Captured Aircrafts: Italy

[gekho]

Dewoitine D-520

As German forces invaded Vichy's so-called "free zone" in November 1942, they captured 246 D.520s; additionally, a batch of 62 was completed under German occupation. Some were used by the Luftwaffe for training purposes. The Germans also transferred 120 D.520s to Bulgaria and 60 to Italy. A number of them were intended for the Romanian Air Force, but the shipment was lost on the way. One source claims that they arrived and have been used against the Soviets, but says no details of service are known. Another source claims 150 aircraft were sent to Romania. Yet another source claims the so-called Romanian Dewoitines were in fact in transit to Bulgaria and only flew over Romania in order to get to their final destination. The latter seems the most reliable explanation viewed against the numbers of Dewoitines actually available.

Pictures below: Dewoitine D.520 before their transfer in Italy from Istres (France). On 1943 the Germans captured 246 D.520s and batch of 75 airplanes was transferred to Italy. The D.520 was a good plane, fast and well armed, forceful against the obsolete C.R,42s

Source: Captured aircrafts flown by the Regia - Official 1C Company forum

[gekho]

The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter. It was one of the first British aircraft to have all-metal stressed-skin construction, to utilise retractable landing gear, flaps, powered gun turret and variable pitch propellers. A Canadian-built variant named the Bolingbroke was used as an anti-submarine and training aircraft.

Blenheim Mk.IV N3589 of No. 40 Squadron RAF landed in error at Pantelleria on 13 September 1940 and was evaluated at Guidonia airfield near Rome. One more was captured in Yugoslavia while two were seized in Italian East Africa but were recaptured when this territory fell into British hands. N3589 might be the Mk.IV appearing in a non-flying role in the movie Un Pilota Ritorna (1942) directed by Roberto Rossellini.

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A modified version of an earlier reconnaissance aircraft, the Potez 637, the Potez 63.11 flew for the first time on 31 December 1938. It featured a completely redesigned forward fuselage that included an angular glazed nose section. Between November 1939 and June 1940, the Armee de l'Air took delivery of 723 Potez 63.11s. After the armistice, surviving aircraft saw extensive service with both Free French and Vichy forces; in 1942 many were adopted by the Luftwaffe for training and liaison duties. 692 Potez were captured by germans after the occupation of Vichy's territory. Ten aircrafts of this type were utilized by the Regia Aeronautica, mostly for training flights

Source: Captured aircrafts flown by the Regia - Official 1C Company forum

[gekho]

The 12 of June, 1943 a lonely P-38 landed at Capoterra airfield on southern Sardinia. The Italians on the airfield cannot believe what was happening. A soldier, quickly, move a car just on the front of the aircraft to prevent a restart. The P-38's pilot was opening the canopy when he realize that he had landed on the wrong place. He tried to take off but it was too late to do it and he was captured. The pilot - his identity is unknown - was flyng from Malta to Gibraltar ( other sources says he was flyng from Tunis to Pantelleria ) to deliver a bag containing documents and mail. He landed at Capoterra almost out of fuel after a long trip above the Mediterranean Sea . Later was found a compass failure resulting in 30 degrees error on the route . The P-38 was probably an E model upgraded to G models. Voices says that last four digits of the serial number were 2278. The US insignia was covered with Italian Dark Green paint who was a bit darker respect the US Olive Drab. Then were applied white bands on the booms, Sabaudian crosses on the tails and spinners was painted in white. The Lightning was tested at Guidonia Experimental Center near Rome and later was used against US bombers. The Col. Angelo Tondi - a skilled Italian pilot - flyng with the P-38 shoot down a US B-24 Liberator off Anzio coast at 11am of August 11, 1943, six of B-24's crew bailed out from the aircraft . The Italian Lightning had a no long flyng career because the German synthetic fuel used by Italians corroded P-38's fuel tanks and the aircraft was forced to stay on the ground, but US reports says that B-17s bombers were attacked by two P-38s on early September 1943. During another mission a damaged US P-38 was flyng close to US bombers needing protection. The bomber's gunners, thinking he was the " enemy " P-38, shoot down the aircraft.

Source: Captured aircrafts flown by the Regia - Official 1C Company forum