Italian Bomber plane losses June 1940

[robert]

Hi,

I`m looking for some additional details concerning Italian bomber planes lost or damaged during briefly conflict with France during June 1940:
- perhaps somebody has a time of combat mission flown by Fiat BR.20 from 14 Sq. when it was damaged by French fighters on 12.06.40?
- some SM.79 bombers were damaged by AA fire while attacking Bizerta on 12.06.40. Perhaps somebody knows more?
- on 17.06.40 Cant Z.501 seaplane from 146 Sq. was ditched SE of Cap Bone and abandoned. Perhaps somebody has time of this accident?
- on 21.06.40 a SM.79 bomber was damaged by French Ms-406. I`m looking for the unit to which this plane had belonged.
- on 23.09.39 three SM.79 bombers were reportedly damaged by AA fire, while on bombing sortie over Bizerta. Perhaps somebody knows more?

Regards

Robert

[Håkan]

Hello Robert,

Here is some info I have (Ludovico Slongo will probalby be able to provide more):

On 12 June, 21 SM 79s of the 32o Stormo, commanded by Generale di Brigata Aerea Stefano Cagna took off from Decimomannu at 14:10. They attacked the harbor and the nearby airbase of Bizerta-Karouba. Seven bombers returned damaged by the heavy AA. The French base suffered heavy damage. Escadrille E7 was destroyed on the ground, losing four aircraft burnt out or written off and one damaged out of its six Loire 70s.

At 10:10 on 21 June, an SM 79 from the 36o Stormo on a reconnaissance mission over Bizerte was intercepted by an enemy fighter. It was a Morane MS.406 from GC III/5 flown by Lieutenant Moran, who had managed to scramble in time and pursued the Italian aircraft as far as Dog’s Island, where he had to abandon the chase due to lack of fuel. The bomber was credited to Moran as a probable victory. The SM79, a 259a Sq. machine flown by Ten. Atti, had the central engine put out of action but was able to returned to base at 12:25 using the wing engines. Four members of the crew were wounded.

On 23 June, ten SM 79s from the 34o Stormo at Catania attacked shipping heading for Bizerta for the last time. Bad weather forced them to turn back with their bomb load intact.

Best wishes/Håkan

[Gianandrea Bussi]

Robert,
I may give you the following details:

- seven S.79 of the 32° Stormo (out of a total of 21 taiking part to that action) were slightly damaged by splitters of AAA during the bombing of Biserta harbour on 12 june 1940.

- The S.79 damaged by a MS.406 on 21 june 1940 during a recce mission over Biserta belonged to 259a Sq. BT (first pilot Ten. Atti). Four crewmembers wounded.

- CZ.501 146-2 ditched 30 nautical miles south of Capo Spartivento in the afternoon of 17 june 1940.

Sources: Cesare Gori, Il Savoia Marchetti S.M. 79 nel secondo conflitto mondiale, Aeronautica Militare Ufficio Storico, 2004

Alessandro Ragatzu, Cagliari-Elmas vol. 2 1940-1944, Alisea Edizioni, 2007.

Best regards

Gianandrea

[robert]

Hi,

thank you very much for your precious information`s.

Regards

Robert

[Ludovico Slongo]

Dear Robert,
a French and apparently very precise source (Le Fiat BR 20 par Yves Domange avec Juan Arrez Cerda and Kazuhiko Osuo , LELA PRESSE collection profils Avions n°7 April 2004) reported the action of De Michelis as happened betwen 16.05 and 20.10. It sems that he had to crash-land at the end of the return trip, far from his airfield so "technically" he was shot-down, and this was due to the action of "twelve enemy fighters" .
French researcher Arnaud Gillet in his "Les victories de l'aviation de chasse Francaise 16 may -4 juin 1940" written with the help of Peter Taghon reports that no air action is officialy recorded by the French Air Force during the day in that sector and this is perhaps due to an error in recording the dates of some missions. Gillet tries also to give an identity to the victor of De Michelis and guesses that he could had been Lt. Robert Martin of GC III/6 that the day after was credited of two victories against BR 20s even if he didn't shot a single round of ammunition. So perhaps his mission had been recorded on a wrong date.
From my side I can only add that Hakan discovered some years ago a French fighter pilot -Sgt Roger Grosjean- that according with his livret matricule (whose information were told to Hakan by the son of the pilot) had been shot down in the Var region by Italian fighters on June 1940. Nothing else emerged from this pilot but in my opinion this fact gives a perhaps small clue, that French fighters whose actions were not recorded, were active in the sector in that period. Perhaps the attack on De Michelis was carried out by some of them.
Ciao

Ludovico

[robert]

Hi Ludovico,

thanks for you answer.
I have the book of Gillet but I was not sure with his deduction unless Lt.Martin claimed two bombers not one - I assumed that he had attacked a formation of bombers and not a single flying bomber.

Regards

Robert