Luftwaffe land units at Belica(Bulgaria) April 1941?

[Dili]

Anyone knows what kind support units were at Belica and Belica Nord(Bulgaria) at time of Yugoslav invasion?

Seems to be almost 150 German planes in that 2 landing grounds so i guess there was some control, security and repair.

[Larry D.]

The Luftwaffe was in and then gone in just a few months. No documents or ULTRA intercepts have ever been found that list the Bodenorganisation units that were there.

Belitsa (BULG) (a.k.a. Belica) (c. 41 39 05 N – 23 15 05 E) (AFHRA)
General: landing ground in SW Bulgaria c. 87 km SSE of Sofia. Exact position of the landing ground not determined. History: existence first reported in 1940 and intensely developed by the Germans during the first 3 months of 1941 in preparation for the 6 April invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece. By March, there were two airstrips: Belica and Belica/North. Said to have been used by Luftwaffe fighters and dive-bombers during the campaign. Abandoned in summer 1941 and no evidence of use after that date found. Not shown on Luftwaffe airfield maps of July 1944. Surface and Dimensions: no information found. Infrastructure: none reported.
Operational Units: I./St.G. 3 (Feb-Apr 41); Stab, III./JG 27 (Mar-Apr 41); Stab, I., III./St.G. 2 (Mar-Apr 41); II.(Schlacht)/LG 2 (Apr 41).
Station Commands: none identified.
Station Units (on various dates – not complete): none identified.
[Sources: AFHRA A5258 p.1555 (7 Apr 43); chronologies; BA-MA; NARA; PRO/NA; web site ww2.dk]


L.

[Dili]

Thanks Larry

General comment.
I found strange that around 150 aircraft were there 2 landing grounds and was never determined the location of them. No photos, anything to help identify these fields?

[Larry D.]

Thanks Larry

General comment.
I found strange that around 150 aircraft were there 2 landing grounds and was never determined the location of them. No photos, anything to help identify these fields?

There undoubtedly are a number of them taken by both the Luftwaffe and the Allies. They are probably at NARA College Park but I don't know exactly where.

L.

[Dili]

Thanks.

[gruppe.drei]

Hi, are the GPS coordinates correct? I understand there are approximately.
But Belica are GPS: 41°56'52"N 23°33'39"E and Larry´s GPS are in the different municipality...

[GregSingh]

Apparently airfield called "Belica" was near town Sandanski (back then called St. Vrach), not near village Belica.

It seems "Belica" was also used in WWI by German and Bulgarian forces. See photos here: Белица
But it's hard to tell if this is the same one as used in WWII...
And here photo apparently taken in April 1941 showing a plane from Stabstaffel/St.G.2 (according to description at waralbum.ru) at "Belica".

Belitza 1941