On a Sicilian airfield (Gela or Trapani-Milo) a mechanics perform the last check – note the engine running and the open bottom engine cowling - of a Messerschmitt Bf 109E-7 of the Luftwaffe’s I./JG 27 (I Gruppe/Jagdgeschwader 27) before the ferry flight to Libya. The aircraft, coming from the other theaters as the entire I./JG 27 and dispatched to North Africa, has already received the Desert camouflage and the new “African” unit’s emblem over the engine cowling and is equipped with the 300 litre (80 US gal) auxiliary drop tank for increase the range. Leaded by the Hauptmann Eduard Neumann as Gruppenkommandeur, on 25 March 1941 the I./JG 27 appear in Sicily, Gela airfield, under the command of the X. Fliegerkorps (10th Air Corps), with a strength of 39 Bf 109E-7 (35 serviceable). Victor Sierra

Last check before the ferry flight

The unsuccessfully Arado Ar 240, only a dozen built, was for a very brief time also in Italy when the 2(F)./122, a Staffel of the Luftwaffe’s Aufklarungsgruppe 122, was selected for an operational evaluation of this plane, likely of the reconnaissance version (Arado 240A-0) with a pair of Rb 50/30 cameras fitted under the rear of each engine. The aircraft (Werknummer 002 or 003) came from Germany to Frosinone, Southern Latium, at this time base of the 2(F)./122 equipped with Ju 88 and Me 210, around mid-June 1943. On 12 July 1943 the Ar 240 moved to Sardinia, Villacidro airfield, to fly a recce mission over Bizerte, Tunisia. The plane immediately returned to Frosinone but crashed and was destroyed during the land. Later few weeks, shortly after the transfer of the 2(F)./122 to Perugia, the Staffel received another Ar 240 (Werknummer 004) again for evaluation. During its first operational sortie the aircraft experienced engine troubles and was sent back in Germany to Oranienburg. (Obviously, the photo posted isn’t in Italy - note the snow! - because I don’t know photos of the Ar 240 during the evaluation in Italy, likely never taken). Victor Sierra

Ar 240 in Italy: an unlucky test

The Bf 109E-7s of the Luftwaffe’s I./JG 27 during the ferry flight from Sicily to Libya. Clearly visible beneath the airplane’s fuselage the belly tank employed for increase the range necessary for overfly in full safety conditions the Mediterranean from Southern Sicily to North Africa. On 21 June 1941 the I./JG 27, now under the Fliegerführer Afrika, is deployed at Ain-el-Gazala, Eastern Libya, with a strength of 34 Bf 109E-7/Trop. Victor Sierra