Croatian Fiat CR.42

[Sagittario64]

ok since i was helped out quickly with my last request i have one more. wiki, among other sites, says the croats had some fiat cr.42s(likely given to them by the germans). is there any photographic or other evidence of these planes' existance?

[vikingBerserker]

I just looked up in Fiat CR 32/CR42 In Action by George Punka and The Hamlyn Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of Workd War II by David Mondey and the closest I can ge to that is the Luftwaffe's Nachtschlachtgruppe 7 operated 2 & 3 Staffel in Pleso Croatia.

They both only list Italy, Germany, Belgium, Hungry and Sweden as users.

[Sagittario64]

well i am not one to doubt a book. but since croatia generally got italian leftovers for their air force, (C.202, C.205, G.50, BR.20, Z.1007), the Fiat CR.42 just seems like a perfect piece of the puzzle. the germans had some and to me it sounds very plausible that a few CR.42s found their way into Croatian hands through Germany.

[imalko]

Croatian sources on this are a litttle bit confusing...

According to aircraft listed in book "Hrvatsko ratno zrakoplovstvo u Drugome svjetskom ratu" by Tihomir Lisko & Danko Čanak, Croatian Air Force never operated CR.42! As for other Italian fighters there were 9 examples of Fiat G.50bis, one Fiat G.50B (two seat trainer version), unknown number of Macchi MC.202 (at least one can be identified from available photos as Series XII aircraft, MM91010) and none of MC.205.

On the other hand authors D.Frka, J.Novak & S.Pogačić in their book "Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne države Hrvatske 1941-1945" listed aircraft as fallowed: 4 MC.200, 16 MC.202, 9(!) Fiat CR.42, 9 Fiat G.50bis and one G.50B. (Usage of MC.205 is mentioned, but, as authors stated, can't be proved.) However, by careful reading and studying OOBs published in this book one can find, for example, that 1. & 2./Kroat Jgr. 1 ("1. Lovačka legionarska skupina" in Croatian terminology) had some CR.42s on strength in January 1944, but these were soon handed to NSGr.7. No photographic evidence is provided in the book though. By my opinion, the source of confusion is the fact that this was a Croatian manned unit under German command. This leads us to the conclusion that there probably were some CR.42s flown by Croatian pilots, but under Luftwaffe control and not officially as organizational part of Croatian Air force.

What ever you choose to see it, the bottom line is that there's no available photos of these "Croatian" CR.42s.

[Sagittario64]

ahhh ok thanks. once again im saved for countless hours of searching

[Sagittario64]

Actually, according to wiki, the croats did acquire CR.42s, 6 of them in fact.

Following the capitulation of Italy in September 1943, around 60 Regia Aeronautica aircraft were found at Mostar and Zadar airfields and 33 machines were incorporated into the ZNDH. This number included further Fiat G.50 fighters, as well as six Fiat CR.42 biplane fighters.

[Sagittario64]

And then later it says two survived when 1945 came around

[vikingBerserker]

I think Wiki can be a good source, but always verify!