Stuka fliers

Discussions on all aspects of Italy under Fascism from the March on Rome to the end of the war.
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maxpower
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Stuka fliers

#1

Post by maxpower » 16 May 2006, 03:09

I know that Italy had some Stuka dive bombers Who were some of their Stuka fliers?
Thanks everyone!

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Pips
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#2

Post by Pips » 16 May 2006, 10:07

The first batch of Stuka's delivered for use by the Regia Aeronautica arrived at Comiso airfield in Sicily on 21 August 1940. The delivery consisted of a mixed batch of Bertha 2's and Bertha 2/Tropicals, 52 in all. They were used to establish '96 Gruppo' under Captaino Ercolani, with 13 Stuka's allocated to 236 Squadriglia (Tenant E. Malvezzi) and 237 Squadriglia (Tenant G. Santinoni). The Italians nicknamed the Stuka 'Picchiatelli'.

A further delivery of fifty Ju 87's were supplied late in 1940, these consisting of the longer range 'Richard's'. A final delivery of fifty four 'Dora-2's and Dora-3's were supplied in 1942.

Six Gruppo's in total were formed with the Ju 87, namely:
96 Gruppo (August '40) with Captaino Ercolani commanding, with 236 Squadriglia (Tenant Malvezzi) and 237 Squadriglia (Tenant Santinoni)

97 Gruppo (November '40) with Captaino Moscatelli commanding, with 238 Squadriglia (Tenant Bertuzzi) and 239 Squadriglia (Tenant Cenni).

101 Gruppo (March '41) with Maggiore Donadio commanding, with 208 Squadriglia (Capt. Bertuzzi) and 209 (Capt. Romanese).

102 Gruppo (May '41) with Captaino Cenni commanding, with 209 Squadriglia (Capt. Stringa) and 239 Squadriglia.

103 Gruppo (February '43) with Tenant Colonel Savarino commanding, with 207 Squadriglia (Capt. Zanazzo).

121 Gruppo (July '43) with Maggiore Orlandini commanding, with 206 Squadriglia (Capt. Zucca) and 216 Squadriglia (Capt. Pergoli).

One of the better known Italian Stuka 'aces' was Giuseppe Cenni. Born in 1915 he joined the Regia Aeronautica in 1935, and was commissioned in June 1936. He served two spells in Spain as an Assalto pilot, scoring three kills. He returned to Italy in 1938 and was posted to 354 Squadriglia flying G.50 fighters in late 1939. He was part of the first group of pilots sent to Germany to train on the Ju87 and served throughout the Mediterranean war. His notable kills included the Greek freighter Ioanna (1,102 tons), the British tanker Helka (3,741 tons), the Australian destroyer Waterhen (1,090 tons), the British gunboat Cricket (645 tons) and the British minelaying submarine Cachalot (1,520 tons). Following a short spell as instructor in Italy in late 1941/eary 1942 he returned to 102 Gruppo as commanding officer in March, seeing heavy action over Malta and several convoy battles, including that of Operation Pedestal.

Cenni brought the exhausted 102 Gruppo back to Italy in October 1942. After re-equipping the Gruppo moved to Alghero for anti-shipping duties. From December through to March 1943 the gruppo converted firstly to G.50bis, then Re.2001 and then the Re.2002 fighter bombers. Cenni at the head of 102 Gruppo was heavily involved in the battle for Sicily in June and July 1943, scoring hits on the transport Talamba (8.018 tons) which was sunk and the monitor HMS Erebus (8,450 tons). By August he was flying fighter-bomber missions over the Italian mainland in opposition to the invasion.

His final sortie took place on 4 September 1943 when he led twelve Re.2002's of 5 Stormo against the beaches of Villa San Giovanni and Reggio Callabria. Four LCT's were sunk and the beaches straffed, but then the gruop was bounced by 30 Spitfires. Three Re.2002's were shot down, one of them being Giuseppe Cenni.

Cenni's nickname was 'The Little Dancer', so beautiful was his flying skill.


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Pips
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#3

Post by Pips » 19 May 2006, 07:10

I've also sent you a PM on Romanian Stuka units. :)

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SanMarco
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Re: Stuka fliers

#4

Post by SanMarco » 23 Nov 2008, 12:07

This is a nice color reference of pick of various German aircraft supplied to Italy. The BF 110 in Italian colors is hard to come buy.Text and illustrations 1998 by Richard J. Caruana
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tigre
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Re: Stuka fliers

#5

Post by tigre » 22 Apr 2018, 19:59

Hello to all :D; a little complement...........................................

96º Gruppo Bombardamento a Tuffo (BaT).

At the insistence of Mussolini on March 20, 1940, a group was created, the 96º Gruppo Bombardamento a Tuffo (BaT) composed of two squadrons, the 236th and 237th, totaling 18 Sm-85 and one Sm-86. Shortly before the entry of Italy into the war, this unit was detached to the Isle of Pantelleria, arriving there on June 5, 1940. They only left to carry out a combat mission on July 19, 1940, during the Battle of Calabria , but they could not even find their targets. The dump weather of the island soon wreaked havoc on the wooden fuselages and all the planes were removed from service.

Source: Stukas Over The Mediterranean, 1940-45: The Birth of the Butcher Bird, 1939-43. Peter C Smith.
https://picclick.it/AERONAUTICA-MILITAR ... id=1&pid=1

Cheers. Raúl M 8-).
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The SIAI Sm-85, first Italian dive bomber............................................................
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TISO
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Re: Stuka fliers

#6

Post by TISO » 13 May 2018, 18:01

For a moddeling project (april war over Yugoslavia) i'm searching for info on planes shot down in that campaign (got me a nice new 1/72 Aifix Stuka). That includes Italian stukas. Any info on codes & markings would be apreciated.
101 Gruppo (March '41) with Maggiore Donadio commanding, with 208 Squadriglia (Capt. Bertuzzi) and 209 (Capt. Romanese).
From what i gather Donadio was shot down by yugoslav FLAK and captured (briefly) during attack on Mostar airfield. I belive that happened on 13th of april 1941.

There is another stuka that was recently found in Adriatic. It was one of 2 stukas that were shot down by FLAK (one crashed and one diched on sea) on 12th of april 1941 during attack on yugoslav navy instalation near Šibenik.

carlodinechi
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Re: Stuka fliers

#7

Post by carlodinechi » 18 Jun 2018, 03:33

Hello Pips, I have tried through google to find out when HMS Erebus was hit by an Italian Stuka, but I have had no luck. Do you know the exact date? or month? Do you know the number of British casualties sustained in this Italian attack?

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Urmel
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Re: Stuka fliers

#8

Post by Urmel » 18 Jun 2018, 06:57

There's no evidence for this: http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono ... Erebus.htm

Uboat Net credits HMS Waterhen to a different pilot, Maresciallo Ennio Tarantelli.

https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4250.html

HMS Cachalot was sunk by ramming - Tp Achille Papa

https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3416.html

For HMS Cricket and Helka I can only confirm they were written off/sunk respectively due to air attacks from Stukas. No idea who.

I question the whole story written by Pips I am afraid, without further evidence.
The enemy had superiority in numbers, his tanks were more heavily armoured, they had larger calibre guns with nearly twice the effective range of ours, and their telescopes were superior. 5 RTR 19/11/41

The CRUSADER Project - The Winter Battle 1941/42

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