ADF Serials Macchi C.200

	ADF-SERIALS Australian & New Zealand Military Aircraft Serials & History RAAF Macchi C.200 Saetta	Powered by FreeFind Site search Web search


	Captured Macchi 200 Saetta Image Gallery

	When 450 Squadron, RAAF, was operating from the captured Italian airfield of Grottaglie (16 to 23 September 1943), many intact and damaged examples of Regia Aeronautica aircraft were captured, including several Macchi M.200 Saettas. Some are these are know to have been operated by 357 Squadriglia, of 157 Gruppo and the 94 Squadriglia, of 8 Gruppo there until the airfield was captured on the 8th of September 1943 (the date of the capitulation of the Italian Badoglio government and ceasefire with the Allies). A group of images exist in the collection of the Australian War Memorial showing 450 Sqn and Regia Aeronautica personnel disarming and moving these aircraft about at Grottaglie, most likely to clear the site for Allied operations. 450 Squadron moved on from Grottaglie on 23 September 1943 to Bari and it continued airfield hopping to a further thirteen locations in Italy until it's disbandment at Lavariano on 20 August 1945. Units of the USAAF 12th Air Force soon moved in to Grottaglie including the A-20 Havoc equipped 47th Bombardment Group (24 September to 15 October 1943), the Beaufighter equipped 416th Night Fighter Squadron (30 September 1943 to 28 January 1944) and the B-25 Mitchell equipped 321st Bombardment Group (15 October to 20 November 1943). It seems that some of the remaining Italian aircraft were picked up by the incoming USAAF units.


Photographs from the Australian War Memorial showing Australian and Italian personnel at Grottaglie Airfield disarming and moving a Macchi C.200 Saetta that had been operated by the 357 Squadriglia, of the 157 Gruppo, Regia Aeronautica. Note that the symbol of the Fascist Government had been souvenired from the fin of the aircraft!


A photograph from the Australian War Memorial showing Australian and American personnel inspecting a Macchi C.200 Saetta that had been operated by the 94 Squadriglia, of 8 Gruppo, Regia Aeronautica at Grottaglie Airfield.


An Italian Macchi C.200 Saetta flies over a Spitfire at Grottaglie airfield, Italy. The photo was taken after the 8th of September 1943 which was the day of capitulation of the Italian Government and ceasefire with the Allies.

The Author of this page is Brendan Cowan Sources: Australian War Memorial, National Archives of Australia, http://www.alieuomini.it/AJAX/catalogo/dettaglio2_catalogo/18/ , http://www.americanairmuseum.com/place/167693, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._450_Squadron_RAAF , A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945: Volume 2, Units of the RAAF, A concise Histroy, Volume 2, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._450_Squadron_RAAF , , https://www.stormomagazine.com/Articles/HistoryArticles_MacchiComparativeTest.htm Emails: Updated 27 February 2020

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