around the aircraft's nose, would cause delays in turn arounds as armourers got in each other's way. The U5 modification allowed the internal bomb bay and the underwing racks to be loaded simultaneously.





The aircraft is depicted here as armed with two SD 250s in the internal bomb bay and four SD 50s underwing. Combinations of SC 50/SC 250 general-purpose bombs and SD 50/SD 250 fragmentation bombs comprised the standard loadouts used by Romanian '410s. Using these bombs and their internal guns, crews attacked troop concentrations, frontline logistical centres and columns on the move, provided fire support for troops in contact and flew armed reconnaissance missions. Each aircraft routinely flew several sorties a day.




Pilot Căpitan-Comando Mirel Rădoi was killed in action on 23 March 1944 when flying Me 410 a/c 41, his plane was shot down by Red flak. Gunner Sergent Vlad Chiricheș was injured in the same incident, taken prisoner and survived the war.

[Sport21ing]

Excellent

[NARSES2]

I do like that 

[Dizzyfugu]

Nice concept and execution. 

[Old Wombat]

That's pretty!

Very good build, mate!

[zenrat]

Another outstanding camo scheme.

Well done comrade.

[kerick]

Nice work!
The Me-410 has a shape that has always intrigued me. Maybe some P&W radials, a bfg in the nose and a few touches to make it a little less "German".
What kit did you use?

[comrade harps]

Italeri 1:72 scale. It's missing a couple of nose guns but it does come up neat.

Thanks for your appreciation!