Early Years
Graf Ignatievo is often called the German airfield by the Bulgarian aviation society, as the airfield was built with the extensive help of engineers from the Third Reich in the 1930s and was intended to house units of the Luftwaffe. In 1940 the airfield, when it became ready was turned over to the Bulgarian His Majesty's Air Troops. The first operational unit based here was the 2nd Army Aviation Regiment, comprising four yatos (squadrons):
- Fighter yato, flying Avia B.534 Dogan, Czechoslovak biplane fighters
- Level bomber yato, flying PZL.43 Chaika Polish light bombers
- Reconnaissance yato, flying Letov S.328 (Vrana) reconnaissance aircraft
- Training yato, flying various training machines
In 1943 the regiment was redesignated a Ground Attack Regiment and in August the first of 12 Junkers Ju 87 R-2 dive bombers were delivered, followed from January to May 1944 by the more advanced Ju 87 D-5 (32 units), to form the regiment's 1st Orlyak. The 2nd Orlyak retained the B.534 fighters (21 units) with a secondary ground attack role. The formation relocated to Vrazhdebna airfield to take part in the war against the Third Reich.
Read more about this topic: Graf Ignatievo Air Base
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