139b

Fiat CR-42 Falco

Good find @NebrHogger .....An Italian Fiat CR.42 lies wrecked in the mud after being shot down at Corton Railway Station near Lowestoft, in Norfolk. The Italian raid on the East coast was a complete failure, costly and never repeated.

*There are some absolutely wonderful images of The Blitz, period at the below link, many of which I have never seen*
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...eal-clean-operation-Blitz-struck-Britain.html

Mussolini sent squadrons to participate in the blitz, most of which were posted to Belgium. As shown above, their outdated machines fared poorly. I can't imagine taking a biplane that was marginal in the Spanish Civil War to fight Hurricanes and Spitfires in WW2!

That's a great link, by the way! A very impressive collection of photos!

I had no idea that the Italians sent squadrons to attack the UK. Biplanes against Spitfires? very silly

il Duce was trying to impress Hitler. A theory about that relates to his hoping for supplies from Germany and/or a big share of the loot from a successful defeat of England. Thankfully, the axis got that plan stuffed up their collective butt!

That was also the case with Italian troops invading Albania and Greece. They were soon bested by Greek fighters and withdrew westward. To keep Commonwealth forces from taking advantage of that defeat & establishing air bases located to threaten his oil supplies in the Ploesti oil fields, Hitler was forced to divert divisions from the Russian invasion.

Did the diversion and delay therefrom ultimately mean German failure on the eastern front since that put the invasion fighting in a severe winter?

Pretty much open to speculation, but it sure seems that way!