Documenting the Italian political and military actions of World War Two
I was transferred to 11º Gruppo C. in Bologna with the SM 79, which we affectionately called “Sparviero” and the English enviously referred to as the “Damn Hunchback”. After becoming a member of the flying crew, I was sent to Aviano to be trained for night flights and then finally transferred to 36º Stormo, 256º SQ, based at Pisa.
The whole flight, upon repeated requests of the Japanese, had to be kept secret, but the news came out five days later on Italian newspapers and the Japanese immediately decided to stop any further flights on the route originally followed, requesting the study of a more southern route. This delayed any progress further and the hitherto foreseen flight in August 1942 of the second S.75 RT MM.60543 had to be cancelled.
The goal of the mission was to attack withdrawing enemy troops, sabotaging of telephone lines, creation of obstacles on the withdrawal path of the enemy and, last but not least, the saving of bridges and other structures that might be useful to the progression of the Allied advance.
The Italians were willing, unselfish and good comrades in the front line. There can be no disputing that the achievement of all the Italian units, especially the motorized elements, far outstripped any action of the Italian Army for 100 years. Many Italian generals and officers earned our respect as men as well as soldiers.
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