Benito's British Blitz - WW2 Italian Air Raids on England
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2019
- Bet you didn't know that the Italians raided England during the Battle of Britain? A strange but true story.
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Me: I know all about WWII
Mark: did you know Italians bombed Great Britain?
Me: wtf
Mark has an uncanny ability to pick stories even us history buffs have never heard of. I learn something from him every time he posts a video.
Same here. What a great channel, so glad I subscribed
WTF indeed!
The Italians took part in every theater other than the Pacific although I'd imagine you are well versed in Mark Felton videos and have seen the footage of Italian troops at stalingrad.
I dont think he has actually said anything about it but there are other channels that briefly go over it
Tuljan i feel you XD
The RAF ace Stamford Tuck wrote about his engagement with Italian biplane fighters during the Battle of Britain period and was actually full of praise for the daredevil aeronautical skills of the Italian pilots and the versatility of their aircraft.
The Italians had some excellent aircraft, the CR42 was, as my late uncle would have put it; a nimble little kite.
I read that book at around 1979 after I did my CPL. He said he shot at one bomber and the pilot did one loop with it. He had never seen a German pilot loop a bomber when been shot at. Any small twin can be looped or rolled. Those are easy to do aerobatics anyway. It can be also a nervous reaction from the pilot. Why? You cannot outmaneuver a fighter plane. Hell no..
By doing maneuvers
1-your gunners will lose aim of the smaller fighters.
2-Bombers CANNOT OUTMANEUVER A FIGHTER PLANE. Dam nervous GUIDOs.. LOL..
Those were just nervous reaction from those coward Italians. Not a feat by any bomber. Pilot Errors.
Im a CFI of aerobatics and Upset Pilot Training.
That where I heard about it also. Fly for your Life?
@@psdaniells
That's right. I however disagree with the above viewer for generally calling all the Italians cowards. In the case of the looping bomber, who knows if the pilot hadn't been wounded during the attack? Stamford Tuck certainly couldn't, he only witnessed what happened - and even the feat of looping with a bomber must prove the pilot's flying skills, not automatically his cowardice. For an alleged qualified flying instructor, the viewer also wrote uncommonly faulty English, but I will leave it at that.
Italy: i'm helping
Germany: Not really...
History: actually yes
Germany and Italy was allied during The World War 2!
Please try Google and Wikipedia...
Got to say ...i had to laugh at our post very short but extremely funny. 🤣🤣🤣. You sir are a wit ...🤣
If Mussolini had been capable of recognizing the limitations of his country and armed forces, he could have achieved a lot more for the axis and not routinely bitten off more than he could chew. But of course, if he'd been capable of that he wouldn't have been Mussolini.
So true! Even the Luftwaffe high command didn't want the Italian "help" because of the logistics issues and diminished performance capability, compared to the German aircraft types in use.
One of my late father’s wartime duties was guarding Italian POWs. He said that they were a great bunch of lads, very friendly and happy to be out of the combat zone.
Quite a few of them captured in the Northern Desert campaign ended up as POWs in Australia, and were "hired out" to the farmers. And some of them returned as post-war immigrants after arriving home and discovering what a mess Europe had become.
Che cosa?! Ima so surprise!
yeah, they surrendered readily, probably thinking- "who's the smart ones?" A lot of them were taken to Canada where they worked on farms and in forests and a lot of them never returned to Italy, becoming Canadian citizens.
Some also worked on Mersea Island as gardeners. They seemed reasonably content with their way of life. They got on pretty well with the locals, so did any German POWs.
Many were sent to South Africa as well, my father in law being one of them. He returned to Italy to fetch his young brother and they lived out their lives here in SA.
These italians are taking the pizza delivery way to far.
One question...... were pizzas delivered in boxes in WW11?
Figuratively and literally too far
Everyone's favorite neighbourhood nazi 😂 Luigi me no navigato
Especially when more Italians suffered loss of aircraft & pilots on their sorties than the British.
I used to work for pizza hut until my car got shot at. I would say even conventional delivery is still dangerous.
"Italians lose wars as if they were football matches, and football matches as if they were wars" - Winston Churchill
TH-cam: "Italian Raids on England"
Me, An Intellectual: *"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs"*
Matodin IV This Deserves more likes
Matodin IV: You clever bastard lol
Mum a mia
I like this one.
I’m italian and this made me cloudy
Didn't Churchill say when he heard that Italy was joining the War on Germany's side something along the lines of "that's only fair. We had them last time . "
One of my sisters taught engineering in Aachen for a semester or two, and told me that, occasionally, the Japanese students would go drinking with the German students. After getting sufficiently inebriated, the Japanese students would say to the Germans, "Next time we'll try it without the Italians." The Germans would usually grin and laugh awkwardly.
"A big mistake by Mussolini." It wouldn't be his last.
Or his first
Technology comes at you fast. 5 years earlier, the Italians Air Force would have been formidable, by 1940...sitting ducks.
In Spain and Finland they were the absolute terror to communist aviators and ground troops... But against 20mm cannons and full metal fighters, there was no future for the Regia Aeronautica. Only when they got German engines under license that italian planes become worth something once again
@@riograndedosulball248 you know whats funny? The Italians built the fastest Schneider Trophy plane, but while the British managed to create the Merlin/Spitfire out of the race efforts, the Italians didn't get a good 1000 hp V12 in time for WWII, while almost everybody else did.
The technological leaps in aviation during WWII were CRAZY! Biplanes at the beginning... jets, rocket fighters and spacefaring ballistic missiles towards the end.
The 202 was the only decent fighter they ever had in a war setting they faced
@@riograndedosulball248 By the battle of britain, the RAF still mainly fielded rifle caliber machine guns on their planes, though in great numbers, which were still easily enough to dispatch of the lumbering Italian machines. Fared well against the German planes too
I know they are the butt of jokes, but credit where it's due - it took a brave man to fly a CR.42 against modern fighters by late 1940.
Indeed, italians were very brave, not just in this event.
True, and the Brits of the time showed the Italian pilots in their CR42's plenty of respect because they knew they could be dangerous. They even brought down Hurricanes.
"A week later, a dozen CR.42s from 23° Gruppo appeared in the sky over Malta for a reconnaissance. Flight Lieutenants Peter Keeble and Burges scrambled to intercept them, and the resulting action greatly impressed the Malta defenders with the CR.42's maneuvering capability. Keeble attacked one CR.42 - probably the aircraft (MM4368) flown by Sottotenente Mario Benedetti of 74a Squadriglia that crashed, killing its pilot, but then came under attack himself by the Falchi of Tenente Mario Pinna and Tenente Oscar Abello. Keeble tried to dogfight with the Italians, but his engine was hit and his Hurricane dived into the ground at Wied-il-Ghajn, near Fort Rinella, and blew up; he was the first pilot to be killed in action at Malta."
@@elliskaranikolaou2550 Any enemy deserves some respect as there is no sure thing in war. However a lot of the respect was due to the quantity of Italian planes over Malta Vs the few British planes.
Indeed. People should realise that it would be like Allied pilots taking a Brewster Buffalo or a Wirraway trainer out to fight Mitsubishi Zeroes.
Yeah, definitely!
If the Italians had won, British high streets would now be full of coffee shops and pizzerias - oh, wait.
They are!
It’s a shame they didn’t. The coffee would’ve been palatable and the pizza wouldn’t have fucking sweetcorn on it!
😂😂😂
Also, if the Germans had won, we would all be driving German cars and shopping in German super markets !
When i was a kid i used to go to the local Italian Air Force Club (AAA) as my dad was part of the military.
There i was well liked by the veterans, and i loved to hear the war stories.
The most famous of them was a CR.42 ace which fought in the battle of Britain, and had some incredible tales to tell.
While he was a short man in his 80s he was still capable of carrying me on his shoulders, the most sweet memory i have is when the Historic Museum of the Aeronautica Militare invited the club as they opened a new section, they presented a restored CR.42 to the veteran.
He didn't see that plane since WWII, as Italy lost all of them in the war and none were preserved, i still remember that, immediately after the unveiling of the plane, he didn't pronounce a single word, he just walked toward the biplane and hugged the propeller, with tears on his face, while the crowd applauded and cheered.
I'd love to hear their stories.
@@jasonmussett2129 One of my favourite was when, in one of the last flight in the CR.42 (just before switching to the MC series) he had to intercept some bombers (he called them "Flying Fortesses" but im not so sure they were B-17s).
After barely finding and catching them in a dive he and the other fighters soon found out that the armament of the biplanes did almost nothing to the bombers, so he kept firing all he had until he noticed that he was too close to his target.
He pulled up with all his strength and the plane emitted a weird metallic sound, but he managed to recover and level the plane, just to see the faster bombers fly away.
After a difficult landing, in a plane that behaved in a weird unstable manner, he got on the ground and saw everyone giving him weird looks, then his commander approached him and said something like "I now you want to catch them, but grabbing their tails seems a little too much", and he pointed at the nose of the plane, which was visibly damaged and scratched, along with a slightly bent blade.
Probably, as most of the war stories, he could have sometimes... enhanced them for a laugh or two, but you could read the seriousness in his eyes when he told the most dramatic parts and when he talked about lost friends, but he was also sure to always follow with a lighter story or a joke to cheer up everyone around him.
He was already a high ranking officer when i met him, but he seemed to not care so much about ranks, when civilians asked for his role he used to say "im just a general, nothing impressive", which of course only impressed more the interlocutor.
His name was Giuseppe Ruzzin by the way, he liked to take photos of what he saw during the war, and some of them are on the Internet, very interesting subjects as well, like the Italian BF-109s G just before the Civil War/Italian surrender. (He sided with the Axis after Italy split in two, i was amazed to see that there was no grudge between the veterans on different sides, but everyone even joked about that!).
Italy is like the goof brother of Germany in WW2
“Can I try? can I try?”
“Fine Italy”
“Thank you thank you thank you
Russian Bias 😂
Italy: **Falls over,scrapes knee and bursts into tears**
Germany: Oh for god sake you are useless. Let me help you up...
Italy: No! You're not my friend anymore! **Switches sides**
The true Fredo of the Axis.
"Fredo"
The Fredo of Europe!
I had an Italian parachute that came from a man who as a boy during the Battle of Britain had an Italian pilot officer land in their garden after his bomber was shot down. He said that his mother served tea and they had a nice conversation (he spoke very good English) while waiting for the authorities to come and "collect" him! They saved the parachute as a souvenir,
Mockery and criticism of the leadership is valid. But any aviator who flies in to combat is worthy of respect, especially if that pilot might suspect his aircraft is inferior.
Mike
Well said
Italian naval frogmen wrought mayhem in the port of Alexandria damaging several major battleships
They were light years ahead of the allies in that field so much so they were sought out and turned after Italy sought peace in 1943
No lack of guts with those men
Incredibly brave
Yeah I agree with the pair of you. Well said guys!
When he said they were flying Fiats, I knew this was not going to end well lol
@David Madden
As it does today, Fiat stands for “Fix It Again, Tony”.
Some Fiat designs actually were very fine aircraft when they entered service, but the planes they sent to attack Great Britain in 1940 weren't really modern enough to be fighting the RAF and the crews didn't have adequate navigational training. They lost a lot more planes to various accidents than they did in combat. Later in the war Fiat produced a really fine modern fighter, the Fiat G. 55 Centauro....just as capable as the later Allied fighters. It served in 1943-45 and fought on both sides.
@@georgecoventry8441 great airframe... german engine though.
FIAT Racecar, 4 Cylinders, 28.5 Liters, 290 Hp at 1900 RPM.....and watch this.... 3 spark plug per cylinder, 4 valves per cylinder (16V) and it was a DOHC..... yes a double overhead camshaft in 1911
th-cam.com/video/bsdWgmp4TaQ/w-d-xo.html
"no hurricanes were lost during the battle" well i would hope so, seeing those planes xD
Other war accounts claim at least 5 Hurricanes shot down
@@thecommentaryking The Brit pilots lost control for laughing too hard at the Italians..
@@thecommentaryking --Typical Italian lies and bologni.
When studying history it is important to remember that the Italians had a well disciplined professional military, outstanding generals, and advanced technology. Of course, they also called themselves Romans at that time.
Except they didn't. Italians and Romans are two different things. :p
What history? The one from memes, myths and WW2 propaganda or the real one?
@@thecommentaryking your cracking me up with that shit. You're woke, and everyone else are fools. Lmfao
damyr not really. See fire of learning’s post Roman videos
Jonathan Schmidt Really?
I read an account by an RAF Hurricane pilot who flew against the Italian air force in North Africa.
He said that the CR42s were very manoeuvrable and often skillfully flown.
But "if you gave them a squirt with 8 Brownings they just fell out of the air "
Could you consider doing something about the Italians who fought on the Eastern Front, it is a little known part of WW2.
Yes, much plese. Did they fight on the estern front incompetently like elsewhere?
@@jaroslavpalecek4513 Shake more your head, it seems that your two brain cells are not connecting
Jaroslav Look I found an Ignorant slav
@@jaroslavpalecek4513
Such a moron
Alan Brown they fought extremely well first the CSIR and then the Italian 8th Army
You have to feel bad for those men sent on basically suicide missions.
Suicide mission sums it up perfectly.
You forgot to mention it was first military action against Britain from the Italian Peninsular since the Roman army withdrew around 410AD.
This I truly have not heard of.Good job
Thanks for this Mark, I was aware of the Italian Air Force using the biplanes during the very early stages of the BoB but not the bombing campaign.
As a former RAF Airman and researchers I've learned so much from your channel.
Thank you.
Peace
Charlie 🇬🇧
I like your name
My dad grew up on a farm in Gloucestershire and he remembered Italian 3 engine bombers flying over the farm on the way to bombing RAF Kemble.
There is a good documentary about this event it's called Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
omfg
I am going to hell for laughing at this
Lol
Aye Thats A not a very A spicy meatball !
THECITYHUNTER lmao
I've read several books regarding the Battle of Britain and never once saw a reference to this. Thanks for providing another piece of history that should not be forgotten.
For those who laugh at the Italians using biplane fighters, you might be interested to know that if not for one man, the Brits would have also been flying biplanes in the BoB. In the mid thirties, when the concept was "the bombers will always get through" and fighters were considered unimportant, fighter command was still flying biplanes. It was Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding who fought tooth and nail against both the high command and the politicians for the development of modern fighters. He was the one responsible for the RAF adopting the Spitfire and Hurricane fighters to replace their own biplanes only a short time before the start of the war. He also fought for the development of early warning radar stations and the central command of all fighter squadrons for coordination of defence which played a key role in the BoB. If it could be said that any one man saved Britain during those dark hours, that man would be Sir Hugh Dowding. Sadly, since he was not popular with his superiors, the RAF official history of the BoB does not even mention his name.
Doctor Felton, you may want to consider an episode about this remarkable man. He deserves it!!!!
Daily dose of history from our friend Mark Felton. Thank you sir!
Good to know they were consistent with their incompetence.
You instead are consinstent in your ignorance
@@thecommentaryking
What part of this pitiful saga demonstrated any fundamental level of competence exactly?
@@thecommentaryking Italy was a disastrous liability for Germany during WW2. You know it's going sideways when the Germans needed to occupy the northen half of Italy in 1943.
@@thecommentaryking Perhaps you should learn to use spell check? You wouldn't want to be seen as ignorant would you?
My own 15 year old son is an RAF Full Corporal, 2428 ATC Squadron, he did not believe that Mussolini's Italian regime contributed to the Battle of Britain offensive until he watched this! Thank you Mark for helping to educate the next generation! Mark Barraclough.
Me: I know WW2 like the back of my hand
Mark Felton: I am WW2
Me: "Drinking coffee sees new Mark Felton video"
Cleeeeeeeeek!
I think I've heard that before a few times (or two) 😯
Me: "Drinking Woodgate Pear Cider, £1.99 for a four pack from Lidl, sees new Mark Felton video"
Yeeeees!
Cleeck? Oh, you mean cliiiiick. Got you.
People: What's that? Is it a bo...
It's a me Mario!
Oh hey its canadian mosley!
Hey it's bikeseat sniffer mcgee
@@doctordarkness100 every comment I post I get this or some other thing....
it is a good day when Mark Felton uploads a new video, keep 'em coming and huge thanks for all your hard work.
WWII history has been a hobby of mine since I was a little kid in the 1960s when my dad purchased Churchill's Second World War Life Magazine books filled with photos and illustrations of WWII, but this is the first time I've ever heard of Italian's bombing England. Thank You MARK!
As a born Essex lad, and living in Ipswich, I found this particularly incredible!
Thank you, Mr. Mark, for tolerating all these ironic comments about the Italians, these demonstrations of respect are always appreciable.
Thanks Mark for answering a previous request to do this.
News to me Italians bombing England , thanks for sharing, a CR42 gave my father a cut wrist when the pilot dumped his bombs half heartedly on a rock outcrop in North Africa early 40’s ,the shrapnel sliced his wrist , bloodied he managed to get the wound stitched up at an aid station, the scar was still visible when he died in 92’ .
One Fiat CR42, after the attack on Harwich Crash landed by Corton rail way station north of Lowestoft, Suffolk. The pilot Flight Sergeant Antonio Lazzari, a 23-year-old from Milan was captured by members of the Royal Observer Corps who were off duty but working near by.
Unbelievable ,I've never heard of the Italians bombing England , these videos just get better and better !
I look forward to your videos. The forgotten or obscure events of military history never fail to fascinate.
There's so many incredible stories in World War 2, that I would otherwise probably never hear if it weren’t for Mark Felton helping bring these stories back to life, with a great theme song, concise straight to the point information, and a voice that makes you want to listen anyways. Youre the history teacher I wanted but never had! haha.
Absolutely love this channel.
So glad I found this channel! I love WW2 history and I'm constantly surprised with how much I didn't know. So impressed how you can knock these excellent little slices of history out so quick Mark! Oh and 'obsolescence' new word to me, Thanks, keep em coming! :)
I never fail to learn something new and interesting on your channel. Just splendid !!
We are definitely having an Italian segment recently. Very intresting to watch
It always surprise me how people don't class the Italians as old enemies as much as the Germans .
Bombsights and bombing procedure remained rudimentary in the Italian Air Force: the SM79, for example, lacked an intercom between pilot and bombardier. To confer with the pilot or request a second pass over a target, the bombardier had to crawl up to the cockpit. The lack of communication led to an entire formation to drop its bombs on the Italian fleet rather then on the British during the battle off Calabria.
You tell the most amazing stories!
Very nice high quality video with flawless commentary. Well done Mark!
Love this subject!!!! Thank you Mark!!
as always mark great video!
1 - Thank you for an interesting video.
2 - My mother (died in 1979) lived in London during the Blitz, and believed that Italians had bombed London.
3 - I wish we could prevent the rude and smart-Alec replies made by those who've never had to fight or endure a war. It means one has to wade through so much rubbish to find the occasional interesting and informative reply.
4 - Perhaps sadly, Britain isn't run by Jews (myself anglo-saxon). I feel sure they would have run the country much better than the existing politicians over the last few years. But then so would the average Boy Scout troop. Daniel please note.
Thanks for another video. 👍🏻
Italian submarines were used in the Atlantic also.
They probably also got lost and the crew scuttled their submarines...
Impossible?
In 189 patrols 32 Italian submarines operating from Bordeaux France sank 189 merchant ships and several warships totaling 568,573 tons sunk and another 200,000 tons of merchant ships damaged while losing 16 boats. So for every submarine lost the Italians sank 6.5 enemy ships
It was actually planned to raid new the new York harbor
@@KVDC2008 The submarine Leonardo Da Vinci became the top scoring non-German submarine of the entire war, with 120,243 tons sunk. And the atlantic operating italian submarines sunk a total of 593.864 tons of allied ships in less than three years. Pathetic, uh?
You should post also the Italian Navies midget submarine attacked in Alexandria where several British warship was sunk and damage.
The Italian planes are just beautiful!
This what I love about Mark Felton's videos: they shine a light on little known episodes of history that have gone unnoticed in the overall bigger picture of WW2.
Crikey - what other virtually unknown historical nuggets do you have in store for us I wonder! Brilliant work Mr Felton.
When you showed us the Italians in the Blitz in that Rafwaffe vid you knew you were teasing us!
So 70% of the Italian airplane casualties were essentially self-inflicted? "OWN GOAL ITALY!!"
I fairly Certain that 70% of ferraris burst into flames before they reach 100,000 miles. It is an Italian tradition.
Never knew about this before! Great video!
Another fascinating fact Mark. Thanks for sharing!
I was reading an accounts by British pilots , of fighting against the Italians. One reported as he chased a BR20 . It dived and just broke up in med air ! Another said, that the Fiat CR 42 was so nimble, it was impossible to shoot down . The Italians being masters of aerobatics . But after listening to this , some of course must have been hit in the air and crashed.
Fascinating. I heard of these raids but knew almost nothing about them.
A WWII story I did not know. Thanks. Great job.
Idk if anyones ever told you but the theme song for this series is absolutely amazing. Please never change it. It excites me every time.
Bet they dropped pasta sauce
Spicy meatballs eh
Ragu or Prego?
Traditional or old world ?
Pesto made with the finest of pine nuts, the freshest of basil, and real extra virgin olive oil except the oil left behind for the engines.
@Caliban777 Food centered fighters?? LOL. Diabetes and heart attacks all over. Been Food Centered is for Fredo's..
"Higly beneficial to the allias"... I was near suffucating from my pizza when I heard it... you are a joker, Mark! Well done!
you are spoiling us.thanks Mark!
I live in Ramsgate - I honestly didn't know this part of the BoB story, thanks Mark!
This is very interesting as it is not well known that the Italian Air Force ever attacked Britain. A pretty persistent albeit brief lived effort. Sounds like a strategic error, but a very enlightening video
I keep watching this one. It just blows my mind, I had no clue
This is the most interesting channel I've ever found, all good info no bullshit.
Great, great channel. Please keep this stuff coming!
This isn't completely accurate. The Brits didn't like getting into a dogfight with a CR.42 because of how nimble they were and the skill of the pilots flying them. The pilots flying all the varied types in the African theatre were also known to be absolutely fearless against overwhelming odds of success.
Very true.
Well at least 3 hurricane pilots didn't mind.
"I say old boy, what do you call those 2 winged contraptions?"
"Target practice"
The RAF learned very quickly not to dogfight a CR42 in a Hurricane or Spitfire because the CR42 could turn better. Rather you used superior speed to 'Boom and zoom' ie gain altitude then dive to make a firing pass, then climb for altitude, then do it again.
This is the first time Olive Garden tried express long range delivery
As a person of Italian decent I am offended that you equate that swill to Italian food!
Olive Garden is not even Italian
After watching your last video and learning about this I was very interested to know more! It’s like you know what we want to see!
Great video as always mark 👍
"Squadron Leader George Denholm, CO 603 Squadron, described the combat:
The Italians looked quite toy-like in their brightly-coloured camouflage, and I remember thinking that it seemed almost a shame to shoot down such pretty machines. I must have been wrong, for the pilot who saw six going down at the same time said afterwards that it was a glorious sight. But I must say this about the Eye-ties: they showed fight in a way the Germans have never done with our squadron. "
Interesting Book on the subject is The Chianti Raiders: The Extraordinary Story of the Italian Air Force in the Battle of Britain.
Some records have claimed British aircraft shot down.
"Between October, 1940, and January, 1941, Italian fighters based in Belgium flew 454 offensive and 480 defensive sorties (including 113 offensive sorties detailed in the foregoing table). Thereafter until April, 1941. two squadrons remaining in Belgium flew a further 662 sorties, all defensive. Apart from the action over Harwich on November 11th the only fully authenticated encounter between British and Italian fighters occurred 01 the 23rd of that month, when 29 Italian fighters making an offensive sweep were engaged near the South Foreland and lost two aircraft. Pilots concerned claimed the destruction of at least five British fighters."
Brits of the time showed the Italian pilots in their CR42's plenty of respect because they knew they could be dangerous. Over Malta they even brought down Hurricanes.
"A week later, a dozen CR.42s from 23° Gruppo appeared in the sky over Malta for a reconnaissance. Flight Lieutenants Peter Keeble and Burges scrambled to intercept them, and the resulting action greatly impressed the Malta defenders with the CR.42's maneuvering capability. Keeble attacked one CR.42 - probably the aircraft (MM4368) flown by Sottotenente Mario Benedetti of 74a Squadriglia that crashed, killing its pilot, but then came under attack himself by the Falchi of Tenente Mario Pinna and Tenente Oscar Abello. Keeble tried to dogfight with the Italians, but his engine was hit and his Hurricane dived into the ground at Wied-il-Ghajn, near Fort Rinella, and blew up; he was the first pilot to be killed in action at Malta."
Thanks for posting video.
You posted; "Pilots concerned (italians) claimed the destruction of at least five British fighters." that number of sorties and planes shot by the Italians are just huge lies. Italian press put them as winners of the battles at all times, and no losses at all. Liars...
Put me down on the list of "I had no idea about this" comments. 50odd yrs of reading about history and this is new information to me.
I would love to see the Mark Felton treatment on the extraordinary Capt. Eric"Winkle"Brown. One of the most experienced pilots in the history of aviation, on a never to be equalled number of military aeroplanes of all nations , plus his remarkable interogation of the nurenberg nazi defendants. Thanks.
Read his autobiography "Wings on my Sleeve: the Worlds Greatest Test Pilot tells his Story". This is available on Audible. Also, check him out on the BBC program 'Desert Island Discs' from 14 Nov 2014, which can be downloaded from www.bbc.co.uk
Love your use of present day maps with the motorway network and bypasses around major towns
Love to see that he expanded upon that little bit about the Italian aircraft in the RAFwaffe video!
The crew of the two Br 20’s that “simply “ bailed out, bailed out because of the lack of fuel-which you failed to mention. It was not uncommon for axis aircraft to be lost over England at this time and the crews being forced to ditch there aircraft. I detect some biased. The Italian biplane fighter the CR 42 proved itself quite capable over Malta in 1940 and East Africa. The ace of aces during the East African campaign was Mario Visintini flew a CR 42 Falco w had a number of Hawker Hurricane to his credit along with a slew of other aircraft. British Air Marshal Maynard often berated RAF fighter pilots for shying away from tangling with the nimble Italian fighter
I've learned quite a lot today. Thanks guys!
italian Ace of Aces shot down 765 allied airplanes, 46 aircraft carriers and 84 battleships.. All in one day. And Columbus discovered India too. Dont forgetta.. They are a dam Bunch of liars..
When Regina Aerutica was fighting over Britan British Navy bombed Italian ships in Tarento.
*Regia Aeronautica.
Regina = queen.
Regia = royal.
Aeronautica = Air Force
Aerutica = This word doesn't exist in Italian
which Admiral Yamamoto studied carefully.
Thanks! You really cover some little-known areas.
First time I heard of this. Great channel!
Haven't heard much about Italy, this should be interesting.
@@bobsemple7660 so true 🤣
George Pearson
Except when they actually manage to do shit.
Like disabling two battleship with six men.
Or the engagements they won with the soviets in the east. And the retreat after the entire collapse they made managing to break out of an encirclement. . . On foot . . . During winter . . . With no mechanized components and lacking heavy weaponry.
Of the role they played in every single victory of rommel in africa. Usually overlooked but fundamental since you know. Whitout them the Afrika Korps wouldn’t even have a front from wich manouver, to say the basic.
Yes the Italians did not perform well and jokes are fun. But hell. There are quite the interesting istances in wich they actually do shit.
@@bobsemple7660 :- Not if you were being killed, tortured, or gassed by Italian forces.
@@bobsemple7660 It's more humorous that peoples like you has brains
Hunny Fox : because Italy didn’t do anything during WW-2...Germany had to do all their fighting
Dr Felton I believe this is the funniest video I've ever seen on Mussolini's Italy war "effort". Starting off they used Fiat made bombers known for being temperamental, the air crews we're ill-prepared and trained. At least they made great stylish uniforms. Lol
You know Italians were always used to fight in style and luxory. They had female officers for male officers. And some Italian general said that he likes war very much. The reason was that he could looking forward to his portion of great pasta every day.
Your comment = ignorance
@@thecommentaryking sez the self.appointed fusspot
Awesome, thanks Mark.
Another excellent video!
It seems as if Italy did everything they could to exit the war as fast as possible. lol 😂
Great video Dr Felton!!
Or to prevent Germany from winning the war🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Test flown by the RAF....the Italians heard them laughing at their Belgian airbase. Good job Dr. Felton.
Test flying the Italian bi-plane was just insult to injury. Let's just say the Brit didn't learn any technological secrets from the plane...except the fact that it was inferior.
@@KVDC2008 It was still better than the Gladiator...
KVDC2008 It’s generally considered the best biplane fighter ever. That just ceased to be a very useful distinction after about 1940.
Thank you Mark for yet another interesting video. It was certainly news to me that the Italians were involved in the Battle of Britain.
My father was a regular soldier, he joined the Royal Artillery in 1917 and was part of the B.E.F. After his return from Dunkirk he was posted to the Middle East via India. In your extensive research have you found any information about a false front in the Middle East. My father said that he was involved with Operation Bertram. I have found very little about this operation online and hope that there is a chance that you are able to feature this on youtube in future.
Thank you Mark 👍
The Italians also used the Fiat G.50 monoplane fighter over SE England.
Germany: We'll bomb London.
.
.
Italy: Hold my Chianti!
Part of this story is recounted in Fly For Your Life: The Story of Bob Stanford Tuck by Larry Forrester. The Italian planes were very slow, compared to the British fighters, who couldn't stay behind them for long. So Tuck tried two tactics. First he lowered his wing flaps to slow down. Not quite recommended practice at full flying speed :-) Then he tried an over and under attack from the side, where he attacked the formation from the side, went over one flight of three, under the next, over, under.
The British pilots clearly had little fear of this adversary.
Thank you Mark.