Italian Forces

Air war over the Somaliland

Stato Maggiore Aeronautica

Dire Dawa, Somalia, August 1940: Italian fighters Fiat CR.32 taking off during the operations against the Somaliland started on 3 August when the Italian troops went the borders advancing without strong resistance. At the start of the operations the Italian East Africa’s Air Force deployed for the attack a total of 85 airplanes: 51 bombers (19 S.81 of the Gruppi 4th and 29th, 11 S.79 of the 44th Gruppo and 21 old Ca.133 of the 27th Gruppo), 25 fighters (nine CR.32 and 16 CR.42 of the Squadriglie 410th, 411th and 413rd, afterwards grouped into a single Gruppo) and nine observation planes Ro.37bis of the 110th Squadriglia. The bombers was committed mainly against harbor of Aden and Berbera (this last was conquered by Italians on 19 August) and some airfield as Hargheisa, Burao and La Feruk. The RAF’s forces in this sector were quite weak, the main was deployed for the Aden’s defence, and the reaction wasn’t that envisaged by the Italians. A report wrote by the Air Vice Marshal Air Officer Commanding British Forces Aden attached to General Archibald Wavell’s report, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Middle East Command, posted to Wavell to the Secretary of State for War on 12 September 1941, highlighted the local air superiority of the Italian Air Force. Afterwards the latter was committed on the close air support to land forces until the end of the campaign. In this missions was employed also the CR.32s with bomb racks under the bottom wing with two 50kg bombs. During this brief campaign, the Italian East Africa’s Air Force flew 935 hours in war missions: 376 for bomb missions, 204 for fighters missions and 355 for recce missions with the loss in action of 4 aircraft (two S.81, one CR.32 and one S.79) and of 20 men (KIA and MIA): six officers, two NCO and twelve privates claiming five enemy planes destroyed in aerial combat and nine on the ground. The Italian claims was in part confirmed by the Reid’s report: seven RAF’s aircraft destroyed, ten heavily damaged with the loss of 12 men KIA or MIA from the 5 until 19 August. Victor Sierra