The C.205 entered production only five months after its maiden flight and began reaching front line units in February 1943. At the end of April, the 1°
Stormo, based in
Pantelleria, is the first unit to enter action with the C.205, on Mediterranean, escorting maritime and aerial convoys to and from
Tunisia. During their first sortie, 22 C.205 clashed with very good results against more numerous formations of
Curtiss P-40s and
Supermarine Spitfires. During the next few months, C.205s of the
Regia Aeronautica were involved in several major engagements with some of the 4,000 Allied aircraft that were stationed in the Mediterranean at that time. At the end of May, because of the vulnerability of
Pantelleria, the 1°
Stormo was moved to
Sigonella airfield in
Sicily and the minor airstrip of Finocchiara, 15 km south-east of
Ragusa. On 8 June 1943, 15 C.205s of 1°
Stormo escorted three torpedo bombers attacking Allied ships which were shelling Pantelleria's defenses. 3°
Stormo used the new type effectively to intercept American bombers and fighters in the skies over Latium. One of the greatest British fighter pilots of the Second World War, Group Captain
Duncan-Smith DSO DFC, respected both the C.205 and the Italian airmen who flew it: Like its predecessors, the first
Veltros were insufficiently armed, but the aircraft often performed well in combat. Guido Carestiato said the C.205 was the "best Italian fighter that he knew". The C.205 ace Luigi Gorrini scored 19 or 24 victories (in return, he was downed four or five times). Gorrini claimed 12 victories in July 1943, several of them with the
Veltro.
Battle of Pantelleria 1°
Stormo received the first
Veltros in time to fight over the southern Italian air base. In free-ranging patrols, the wing fielded 24
Veltros (around 1/10 of all those produced) and nine Folgores in an attempt to intercept enemy aircraft in the area. While patrolling between Cap Bon and Cap Mustafà on 20 April 1943, Italian fighters spotted a large enemy formation west of Pantelleria. The Italians started to close in to the aircraft of Nos. 1, 92, 417, and 601 SAAF Squadrons, which were flying at low level, but were surprised by six Polish pilots of 145 Squadron flying high cover. These were joined by other Spitfires, and the 33 Macchis found themselves in combat with up to 60 Spitfires (mainly Mk VCs, and possibly Mk VIIIs and IXs). The Italian pilots claimed 15 victories (one by
Maresciallo Baschirotto, who fired 500 rounds), with 14 Spitfires downed in the sea and another over African soil. However, another analysis of this combat shows that the
Regia Aeronautica pilots claimed a total of 17 aircraft on 20 April and claimed to have downed 15 Spitfires in this engagement; although Italian ground observers claimed to have seen 14 aircraft crash into the sea or onto land, only one Spitfire, flown by Flg Off Drecki of
145 Sqn, was heavily damaged. In return, three C.205Vs were lost. There is also a possibility that Bf 109s of I./JG77 were involved in this engagement. Allied records report only two C.205Vs downed (
Tenenti Andreoli and Fanelli), while another made an emergency landing near Cap Bon, and explains why some sources quote two losses and others three, but there is some doubt as to whether this aircraft, the only one to touch down on African soil, was a
Veltro or a
Folgore. At least one other Macchi was damaged, and the pilot wounded. Similarly, the Italian claims did not match any losses recorded in Allied squadron reports.
Battle of Capo Pula On 2 August 1943, two British
Beaufighters were downed and the Italians sent a
CANT Z.506 Airone aircraft escorted by four C.205Vs on a search-and-rescue mission. A group of P-40s attacked the Z.506, but despite the defence put up by the
Veltros, one American fighter crashed into the Z.506 and both fell into the sea. A USAAF search and rescue
PBY Catalina mission was also mounted, escorted by 12
P-38s. C.202 and C.205s of 51°
Stormo, led by Ennio Tarantola, intercepted this flight. The Catalina was taken by surprise on the surface near the Sardinian coast, having broken a propeller blade in the heavy sea conditions. The Italians also claimed to have downed all 12 P-38s, whereas the Americans claimed three or four victories over the Axis fighters with no losses. Later records showed that only the Catalina and the C.202 of
Maresciallo Bianchi, a close friend of Tarantola, had been shot down. The two or three victories over P-38s claimed by Tarantola are not supported by any data available; however, no further SAR missions were made by Americans to search for the downed pilots. Except for a crewman killed by strafing, the crew of the Catalina was saved, thanks to a fast vessel of the
Royal Navy whose captain was awarded the
DSC for battling adverse sea conditions, coastal battery fire and enemy aircraft while rescuing the survivors. Given the shortage of modern aircraft, the more advanced combat aircraft, such as the
Veltros, were usually given to the best flyers and most experienced pilots like Vittorio Minguzzi.
After the Armistice At the time of the
Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces on 8 September 1943, the
Regia Aeronautica had received 177
Veltros, but only 66 were still usable. Six of these flew to Allied airfields to serve with the
Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force.
Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana A total of 29 C.205s reached northern airfields and were used by the Italian Social Republic Air Force (ANR –
Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana). Macchi produced the remaining 72 aircraft of the third series for the ANR before production was shut down by Allied bombing in May 1944. Statistics on aircraft production post-Armistice are unclear and incomplete. In general, C.205s fought well in RSI service: they were attached to units that had homogeneous equipment, or at least of comparable quality, and were guided by German radar stations. Though few in number, they achieved success in inflicting losses on Allied bombers and fighters. 1°
Gruppo, based in
Udine, was equipped with a few
Veltros. According to one author: A few
Veltros were also delivered to 3°
Gruppo, based in
Vicenza, while further
Veltros were scattered throughout other small units.
Regia Aeronautica also had a poor opinion about the C.205N, plagued by overheating in the climb. The 1°
Gruppo C.T. of the ANR, based at the Campoformido airfield, was equipped with C.205. Its first operation, on 3 January, began with a surprise blow right away: the Italian fighter pilots shot down four P-38 Lightnings. By 25 February, 1°
Gruppo C.T. had reported 26 victories for nine losses. An extremely bitter aerial combat took place on 11 March. The Italians claimed 12 victories for themselves, but lost three of their own pilots, including 1st Lt Boscutti, who was killed by an American P-38 Lightning pilot after he had bailed out from his stricken fighter and was hanging from his parachute. On 18 March, 30 C.205s from 1°
Gruppo C.T. and 60 Bf 109 from JG.77 joined combat with about 450 Allied bombers and their escorts, shooting down at least four enemy aircraft, but Corp. Zaccaria was killed while hanging from his parachute again by a P-38 pilot who fired at him from close range. Allied bombing in April 1944 destroyed most of the Macchi and Fiat facilities bringing fighter production to an end. With the interruption of production, the Italians were forced to re-equip their three groups almost fully with Bf 109s, largely because the Germans were quick to offer some of their best models, including Bf 109G-6s and Bf 109K-4s. The Allies were less generous with the
Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force (ICAF), and
Veltros, including some upgraded C.202s, were slowly replaced with worn-out
P-39s and Spitfires, but not before summer 1944.
In Luftwaffe service Luftwaffe II.Gruppe of
JG 77 operated with requisitioned C.205Vs for two months, from October until December 1943, when the German unit was re-equipped with new Bf 109s. Thus there are photos of C.205s with black crosses painted over the mid-fuselage Italian white stripe markings. The Germans were less enthusiastic about the C.205Vs, nor were they really impressed by the early evaluations in spring of 1943. There is mention in the KTB (History diary) on 25 November 1943 page: "the group has 23 Macchi, 11 are ready to fight. Macchi is fast and had a good flying characteristics, except for the tendency to lose control in sharp turns. The fighter is disadvantaged because its radio, while powerful, is far from reliable in action. Refueling and rearming process is slow and difficult, it takes much time to make the fighters ready. Today's mission was made with 17 Macchis, radio control problems caused delays, and the mission concluded without intercepting the enemy." In the brief German use, Veltros had at least five losses by accidents, often caused by the inverted throttle used on Italian aircraft (In German and Allied fighters the "open throttle" position was forward, not back, and this was the source of several errors). The first losses occurred on 27 September 1943 near
Albenga. Two German pilots were killed and other wounded in these accidents. On the other side, it was recorded only one aerial combat in which Germans claimed at least one P-38 and two probable (1 December 1943). and Feldwebel Bozidar "Bosko" Bartulovic), along with three inexperienced pilots in C.202s, took off to intercept USAAF Fifteenth Air force bombers heading to bomb
Blechhammer, location of
Nazi Germany chemical plants, prisoner of war (POW) camps, and
forced labor camps. The Macchis attacked the USAAF bombers and their escorting fighters, 5th FS/52nd FG P-51 Mustangs over
Bjelovar, but five of the Italian-built aircraft were shot down both by the bomber's defensive fire and by the Mustangs. Only Bencetic – an ace with a final score of 15 kills Helebrant and Bartulovic bailed out and survived the war, with a final score of, respectively, 11 and eight kills.
Postwar , around 1960 Production of the C.205 continued in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War; the
Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI) proceeded to take delivery of Macchi-built C.205s until late 1948. Nor would the AMI be the sole customer of the type. During 1948–1949, Egypt received 62 refurbished C.205Vs, of which 41 were converted from C.202 airframes. In May 1948, eight C.205V and 16 C.202 were upgraded and in February 1949, three brand new and 15 ex-MC.202, and in May another 10 MC.205 and 10 MC.202 were upgraded. This last contract was not finalized and, given the end of the
1948 Arab Israeli War (1948–49), the fighters were delivered to the AMI instead. Egypt also ordered 19 G.55s and Syria another 16, all new-built. The new
Veltros were fully equipped, while the
Folgore conversions were armed with only two 12.7 mm Breda machine guns. They were the lightest series of the entire production, and consequently had the best performance, but were seriously under-armed. A total of 15 Macchis were delivered to Egypt before the end of the
1948 Arab-Israeli War, seeing brief combat against the
Israeli Air Force. Some Veltros, equipped with underwing
bomb racks were used in ground-attack sorties against Israeli targets. On 7 January 1949, a C.205 claimed an Israeli P-51D Mustang. In return, two or three Veltros had been claimed by IAF fighters by the end of the war in July, with another six under repair. Israeli secret services reacted with a bombing in Italy, which at the time was supplying both Israel and the Arab states. On 15 February 1947, an SM.95 airliner was destroyed, possibly by sabotage, soon after takeoff from Rome. On board were an Egyptian princess, several politicians and an Italian intelligence officer. A subsequent bombing was at
Venegono on 18 September 1948; one hangar was damaged by several explosive devices, destroying three MB.308 and one MC.205 in Macchi facilities. The hangar, not totally demolished, contained several Veltros destined for Egypt. All the G.55s ordered by Egypt were armed with four Breda (12.7 mm) machine-guns, and they were brand new; 16 were single-seaters and three were twin-seaters. Syria ordered 15 G.55A; all single-seaters. The MM/Snc were: Macchi first batch: 1201–1224; second batch, 1225–1242. Fiat G.55A were 91214–91220, 91225–91229, 91221-91224 (G.55B two-seats). During 1951, the final batch of Veltros were delivered, the fighter serving mainly with No.2 Sqn until the mid-1950s. The last batch, 20 Veltros (10 ex-MC.202, six Veltro sr.III and 4 sr.I) were assigned to AMI with deliveries continuing until 29 May 1951. The phasing out process was however swift, because the new Anglo-American jet fighters were available at a surprisingly low cost at the time of the official phasing out of the Veltro (around 1951), although the last MC.205 was phased out in 1955. The "Folgore" was stricken off register in 1948, with the exception of those C.202 airframes transformed into Veltros. == An Allied test pilot's opinion ==