CHAPTER NINE
On 8 September 1943, Italy suddenly dropped out of the alliance. The German troops were not totally surprised, and some fights occurred between the troops of the ex-allies. The Italian army was disarmed in the areas controlled by the Wehrmacht and many planes were captured. On 7 November of the same year Generaloberst Alfred Jodl announced that 4,500 Italian planes were so seized. Today, historians believe that Regia Aeronautica only had 1,300 planes at that time, and only half of them were in a fit state to fly. Jodl’s number certainly included all planes captured (e.g. civilian aircraft), in addition to the ex-French planes (D.520, LeO 451, etc) included in the Italian Airforce ten months before. Nevertheless, more than 1,000 planes were so acquired, and this ricco bottino (rich booty) had to be saved by the Germans.
After the Italian capitulation of 8 September 1943, German troops seized Regia Aeronautica planes. Many were damaged, like these Savoia, probably photographed at Metato, the Pisa airfield.
Men of the ‘Überführungskommando General der Fliegerausbildung’ on Gorizia airfield, waiting to ferry Caproni Ca. 313 or 314 to Germany. These planes wear a large white fuselage band denoting that they are captured aircraft to be ferried. Most of these men will soon be killed in a crash.
A Caproni is refuelled before the flight.
A photo for the family.
First, specialists had to verify if the planes were able to fly to Germany. Then, to ferry those armadas, all available pilots were required. In Southern Italy, II./JG 77 temporarily had no planes. The pilots were then called to the north to ferry Fiat CR.42s and other machines to Munich. Transport pilots were called from their units to do the same job. It was still not enough. The Luftwaffe then had to resort to creating short-lived units for transferring planes to safe airbases. ‘Sonderkommando Gaul’ was assigned mainly to the transfer of seaplanes to Kiel. Around ten complete crews of flying school instructors were assembled in an ‘Überführungskommando General der Fliegerausbildung’. These men were parted between Gorizia (Görz) and Pordenone to fly Italian planes to Berlin or Lechfeld. These missions were the source of many losses. In these flights, with totally unknown planes (Caproni, Savoia, Nardi, Saimann), crashes occurred. Allied airplanes, marauding in Northern Italy, could shoot down ex-Italian planes (such as ‘He 115s’, in fact Italian seaplanes). ‘Überführungskommando General der Fliegerausbildung’ was nearly completely annihilated in an incident where the plane transporting most of the unit was shot down in Northern Italy. Only a few men survived.
Pordenone airfield. A German pilot crashed with an Italian fighter.
The burial of the unfortunate ferry pilot in a hangar of Pordenone.
In the night, a few Italian planes were destroyed by partisans on an unknown Italian airfield. The fiat G.50 and Fiat BR.20 in the foreground seem to be intact.
Gorizia. A line of Nardi FN.305s ready for the transfer. Two tiny Avia FL.3s (one with camouflage) are on the right.
Not all Italian planes were ferried to Germany. As II./JG 77 was still without planes in the north, the Gruppe was equipped with Macchi 205s (whose production line was situated in Northern Italy) in an attempt to fight using Italian fighters. Macchi 205s were unfortunately too light for the Germans, and fatal incidents occurred in the training. In the ensuing engagements with US bombers, only two kills were made. At the end of 1943, the Macchi 205s – replaced by Bf 109s – were transferred to the ANR, the Airforce of the new RSI of Benito Mussolini. A few other Italian planes remained in the country to serve as hack machines. Some of them were included in special or second line units as Organisation Todt (OT) e.g. for liaison duties.
A Fiat CR.42 at Gorizia.
An SM.79, the ‘Gobbo’ (humpback), at Gorizia. This particular plane was used as a night bomber in the Regia Aeronautica.
II./JG 77 was briefly equipped with Macchi 205 fighters.
A Macchi of II./JG 77.
Some incidents occurred with the Italian fighters, and the Macchi 205 were supplanted by the Bf 109.
The Macchi were then given to the Italian units of the ANR (Aviazione Nationale Republicana).
A ‘Gobbo’ being overhauled.
The proud crew after the repair of their SM.79. This plane may have been used as a hack machine by JG 77.
A Fiat G.50 in German markings. No. 352 is very odd (perhaps the designation of its ex-unit: the 352a Squadriglia).
In Germany, the majority of ferried Italian planes were transferred into flying schools: Fiat G.50 or CR.42, Macchi 205 or 202 ... all were appreciated by the pupils. SM.82 and Cant 1007 entered transport units to help to fill the gaps of the Transportgeschwader. The beautiful Piaggio 108 was used in a few situations. In December 1943, Transportstaffel 5 was raised to operate with thirteen of the four-engine planes. This squadron would later receive a few Savoia Marchettis before being combined with TG 4. A sole Piaggio had been lost in more than one year of activity.
The G.50 will be appreciated by future German pilots.
This Macchi 202 was assigned to the Fluglehrerschule at Orange in French Provence.
This other Macchi 202 was a plane of JG 103, an advanced school unit.
An SM.82 which will soon enter a German transport unit.
This Cant seems to have been a hack machine attached to a flying school.
Fiat CR.42s will be used in large numbers in flying schools, such as here in Toul.
A CR.42 at Toul. Notice the large yellow band around the fuselage.
Boarding a CR.42 in a flying school.
A CR.42 of JG 107.
CR.42 and pupils of the same class.
A Cant seaplane, probably recovered in the Aegean.
These Red Cross seaplanes were useful in island areas.
An SM.82 in a Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) school. Probably Fallschirmschule 1, which received SM.82s and CA.148s.
German parachutists boarding a Savoia. The transfer of these ex-Italian machines could free Ju 52 or He 111 for other more aggressive duties.
A Savoia of III./TG 1 photographed in a supply flight to the besieged Axis troops in the Crimea.
Another Savoia of a German transport unit somewhere in the Northern Mediterranean Sea.
A Piaggio 108 (here the A version). This four-engine Italian plane was included in a special transport squadron, Transportfliegerstaffel 5.