On a Sicilian airfield on Italian Air Force’s Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 “Marsupiale” of 602nd Squadriglia taking on board troops for the North African front in hopes of not doing a “bad encounter”. Victor Sierra

Troops transport

An aerial convoy of Italian transport aircrafts flying over the Mediterranean en route from Italy to North Africa (or vice versa) for troop’s transfer and supplies delivery view by the machine gun’s side station of a Savoia-Marchetti SM.82, perhaps on 1942 or 1943. The aircrafts of the photo are SM.82s except the plane on the center which is a SM.75. Note the slow flight altitude for avoid the enemy fighters. In this missions, very dangerous because the great Allied air superiority, the transport units of Regia Aeronautica and Luftwaffe was heavily depleted. Victor Sierra

Aerial convoy

Venaria Reale, Turin, Autumn 1943. Line-up of the first Fiat G.55s Centauro of Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR) the air force of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI), the Republic founded by Benito Mussolini after the Italian Armistice. The photo has many reasons of interest. The aircraft, in force to Squadriglia Complementare d'Allarme, afterwards Squadriglia “Montefusco” and finally Squadriglia “Montefusco-Bonet”, are G.55s Sottoserie 0 (Sub-Series Zero) with weapons: four 12,7 mm machine guns and on engine-mounted MG151 20 mm cannon, on the nose and without wings cannons. At least two planes, the aircrafts in foreground, number 8 and 13 are former Luftwaffe and afterwards handed over by ANR. Notice in effect the swastika on the tail summarily cancelled: the Number 8 has even the color’s rudder different from olive drab airplane’s livery. Because all production’s G.55 were olive drab, the rudder seem coming by another plane and prior of final painting. Two possibilities: or they are two of G.55s purchased by Luftwaffe on 1943, one transferred in Germany for evaluation test, the other remained in Italy (the military codes are illegible) or they are of airplane’s batch commandeered by Germans and afterwards switched to ANR. The planes have already the ANR’s insignia, the little Italian tricolor with fringed borders, on the fuselage and on the fin, but, at least the aircraft number 8 (“Yellow 8”), without the wing insignia. Victor Sierra