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Aviation of World War II |
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SM.75 "Marsupiale"
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Combat use . At the beginning of World War II, in June 1940, all civil aircraft were transferred to the disposal of Regia Aeronautica. Part of the SM.75 was sent to the Corpo Aereo Italiano (Italian Air Corps), which was stationed in German-occupied Belgium and assisted in the air operation against Britain. Here "Savoy" performed transport functions supplying the corps from Italy. In addition to Belgium, they were used in the Greek operation and in North Africa, and also supplied the Italian army on the Eastern Front in the war against the Soviet Union. In North Africa, all Italian transport aircraft entered the disposal of the newly created Servizi Aerei Speciali - SAS. During the first two months of fighting, the situation on the African front changed so much that the Italian Expeditionary Force, which unleashed the war, found itself in a defensive position. In such conditions, the question of supplying the retreating army was more acute than ever, and here the SAS, created in June 1940, was very useful. It consisted of 31 SM.75 aircraft and four Ju.52 / 3m aircraft, distributed among seven air groups located at airfields in Italy, Albania and Libya. The connected SM.82s carried Fiat CR.42 fighters to Africa, while the SM.75 carried equipment. After the loss of East African possessions, Italian military aircraft no longer appeared in this sector of Africa. The only exception was the SM.75. In March 1942, a single SM.75GA, flying over Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, dropped leaflets over the city of Asmara for the Italian population. For SM.75, the war in Africa ended in a tragic epic with the removal of the Italian expeditionary corps. As for other transport aircraft (the SM.82 and Fiat G.12 also participated in the evacuation), flights across the Mediterranean Sea and, in general, being at airfields within the reach of allied aviation became very dangerous. The SM.75 is lucky in this respect. The losses of this type of aircraft were relatively small, while for the German Ju-52 / 3m and the huge Me.323, the Mediterranean became a real graveyard.
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Add Comment July 07, 2020.
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