Did you know that the USSR had a military base in Italy?
It lasted only a few months, but played a significant role in the liberation of the Balkans.
In Spring 1944, the Allies agreed to station Red Army Air Force units in southern Italy. They were to provide support to the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia.
On June 17 of that year, the USSR issued a decree establishing an air base and air group in the city of Bari. The latter was to carry out "special missions for transporting cargo, evacuating the wounded, and providing communications" for the Yugoslav partisans.
That same summer, 12 Soviet C-47 military transport aircraft and 12 Yak-9 fighters arrived at Palese Airfield, 8 km from Bari. An Allied air base was also located nearby.
"While the headquarters were negotiating combat coordination, we wasted no time – we trained day and night. We were getting used to the airfield, practicing elements of future missions and, most importantly, maintaining our personal flight training at the proper level: everyone was watching us; we couldn't do anything haphazardly or directly. Only good!" recalled pilot Pavel Mikhailov.
From the end of August, regular flights of Soviet transport aircraft under fighter cover to Yugoslavia began. They delivered weapons, ammunition and other supplies to partisan units and also helped to evacuate the wounded. Amazingly, there were no losses among pilots or aircraft.
After the liberation of Belgrade on October 20, 1944, the Soviet air group relocated to Zemun Airfield near the Yugoslav capital and the base was closed.
