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Regia Aeronautica

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Image:Italy-Royal Airforce.png Image:Italy-Royal-Airforce.svg The Règia Aeronautica (meaning Royal Air Force) was the Italian air force from 1923 until World War II.

Contents

[edit] A brief history

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Italy was at the forefront of aerial warfare: during the colonization of Libya in 1911, it made the first reconnaissance flight in history on October 23, and the first ever bombing raid on November 1.

During World War I the Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare, then still part of the army, operated a mix of French fighters and locally-built bombers, notably the gigantic Caproni aircraft. Règia Marina (the navy) had its own air arm, operating locally-built flying boats.

The Italian air force became an independent service - the Règia Aeronautica - on March 28, 1923. The Fascist regime of Mussolini turned it into an impressive propaganda machine, with its aircraft, featuring red-and-buff "rising sun" livery on the wings, making numerous record-breaking flights. It reached its zenith when two fleets of flying boats, led by General Italo Balbo, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1931 and 1933 respectively. During the latter half of the 1930s, the Règia Aeronautica participated in the Spanish Civil War, as well as the invasion of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia).

Macchi C.200 fighter prototype with enclosed cockpit.

When World War II began in 1939, Italy had the smallest air force among the three major Axis powers. With a paper strength of 3,296 machines only 2,000 were fit for operations, of which just 166 were modern fighters, the Macchi MC.200 and Fiat G.50 were still slower than their potential Allied opponents. While numerically still a force to be reckoned with, it was hampered by an inadequate local aircraft industry; technical assistance by its German ally did little to improve the situation.

The last mission of Italian Règia Aeronautica was the defence of USAF bombing on Frascati - Rome in September 8th 1943.

The Règia Aeronautica officially ceased to exist when Italy became a republic on June 2 1946, succeeded by the Aeronautica Militare.

[edit] Ethiopian Campaign

During the Ethiopian campaign, the Règia Aeronautica became the living proof of Mussolini's authoritarian regime, showing no respect or concern for the international point of view. The RA performed massive poison gas bombings over the Ethiopian soldiers, most of them only armed with spears and wooden shields. Despite being inadequately equipped, the RA managed to decimate Ethiopian forces and undertook massive bombings of Ethiopian cities (particularly Addis Abeba). Although controversial, the support of the Règia Aeronautica was invaluable for the Règio Esercito (It. army) and was enhanced by the total lack of Ethiopian air forces.

[edit] Libyan Campaign

Although the Libyan campaign was seriously limited because of desert conditions, the Règia Aeronautica managed to retain a force of nearly four hundred airplanes, most of them obsolete biplanes such as the Fiat CR-32 and Fiat CR-42. During the first offensive towards Sidi Barrani, the Règia Aeronautica performed poorly, despite minimal enemy resistance. During the first British counter-offensive, the Règia Aeronautica suffered heavy losses (over 400 aircraft) until the German attack on Greece, when British forces had to divert a major part of their land and air forces thus giving the Italian forces enough time to deploy more units and strengthen their air forces. These were supplemented by the arrival of Rommel's Afrika Korps, and the attached Luftwaffe forces deployed almost 200 airplanes in Libya and another 600 in Sicily.

Next to the Luftwaffe, the Italian air force performed better due to exchange of tactical doctrine between services and the arrival of more modern aircraft. During Rommel's first offensive they managed to keep the RAF fighters away from Rommel's forces, and covered Rommel's retreat during the British Operation Crusader while inflicting heavy losses on the RAF bombing airplanes.

During Rommel's second offensive the Règia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe suffered considerable losses due to stronger Allied resistance until its almost entire destruction during the air battles over El Alamein and the bombing raids over Alexandria and Cairo.

The Règia Aeronautica, almost destroyed in Egypt, was quickly retired to Tobruk, Benghazi, Tripoli and eventually Tunisia.

The Règia Aeronautica also participated in the air offensive on the British controlled island of Malta in an attempt to gain control of the sea routes from Sicily and Italy to North Africa from its bases in Sicily, Italy and Sardinia. Although on the edge of starvation and suffering heavy losses, Malta managed to withstand the attacks from the Italian and German air force, and inflicted losses of almost 1500 planes. The battle cost the British 800 planes and considerable amounts of transport ships, but the price was worth it: 60% of Axis supplies sent to Africa were sunk thanks to Malta's aircraft, submarines and destroyers.

[edit] Battle of France

During the Battle of France the Règia Aeronautica carried out 716 bombing missions in support of the Italian invasion, dropping a total of 276 tons of bombs.

[edit] Battle of Britain

From October 25 1940, some 170 Italian planes (including 73 Fiat Br.20 bombers) were sent to occupied Belgium formed the Corpo Aero Italiano (CAI) to participate in the Battle of Britain. They fared poorly against the British defenders; about a quarter of the Fiat Br.20 were lost in 2 months of operations. The Corps was withdrawn to Greece in December 1940. [1]

[edit] Tunisian Campaign

[edit] Sicilian Campaign

The Règia Aeronautica was put in a defensive role in Sicily, constantly fighting against allied efforts to sink the Regia Marina. Just before the allied invasion of Sicily, a huge allied bomber offensive struck the airfields in Sicily in an effort to gain further air superiority. This left the Règia Aeronautica very weak, but still alive as planes continued to come out of Sardinia, southern Italy, and southern France.

[edit] Aircraft of the Règia Aeronautica

[edit] Fighters and fighter-bombers

[edit] Heavy fighters and fighter-bombers

[edit] Bombers

[edit] Recon and/or Transport

[edit] Training and Auxiliary roles

[edit] Prototypes

[edit] Règia Aeronautica Aces (second world war)

The Règia Aeronautica tended not to keep statistics on the individual level, instead reporting kills for a certain unit, attributed to their unit commander. However, pilots were able to keep personal log books, so the few that survived through World War II give individual statistics. Here is a list of the aces attributed with ten or more kills.

  • Franco Lucchini- 24 kills
  • Teresio Martinoli- 23 kills
  • Leonardo Ferrulli- 22 kills
  • Franco Bordoni-Bisleri- 19 kills
  • Luigi Gorrini- 19 kills
  • Mario Visintini- 17 kills
  • Ugo Drago- 17 kills
  • Mario Bellagambi- 14 kills
  • Luigi Baron- 14 kills
  • Luigi Gianella- 12 kills
  • Attilio Sanson- 12 kills
  • Carlo Magnaghi- 11 kills
  • Angelo Mastroagostino- 11 kills
  • Giorgio Solaroli di Briona- 11 kills
  • Mario Veronesi- 11 kills
  • Fernando Malvezzi- 10 kills
  • Giulio Reiner- 10 kills
  • Giuseppe Robetto- 10 kills
  • Carlo Maurizio Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa- 10 kills
  • Massimo Salvatore- 10 kills
  • Claudio Solaro- 10 kills
  • Ennio Tarantola- 10 kills
  • Giulio Torresi- 10 kills

[edit] Notable Members of the Règia Aeronautica

[edit] References

[edit] External links


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