12° Gruppo Autonomo 165a Squadriglia

  12 Gruppo Assalto Squadriglie 159, 160 Stormo 50

12 Gruppo Assalto Squadriglie 159, 160 Stormo 50
Arrival Base Country Aircraft Zone Duties
10 Jun 1940 Sorman Tripolitan Ca 310 CR32 Breda 65 ALIB GA
30 Jun 1940 El Adem Cirenaica CR32 Breda 65 ALIB GA
Sep 1940 Tobruk T 2 Cirenaica CR 32 Breda 65 Ro 41 SQA5 GA
Dec 1940 El Adem Cirenaica CR 32 Breda 65 SQA5 GA
Jan 1941 Benghasi Cirenaica CR 32 Breda 65 SQA5 GA
1 Feb 1941   Italy G50 Sqa TG
Dec 1941 Castelbenito Tripolitan G50 SQA5 GA. DF. CE
May 1943 Sciacca Sicily MC 200 ASIC DF. CE. AR
21 May 1943 Castelvetrano Sicily MC 200 MC 202 CR42 ASIC DF. CE. AR

Starting with 24 ex-Hungarian order Ca 310s. the unit realised these were inadequate for the approaching offensive. So, they reequipped from 21 June, with Breda 65 A 80s (159 sq) and CR 32s (160 sq). The former were not much better, but were all the industry could immediately offer as an assault plane. The fighters were fitted with bomb racks to increase their effectiveness.

On 11 June 159 sq was detached to Tobruk T 2 with seven Ca 310s for ground strafing and recce duties. They strafed enemy troops and armoured vehicles over the next few days, but the aircraft suffered heavily from the return fire, the sand and the weather. By October the whole unit was at Tobruk, having covered the advance to Sidi Barrani. Four Ro 41s were used by 159 sq for local day and night defence in August. The unit had retired to Benghasi by February, having been decimated in the retreat.

Converting to the ground attack version of the G 50. they operated over Libya for a second tour. By 25 December 1941 they were the only such type of unit left in Libya. They then switched to local defence and convoy escorts. In August 1942. with 159. 160 and 165 sq as a Gruppo Autonome, they had 18 G 50s at Castelbcnito.

By May 1943 they were operating around Sicily, sometimes with the MC 202s of 53 Stormo. The unit disbanded on 26 June.

Fiat G.50 bis of 165a Squadriglia, 12° Gruppo Autonomo d’Assalto, Castelbenito, July 1942. This aircraft wears a so-called 'green lizard’ camouflage scheme of Light Hazelnut Brown blotches on Dark Olive Green background, with Light Blue-Grey undersurfaces. Wing national insignia carried on clear roundels. This aircraft is a late production Fiat machine, mounting wing bomb racks, tropical filter and late-type long spinner. Paintwork is showing sure sign of retoucing, specially in the tail area and near the small size codes typical of this group. Since the end of 1940, when 50° Stormo d’Assalto has been disbanded, 12° Gruppo continued operating autonomously in North Africa. It was in the Spring of 1942 when it received new G.50s to replace the old CR.32s it previously operated. With its new equipment it was involved in the Axis offensive destined to reach the maximum penetration into Egypt, reaching El Alamein in the summer of 1942. The group was later returned home in August 1942.

Image Source and description from Ali E Colori Italian Colours Fiat G 50 by La Bancarella Aeronautica Torino No 3 Page 23

    

 Flight Simulators
 

   IL-2 Sturmovik 'Cliff's of Dover' Blitz

   IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad

   DCS World - has no 3D model

 



Regia Aeronautica Aces (World War II)
Ace No of Kills
Teresio Vittorio Martinoli22 kills
Franco Lucchini22 kills (1 in Spain)
Leonardo Ferrulli21 kills (1 in Spain)
Franco Bordoni-Bisleri19 kills
Luigi Gorrini19 kills
Mario Visintini17 kills
Ugo Drago17 kills
Mario Bellagambi14 kills
Luigi Baron14 kills
Luigi Gianella12 kills
Attilio Sanson12 kills
Willy Malagola11 Kills
Carlo Magnaghi11 kills
Angelo Mastroagostino11 kills
Giorgio Solaroli di Briona11 kills
Mario Veronesi11 kills
Fernando Malvezzi10 kills
Giulio Reiner10 kills
Giuseppe Robetto10 kills
Carlo Maurizio Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa10 kills
Massimo Salvatore10 kills
Claudio Solaro10 kills
Ennio Tarantola10 kills
Giulio Torresi10 kills
Adriano Visconti10 kills

 

 Italy Map

 

    Fiat G50 Freccia Bibliography:

  • Cattaneo, Gianni. The Fiat G.50 (Aircraft in Profile Number 188). Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1967. No ISBN.
  • Keskinen, Kalevi; Stenman, Kari and Niska, Klaus. Fiat G.50, Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 8 (in Finnish). Espoo, Finland: Tietoteos, 1977. ISBN 951-9035-26-5.
  • Malizia, Nicola. Fiat G-50 (Aviolibri Records No. 2) (in Italian/English). Roma-Nomentano, Italy: Istituto Bibliografico Napoleone, 2005. ISBN 88-7565-002-0.
  • Mondey, David. The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II. New York: Bounty Books, 1996. ISBN 1-85152-966-7.
  • Taylor, John W. R. "Fiat G.50 Freccia (Arrow)". Combat Aircraft of the World from 1909 to the Present. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. ISBN 0-425-03633-2.
  • Tonizzo, Pietro. Fiat G.50 Freccia (Le Macchine e la Storia 9) (in Italian). Modena, Italy: Editore Stem-Mucchi. No ISBN.
  • Waldis, Paolo. Fiat G 50, Ali e Colori 3 (in Italian/English). Torino, Italy: La Bancarella Aeronautica, 2000.
  • Arena, Nino. I caccia a motore radiale Fiat G.50 (in Italian). Modena: Mucchi editore, 1996. NO ISBN
  • Avions Militaires 1919-1939 - Profils et Histoire (in French). Paris: Hachette, Connaissance de l'histoire, 1979.
  • Cattaneo, Gianni. "The Fiat G.50." Aircraft in Profile Number 188. Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1967.
  • Dunning, Chris. Solo Coraggio! La storia completa della Regia Aeronautica dal 1940 al 1943 (in Italian). Parma, Italy: Delta Editrice, 2000. NO ISBN.
  • Ethell, Jeffrey L. Aircraft of World War II. Glasgow: HarperCollins/Jane's, 1995. ISBN 0-00-470849-0.
  • Gunston, Bill. Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London: Salamander Book Limited, 1988. ISBN 1-84065-092-3.
  • Gunston, Bill. Gli Aerei della Seconda Guerra Mondiale (in Italian). Alberto Peruzzo Editore, .
  • Keskinen, Kalevi, Kari Stenman and Klaus Niska. Fiat G.50, Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 8 (in Finnish). Espoo, Finland: Tietoteos, 1977. ISBN 951-9035-26-5.
  • Malizia, Nicola. Fiat G-50 (Aviolibri Records No. 2) (in Italian/English). Roma-Nomentano, Italy: Istituto Bibliografico Napoleone, 2005. ISBN 88-7565-002-0.
  • Malizia, Nicola. Ali sulla steppa. La Regia Aeronautica nella campagna di Russia (in Italian). Rome: IBN Editore, 2008. ISBN 88-7565-049-7.
  • Massimello, Giovanni. Furio Nicolot Doglio Un pilota eccezionale (in Italian). Milano: Giorgio Apostolo editore, 1998.
  • Massimello, Giovanni and Giorgio Apostolo. Italian Aces of World War Two. Oxford/New York, Osprey Publishing, 2000. ISBN 978-1-84176-078-0.
  • Mattioli, Marco. "Il G.50 nella Guerra d'Inverno" (in Italian). Aerei nella Storia magazine, Parma, January 2000
  • Mondey, David. The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II. New York: Bounty Books, 1996. ISBN 1-85152-966-7.
  • Neulen, Hans Werner. In the Skies of Europe: Air Forces Allied to the Luftwaffe 1939-1945. Ramsbury, Marlborough, UK: The Crowood Press, 1998. ISBN 1-86126-799-1.
  • Rocca, Gianni. I disperati (in Italian). Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1991.
  • Santoni, Alberto. "L'Ultra vola in alto" (in Italian). Storia Militare, Albertelli editions, Parma, July 2007.
  • Savic, D. and B. Ciglic. Croatian Aces of World War II (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 49). Oxford, UK: Oxford, 2002. ISBN 1-84176-435-3.
  • Sgarlato, Nico. G.50/55 (in Italian). Parma, Italy: Delta editions 2004.
  • A Second String Arrow Part 1. Air International, May 1988, Vol. 34, No 5, pp. 251–258. Bromley, UK: Fine Scroll. ISSN 0306-5634.
  • A Second String Arrow Part Two. Air International, June 1988, Vol. 34, No 6, pp. 295–298, 308–311. Bromley, UK:Fine Scroll. ISSN 0306-5634.
  • Shores, Christopher. Ground Attack Aircraft of World War II. London: Macdonald and Jane's, 1977. ISBN 0356-0838-1.
  • Shores, Christopher, Air Aces , Greenwich, CT, Bison Books, 1983. ISBN 0-86124-104-4.
  • Spick, Mike. The Complete Fighter Ace: All the World's Fighter Aces, 1914-2000. London: Greenhill Books, 1999. ISBN 1-85367-374-9.
  • Taylor, John W. R. "Fiat G.50 Freccia (Arrow)". Combat Aircraft of the World from 1909 to the Present. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. ISBN 0-425-03633-2.
  • Tonizzo, Pietro. Fiat G.50 Freccia (Le Macchine e la Storia 9) (in Italian). Modena, Italy: Editore Stem-Mucchi. No ISBN.
  • Waldis, Paolo. Fiat G 50, Ali e Colori 3 (in Italian/English). Torino, Italy: La Bancarella Aeronautica, 2000.
  • Thompson, Jonathan W. (1963). Italian Civil and Military aircraft 1930-1945. USA: Aero Publishers Inc.. ISBN 0-8168-6500-0. OCLC - 17621 63 - 17621.

    Magazine References: +

  • Airfix Magazines (English) - http://www.airfix.com/
  • Avions (French) - http://www.aerostories.org/~aerobiblio/rubrique10.html
  • FlyPast (English) - http://www.flypast.com/
  • Flugzeug Publikations GmbH (German) - http://vdmedien.com/flugzeug-publikations-gmbh-hersteller_verlag-vdm-heinz-nickel-33.html
  • Flugzeug Classic (German) - http://www.flugzeugclassic.de/
  • Klassiker (German) - http://shop.flugrevue.de/abo/klassiker-der-luftfahrt
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://boutique.editions-lariviere.fr/site/abonnement-le-fana-de-l-aviation-626-4-6.html
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://www.pdfmagazines.org/tags/Le+Fana+De+L+Aviation/
  • Osprey (English) - http://www.ospreypublishing.com/
  • Revi Magazines (Czech) - http://www.revi.cz/

    Web References: +

  • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_G.50
  • letletlet warplanes - http://www.letletlet-warplanes.com/2008/04/28/fiat-g50-history/
  • http://www.comandosupremo.com/G50.html

 

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