Recent content by gttf

Jeff, the badge above the pocket is surely a ribbon. The CIL badge from 30/06/1944 is the following (fig. 251/B, pag 185 of Marzetti's book). It fits the Viotti's description, I think. Comparing this image to the on-pocket-badge, I notice: white cross is not visible Libertas and CIL are not...

Thank you Jeff. Bombe K: Ok, got it Live fire exercises: Ok, no doubt about training (apart from what said by witnesses): in the summary of the activities of the Regia Aeronautica along with Allies, presented by Gen. Piacentini, Air Force Minister of the Bonomi government, on August, 31st, 1944...

BTW, thanks for your welcome to the forum !

Thank you Jeff, for cross-checking so different sources. I agree with you, about weapons: I have a complete list of equipment of this unit and the only non-Italian weapons seem to be Mauser rifles (350 Mauser were foreseen vs 303 MAB sub-machine guns: to much only for sniping, I guess) and...

BTW, I'm quite sure that the time window of the report is not August, 1944 but (more probably) end of June, first half of July, 1944 as the villages and towns mentioned in the text were liberated in that period. A interesting detail: the report mentions Mauser rifles as part of the equipment of...

Hello Jeff, thank you for your reply. The sources mentioning the "Duca d'Aosta" (at least, those I've found ) are the following: Giorleo, A. Palestra azzurra. L’Aeronautica Militare e il paracadutismo. Cronistoria dalle origini ad oggi, Stato Maggiore Aeronautica, Ufficio Storico, Roma, 1975...

Hello, I’m doing some research on a little known unit of the Regia Aeronautica (cobelligerent), established in Southern Italy during 1944 (after the Armistice on Sept., 8th, 1943); the unit is the Battaglione Arditi (Assault Bataillon) “Duca d’Aosta” (an infantry unit of the Italian Air Force)...

Hello Sid, the plan of a raid on New York was set up during the spring of 1942, but the different options studied and the planes thought to be the most suitable, took a very long time and, at the end, nothing was made. The planes proposed in the different versions of the plan were:ù 1) Piaggio...

Hello Ross, thanks for your kind words. The use of mottos in dialect was not so uncommon in Regia Aeronautica; for example: "varda che te sbrego" (from dialect of the region around Venice, "beware, I'm slashing you") in the badge of 162^ Squadriglia Caccia "Ocio che te copo" (same area...

Hello Rossco, only some comments: 1) "Suma a post": it should be "we are OK" ("siamo a posto", in Italian) in some dialect of Northern Italy but, often, in an ironic sense: depending upon the context, it could mean exactly the contrary i.e. "we're in trouble" 2) For sure, a 103^ Squadriglia...

BTW, my father was a NCO of "Loreto". Fabrizio

The man in blue is part of the Battaglione "Loreto" (800-strong) of the Regia Aeronautica, a special unit set on mid-1942; in principle, its duties were the recovery and the defense of enemy landing grounds/airports seized, mainly in the framework of Operation C3, the planned invasion of Malta...