Monday, 6 March 2017

Macchi C.202 - Co-Belligerent users

On 3rd September 1943, the armistice of Cassibile was signed and Italy was divided in two sides, the pro-German fascist ones, in the Italian Social Republic and the pro-Allied one in the so called "Regno del Sud" (Southern Kingdom) also known as Co-Belligerents.
The Co-Belligerents had their own air force too which eventually flew allied airplanes too, like the Bell P-39 Airacobra or the Supermarine Spitfire, among others.
The Macchi C.202 also served with the Co-Belligerent Air Force and some others were converted into the better C.205 by fitting its engine into the C.202 fuselage.
Their main operation base was at Lecce, in the Italian region of Puglia with Brindisi, also in Puglia, as a secondary one. They served with the 9th, 10th and 21st Gruppi (meaning literally groups, but it's the closest equivalence to a Squadron) in September 1943 and, by the summer 1944 they were still active in the 9th, 10th, 12th, 21st and 155th Gruppi serving together with the improved Macchi C.205.
When the war ended, those that were still in flying conditions and that weren't converted into C.205s to be sold abroad, were used as advanced trainers by the newly created Aeronautica Militare until 1948 in the Lecce Flying School.










Sources:
1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macchi_C.202
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of FIghters

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