Italian Forces

The last Italian Air Force's bomber unit

Stato Maggiore Aeronautica

Airplanes of the Stormo Baltimore’s 28th Gruppo in flight over the Southern Italy. Now with full structure, after the arrival at Campomarino on December 1944 of the 28th Gruppo, after only three months of operational activity, the Stormo Baltimore, on January 1945, was classified first of the 254th Wing’s units for war results. The missions over Balkans of the Stormo included raids against many targets as the harbor of Arsa (Raša) in Istria, Senj harbor, Busocava station, anti-aircraft batteries, bridges, ground troops, material’s storages. On 21 February 1945, during a mission over the Raša’s coal basin the Baltimore of the 132nd Gruppo’s leader, Maggiore Massimiliano Erasi, was downed by the Flak. Erasi was killed together his three crewmen, awarded of the gold medal, and replaced by the Capt. Giulio Cesare Graziani. With the arrival of the spring, the Italian Baltimores was employed against the German troops retreating from the Balkans. After a series of raids of the Stormo Baltimore the German garrison of the Rab island, around 600 men, was forced to surrender to Jugoslav partisans. The Stormo Baltimore’s last mission was on 5 May 1945 when 24 aircraft, heading to Zagreb station, was called back because the hostilities end. The balance of the Stormo Baltimore’s activity from January 1945 until 5 May 1945 was: 4,886 flight hours in war missions, 425 flight hours for other missions, 1,554 missions/aircraft during 189 sorties in flying formations (average 9-24 airplanes at a time), 1,225 tons of bombs dropped. This results was recorded in the space of only 144 flying days. Losses: three Baltimore downed, 16 KIA, 4 MIA plus few crewmen killed in flight accidents. As the Repubblica Sociale Italiana’s air force had only a torpedo aircraft unit (the proposed bomber unit was dismisses by Mussolini’s order), the Stormo Baltimore was “de facto” the last bomber unit in the Italian Air Force’s history. Victor Sierra