Greece, November 1943. II./KG 54, II./KG 6 and, I./St.G. 3. Any data confirming escort of Italian fighters...?

[veltro]

Thanks so much, Larry.

It's just nice to see that what I still "feel" is not so out of this world. Your comments on the documents of Heeresgruppe E are extremely indicative.

Now let's hope Jochen or "Byron" has something to add. Their or other researchers' comments or shared knowledge would be very useful to solve this sort of "mystery"...

[byron-]

Hello Veltro, hello old friends,

I really never heard about a participation of italian planes during the battle of Dodecanes. There is nothing about it in all wardiaries of "Heersgruppe E" or "Militärbefehlshaber Griechenland".
Units of KG 54 were on greek soil only in the second half of 1942, i have no info about them over Dodekanes.
IV./JG 27 left Greece 21.10.43 to Podgorica and Tirana but came back middle November and took part by the operations there.

These are the units with intervention at this region:

Einsatz Staffel KG 100, 5./KG 100 (Gleitbombenstaffel), III. and IV./JG 27, 11./ZG 26, II./KG 51, I. u. II./St.G. 3, Chef-A.W.-Gruppe, 3./LG 1. , III./LG 1, II./KG 6.
For transport were angaged 2. u. 6./TG 4, parts of 1./TG 2 and parts of II./TG 2.
For reco 2./SAGr. 125 and SAGr. 126

regards
byron

[veltro]

Hi, Byron.

Thanks a lot for your precious contribute, which enforces further my sensations...

It seems that we are well on the way to exclude any operations of Italian fighters in that area after the Armistice of Sept. 8, 1943. This would be coherent to what happened in the Aegean islands after that date.

At the same time this cannot exclude that single or groups of volunteer Italian pilots/military did join the Germans and were eventually put into service - on German planes.

This not to sustain what reported (based only on oral memories of a single person) in the text of Vigna, but rather to try to explain the loss of Serg. Sancristoforo apparently in action.

So far, this is the best explaination I'm able to formulate...