[Lennart Andersson]

A friend of mine wrote that this Amiot 143 (Gnome et Rhone 14K engines, called aircraft "X" in RYAF documents) was flown to Yugoslavia by a Czech crew serving with the Armee de l'Air after occupation Czechoslovakia in 1939. They flew from France on 18 June 1940 and landed in Zagreb and two days later went on to Belgrade. The crew then left for North Africa and the Amiot was flown to Kraljevo.

Some modifications were carried out, such as replacement of the bomb racks in the bomb bay, radio equipment and machine guns (adaptation to Yugoslav equipment?). At the end of March 1941 the aircraft was still in French markings and it was captured by the Germans in April 1941. It passed to the Croatian Air Force in September 1941 and flew occasionally in 1942. Low serviceability and sabotage by ground crew hampered its use. Finally, in the spring/summer of 1944 it was used at Rajlovac (Sarajevo) as a decoy for allied aircraft.

A very interesting aircraft, indeed!

Lennart Andersson