Under the command of Captain Constantin Cantacuzino, the group fought against the Luftwaffe after 23 August 1944, ending the war in Czechoslovakia in 1945.

[2] The group started training on the He 112B fighter in February 1943 and on 26 March, it was moved to Tiraspol where it began conversion to the Bf 109 on 4 April.

Several times, the Lepetykha airfield was raided by the Soviet Air Forces with Yakovlev fighters and Il-2 attack aircraft - on 14 January Captain (Cpt.)

The continued raids and the approaching Soviet Army forced the 9th Group to relocate to Tatarka [uk] near Odesa.

An important mission that took place was the escorting of Marshal Ion Antonescu's Fi 156 Storch aircraft while on his front inspections.

[2] Also in June, six new Bf 109Gs were gifted by the commander of the Luftflotte, Generaloberst Otto Deßloch, the group receiving the nickname "Deßloch-Șerbănescu" on this occasion.

The next day, the USAAF called off the aerial campaign over Romania due to Soviet demands,[7] while the ARR issued a dispersal order to its fighter groups.

Cantacuzino was assigned as the new unit commander and on 20 August, the group began flying missions against the Soviet forces which had launched their massive offensive.

[2] In the aftermath of the coup, the Germans attempted to overthrow the new government and, after failing on their ground operations, began bombing the capital.

As a response, the 9th and 7th Fighter Groups were called to the Popești-Leordeni airfield south of Bucharest and after the official declaration of war against the Axis on 25 August, began intercepting the German bombers.

By 31 August, Grupul 9 flew 41 sorties and claimed eight confirmed victories, a further four probable and two aircraft destroyed on the ground.

Cantacuzino aided the Americans in repatriating their prisoners of war by transporting the highest ranking US POW in Romania, Lieutenant Colonel James A. Gunn, to Italy with his Bf 109.

During the subsequent mission, named Operation Reunion, several Romanian Bf 109s also flew together with US P-51s as escorts for the B-17s carrying the POWs.

Lucian Toma, the group was assigned to the 1st Air Corps and moved to the Turnișor airfield for supporting operations in Southern Transylvania.

[2][12] In the following months, the group moved through various airfields in Transylvania encountering little resistance from Axis fighters and few missions were carried out due to weather conditions.