Italian Forces

Over Madrid.

Savoia-Marchetti S.M. 81 Pipistrello ("Bat") bomber, escorted by Fiat CR.32 biplane fighters, releases its load over Madrid, Spanish Civil War (date uncertain). These aircraft are likely to be of the Italian Regia Aeronautica (Aviazione Legionaria), in Spanish Nationalist livery. As far as the "Pipistrello" was concerned, the escort was probably badly needed; as a bomber, this aeroplane was already seen as slow, clumsy and under-defended. Notwithstanding this, it served on a limited basis in WW2 as a bomber in secondary theatres, and as a transport with the Regia Aeronautica. The CR.32 proved to be one of the best fighters of the Spanish Civil War (certainly of the biplanes) but it, and its successors, were proved obsolete when they encountered advanced monoplane fighter opposition in the 1939-'41 period. However, the type continued to serve in secondary fighter roles, especially with "allied" Axis forces, well into the war. With best regards, JR.