RO-37 in North Africa

[Ludovico Slongo]

Dear Mr. Jarlevik,

if you are interested in Air war over North Africa in 1940, you will for sure appreciate "Hurricanes over Tobruk" that -despite the fact that I still quote "Fighters Over the Desert" as an absolute masterpiece- is since 1999 my favourite book in English language on the subject.
Regarding Ro 37 (bis) losses, last year I looked for the war diaries of the Italian units that flew the type in 1940 in the archives of the Historycal Office of the Italian Air Force only to discover that they were lacking and perhaps (not sure of this) they don't exist any more, so a reliable reconstruction of the "Romeo" losses in Norht Africa during 1940 will be a quite difficult business.

Regarding the known losses it is interesting to note that 202 Group's fighters apparently only claimed two Romeos during 1940 (those already listed by Mr. Pratt III on 29 June 1940 and 10 December 1940) while in Italian sources it is possible to find two admitted losses on 30 June 1940 as already related by Mr. Bussi (I found the info in the history of 50° Stormo written by Nino Arena) and 28 July 1940 (this loss is quoted in the War diary of 90a Squadriglia Caccia) this last loss lack a suitable British claim (so may be a 112 Squadron pilot) while nothing is known from Italian sources regarding a possible December loss that remains however possible not to say probable.
The other recorded losses were suffered on the ground and according with the history of Italian Air Force written by Generale Giuseppe Santoro in 1950 they were:
3 Ro 37 heavily damaged and 2 damaged on El Adem 11-June 1940.
5 Ro 37 damaged on Tobruk T2 28-June 1940 (during the same raid that indirectly caused the death of Italo Balbo).
1 Ro 37 destroyed and 2 heavily damaged on Sollum 26 September 1940.
2 Ro 37 destroyed on Sollum 29 October 1940.
2 Ro 37 damaged on Benghazi Berka 11 November 1940.
3 Ro 37 damaged on Sollum 10 December 1940.

Regarding 33 Squadrons claims on 30 June, according to my sources (33 Sqd. ORB) Ernest Dean and Peter Wickham claimed two CR 32s (or a CR 42 and a CR 32) during an early morning patrol over Bardia. It seems that they had in fact shot down a CR 32 of 50° Stormo (Tenente Ivano Vanni)probably damaging another that crash-landed and was written off on landing back at base (Sergente Aldo Santucci). The loss of the Ro 37 on this date (30 June) seems to me connected with the similar claim for a Ro 37 made by Peter Wickham the day before (29 June) with perhaps a mix up of dates.

Kind Regards
Ludovico.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Thank You Ludovico

Much appreciated update. Looks like I have to get Hurricanes over Tobruk after all!!

Cheers
Stig