Ground handling of a Fiat BR.20M bomber of 43st Stormo on Melsbroek Airport, Belgium, during the expedition of CAI-Corpo Aereo Italiano (Italian Air Corps) for the Battle of Britain, Autumn 140, through the aid of a tracked tractor FIAT-OCI 708CM. Victor Sierra

BR.20’s ground handling

One of the tracked tractors FIAT-OCI 708CM purchased by Italian Regia Aeronautica for aircraft’s towing on the ground, in the case of this photo a Savoia-Marchetti S.79 bomber on a Homeland airport during the war. Note on the tractor’s nose the Regia Aeronautica’s military plate (RA/Regia Aeronautica red). Designed by S.A. Officine Costruzioni Industriali (OCI), Fiat Group, factory at Modena, the Trattore FIAT-0CI 708CM was a military modified version of farm tracked tractor 708C purchased on 1935 by Italian Army as “trattore da montagna” (mountain tractor) and employed, also for artillery’s towing, on the Colonies, during the Spanish Civil War and the WW2. For airplane’s towing the Italian Air Force employed also wheeled tractors of the same type of the Italian Army’s vehicle. Victor Sierra

Regia Aeronautica’s tracked tractor

Ground collision at Benghazi, Lybia 1941: an Italian fighter FIAT CR.42 run over another aircraft of same type at parking and a tree. Victor Sierra