The 51st  Stormo Caccia and its  "Folgore" at the airfield of Gela, Sicily, 1943.Victor Sierra

Sicily 1943

The Macchi MC.202 &quot;Folgore, Matricola Militare MM7848, aircraft number 378-11, of 378th Squadriglia, 155th Gruppo, 51st  Stormo (note the insigna of Stormo, the &quot;Black Cat&quot;), at the time based in Sicily, airports of Sciacca and Castelvetrano, shot down, July 27, 1942, by the Spitfire Mk V of Canadian ace George &quot;Buzz&quot; Beurling while, with other &quot;Folgores&quot;  escorting nine German bombers Junkers Ju-88 in missione over Malta. The pilot of 378-11, sergente maggiore Faliero Gelli (wich had previously claimed three Spitfires shot down over Malta) managed to crash land on the island of Gozo, escape with minor injures and was taken POW. In the same combat the commander of 155th Squadriglia, the recordmen and ace capitano Furio Niclot Doglio, was shot down and killed by the same &quot;Buzz&quot; Beurling. Victor Sierra

A victim of Beurling

After the armistice, officially announced September 8, 1943, but signed at Cassibile (Sicily) September 3, 1943, the Kingdom of Italy changed the alliance: former enemies turned into alllies, former allies, the Germans, turnded into enemies. In this photo, at Grottaglie's airport (Puglia), a group portrait of Royal Australian Air Force and Italian airmen who are working on the same airfield. The aircraft is a Curtiss P-40 of RAAF. Victor Sierra