I am privileged to include this summary from the noted author Ferdinando d'Amico.
I'd like to supply some more information about the efforts of C.A.I. (Corpo Aereo
Italiano), as it was called the small air corps organized in
all haste by the Italian governments and sent to the Channel, following a promise made by
Mussolini himself to
Hitler (maybe hoping to gain some more credit with the German ally
with such "prestige" operation!)
Eighty brand-new Br.20M bombers were assigned to 13th and 43rd Stormo and the transfer
of these units from Italy to Belgium took place on 27 September 1940. The extremely bad
weather conditions caused only 63 planes to arrive to their assigned bases of Melsbroech
(13th St.) and Chievres (43rd St.). Twelve more Br.20s arrived on the following days,
but five were lost in crash-landings.
After one month necessary to reorganize the units according to German procedures, the
first war operation took place on the night of 24-25
October with the bombardment of Harwich by sixteen Br.20s. One of the bombers is lost on
take-off and two more were lost upon return, being
abandoned by their crews with no more fuel, after a long and unsuccessful night search of
their bases.
On 29 October fifteen FIAT Br.20s effected a day bombardment of Ramsgate with no losses.
Another day operation on 11 November, however, had different results, three of the ten
Br.20s of 43 St. being shot down by enemy fighters and three more being so damaged to
be forced to effect crash-landings in Belgium.
The day operations were thus abandoned and only night missions against Harwich and Ipswich
were effected on 5, 17, 20, 29 November, 14, 21, 22 December with the last mission taking
place on 2 January 1941. By the end of January both the Italian Br.20 units were back in
Italy.
The FIAT Cr. 42s operating with C.A.I. were fifty, belonging to 18 Gruppo . On 19
October 1940 they transferred on to the Belgian airfield of Ursel. The first action took
place on 29 October, when 39 Cr.42s escorted the Br.20s over Ramsgate. On 11 November the
bombers were escorted over Harwich by 40 Cr.42s but were intercepted by Spitfires and
Hurricanes causing the loss of three FIATs (one of them was the one of M.llo Pietro
Salvadori who managed to crash-land over British soil and whose aircraft is the one
actually exhibited in the RAF Museum of Hendon) while other nineteen were forced to
crash-land in Belgium due to lack of fuel caused by the combat.
The last action of November took place on the 29th between Margate and Folkestone with a
combat against Spitfires that caused the loss of two more Cr.42s (the British losses are
still uncertain, if any). On 10 January 1941 the FIAT Cr.42s begun to come back to Italy.
There was a third aicraft used by the C.A.I. (apart from the five Cant. Z.1007s of
172 AA
Recce Squadron): these were the 48 FIAT G.50s of 20=BA Gruppo that on September 1940
transferred to the Belgian airfield of Maldegen. The first operation of the G.50s took
place on 24 October only over Harwich. On the 29th, 34 G.50s operated as escort over
Ramsgate and on 11 November 24 of them operated over Great Yarmouth. No encounter took
place with the RAF fighters during the period of deployment of the FIAT G.50s with the
C.A.I., although two Squadriglie (352AA and 353AA) continued to operate on the Channel
with interdiction cruises up to 15 April 1941.
It is just worth mentioning that neither the Cr.42s nor the G.50s had been adapted to the
operational conditions they had to face: both these aircraft had open cockpits (!) and no
provision for electrically heated flying suits (the consumption drained the batteries).
Thus the Italian pilots were often compelled to fly at height with temperatures of under
minus 50 degrees (Celsius) protected only by lots of newspapers packed under the flying
suit! In addition to this, no Italian pilot had ever received a proper training to
instrument flight (but this was a Regia Aeronautica problem
that continued up to the end of the war...) and they practically were
"good-weather" pilots only.
In the end, it is almost surprising the C.A.I. managed to operate and the few missions
effected appear as the maximum effort that those simple but bold men could hope to do.
Jack McKillop adds for October 29th, 1940
According to Derek Wood in THE NARROW MARGIN, the Reggia Aeronautica's Corpo Aereo Italiano were "there more as a political gesture than as aserious military effort, and had been despatched by Mussolini as a reply to the embarrassing raids (RAF) Bomber Command was flying against industrial targets in northern Italy."
All of the Italian units were based in Belgium, i.e.: Nos. 13 and 43 Stormos, with Fiat B.R.20Cicogna (Stork) twin-engined bombers, were based at Moelsbroek and Chievres, No. 18 Gruppo, with Fiat C.R.42 Falco (Falcon) single-engine, open-cockpit, biplane fighters, were at Moldegchen, No. 20 Gruppo, with Fiat G.50 Freccia (Arrow) single-engine, monoplane fighters, were at Usel, and No. 172 Squadrillia, with CRDA Cant Z.1007bis Alcione (Kingfisher) three-engined bombers, were at Chievres.
Their first mission was flown on Friday, 25 October 1940 when 16 B.R.20s were dispatched to bomb Harwick; one crashed on take-off and two crash landed in the sea after running out of fuel. According to Luftwaffe Feldmarschall Erhard Milch, the Italian contingent was more of a liability than an asset. He did not blame the Italians flyers but rather their lack of combat training.
Another Italian raid was flown on 29 October when 15 B.R.20s escorted by 72 fighters bombed Ramsgate. The RAF shot down the first Italian aircraft in November when three C.R.42 biplane fighters and three B.R.20 bombers were shot down. One of the B.R.20s had a crew of six, all wearing helmets and carrying bayonets.
Due to poor support from the fighters, the Italian bombers switched from daylight to sporadic night bombing attacks. After about three months of operations from Belgium, the entire force was recalled to Italy in January 1941 to support the Italian invasion of Greece.
See also The Falco and Regia Aeronautica in the Battle of Britain.
Back to October 29th, 1940