Italian Forces

Regia Aeronautica's night fighter

Luce

Ciampino Airport, Rome, 1942: a pilot boarding a Fiat CR.42CN (CN-Caccia Notturna/Night fighter) of the Italian Regia Aeronatica’s 300th Squadriglia. Notice one of two large under wing search light, a typical feature, with the prolonged engine exhausts plus radio and artificial horizon, of this version, built from 1942 to 1943 in about 250-300 aircraft, of this ubiquitous Italian biplane fighter. The first attempt of night fighter’s use was accomplished with CR.42s not modified in Libya from Autumn 1940 at moon light. The first night fighter’s dedicated unit, 171st Gruppo, ever equipped with CR.42, was established in Sicily on October 1941 but on following November, when the most part of the Sicilian airfields was assigned to Luftwaffe’s unit, the two Squadriglie of the Gruppo was disbanded and their planes moved to autonomous night fighter’s sections. On 1942 was established another night fighter autonomous unit, the 167th Gruppo Caccia Notturna, with various aircraft types (included the Caproni-Vizzola F.5) at Ciampino, Capua, Littoria. From 1st January 1942 Night Fighter Sections was at Milan-Linate, Albenga, Turin-Caselle, Genoa, Treviso, Rome-Ciampino Sud, Sarzana, Naples-Capodichino, Grottaglie, Crotone, Monserrato, Palermo, Castelvetrano, Pantelleria plus sections in Libya (Tripoli-Castelbenito), Albania (Tirana), Greece (Tatoi) and Rhodes (Maritza and Gadouras): total about 110-120 CR.42CN. Obviously with this flight material the results was very unimportant. Victor Sierra