Italian Forces

The Italian Army’s “Lynx”

IMC Archives

An IMAM Ro.37 “Lince” (Lynx) of the Regia Aeronautica’s 39th Squadriglia O.A. (Osservazione Aerea-Aerial Observation) in flight on 1941, likely during the air operations in the Balkans sector (the plane has the yellow engine cowling typical of many Italian aircraft permanently based on the Albanian-Greek front). On 10 June 1940, Italy’s entry in the war, the 39th Squadriglia, based in Piedmont, at Venaria Reale, were one of 31 Squadriglie of the Aviazione Ausiliaria per l'Esercito (Auxiliary Aviation for the Army) embedded in the Regio Esercito (Italian Royal Army) for recce and aerial observation missions in cooperation with the Army’s units. At the outbreak of the war all this Squadriglie were equipped with 283 (207 full-serviceable) Ro.37.The latter was a biplane designed half-Thirties by Giovanni Galasso and mass produced by IMAM-Industrie Meccaniche Aeronautiche Meridionali, factory at Naples, with a 600-HP 12 in-line cylinder Fiat A.30 RA bis, the same of fighter Fiat CR.32 (560 HP radial engine Piaggio P.IX RC.40 for the version Ro.37bis developed for operations in “hot climate” and largely employed during the Spanish Civil War and in the Italian East Africa). In particular during its deployment at Venaria Reale the 39th Squadriglia was employed by the 1st Corpo d'Armata (1st Army Corps) of the 6th Armata (6th Army) and, same for the similar units, usually flew the missions with on board an Air Force’s pilot and Army’s officer as observer. At outbreak of the war against the Greece (28 October 1940) the 39th Squadriglia moved in Apulia, Bari airfield, inside the 5th Gruppo O.A. (Squadriglie 31st and 32nd with a total amount of 28 Ro 37). On 15 February 1941 the 5th Gruppo, with its two Squadriglie, moved to Albania, at Devoli airfield, but on June of the same year, wad deployed at Scutari (Shkodër, Shkodra in Albanian), in Northwestern Albania for counter-insurgency missions on the Albanian sector, an intense and consuming activity for the Regia Aeronautica’s units deployed on the Balkans. In this activities the obsolescent IMAM biplanes was finally replaced by the Caproni two engines aircraft. Victor Sierra