Petre Dumitrescu - Initial Successes

Initial Successes

However, on March 25, 1941, he was made commander of the Third Army, a post which he would hold for the duration of the war. Dumitrescu July 5, 1941 attacked northern Bukovina and took Cernăuţi (Chernivtsi), reclaiming territory occupied by Soviet troops since June 28, 1940. He then crossed the Prut to recover northern Bessarabia. The German Eleventh Army covered Dumitrescu's right flank while he advanced towards the Dnister. At that point his army and the German 11th army switched places, with Italians continuing advancement over the Dniester towards the Southern Bug river, and Dumitrescu remaining on recovered Romanian territory. In September of that year, Dumitrescu repulsed a Soviet attempt to cross the Dniestr in the east, behind the Eleventh Army.

After Hitler has convinced Ion Antonescu to continue war beyond Romania's pre-1940 borders, Dumitrescu then led the Third Army to the Crimea, taking part in the Battle of the Sea of Azov. By October 10, the Third Army had marched 1,700 kilometres from Romania, fought four major battles and 42 minor engagements.

By this time, Dumitrescu's Third Army had captured 15,565 prisoners of war, 149 tanks, 128 artillery pieces, and more than 700 machine guns, while suffering 10,541 casualties (2,555 dead, 6,201 wounded and 1,785 missing in action.)

For his effort in this campaign, Dumitrescu was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the second Romanian to receive the award after Ion Antonescu. Later on he was even given the Oak Leaves. In October, he was awarded the Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd class.

On July 18, 1942 he was made a general, thus becoming Antonescu's second in command. Shortly after his promotion, Dumitrescu advanced towards the Taman Peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, creating a vital bridge between Axis forces in Europe and those deeper inside the Soviet Union.