A ?? RE: Sept 6 1942 air battle near Corfu:

[NickM]

Guys:

While rereading Vol. 2 of Shores' work on the Air War in the Desert, I came across a story RE: an Allied attempt to mount an air attack (Beauforts & Beaufighters) on Axis 'Convoy Lambda' on September 6, 1942. Turns out it took place near my family's home islands of Corfu & Paxos. I was wondering if anybody knew where the Italian fighter unit 161st Gr. Aut CT was stationed. Also can anybody confirm if any other Axis fighter units were involved--I was rather stunned to read that JG53 Me 109s with drop tanks were involved.

Thanks ahead of time.

[Larry deZeng]

Nick -

161º Gruppo CT (G 50bis, MC 200) was based at Grottaglie on that date. And convoy escort was indeed one of its duties.

Source:
Dunning, Chris. Courage Alone: The Italian Air Force 1940-1943. Manchester: Crécy Publishing Limited, 2009. ISBN: 9 781902 109091. Oversize Hb. 360p. Profusely illus. Color profiles. 17 maps. Dwgs. Tables. Appendices. Glossary. Bibliography. Index. Page 160.

L

[NickM]

OK thanks; Seems it's not too far from Corfu. I was thinking maybe they were based on the Island, itself.