Manduria airfield, Apulia, 10 October 1943: the King of Italy Victor Emmanuel III reviewing the 5th Stormo Tufffatori (Dive Bombers) equipped with Reggiane Re.2002. On the right the general Renato Sandalli, Aeronautic’s secretary and Regia Aeronautica’s acting chief of staff. The Army general in background on the left is likely the General Vittorio Ambrosio, commander in chief of Italian Armed Forces. Only ten months separate this photo from the prior picture, but now the Italy, precisely the part not occupied by the Germans, is deployed on another front. The day after this photo the Kingdom of Italy, a Kingdom (the so-called Kingdom of the South) inward of the Allies (note the American high officer in background, will declare war to the Germany. But the fights between Italians and Germans are already begun just the day after the announcement of the Armistice of the Italy (8 September 1943). Victor Sierra

Ten month later

Sicily, 12 January 1943: during his visit in the Island, the King of Italy Victor Emmanuel III passing through an airfield used by the German Air Force receive the homage from a Luftwaffe’s officer. Italians and Germans are still allied, but only for less than eight months. Victor Sierra

The King and the Luftwaffe

Cassibile, Sicily, Summer 1943. A British amphibious Supermarine Walrus, X9498 “B”, of No. 284 Squadron RAF undergoing maintenance. Parked behind them and partly obscured is Hawker Hurricane Mark IIC, KW980, of the Mediterranean Air Command Communications Unit based at Maison Blanche, Algeria, while in the background can be seen the medieval tower which served as the airfield control tower. Cassibile is the little town, 14 km South of Syracuse, where on 3 September 1943 the General Giuseppe Castellano, for the Italian government, and Walter Bedell Smith for the Allied forces, signed the armistice which ratified the unconditional surrender of the Italy and the stopping of the his hostilities against the Allies. Note: although the photo, source IWM, depict a RAF’s plane, the same make reference to an important page of the Italy’s history. For this reason I post this photo in Italian Forces section. Best regards, Victor Sierra