Few would argue that Mussolini was basically a braggart thug who had little in the way of strategic capabilities or even common sense. This was shown time after time during WWII when he envisioned grandiose plans, only to have them go awry or require Germany forces to pull his rear out of the fire. It all started with Italy's declaration of war in June 1940 and ended with his ouster in mid 1943 and the eventual armistice with the allies shortly thereafter.

One of his plans was to send aviation units to the Channel coast to help out in the Battle of Britain. Always a bit slow on the uptake, Italian air units did not arrive in their Belgian bases until the battle was basically over in mid/late October of 1940. At that time of year, the weather was very un-Mediterranean like with fog, rain, and generally cold weather. Not exactly what crews used to warmer climes were expecting. Not only that, but Italian aircraft were bordering on obsolescence and none were really the equal of British Spitfires and Hurricanes. In fact, during one of the early daytime raids, when the bombers were escorted by CR.42 biplane fighters, the British initially thought it was a batch of British training aircraft!

One would think that air battles would be a slaughter, but the truth is that the Italian airmen were not only motivated, but well trained in the operation of their aircraft. While air to air kills were quite few and far between for the Italians, they were not much better for the British. The Italian fighters were quite nimble and nearly impossible for the British to shoot down. In fact, when looking at total losses during the brief campaign, the vast majority of Italian aircraft lost were due to navigation errors or mechanical failures. Italian engines were notoriously underpowered and not equipped to handle the icing conditions they encountered over southern England during the time period. After a few months of operations, the units were withdrawn to North Africa where they were not up against top line British forces and in a climate for which their planes were more suited.

In the book, the author does a superb job of covering the various missions flown by the Italians during this time period. He also covers the history of all the types that were used by the Italians. In fact, half the book is on aircraft histories and the second half on operations. All of this is enhanced by large photos of these aircraft and men at their bases in Belgium. Large full color profiles of the various aircraft involved are also part of the package, mostly Fiat CR.42 and G.50 fighters.

In all, it makes for a most interesting read on a short chapter of WWII that few have covered before. A book that those interested in the subject will certainly want to pick up.

 June 2014

Review book courtesy of the fine folks at Casemate Publishing. Get yours from the link.

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