Aircraft of the Aces 094 - Fiat CR.32 Aces of the Spanish Civil War 4.7 MB.pdf

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OSPREY AIRCRAF T OF THE ACES • 94
Fiat CR.32 Aces of the
Spanish Civil War
SERIES EDITOR: TONY HOLMES
OSPREY AIRCRAF T OF THE ACES • 94
Fiat CR.32 Aces of the
Spanish Civil War
Alfredo Logoluso
O
SPREY
PUBLISHING
Front Cover
During the afternoon of
23 May 1938, Maggiore Pilota
Armando François led 28 CR.32s
from his XVI
Gruppo Caccia
of
the
‘Aviazione Legionaria’
on an
interdiction patrol over the Balaguer
bridgehead in Catalonia in support
of the Spanish Nationalist Army’s
offensive. The Italian formation
consisted of 12 fighters from
24
a
Squadriglia,
led by Capitano
Luigi Bianchi, nine machines from
25
a
Squadriglia,
led by Capitano
Roberto Fassi, and seven CR.32s
from 26
a
Squadriglia,
led by
Capitano Vincenzo La Carubba.
An aerial clash had already taken
place over the frontline earlier that
day between CR.32s escorting S.79
and BR.20 bombers and Nationalist
Polikarpov I-15s and I-16s that had
attempted to attack the latter
aircraft. As the Fiat fighters of XVI
Gruppo Caccia
approached the
bridgehead to escort the last of the
S.79s home, the bombers were set
upon by 27 I-16s of Republican
Grupo
21. Diving on the Italian
aircraft from 19,000 ft, the
Republican machines enjoyed a
height advantage over the CR.32s.
Nevertheless, Maggiore Pilota
Armando François successfully led
his fighters against the enemy
machines. Indeed, the XVI
Gruppo
Caccia
pilots claimed five ‘Ratas’
(I-16s) destroyed and three more
probably destroyed. Soviet patrol
leaders Lt N I Marthishchenko from
2a
Escuadrilla
and Lt I I Turchin
from 5a
Escuadrilla,
both of whom
were flying newly delivered Tip 10
versions of the I-16 fighter, perished
in this clash.
In return, XVI
Gruppo Caccia
lost
two CR.32s in a mid-air collision
while chasing an I-16 (their pilots
were captured). Three biplane
fighters were also damaged by
enemy fire. One of the confirmed
victories was credited to Maggiore
François himself, taking his final
tally in Spain to six. His aircraft was
also shot up during the engagement
(Cover
artwork by Mark
Postlethwaite)
First published in Great Britain in 2010 by Osprey Publishing
Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford, OX2 0PH
44-02 23rd St, Suite 219, Long Island City, NY 11101, USA
E-mail; info@ospreypublishing.com
© 2010 Osprey Publishing Limited
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study,
research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Design and
Patents Act 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical,
chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without
prior written permission. All enquiries should be addressed to the publisher.
ISBN 13: 978 1 84603 983 6
ebook ISBN: 978 1 84603 984 3
Edited by Richard Caruana and Tony Holmes
Page design by Tony Truscott
Cover Artwork by Mark Postlethwaite
Aircraft Profiles by Richard Caruana
Originated by PDQ Digital Media Solutions, UK
Scale Drawings by Mark Styling
Index by Alan Thatcher
Printed and bound in China through Bookbuilders
10 11 12 13 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to acknowledge the support given to him by pilots,
fellow historians and his family and friends during the preparation of this work.
Amongst those who contributed were Spanish Civil War fighter pilots Gens
Adriano Mantelli, Giuseppe Ruzzin and Raffaele Chianese, BR.20 pilot Gen
Augusto Grassi, SM.79 photographer Maresciallo Ugo Accorsi and CR.32
armourer Maresciallo Giuseppe Gorini. Thank you also to Adm Tullio Dequal
and Fulvio Chianese through the
Associazione
4°
Stormo,
Gen Aldo Biondi of the
Italian Ministero dell’Aeronautica
and personnel of the
Ufficio Storico dello Stato
Maggiore
of the Italian
Aeronautica Militare.
The research of Gen Jesús Salas
Larrazábal, brother of CR.32 fighter ace Ángel Salas, was also of great importance.
I would also like to thank fellow researcher and author Angelo Emiliani for his
invaluable help over the years, as well as Giorgio Giorgi, Carlo Carlesi, Giovanni
Massimello, Maurizio Logoluso, Gianna Porcelli, Lucrezia Di Molfetta, Angel
Sanchez, Haåkan Gustavsson.

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