Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana
Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana (German: Mitkriegführung Italian Air Force ) was the name of the Italian air forces in World War II , which continued the war on the side of the Allies after the surrender of fascist Italy on September 3, 1943 . The official English name of this Italian air force was Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force (ICBAF) , sometimes also referred to as ICAF in the literature . Its counterpart in the armed forces of the fascist Italian Social Republic was the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR).
history
Political background
Immediately after the announcement of the armistice , King Victor Emanuel III sat down . and the government led by Marshal Pietro Badoglio from July 1943 to southern Italy and placed itself under the protection of the Allies. This constitutionally only legitimate Italian government officially announced on September 8, 1943 that the fight against the Allies would be stopped, but that it would defend itself against “attacks by third parties”. After Hitler had ordered the occupation of Italy and the immediate disarmament of the Italian armed forces, a number of Italian associations opposed this approach. Parts of the Italian armed forces adhered to the orders of the Badoglio government and withdrew to southern Italy, while other units and soldiers did not obey these orders, which they regarded as treasonable, and joined the so-called Italian social republic created in northern Italy by Benito Mussolini under German protection . This led to a de facto civil war in Italy from September 1943 to April 1945 .
September 1943
In September 1943 there was also a traumatic split in the Regia Aeronautica ("Royal Italian Air Force"): Whole units, but also individual pilots , depending on their conscience, either moved south to join the Allies with the Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana to participate in the liberation of Italy (and the Balkans) from Nazi fascism, or they joined the German-controlled Aviazione Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR) in northern Italy in order to continue the fight against the Allies until the end, according to their political convictions.
On September 8, 1943, the day Italy's surrender was publicly announced , the Regia Aeronautica still owned 1200 aircraft . From that day in September, 203 Italian military aircraft (39 fighters, 117 bombers and various transport aircraft, seaplanes and numerous Italian air force soldiers) landed at airports or ports in the southern parts of Italy that were already under the control of the Western Allies . Towards the end of the year the number rose to 281 machines. Since only a little more than half of these aircraft (165 in total) could be used for another war mission and the Italian aviation industry was completely concentrated in the north of the country, which was occupied by the Germans, the newly formed ICBAF received numerous new allied aircraft of various types.
Foundation of the ICBAF
The Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana , also known as Regia Aeronautica Cobelligerante (Co-Warring Royal Air Force) or Aviazione Cobelligerante del Sud (Co-Warring Air Force of the South), operated from its establishment in September 1943 as part of the Allied Balkan Air Force . The official English name of this Italian air force was Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force (ICBAF) .
Markings
The aircraft of the Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana received the traditional cockades based on the colors of the Italian flag with a red outer circle, a white inner part and a green dot in the middle. These emblems had been used by Italian military aircraft until 1939, and then again after 1943.
commitment
The ICBAF rarely operated over Italian territory to avoid fighting between aircraft with Italian crews on either side. During the entire period of use, not a single case of fighting between Italian aircraft was known. ICBAF machines were able to shoot down some German aircraft, but they also suffered losses from the German air force . These were mainly transport aircraft that were used as bombers. The operational area was always primarily the Balkan region with Yugoslavia and Albania , with the main tasks being reconnaissance, sea rescue, escort protection, transport tasks to support partisans and attack missions in the Mediterranean area. The ICBAF deliberately appeared rarely or not at all in Italy; their contribution to the struggle on the side of the Allies ultimately lay mainly in the role of support.
The ICBAF flew a total of over 11,000 sorties in the last 18 months of the war between autumn 1943 and May 1945.
After 1945
The Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI), which still exists today, emerged from the ICBAF - and also the ANR - one year after the end of the war and the founding of the Republic of Italy in 1946 . However, there was no legal or historical breach: the ICBAF consisted of parts of the Regia Aeronautica that had obeyed the orders of the legitimate Italian government (the name Regia Aeronautica Cobelligerante testifies to this). In 1945, the ANR were incorporated into this air force, which was renamed Aeronautica Militare Italiana in 1946 as the state was transformed .
Associations
The following units of the Regia Aeronautica fought under the name ICBAF on the side of the Allies:
- 4º Stormo (Lecce; Macchi MC.205 , Bell P-39 )
- 5º Stormo (Palata, Lecce; Macchi MC.202 )
- 51º Stormo (Lecce, Foggia; Macchi MC.202, Macchi MC.205, Supermarine Spitfire Vb )
- "Baltimore Squadron" (Campo Vesuvio near Naples; Martin A-30 Baltimore bomber )
- "Night Combat Squadron" ( Reggiane Re.2002 )
- "Air Transport Squadron" ( CRDA Cant Z.1007 )
- 4 seaplane groups ( 82º, 83º, 84º, 85º Gruppo ; today SAR squadrons)
- 3 technical support units
These associations operated mainly from the airports of Lecce, Palata, Canne, Biferno and Campo Vesuvio. The Allies gradually made Bell P-39 “Airacobra”, Supermarine “Spitfire” and Martin A-30 “Baltimore” bombers available.