TheCanadianLanBoy it's a total war. You get drafted. No choice. You can try to hide in the mountains and fight with the partisans, but even they committed atrocities. It keeps happening btw, the US invasion of Iraq created ISIS, but don't blame it on the soldiers, it's not their fault.
As an italian, I thank you for your efforts in dispelling the widespread foreign bias against Italian military aviation and italian alleged bad enginneering capabilities and pilots incompetence and cowardy. You make a great job on putting things in historical perspective keeping you narrative clear of any propaganda.
As an Italian too, it's right to dispel the myth that the Italians were cowardly during WW2. The Italian Navy's Decima Mas frogmen were incredibly brave and humane*, sinking British ships in Alexandria harbour, but warning the crews that their ships were mined. The Folgore Division in North Africa foughtseveral British Divisions at El Alamein, 4 infantry and 3 armoured, with very little in the way of armament. Soviet troops who fought the Italians in Operation Uranus said they fought bravely, even though outnumbered, out-mechanized and out-equipped. *After 1943 when fighting for the RS on land, they lost that reputation.
I haven't heard that the Italians were anything but courageous but there is truth to uncompetence in leadership and engineering insofar as tanks and cannon . The metallurgy was weak and the tanks far too light and unarmed . However , Italy has a fine history in aviation design . Its was manufacture that was problematic .
Italians were pretty known for a strong amateur aviation industry with an emphasis on seaplanes and racers, the main reason they couldnt translate that into high production and this was something that the Italian economy experienced well up until almost the 21st century was a lack of large scale industrial assembly, instead of large factories that could churn out large volumes of equipment from an assembly line instead they relied on the prime contractors handing the work out to dozens of momma and papa family workshops with a small staff who would hand build stuff and in each workshop producing supposedly the same product it would be ever so slightly different meaning spares often wouldnt fit out of the box because the fixings were in a different place, or it was wired differently.
As an American, I just want to say that the most beautiful WWII fighter plane ever built was the Fiat G-55, followed very closely by the Macchi 202 and 205. They are more beautiful than the British Spitfire.
For 1930's aircraft the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 looks impressive, but as the war progressed the Italians with out the time or resources for up-graded equipment fell behind. The men who flew SM.79 against the odds were brave no doubt! I always appreciate seeing what the Italians come up with, often it's cutting edge stuff, Thanks Bismark.
A fighter that is not that well known is the Macchi C.205 Veltro, it was equipped with the Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine license built by Fiat, and three 20mm cannons. It was an excellent aircraft.
They got their reputation of mediocrity from two things. Their tanks were absolutely abysmal. And they insisted on using the outdated CR.32 and 42 biplanes during the beginning of the war. But their aircraft were actually quite good, and even the old biplanes were incredible if you compare them to other nations’ older biplanes. The G.55 and MC.202 come to mind immediately as some very good Italian planes.
It's true about the bravery, my father was a child in Valletta during the war and he saw the Italian pilots fly so low to avoid the anti aircraft fire sometimes they crashed into the roofs of buildings. Lions lead by donkeys
Actually "Lions lead by donkeys" was said by german generals to describe how determined and brave french soldiers were to defend the british in dunkerque
@@MODElAIRPLANE100 well you can but it's like an essay in philosophy or whatever when you quote someone, you say it's a quote otherwise it feels like you said these words without knowing it was used in another context. I'm just sharing my knowledge about this particular sentance.
WWII Italy is such an unspoken subject, it's really nice to learn anything about it. I'm very glad to learn more about this aircraft than I could ever hope for! Fascinating story. That'd be like Britain still fighting with the wooden Hurricanes in 1943 versus the BF-109G
In WWII wooden construction was not really outdated. Wood was not less sturdy than light alloys for unit of weight (both as mechanical resistance and resistance to bullets), and fabric covered plywood allowed to create very smooth surfaces (no rivets). Many WWII fighters and bombers were at least partly made of wood. The main problem with wood was that wooden constructions were labour-intensive, and damages to wooden parts were more difficult to repair.
That's why I picked it as the subject of my MA dissertation in 2016 :) Ref the Hurricanes that's why their designer Sidney Camm designed newer types, and I think an injustice is done to R J Mitchell by constantly tinkering with the Spitfire. Had he lived I think Mitchell would have done the same as Camm; recognised the limitations of the design and designed something even better.
@WebPotato that was the standard camo scheme for operations over mediterranean isles (malta, sicily) and north africa. They was used to call it "sabbia e spinaci' (sand & spinach).
@Brady Fries no, seems similar but no. Sparviero was a race plane that sometime in mid 30 won 26 world records of speed, winning the title of speedy medium bomber of the world. A civil Air plane for sport competitions, adjusted as a bomber (in Spain was decisive, without it and the sm81 the nationalists could not even land in Spain I guess. It was the 81 that protected the convoy de la Victoria) and later as torpedo bomber. The ju52 too born as civil airplane, but the sparviero was more a war bird than the ju52. After 1940 the junker was used only as transport I guess, the sparviero trough obsolete by now in 40, continued to fight in line until 1945.
Thanks for the video, a clear and interesting lesson. My dad was drafted in the Regia Areonautica and flew in that plane. He told me that the fabric covering had its advantages e.g. explosive bullets passed through the plane without exploding. He also told me the plane was fast but could be nervous and unstable. Keep on posting videos!
Ich möchte Ihnen für eine so schöne Beschreibung dieses erstaunlichen Flugzeugs und für die Bereitstellung eines solchen historischen Kontexts danken, der sowohl von historischem als auch von technisch pädagogischem Wert ist.
"The torpedo they used was of British design". Err... No. Whitehead Torpedo had a British name only, it was not a British design. Whitehead Torpedo means that it was made in the "Silurificio Whitehead" of Fiume ( Rijeka), a factory that was estabilished in 1875, when Fiume was in Austria-Hungary, using a torpedo design of Giovanni Lupis. The factory kept on designing original torpedos before and after it was passed to Italy at the end of WWI. Beside that, the torpedos the Italian used were indifferently Whitehead or SI (Silurificio Italiano "Italian Torpedo Factory", of Naples), whose torpedos were of different design than Whitehead, altough of similar performances. "They themself would not probably want to do it" But the same Germans used throughout the war (even in torpedo bombing operations in the Mediterranean, until spring 1943) the Heinkel He 111, another '30s design, that was inferior to the SM79 both in raw performances and ability to absorb punishment. Simply the Germans were trained to believe in the superiority of their technology, and so, for them, the Italian machines had to be inferior, cause they were Italian. Great review anyway! :D
BTW, after 1943, the USN requested a lot of samples of the Italian torpedo to study and improve their own design: despite being pretty conservative in fuse design and engine propulsion compared with the German counterparts, the Italian torpedoes were considered extremely reliable, something the USN really needed with the disaster of their own air to sea weapon early in the war. If it was just "a British design", why bother?
No, the 111 certainly wasn't inferior to the Sparviero. The thing is that the Germans were able to upgrade the 111, while the Italians were unable to upgrade the 79. Therefore already by the early war the 111 was starting to overtake the Sparviero, especially in bomb load.
@@michelangelobuonarroti4958 It wasn't able to carry more torpedoes, All the He111 torpedo bombers were from the "H-4" to the H-6" variant, that, as said, was inferior to the SM79 both in raw performances and ability to absorb punishment.
The SM.79 was actually flown in combat as a torpedo bomber by German Luftwaffe crews. Hans-Werner Lerche describes in his book "Testpilot auf Beuteflugzeugen" (test pilot on captured aircraft) how he was sent to investigate why these crews needed excessive runway length when landing the SM.79, presumably due to flap deployment problems. Lerche soon discovered that with the engines throttled back to idle the flaps would hardly move at all, in fact needing some engine power to slowly move into landing configuration. The cause probably being a hydraulic fluid with too high viscosity.
Wow! This guy has such a depth of knowledge, AND a talent for sharing it. Your English grammar is perfect, but your German accent is also perfect! As is your Italian accent when talking about Italian aircraft. I am so glad that you (obviously) enjoy teaching us about things we would never have imagined we would be interested in without your tutelage! Very impressive deep knowledge. Thanks for sharing! Vielen Dank!
As a land-based torpedo-bomber, the SM.79 was one of the best in WWII. It was fast, agile and sturdy as one of the most difficult planes to shoot down. However, as the War progressed midway, it began to show its age in the face of modern fighter and AA opposition and losses were heavy, but the brave aircrews continued to fly them on to the end of the War. 🇮🇹👍
I found what you said about the German view with regards to the courage of the Italian aircrews interesting. The Italians do not have the best of reputations when it comes to fighting, but when fighting along side the Germans in North Africa they fought with their tanks until most were destroyed. And I seem to remember that they were Germany's best allies on the Eastern Front. I understand they used German equipment in Russia, probably to help with logistics, and this seems to have helped. Their main problem was that, having rearmed first, their equipment was obsolete by 1940. So it was usually outclassed by the newer equipment they faced. There is the story, told by one of his generals, about how Mussolini picked the Italian armies tank. Having been presented by the general of illustrations of two tanks, Mussolini, after twenty minutes of staring at them and not asking a single question about them, picked one. That was it. That tank was the Italian armies new tank. It could have been the best, or worst, of the two. But that was never tested.
They didn't use much of German equipment actually. Between Italians and Germans there had been surprisingly few exchanges of war material and supplies during the war (first than sept. 1943). Nothing like the Allies after dec. 1941. Everyone fought with what they had in their own inventory.
Thanks, Neutron Alchemist. My source must have overstated this. I know here was some technology exchanged between the Germans and the Japanese towards the end of the war, regarding jet and nuclear technology, but they all went their own way. For the most part allies in name only.
@@bigblue6917 Not just jet technology -- the Daimler-Benz 601 (used, e.g., in the earlier ME 109 models) was also "exported" to Japan and used in several aircraft (e.g., Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien, Aichi M6A Seiran). The problem was that after Barbarossa (the attack on the Soviet Union in 1941), the only way to transport goods between Germany and Japan was by submarine and even that didn't work out too well.
In Rommel's diaries he comments that when properly led, the italians were as good and brave as any other soldier. He was headbutting with the italian high command all the time. He dispised the pompous attitude of the italian leadership while their soldier lacked proper modern equipment and training.
What for their eighteen months of WW2 - they came in when there was no one left except Britain…invaded France while France was being humiliated by Musso‘s masters yet got smashed completely and totally by the French and deported to re -learn the real difference between totally and totalitarian.
The Italians had the coolest looking tri-motor of all time in the Savoia. The raked canopy profile with fascia brute engines, the slab sides and the differing camo paint jobs all combined to give the Marchetti its signature style, and the uniforms those guys wore, very freddo with great style but in the end...a humiliated and defeated air force...
The "ch" in marchetti is pronounced like the letter "k" in english and it's like that in any italian word with ch, that's a minor mistake tough. Thank you for talking about some often forgotten planes. Great work!
Your last point about the bravery of Italian pilots is one definitely worth mentioning. Sometimes we forget to acknowledge that acts of supreme courage and bravery was displayed by the servicemen of all nations, on all sides, not just by the 'good guys'. There's a good reason why countries who fought against each other during WWI & II come together for remembrance services today; to remember ALL who fought and died.
one of the best weapons the Italians used during ww2, and does anybody notice a lot of damage the Italians inflicted during ww2 was done by Torpedoes? Such as the Italian torpedo Boats during operation pedestal,Italian raid on Alexandria by the 10th light flotilla, and finally by these amazing Torpedo bombers.
I like the "Sparviero", and other Italian WW2 aircraft and I will visit this museum sometime in the future. About the forward firing machine gun, I think it was not needed because the Sparviero had enough speed to out run any attacker. The aircraft could - I remember vaguely - do excellent airobatics, very usefull in combat. This aircraft also served well on the eastern front, with its own challenges of extreme cold winters.
I built one too in 1969, my only RA plane. Recently, I read the memoirs of Mr. Floyd Rodmyre (Hector, MN), who flew a Spitfire Mk IX from Sicily/Italy, and then a P-51. He and some squadron mates were told to intercept a white SM-79 and escort it to Sicily, I believe, as it contained a delegation to negotiate with the Allies. They did so and later learned the armorers hadn't loaded their planes with ammo, on orders so as not to risk them shooting down the SM-79. Floyd was impressed to hear I knew of the plane so I told him of my Airfix model that I bought during Easter break at Dassel, MN. Burned into my memory, I guess.
It's a beautiful aircraft. It could have been good for medium range passenger transport but it was not designed to be a bomber. It could carry up to 5 torpedoes but it was defenceless against even biplane fighters.
As a American of Italian and Portuguese ancestry Thank You for this interesting Video. My Italian Paternal Grandfather fought at Adwa in 1896 and evaded capture. His Son’s served and fought with distinction in WW2 . The Italian’s do not get the credit they deserve . One of My Son’s who is U.S. Special Forces has visited with Italian Special Forces. The Italian’s have one of the finest militaries in the world as do the German’s and other former adversaries who should be remembered for their sacrifices in wars against terrorism.
As usual a good and informative video, your objective attitude is appreciated. The background noise though is affecting the clarity of your speech. In addition, your actual speech volume level also needs to be higher.
Had the war started in 1936 it would have been a cutting edge bomber but that’s the problem with starting too early, you become obsolete when you are really needed. The Stuka also became obsolete against modern fighters as in the Battle of Britain but on the Eastern front it managed to cling on until the end. I also applaud the praise for the pilots bravely trying to achieve in a plane that had become a liability at the later stages of the war. It’s something one doesn’t think of. I read an account of a squadron of English Bolton Paul Defiants being picked off by the Germans and how the crews could do nothing much but pray they would get out of range or into cloud before they were shot down. The detailed account really brought home the madness of sending men in second rate machines against first rate adversaries. The difference was the British stopped the missions and dropped the aircraft. Bravery indeed from the Italian aircrews to fly such obsolete aircraft late in the war.
very informative and interesting but wish you could show us inside the planes and maybe a little film of the planes in action. Still it's great to hear more about these Italian planes.
I too love Aviation Museums. It seems everyone has their favorite. If you've never been to the U.S. Air Force Museum located on Old Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, and you're an aviation buff, I highly recommend it, it has perhaps the largest collection of different aircraft in the world, some of which will blow your mind, like the B-70 Valkyrie, B-36 Peacemaker (which originally was meant to be the worlds first Nuclear powered aircraft), SR-71 Blackbird and Boxcar, the B-27 that dropped the Atom bomb on Nagasaki (on my last visit years ago it had one of very few later model Fw-190's [with the Inline water-cooled engine] and Me-262).
I remember in the RTS game RUSE this thing was a devastating attack plane for the Italian faction it moves quickly toward its target and if you have 3 of them you can destroy most heavy tank types and route super heavies. Sometimes I just made an airfield full of them (in game an airfield can hold 8 planes) and just unleash hell on enemy forces
78? years later- many people have no idea how brave the Italians were. Our view of the Italian navy is based ONLY on the British. We forget the Italians sunk 2 British battleships with human torpedoes Look at the Roma- it's #2 turret blew off the ship- yet it did not sink for how long after that? Compare that to the Hood lol Look at the misconceptions about that 75? yrs. later.
My Grandfather ALWAYS said (he was taken prisoner at El Alemein) said about (when “they” ) the Allies and propaganda stated about the Italian tanks ..”1 forward...3 reverse..” He stated...”...who is actually the braver? The one that gets into his vehicle knowing it’s impervious to enemy fire? OR the one that gets into his vehicle KNOWING it’s a death trap and with little prospect of success..?...” I will leave you with that thought...
I was always fascinated by Italian World War II planes, the tri-motor design an almost unique fashion compared with the other warring nations but one the Italians used in several aircraft. Some sources say the SM.79 was very stable at low altitude and should be in contention as one of the best torpedo planes of the war. As you say though a mid-1930s design used well beyond its reasonable service life and suffered accordingly. The Italian air crews had a saying "i soliti quattro gatti" meaning "Always the same four cats" in reference to no new equipment coming into service but more and more being expected of them.
Actually that saying was referred to the fact there were always very few aircraft available. Due to Italy's chronical insufficient industrial production and bad logistics, the air force suffered heavily from supply shortages. No spare parts, no new machines, no fuel means more and more aircraft were grounded and air units couldn't sustain combat attrition for long. Out of a nominal force od say, 27 aircraft in a "stormo" (wing), in fact only few machines were available to fly sorties.
Ah... The hunchback. I've always liked these. Fast for it's size, not a bad bomb load, excellent flight range, pretty durable. Good early war planes... I prefer Piaggio P.108 for Italian bombers though. Not many planes used remotely controlled defensive turrets and I always thought that was really cool.
DarkSpar13 remote controlled guns wasnt a miracle or unusual. The australians had remote controlled rear defense in their twin engined attack plane called the wimmera.
Very interesting video; too bad that engineering state of the art aircraft in the '30 and than stop most of the reserch is what happened with every type of plane in Italy, except for some studies in Guidonia, I think this was caused by two things: italian industry soffered very much during ww2, Italo Balbo was no more Ministry of the Aviation raplaced by Benito Mussolini who had less innovative ideas for the aviation. Glad you pointed out the courage of italian pilots. Really appreciate your work here on youtube in general.
It is interesting to note that when the SM.79 was introduced into service the German Luftwaffe still used the Junkers Ju 52/3M "Behelfsbomber" (=makeshift bomber).
