Macchi MC 202s “Folgore” of 164th Squadriglia, 161st Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre (Autonomous Fighter Group) Italian Regia Aeronautica at Reggio Calabria Airfield during the operations against the Allied invasion of Sicily, July 1943. Note the condition, today inconceivable for a modern air force base, of the airfield. Victor Sierra

Calabria 1943

Carmelo borg Pisani believed that Malta's Latin and Italian soul was being destroyed by British rule. He also believed that the best opportunity to restore Malta to its original state was to expel this British rule. He said: &quot;Malta is English just through usurpation, and I'm a British subject only as a result of this usurpation. But my real country is Italy&quot;.
To this end, Pisani, along with many other Maltese &quot;irredentisti&quot; went to Italy, and joined the National Fascist Party. After the outbreak of the war, he volunteered for service in the Italian army, but was refused because he was very myopic. Only by his tenacity and persistance, at last he was accepted in the MVSN (Blackshirts). After the war outbreak, in 1940, he decided to obtain Italian citizenship and gave up the British one. He returned the British passport through the American embassy in Rome, that represented the British interests in Italy. He participated in the Italian occupation of Kefallinia in Greece. Later he joined the SIM (Military Intelligence Service).
On May 18, 1942, Pisani volunteered for a recon/spying mission to Malta, preliminary to the planned invasion. Pisani disembarked at the Dingli Cliffs in Ras id-Dawwara, and transferred all his rations to a cave, which he knew well from his youth. The unusually inclement weather and the rough sea, however, washed all his possessions away within 48 hours. This fact forced Pisani to move inside the Island. Here, Pisani was recognized by one of his childhood friends, Cpt. Tom Warrington. He was transferred to Corradino prison, interrogated, and accused of treason. On November 12, 1942, he stood trial. His plea, that he had renounced British citizenship and passport for acquiring Italian citizenship, was not upheld, even if it was true. On November 19, 1942, he was sentenced to death for conspiring against His Majesty's government and for treason. His execution followed nine days later. Before being executed, he said: &quot;I do not mind dying, but I am saddened by the lack of invasion of Malta by Italy&quot;. 
Borg Pisani was posthumously awarded the highest Italian military medal, the gold medal, by King Victor Emmanuel III a few days after his death. DVX

Hero or traitor?

In spite of excellent performances in the Spanish Civil War, at the time of declaration of war by Italy to France and Great Britain (Juin 10, 1940), the Fiat CR.32 is a fighter undoubtedly obsolescent. However much CR.32s are again in service in the fighter units of Italian Air Force but very soon transferred at other roles like the assault and the advanced training of fighter pilots. The plane of the photo (year 1940, after the declaration of the war) is a CR.32 of 169th Squadriglia on Aegean front. Victor Sierra