This is not intended as a criticism: Italy in 1920s had some of the best aircraft in the world. Mussolini used this lead to build a large air arm in the early 1930s. By the the outbreak of the war most of those aircraft were still in front line service. As Italy had fully armed at that point their designers had little chance to keep up with the rapid developments of the late 1930s. In contrast Britain built few aircraft during that period but was alway putting small batches of improved designs into service. This left them with shortages of aircraft at the outbreak of war but in a better position to get more modern machines into frontline service and to build more of those designs that worked.
The cottage industry that built the British aircraft also exsisted in Poland and led to radically different designs than the Germans and Americans. Poverty leads to inovation.
A very good point. Goes to show the reasons why these advanced nations had such variety in their air arm capabilities. It was a matter of priorities which were sometimes ill focused. Italy had almost as many planes as France and Britain combined at the beginning of the war; no small feat. But like you said, they didn’t focus on newer designs enough.
+Robert Beaudoin The Italian Navy had beautifully designed ships, but no radar and that made them sitting ducks, nor fuel oil. That meant they sat in ports waiting to be bombed most of the time. Also, oddly, more Italian ships' captains elected to go down with their ships than officers of other navies...
+Robert Beaudoin The Fiat G.55 Centauro was the best Italian airfighter, it could effectively fight with Supermarine Spitfire, P51 Mustang and Messerschmitt 109G on equal terms.
+Robert Beaudoin The basic problem was Italy's lack of industrial capacity to support a modern war. They also finally designed a modern tank that adopted many features of German tanks. However they produced only a few of these before Italy switched sides. The factory was in northern Italy and Germans kept the factory going for awhile and employed these tanks as long as spares lasted and the area remained under German occupation.
American test pilots who flew captured MC 205 models claimed that they were a dream to fly and the German operators of the Fiat G55 also claimed that they were the best axis aircraft of the war.
@@melchiorvonsternberg844 All series five (and the only serie 6, the G56) aircrafts were considered absolutely fantastic by anyone who flew them. xoomer.virgilio.it/g55/G55his.htm www.aldini.it/re2005/history.htm defenceoftherealm.wordpress.com/2015/07/11/supermarine-spitfire-ix-vs-macchi-c-205-veltro/
@@sarge8147 was considered the best axis fighter by germans in a flying test during 1943 , and they tought that was better than the last variants of bf 109 or fw 190
maybe the MC's were nice to fly, but they were terrible underarmed, so they can't be the best planes on axis site. and do not forget the FW190 Dora variant, which was considered by many as the best fighter plane of all.
One of the best documentary clips I ever watched. Packed with solid information, intelligent and well informed commentary. Well done. I would love to watch the whole work.
MC202, 205 built: 2000 Spitfire built:20000 Italy fought in France, England,Africa,Greece,Italy,Russia ... Italy didn't have industrial capacity for ww2.
Mussolini was actually a lot more shrewd then the international buffoon he comes across today, he realized all this and that's why he only tried to conquer opponents he knew even the Italians could whip ( like the Ethiopians). In the 30's every other nation that might do anything about it - like the British and the USA - had plenty of other things to worry about (like the Japaness running amok in China) besides Italian perfidy in nations with no vital interests to them. Compounding the problem, Italians (and the Germans at the time also) then as now, were renowned for their old-world (read: ridiculously slow) craftsmanship and that's how they designed their tanks and aircraft. Obviously these ways of making war goods were much too slow for the realities of modern warfare that simply consumed everything (machines, ammo, men) in a ravenous quantities (the Germans were even worse at this, they needed American style assembly lines making "good enough" compared to "PERFECT" the Germans tried to do... for instance the gear sets of a Panther tank were extremely well made, TOO well made, since a hundred thousand "adequate" parts were needed not 100 perfect ones! Axis would have lost anyway (regardless of production, as you say they could never make enough of anything) but their slow manufacturing methods helped no one but the allies.
After the colonial war in Ethiopia and the war in Spain Italy was at the end of its resources. Mussolini thought 1940 that the war was at its close end since Hitler's armies were marching in Paris and the Allies (France and Grea Britain) had been put on flight. Never say never!
the refuse of the radar use was something strange from the soliti noti in charge of the army ( we had a good version of the radar in line with Uk and Germany)
This is a cool video. I wonder when it was made...the style seems relatively old, like maybe late 1950's? The narrative seems more informative, more even handed and a lot less dramatic than a lot of stuff I've seen. I like it.
In Malta simulation, the Folgore's 50 caliber MGs outrange the RAF 303s, but missions "flown" in real time left only about 10 minutes of fuel for establishing air superiority over Malta - that's not enough time. My hat is off to the Italian fighter pilots for doing as well as they did with what they had.
@@4_vaccuum_salesman_of_marr944 That's a very good question. I've noted that video commentaries do mention them in connection with the Italian AF, but I've to see any war footage where they are utilizing them. It's possible that they were considered too wasteful?
@@gregtheausgman1164 Excellent point, and surely the math doesn't lie, but at least for purposes of the sim, head to head encounters weren't the RAF's best option.
@@8ALICAT BoB pilots were not flash marksman so lots of metal was bound to hi something..... 8 browning's is the equal of two x 7.62 rotary guns today ( at 4500 rpm.)
I'm not really into this "italians were shit in the war vs. they were the bravest of all" BUT... It's really misleading calling the armistice "Italian Collapse", something which I've seen countless times already in a similar fashion,what should be said is that the landing of allied troops in Sicily sparked all of the latent mistrust and frustration towards mussolini which led to his arrest. What I reckon should be envisioned is not a country surrendering because it lost the will to fight, they didn't, they chose to fight another enemy. Yes I know what some people think:"Italians are backstabbers, they started fighting their ally" and yes althought that is true you have to remember that 1. Soldiers are soldiers, especially conscripts,they will fight against whoever their commanders tells them. 2.The country and the goverment changed dramatically, fascism in the south was over, ideological differences would have made it impossible for the country to keep backing hitler. 3 A more cynical and practical view should be made sometimes, war is not a game and innocent people die, allied bombers raze cities and german military police execute citizens, you sometimes have to look to what really matters, destroying the country for a piece of paper that says "we should be buddies"?...that's why the new prime minister didn't want to outright denounce hitler and waited for the allies to get more of a foothold in the country...you are talking about german troops slaughtering unorganized and helpless people otherwise... 4 and lastly...you should really look into what kind of "Alliance" the axis powers had, it was a mess, no one trusted each other, everyone was at each other's throats all the time , mussolini massing troops on the border with austria, hungary and romania fighting together while planning war with each other, japan demanding that hitler declares war on the us(useless) while they didn't lift a finger towards the soviets...no one shared intel, technology...not even plans to attack other nations! Compare this to the allied coordination and you'll see what a true alliance is. Everyone in the axis was just thinking about themselves and doing stupid things with the war effort. The leaders of these countries were a joke, it was not a collapse, it was a Rebirth.
Good post. The lack of coordination was itself a reflex of the disregard from the diplomatic side of war. At the root a consequence of the ideological reality of fascism. There was no cooperation because there was no real plan behind the actions of the Axis other than killing and conquest. A nihilist approach to politics that ended with their own annihilation
The Germans shared tech with the Japanese. There were plans to liscence build german tanks and aircraft engines in Japan as well. Germany sold equipment to Finland and a few others.
+Crosti Mister you missed the point completely. First of all, Italy did not collapse in September 1043, it would be better to say that Italy finally found its legs. 600 giorni di gloria was a real deal, the best version of Italy ever. And especially in the military sense where Italian units and only Italian achieved the great victories, even as late as it was in the December of 1944. Fascism became the real thing and true to its nature after the congress of Verona and Italy earned its place in the Walhalla as it should have.
And Italy wasn't a industrial powerhouse like Germany and the USA so the production took too long. the complexity of the MC 205 didn't help either. but yes i agree with you the mc 205 was an excellent fighter and possibly the most underrated fighter of the whole war.
@John Brighton Nope. It was extremely good for the time it was developed, being on par with most planes of 1943. Also in 1928 Italian planes were the best in the world, since they were the only ones armed with heavy machine guns.
“But most were outdated biplane types like the C.42 Falco” excuse me? Sure it’s a biplane but it’s a All Metal frame and winged one with two 12.7mm Mg’s that out-climed, our-turned, and out-maneuvered almost anything the allies could throw at it. It wasn’t a bad fighter at all.
Italy was against an alliance with Germany, and Mussolini was always mistrustful of Hitler. Italy was more towards France and UK but they "stabbed in the back" Italy after Etiopia's invasion, so that's how Italy became a German ally. In North Africa italians were those who achieved most of the victories and the disaster was caused by the german decision not follow italian strategy to occupy Malta and so to stop british supply to North Africa. Alessandria was far more daring than Taranto....
Lorenzo stabbed in the back? Italy chose to invade a sovereign nation that was protected under treaty by Britain and France. I don't know how that's stabbing Italy in the back. How about you don't invade a sovereign country protected by other countries unless you're willing to accept the consequences. How's that for a lesson?
Lorenzo -- You are just another arm-chair general trying to rewrite history. Italy's military achievements were rather poor! They were unable to conquer Albania, and they were even unable to conquer Greece (an Italian desaster!). Thereupon, German forces conquered the whole of Yugoslavia and Greece within three weeks. And the Reich even had to go to the rescue of Italian forces in Lybia, with fieldmarshal Erwin Rommel (the Desert Fox) starting a counter-attack against the British, defeating them at the fortress of Tobruk and driving them back to Egypt. That's why German history books only mention Italian WW2 forces as incompetent and unreliable auxiliary troops of no significance. But the 'crowing achievement' of the Italian government was the breach of agreement and the breach of trust in 1943, when the Italians cowardly changed sides and signed an armistice with the western allies. Germans know them Italians inside out! And as mentioned in this video, the Italian air force still had to resort to Daimler Benz engines for their underpowered and outdated fighter planes, while the Germans were already working on the develeopment of the first jet fighter planes in the world. No matter what happens, Germany will always come out top!
@@groppermilkWehraboo spotted . You need to learn history bro. In North Africa .Rommel used much Italian troops in Libya to push the British troops stationed in the Gazala. Another Fact. The Italian Littorio Class Battleships has far more main armament than the Battleship Bismarck itself. And in Greece .Before you came in like a rolling ball .We are starting to push the Greeks in Albania in March to April 1941 .In Russia . Germany asked Mussolini to at least send the best Alpine divisions of Italy under the German Army Group Don in Ukraine as the Soviets pushed the Germans back. History tells that Germany is not always superior and only capable of getting defeated by the Allies of World War II.
You're giving me all the motivation I need to track this one down. I know it's in one of the books I have on the topic, but there are so many it will take a while to find it.
About the only Japanese aircraft of WW2 that we hear about is the zero. I don't think we, or many of us, hear much about the nakajima bombers. I don't think many people could immediately picture in their minds how those bombers looked.
Italy held many of the records of the Schneider cup in the 30's. There was a plane with two linear engines working in couple with two independent propellers .All this advanced technology didn't became mass production because of the opposition of the aircraft builders which didn't invest in modernization of their plants. They were protected by foreign competition so they needn't improve the quality of the products. The industrialists were only looking to maximize profit and the fascist regime couldn't contrast their lobby. When modern planes entered production they were too few and it was too late.
This was done because hamilton variable props were not there yet. The two propellors are a precursor to the variable prop. Dont forget the greatest piston engine ever produced came from schneider racing and no caproni had zero to do with it. Rolls Royce Merlin, no more needs to be said.
CFITOMAHAWK2 The Italians were very good at making the faceplates on floats. The Schneider Trophy races was the arena for aircraft development Americans an the British were eager to participate and show what they could do. The British Governement stopped funding the participation. Lady Houston thought that to be ridiculous and financed the development of the winning engine. That powerfull engine started the development of the Rolls Royce engine that was going to power so many famous aircraft. You are perfectly right can’t simply take a race engine and put it in a fighter. But the basics were there and the clever Rolls Royce engine adopted the innovations to make it a highly reliable engine. During the war engine power increased from about 1.000 uptown nearly double that during the war.
Honor to the Italian Army. "....it is perhaps simplest to ask who is the most courageous in the following situations: the Italian carristi, who goes into battle in an obsolete M14 tank against superior enemy armour and anti-tank guns, knowing they can easily penetrate his flimsy protection at a range where his own small gun will have little effect; the German panzer soldier or British tanker who goes into battle in a Panzer IV Special or Sherman respectively against equivalent enemy opposition knowing that he can at least trade blows with them on equal terms; the British tanker who goes into battle in a Sherman against inferior Italian armour and anti-tank guns, knowing confidently that he can destroy them at ranges where they cannot touch him. It would seem clear that, in terms of their motto Ferrea Mole, Ferreo Cuore, the Italian carristi really had "iron hearts", even though as the war went on their "iron hulls" increasingly let them down." Walker (2003), p. 199
+Daniel Störmu Really ! Thats why they lasted 3 years unlike Poland and France, who were defeated in 3 and 4 Weeks funny if you didnt fight with the Allies how the critics come out of the Woodwork.
Fascinating . I reckon the canteens at the Italian airbases would have served good grub . The MC-200 definitely could get inside the turning circle of the Hawker Hurricane , especially at low altitude .
Given the Italians would have been capable of producing a decent engine better fighters should have been available sooner then they were. Fascist incompetence and corruption hampered their own war effort and cost many Italian lives.
Dear binaway, it's always the same story. Fascism was ridiculous, incompetent and corrupted. Please, explain us why so many Italians liked Fascism and still miss it. I would also like to remember you what Churchill said in 1927, after a meeting with Mussolini, "if I were an Italian I would vote for him". Obviously it is true we were not ready for a world war and our industry couldn't cope with other industrial countries. Also our people don't look like having a "warrior's Spirit". War was a tremendous mistake by Mussolini. Best regards, Paolo
@@Tommys0311 "You American mate of the mafia." I'm not familiar with the Italian language, I don't even know a single word of Italian. But is that really an insult or a confusing attempt of one?
I think the g55 deserved a mention, since it's believed by many to be the best axis fighter of the war, but when presented to Germany, they instead chose to keep making the bf109 because they could make them faster than they could the g55. Basically, quantity over quality
Italian "Series 5" fighters were among the best fighters produced during the war, but were produced in total less than 600, while the Spitfires were produced more than 20,000, perhaps for that reason do not talk about them.
World War II ultimately came down to economics. Back in the 80's, I visited the WWII room of the Smithsonian Institute. On the one side of the room, they had a Spitfire. Facing it on the other side of the room was an Me-109. Hanging from the ceiling was a Folgore. The Brits produced over 20,000 Spitfires. The Germans more than 40,000 Me-109s. And Italy? Only 1200 MC-202 Folgores. (Overall Italian aircraft production during the war was only 12,000 for all types.) That, in a nutshell, explains why Italy had a miserable war.
@@67claudius One of the old aircraft books I have put the WW I total at 17,000. So Mussolini actually did a worse job managing the wartime economy than the old Liberal government that ruled during WW I. (Of course, one should remember that Italy fought on the side of the Allies in WW I and the Allies were more generous with aid to Italy than the Germans were in WW II.)
@@folgore1 During WW1 Italy received many raw materials from the British Empire and this also explains why it built 16,000 cannons, while Fascist Italy did not reach 8000. Mussolini depended on Germany for raw materials which did not even have any for itself.
The Italian army did NOT collapse in 1943. The government did. Most of the soldiers either joined the allies or the axis and fought on until 1945. The reason we don't see too much video or photos of them is that they are wearing and using mostly German, American, or British uniforms and weapons.
Yeah and that's exactly what collapsing means... Scattering, dividing into different factions, being imprisoned or deserting... That's what happened, an army is no longer one if it doesn't fight for its own flag as one. Of course all the soldiers didn't vanish, but there was no longer an official Regio Esercito (Italian Army) of a sovereign state. I'm Italian so I'm not biased in any way.
The primary weakness's of the Italian Air force were numbers and radio's. Both of these could have been dealt with if the Germans had the vision to supply their allies with equipment. The final series of Italian fighters were world class machines but they were only made possible by the supply of Mercedes-Benz DB-605 engines as used in the ME-109. These Italian fighters were superior to the ME-109 which was an older design by 1944.
I really appreciate this video because the speaker doesn't butcher word pronunciation, he sometimes puts the stress on the wrong wowels but It's overrall quite accurate
The Macchi 202 Folgore was one of the fastest planes in Second World War. If I remember the fact correctly their ascension speed was superior to those of Spitfire and Me109.
+Esteban Mata Vargas The first models of that aeroplane had many defects, and could be a death trap if the pilot was not careful, and the Spitfire had a superior rate of climb. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macchi_C.202
Esteban Mata Vargas Yes, which still does not change the fact that the Supermarine Spitfire had a better rate of climb. The Ma. 202 did, however, have a better rate of climb than the Hawker Hurricane.
@deino117 was the fiat g55, after 8th september germans tested all the italian serie 5 aircrafts, and found the fiat to be better then their current 109 g(score of 10; 109, reggiane 2005 and fw 109 at score of 9 and the poor 205 gained only 8); they even considered switching the production from 109 to g55, but the italian fighter took more rawmeterials and exactly twice the time to build
Bit of scary thought there; Italian panache in design coupled to German engineering. If that had meshed we'd be drinking German beer and eating Italian pasta.
@deino117 The Late war Italian fighters plane for plane were the equal of any produced by any country during the war. However the fact that three seperate and similiar planes were produced using three airframes and the same engine also shows the weakness of Italian war planning and production. In the battle for meaningful numbers the Italians were not in the game. The American P-40 and British Hurricane both less capable planes were significant because of numbers.
Fortunately I have a 21st. Century plastic 1/32nd. scale of a 205 in my collection. Jamming it full of "nuts & bolts" from my shed, it feels like a diecast model........VIVA ITALIA !!
Unlike the Germans and British who started rearming in the 30's the Italians rearmed in the 20's which meant that by the time the war started their equipment was largely obsolete
OK, so the radial engine version of the MC202 was underpowered and under gunned, but it did have very sexy lines, arguably making it the best looking of WW2 fighters. I like the looks of the Fairy Swordfish.
Excellent elementary/middle school history books level there. The italian front took the lives of... more than 1.000.000 human beings, either italians, austrians, germans (who contrary to your in-depth assessment , were there from 1917 on...), croats, and many others. The injured were more than 2.200.000 men, from both sides. The Austrian empire was not falling apart.WW1 was the cause of its finale demise, and relocated Austria inland and without sea access.Russian,Italians and the allies (more)
There is a small wargame covering the aerial combats over Malta during WW2 called Dueling Eagles. We have done a review of it on our channel some time ago. Very nice design.
May be, history is made by the winners, that's why almost no one knows the deadly Raid on Alexandria by the Decima Mas, but one must admit that 600 aircrafts are a really paltry number when compared with the 15,000 Mustang P51. We must admit that Italy started the war with too many Fiat Cr 42, and underpowered Macchi Mc 200 and Fiat G50. in the thirties, the Ministry of Aeronautics blocked the development of linear motor, in which Italy had achieved excellent results in favor of radial engines.
Brits, Aussies & Kiwis should take the Red Pill and wake up to reality. The Italian 8th Bersaglieri Regiment & Ariete Armoured Division scored Rommel's first goal in North Africa when they surrounded and captured 3,000 British and Australian troops at Mechili in April 1941. And it was the Italians in the form of the 5th Bersaglieri Regiment & Centauro Armoured Division that scored Rommel's last goal in North Africa when they smashed the Americans at Kasserine Pass in February 1943, capturing 2,450 GIs. (Source: "101 Italian WW2 Victories & Counting", available online)
lol , Italy is a third world nation propped up foreign aid. Brilliant Italian Engineers built italy on a Volcanoe in a earthquake zone. Third raters despite over dressing & too much after shave.
Most of the Troops Rommel used in his operations were Italian. If you admire the "Desert Fox" for his generalship, why not admire the men he led as well?
I don't know why you talking shit Italy's the shittiest military in World War II. you guys were bad at tactics and fighting. you can't even fight your own war in North Africa and lost to the Greeks😂🤣💀. it was so bad that the Germans had to help you, in Greece and North Africa and you guys can't even fight or even beat the Ethiopians. The Italians outnumbered the British in North Africa but you still lost stop making excuses Italy was one of the worst World War II Army's. and has a bad record of when in lose ratio records you're lucky you beat Austria. just stick to eating pasta and wine.
@Legio XXI Rapax- What is the honor of using a nice American invention to bomb peasants defending their poor country that you want to abuse and also invade?? That is frccking shameful. Fight on equal terms and you run like girls..
@Legio XXI Rapax--over perfumed Italian typical bullshitter-First one squeduled flight was American. copy and paste this, arrogant arsehole.. www.space.com/16657-worlds-first-commercial-airline-the-greatest-moments-in-flight.html
"Mein gott, ve are being shot down by our former allies!" "I said you should not have made all those jokes about spaghetti trees and macaroni harvests,Herman!"
Very true. Mussolini had the chance to sit out WW2, but he was afraid that too many German conquests would make his Italy mere lackeys so they decided to invade France (which was a disaster, French Alp troops repelled them), Greece (another disaster), Albania (relative disaster) and finally North Africa (which was such a disaster Hitler had to save them). The British attack at Taranto against the Italian navy was such a success, the Japanese used it as a template for their Pearl Harbor attack.
The Germans used Italians as doormats, they took Italian workers, after the armistice: planes, weapons, tanks. Italy helped the Germans in Russia with nearly a million men, even in France and during the Battle of England
You don't badmouth for fanatical nationalism, but you informed. Fighter aircraft such as the Reggiane Re.2005, Fiat G.55 and Macchi MC205 could compete with any Allied fighter, but they were produced late and in small quantities.
...the best propeller engine fighter was the Fiat G.55 Sagittario, but production of airplane was reduced by allied bombing raid against italian factory
Guglielmo Marconi was the first scientist to achieve successful radio transmission. The first primitive "helicopter" was designed by Leonardo Da Vinci, anyway the first real and functional helicopter was german.
"After emigrating to the U.S. in 1884, Tesla invented the induction coil or Tesla coil, a device essential to sending and receiving radio waves and one the U.S. Patent Office would later say Marconi relied on for his work [source: Britannica]. But in 1895, a fire destroyed Tesla's lab as he prepared to send a radio signal approximately 50 miles (80 kilometres) to West Point, N.Y." - Josh Briggs. Marconi may have made the first transmission in 1895 but Tesla designed the first radio. It has been a matter of controversy for over a century.
Folgore8585 the brazilian catholic father Landell de Moura was a contemporary scientist to Marconi that developed and even registered at US Patent Office some equipments to transmit Voice, not only CW morse codes from one point to other, only the fact of Catholic Bishops and Vatican don't approved his radio experiences and even dismantled them for a lot of times....
@@sigeberhtmercia767 ha ha ha ha. Who did invent the telephone ? Bell ?? Ha ha ha ha. It was Meucci, but, you know, the most powerful write the truth ha ha ha
@scottduncan44 I wish I could remember where I read this - someone involved in Allied fighter development said the design of the Me-109 wouldn't have made it off their drawing boards. A German pilot said the cramped cockpit showed the low opinion Willi Messerschmitt had of pilots. People always respond that most of the big aces flew 109s for all/most of their careers, but that just proves the value of experience. The Fw 109 is my favourite WWII fighter. "A Porsche with wings."
@deino117 By 1944 the ME-109 airframe had passed the limits of development. Italian and Japanese fighters built around the Bb 605 engines had superior airframes. The 109 had moved away from its origins as a nimble dog fighter to become a heavy unweildy high altitude high speed intercepter for use against the Allied Bomber formations. The Germans replaced the ME-109 as an air superiority fighter with the Radial Engined FW-109 which was the equal of any allied fighter.
Hello, I am a high school student involved in the Illinois Veterans & Community Classroom Project. I am making a 30 minute documentary about a local veteran and would like to use this video in my project. Please let me know as soon as possible! Thank you, Charli
Officially in 1946 however the first threcolour appear in 12 semptember 1943 with the italian cobelligerant air force in south italy when the king of italy decided to fight with the allies against Hitler and Mussolini
There is a huge lack of credible information on the Italian war effort and the majority of it is Anglo developed and directed anti-italian (and of course Catholic) propaganda. This nonsense has been paraded around as fact for decades through the post-war period. Italians need to become more involved in writing and contributing to more accurate histories of what actually happened during the war and link up with people overseas. There are probably many Americans (including Italian Americans who have been observing the above for decades) who can help with translations, editing and research. I understand the Italian attitude up until now has been to ignore and/or not comment but the "A-J" mass media now has rapidly lost the narrative due to the internet maturing over the past 20 years and its only a matter of time when wholesale histories of the war will be re-written to reflect what actually happened, why and who was behind it. If you dont take action, you will see these people "double down" on the propaganda to bizarre levels as they continue to lose the power to control the narrative. For example, note the attempt to re-write the history of the Roman Empire. The Romans now are portrayed as either Nazis or incompetent fools, they committed "genocide" (i.e. destruction of Carthage), were often (really) incompetent and a new favorite of mine-- there was very little real influence on the Brits during the hundreds of years of occupation. In the area of technology and science, the effort to discredit Italian inventions and/or usurp credit from the real Italian inventor(s) has a long history.
Like the American planes in Kasserine Pass lol 😂😂😂 That's why there are no American planes over Kasserine . They are afraid to fight the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica.
The point-nosed 202 looks a whole lot better to me than it's earlier incarnation. I used to play IL2 and reckoned the Folgore a very tough opponent though I'm not sure how realistic the game is. One wing appeared to be longer than other for some reason.
Italian pilots didn't like canopies because those on the early types were difficult to move if they had to move out... also btw, in Spain it was the Fiat CR.32 that fought the Republicans, not the CR.42
Stephen Coleman Right; FYI, the Fiat CR.42 was every bit as good as the Gloster Gladiator, the Macchi C.200 was a match for the Hurricane, the Macchi C.202 was even with the Spitfire Mk V, and the Macchi C.205, Reggiane Re.2005 and Fiat G.55 could fight all late-war Allied fighters on even terms. And in some cases, even though it wasn't exactly chivalrous, Allied pilots strafed Italian pilots after they bailed out and were descending with their parachutes. Like it happened on October 2, 1942 to Captain Livio Ceccotti in North Africa. Hardly a honourable way to win a war.
***** What I meant to say was that the so much vaunted Allied pilots weren't above doing something technically allowed (since it would be formally condemned only after the war's end) but not chivalrous at all like strafing a bailed out pilot while he was descending on Earth.
To think, Italy was the first to make the jet plane. It was in 1908 first done, but as always, the government ruined everything. Italy was way ahead of everyone, but their Goverments meat everything up.
Se fabricaron buenos aviones como el Macchi 202 y 205 Reggiane 2001 y 2005 pero tenían el problema poco poder de fuego para cuando se construyó el Fiat G55 Centauro en 1943 Italia firma el Armisticio con los Aliados
![Italy's WW2-Era Biplanes, Part 1 | The 'Peacetime' Fiat Cr.1 & Cr.20 [Aircraft Overview #79]](/img/n.gif)
Im sure the leather interior was finely stitched and smelled wonderful.
This is not intended as a criticism: Italy in 1920s had some of the best aircraft in the world. Mussolini used this lead to build a large air arm in the early 1930s. By the the outbreak of the war most of those aircraft were still in front line service. As Italy had fully armed at that point their designers had little chance to keep up with the rapid developments of the late 1930s. In contrast Britain built few aircraft during that period but was alway putting small batches of improved designs into service. This left them with shortages of aircraft at the outbreak of war but in a better position to get more modern machines into frontline service and to build more of those designs that worked.
The cottage industry that built the British aircraft also exsisted in Poland and led to radically different designs than the Germans and Americans. Poverty leads to inovation.
Beautiful summary.
A very good point. Goes to show the reasons why these advanced nations had such variety in their air arm capabilities. It was a matter of priorities which were sometimes ill focused. Italy had almost as many planes as France and Britain combined at the beginning of the war; no small feat. But like you said, they didn’t focus on newer designs enough.
202 MACCHI and 205 MACCHI VELTRO, G55 CENTAURO the strong italian aircraft
The Italians made beautiful aircraft. the 202 is a beauty.
+Robert Beaudoin The Italian Navy had beautifully designed ships, but no radar and that made them sitting ducks, nor fuel oil. That meant they sat in ports waiting to be bombed most of the time. Also, oddly, more Italian ships' captains elected to go down with their ships than officers of other navies...
I haven't had a chance to look at the ships they made, Ill have to check them out!! Thank you for the idea!!
+Robert Beaudoin The Fiat G.55 Centauro was the best Italian airfighter, it could effectively fight with Supermarine Spitfire, P51 Mustang and Messerschmitt 109G on equal terms.
+Robert Beaudoin Perhaps, a beauty, but underpowered, under-armed, and under armored. And under-produced...
+Robert Beaudoin The basic problem was Italy's lack of industrial capacity to support a modern war. They also finally designed a modern tank that adopted many features of German tanks. However they produced only a few of these before Italy switched sides. The factory was in northern Italy and Germans kept the factory going for awhile and employed these tanks as long as spares lasted and the area remained under German occupation.
American test pilots who flew captured MC 205 models claimed that they were a dream to fly and the German operators of the Fiat G55 also claimed that they were the best axis aircraft of the war.
Yep! That was a good one! From where you get such superb jokes...?
@@melchiorvonsternberg844 All series five (and the only serie 6, the G56) aircrafts were considered absolutely fantastic by anyone who flew them.
xoomer.virgilio.it/g55/G55his.htm
www.aldini.it/re2005/history.htm
defenceoftherealm.wordpress.com/2015/07/11/supermarine-spitfire-ix-vs-macchi-c-205-veltro/
@@sarge8147 was considered the best axis fighter by germans in a flying test during 1943 , and they tought that was better than the last variants of bf 109 or fw 190
maybe the MC's were nice to fly, but they were terrible underarmed, so they can't be the best planes on axis site. and do not forget the FW190 Dora variant, which was considered by many as the best fighter plane of all.
@@melchiorvonsternberg844 not really a joke. Is why they make the finest most wanted cars in the world to this day
One of the best documentary clips I ever watched. Packed with solid information, intelligent and well informed commentary. Well done. I would love to watch the whole work.
They might have been undergunned and underpowered for the most part but the Italians had some really nice looking planes....
MC202, 205 built: 2000
Spitfire built:20000
Italy fought in France, England,Africa,Greece,Italy,Russia ...
Italy didn't have industrial capacity for ww2.
everybody knew that but Mussolini, well even he knew it, why else pick on the Ethiopians with literally not even real guns, machine gun vs spear?
Mussolini was actually a lot more shrewd then the international buffoon he comes across today, he realized all this and that's why he only tried to conquer opponents he knew even the Italians could whip ( like the Ethiopians). In the 30's every other nation that might do anything about it - like the British and the USA - had plenty of other things to worry about (like the Japaness running amok in China) besides Italian perfidy in nations with no vital interests to them. Compounding the problem, Italians (and the Germans at the time also) then as now, were renowned for their old-world (read: ridiculously slow) craftsmanship and that's how they designed their tanks and aircraft. Obviously these ways of making war goods were much too slow for the realities of modern warfare that simply consumed everything (machines, ammo, men) in a ravenous quantities (the Germans were even worse at this, they needed American style assembly lines making "good enough" compared to "PERFECT" the Germans tried to do... for instance the gear sets of a Panther tank were extremely well made, TOO well made, since a hundred thousand "adequate" parts were needed not 100 perfect ones! Axis would have lost anyway (regardless of production, as you say they could never make enough of anything) but their slow manufacturing methods helped no one but the allies.
After the colonial war in Ethiopia and the war in Spain Italy was at the end of its resources. Mussolini thought 1940 that the war was at its close end since Hitler's armies were marching in Paris and the Allies (France and Grea Britain) had been put on flight. Never say never!
the refuse of the radar use was something strange from the soliti noti in charge of the army ( we had a good version of the radar in line with Uk and Germany)
Yeah, good point.
That MC 202 looks like a better plane than the Bf 109, since the landing gear track is wider, and thus less likely to crash while taxiing and landing.
yes, Fiat G.55 - Macchi C.205 - Reggiane Re.2005
This is a cool video. I wonder when it was made...the style seems relatively old, like maybe late 1950's? The narrative seems more informative, more even handed and a lot less dramatic than a lot of stuff I've seen. I like it.
In Malta simulation, the Folgore's 50 caliber MGs outrange the RAF 303s, but missions "flown" in real time left only about 10 minutes of fuel for establishing air superiority over Malta - that's not enough time. My hat is off to the Italian fighter pilots for doing as well as they did with what they had.
Why didn't they use drop tanks?
@@4_vaccuum_salesman_of_marr944 That's a very good question. I've noted that video commentaries do mention them in connection with the Italian AF, but I've to see any war footage where they are utilizing them. It's possible that they were considered too wasteful?
range maybe ...but 8 x 303 x 1100 rpm per gun..... do the math.
@@gregtheausgman1164 Excellent point, and surely the math doesn't lie, but at least for purposes of the sim, head to head encounters weren't the RAF's best option.
@@8ALICAT BoB pilots were not flash marksman so lots of metal was bound to hi something..... 8 browning's is the equal of two x 7.62 rotary guns today ( at 4500 rpm.)
Italian planes were too underrated.
I'm not really into this "italians were shit in the war vs. they were the bravest of all" BUT...
It's really misleading calling the armistice "Italian Collapse", something which I've seen countless times already in a similar fashion,what should be said is that the landing of allied troops in Sicily sparked all of the latent mistrust and frustration towards mussolini which led to his arrest.
What I reckon should be envisioned is not a country surrendering because it lost the will to fight, they didn't, they chose to fight another enemy.
Yes I know what some people think:"Italians are backstabbers, they started fighting their ally" and yes althought that is true you have to remember that 1. Soldiers are soldiers, especially conscripts,they will fight against whoever their commanders tells them. 2.The country and the goverment changed dramatically, fascism in the south was over, ideological differences would have made it impossible for the country to keep backing hitler. 3 A more cynical and practical view should be made sometimes, war is not a game and innocent people die, allied bombers raze cities and german military police execute citizens, you sometimes have to look to what really matters, destroying the country for a piece of paper that says "we should be buddies"?...that's why the new prime minister didn't want to outright denounce hitler and waited for the allies to get more of a foothold in the country...you are talking about german troops slaughtering unorganized and helpless people otherwise...
4 and lastly...you should really look into what kind of "Alliance" the axis powers had, it was a mess, no one trusted each other, everyone was at each other's throats all the time , mussolini massing troops on the border with austria, hungary and romania fighting together while planning war with each other, japan demanding that hitler declares war on the us(useless) while they didn't lift a finger towards the soviets...no one shared intel, technology...not even plans to attack other nations!
Compare this to the allied coordination and you'll see what a true alliance is.
Everyone in the axis was just thinking about themselves and doing stupid things with the war effort. The leaders of these countries were a joke, it was not a collapse, it was a Rebirth.
Good post. The lack of coordination was itself a reflex of the disregard from the diplomatic side of war. At the root a consequence of the ideological reality of fascism. There was no cooperation because there was no real plan behind the actions of the Axis other than killing and conquest. A nihilist approach to politics that ended with their own annihilation
Very good comnent. Thank you from italy
lacking natrual resources was the biggest problem
The Germans shared tech with the Japanese. There were plans to liscence build german tanks and aircraft engines in Japan as well. Germany sold equipment to Finland and a few others.
+Crosti Mister you missed the point completely. First of all, Italy did not collapse in September 1043, it would be better to say that Italy finally found its legs. 600 giorni di gloria was a real deal, the best version of Italy ever. And especially in the military sense where Italian units and only Italian achieved the great victories, even as late as it was in the December of 1944. Fascism became the real thing and true to its nature after the congress of Verona and Italy earned its place in the Walhalla as it should have.
The 205 was an excellent foghter. Just by the time it came into service it was to late
And Italy wasn't a industrial powerhouse like Germany and the USA so the production took too long. the complexity of the MC 205 didn't help either. but yes i agree with you the mc 205 was an excellent fighter and possibly the most underrated fighter of the whole war.
@John Brighton Nope. It was extremely good for the time it was developed, being on par with most planes of 1943.
Also in 1928 Italian planes were the best in the world, since they were the only ones armed with heavy machine guns.
@John Brighton The Daimler-Benz DB 605 was better than any Ferrari engine.
@@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870 what nonsense Ferrari made engines for cars not for airplanes.
G.50 used in Finland - more than effective!!!
“But most were outdated biplane types like the C.42 Falco” excuse me? Sure it’s a biplane but it’s a All Metal frame and winged one with two 12.7mm Mg’s that out-climed, our-turned, and out-maneuvered almost anything the allies could throw at it. It wasn’t a bad fighter at all.
Italy was against an alliance with Germany, and Mussolini was always mistrustful of Hitler. Italy was more towards France and UK but they "stabbed in the back" Italy after Etiopia's invasion, so that's how Italy became a German ally. In North Africa italians were those who achieved most of the victories and the disaster was caused by the german decision not follow italian strategy to occupy Malta and so to stop british supply to North Africa. Alessandria was far more daring than Taranto....
Lorenzo stabbed in the back? Italy chose to invade a sovereign nation that was protected under treaty by Britain and France. I don't know how that's stabbing Italy in the back. How about you don't invade a sovereign country protected by other countries unless you're willing to accept the consequences. How's that for a lesson?
Lorenzo -- You are just another arm-chair general trying to rewrite history. Italy's military achievements were rather poor! They were unable to conquer Albania, and they were even unable to conquer Greece (an Italian desaster!). Thereupon, German forces conquered the whole of Yugoslavia and Greece within three weeks. And the Reich even had to go to the rescue of Italian forces in Lybia, with fieldmarshal Erwin Rommel (the Desert Fox) starting a counter-attack against the British, defeating them at the fortress of Tobruk and driving them back to Egypt. That's why German history books only mention Italian WW2 forces as incompetent and unreliable auxiliary troops of no significance. But the 'crowing achievement' of the Italian government was the breach of agreement and the breach of trust in 1943, when the Italians cowardly changed sides and signed an armistice with the western allies. Germans know them Italians inside out! And as mentioned in this video, the Italian air force still had to resort to Daimler Benz engines for their underpowered and outdated fighter planes, while the Germans were already working on the develeopment of the first jet fighter planes in the world. No matter what happens, Germany will always come out top!
@@rbilleaud Italy invade Etiopia while France and England had an half of Africa!!!!!!!!!!!!! And other countries !!!! Shut up IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@groppermilk Italy conquered Albania in 6 days -- April 7-12, 1939.
@@groppermilkWehraboo spotted . You need to learn history bro. In North Africa .Rommel used much Italian troops in Libya to push the British troops stationed in the Gazala. Another Fact. The Italian Littorio Class Battleships has far more main armament than the Battleship Bismarck itself. And in Greece .Before you came in like a rolling ball .We are starting to push the Greeks in Albania in March to April 1941 .In Russia . Germany asked Mussolini to at least send the best Alpine divisions of Italy under the German Army Group Don in Ukraine as the Soviets pushed the Germans back. History tells that Germany is not always superior and only capable of getting defeated by the Allies of World War II.
You're giving me all the motivation I need to track this one down. I know it's in one of the books I have on the topic, but there are so many it will take a while to find it.
best Italian fighter
Building a 1/32 Regianne 2005 at the moment, beautiful plane.
If WW2 had started just a few years earlier the Italian planes would have done really well. They were good for the time they came out.
People can debate all day about the performance of one fighter compared to another, but there's no arguing that Italian planes looked sexy
Aermacchi 202 was one of the best fighters of the WW2
Good video. We hear very little about Italian (and Japanese) aircraft of WW2.
About the only Japanese aircraft of WW2 that we hear about is the zero. I don't think we, or many of us, hear much about the nakajima bombers. I don't think many people could immediately picture in their minds how those bombers looked.
Italy held many of the records of the Schneider cup in the 30's. There was a plane with two linear engines working in couple with two independent propellers .All this advanced technology didn't became mass production because of the opposition of the aircraft builders which didn't invest in modernization of their plants. They were protected by foreign competition so they needn't improve the quality of the products. The industrialists were only looking to maximize profit and the fascist regime couldn't contrast their lobby. When modern planes entered production they were too few and it was too late.
This was done because hamilton variable props were not there yet. The two propellors are a precursor to the variable prop.
Dont forget the greatest piston engine ever produced came from schneider racing and no caproni had zero to do with it.
Rolls Royce Merlin, no more needs to be said.
You can make a racer to break speed limits. And last 2 races and has to be rebuilt. But in war that never works. It has to last too.
CFITOMAHAWK2 The Italians were very good at making the faceplates on floats. The Schneider Trophy races was the arena for aircraft development Americans an the British were eager to participate and show what they could do. The British Governement stopped funding the participation. Lady Houston thought that to be ridiculous and financed the development of the winning engine. That powerfull engine started the development of the Rolls Royce engine that was going to power so many famous aircraft. You are perfectly right can’t simply take a race engine and put it in a fighter. But the basics were there and the clever Rolls Royce engine adopted the innovations to make it a highly reliable engine. During the war engine power increased from about 1.000 uptown nearly double that during the war.
@@georgehonk5558 The Daimler Benz DB 605 was just as good
Honor to the Italian Army.
"....it is perhaps simplest to ask who is the most courageous in the following situations: the Italian carristi, who goes into battle in an obsolete M14 tank against superior enemy armour and anti-tank guns, knowing they can easily penetrate his flimsy protection at a range where his own small gun will have little effect; the German panzer soldier or British tanker who goes into battle in a Panzer IV Special or Sherman respectively against equivalent enemy opposition knowing that he can at least trade blows with them on equal terms; the British tanker who goes into battle in a Sherman against inferior Italian armour and anti-tank guns, knowing confidently that he can destroy them at ranges where they cannot touch him. It would seem clear that, in terms of their motto Ferrea Mole, Ferreo Cuore, the Italian carristi really had "iron hearts", even though as the war went on their "iron hulls" increasingly let them down."
Walker (2003), p. 199
In WW2 the Itallian army lost almost every battle. In short their performance was poor
Daniel Störmu When it met the americans for the first time at the pass in Tunisia it kicked they ass.
+Daniel Störmu Really ! Thats why they lasted 3 years unlike Poland and France, who were defeated in 3 and 4 Weeks funny if you didnt fight with the Allies how the critics come out of the Woodwork.
+ddm3542 when was it that Germany attacked Italy during the Second World War?
+Daniel Störmu not even close
the macchi was a great airplane
Sehr kompakte und verständliche Geschichte der italienischen Kampfflugzeuge im zweiten Weltkrieg. Danke!
@@caterinasupino9565 Very compact and comprehensible history of the Italian fighter planes in the second World War. Thanks!
@@caterinasupino9565 You're welcome.
Rommel said that the Italian Air Force is one of the most valour ones
in the war.
Fascinating . I reckon the canteens at the Italian airbases would have served good grub . The MC-200 definitely could get inside the turning circle of the Hawker Hurricane , especially at low altitude .
Given the Italians would have been capable of producing a decent engine better fighters should have been available sooner then they were. Fascist incompetence and corruption hampered their own war effort and cost many Italian lives.
Dear binaway,
it's always the same story. Fascism was ridiculous, incompetent and corrupted. Please, explain us why so many Italians liked Fascism and still miss it. I would also like to remember you what Churchill said in 1927, after a meeting with Mussolini, "if I were an Italian I would vote for him".
Obviously it is true we were not ready for a world war and our industry couldn't cope with other industrial countries. Also our people don't look like having a "warrior's Spirit". War was a tremendous mistake by Mussolini.
Best regards, Paolo
@@Tommys0311 "You American mate of the mafia."
I'm not familiar with the Italian language, I don't even know a single word of Italian.
But is that really an insult or a confusing attempt of one?
Short, informative and with fantastic footage 👍
cheers for this, more please!!!!!
I think the g55 deserved a mention, since it's believed by many to be the best axis fighter of the war, but when presented to Germany, they instead chose to keep making the bf109 because they could make them faster than they could the g55. Basically, quantity over quality
the MC 205 did not only compete but also outclassed the allied fighters and the german ones, but it is silenced, they only show what they like on TV.
Italian "Series 5" fighters were among the best fighters produced during the war, but were produced in total less than 600, while the Spitfires were produced more than 20,000, perhaps for that reason do not talk about them.
World War II ultimately came down to economics. Back in the 80's, I visited the WWII room of the Smithsonian Institute. On the one side of the room, they had a Spitfire. Facing it on the other side of the room was an Me-109. Hanging from the ceiling was a Folgore. The Brits produced over 20,000 Spitfires. The Germans more than 40,000 Me-109s. And Italy? Only 1200 MC-202 Folgores. (Overall Italian aircraft production during the war was only 12,000 for all types.) That, in a nutshell, explains why Italy had a miserable war.
@@folgore1 The same number of aircraft produced by Italy during WW1, this demonstrates how unprepared the country was and lacked raw materials.
@@67claudius One of the old aircraft books I have put the WW I total at 17,000. So Mussolini actually did a worse job managing the wartime economy than the old Liberal government that ruled during WW I. (Of course, one should remember that Italy fought on the side of the Allies in WW I and the Allies were more generous with aid to Italy than the Germans were in WW II.)
@@folgore1 During WW1 Italy received many raw materials from the British Empire and this also explains why it built 16,000 cannons, while Fascist Italy did not reach 8000. Mussolini depended on Germany for raw materials which did not even have any for itself.
What documentary is this from? Looks amazing
The Italian army did NOT collapse in 1943. The government did. Most of the soldiers either joined the allies or the axis and fought on until 1945. The reason we don't see too much video or photos of them is that they are wearing and using mostly German, American, or British uniforms and weapons.
Yeah and that's exactly what collapsing means... Scattering, dividing into different factions, being imprisoned or deserting... That's what happened, an army is no longer one if it doesn't fight for its own flag as one. Of course all the soldiers didn't vanish, but there was no longer an official Regio Esercito (Italian Army) of a sovereign state. I'm Italian so I'm not biased in any way.
The primary weakness's of the Italian Air force were numbers and radio's. Both of these could have been dealt with if the Germans had the vision to supply their allies with equipment. The final series of Italian fighters were world class machines but they were only made possible by the supply of Mercedes-Benz DB-605 engines as used in the ME-109. These Italian fighters were superior to the ME-109 which was an older design by 1944.
Great video! thanks for upload!
I really appreciate this video because the speaker doesn't butcher word pronunciation, he sometimes puts the stress on the wrong wowels but It's overrall quite accurate
The Macchi 202 Folgore was one of the fastest planes in Second World War. If I remember the fact correctly their ascension speed was superior to those of Spitfire and Me109.
+Esteban Mata Vargas not of the entire war for sure, maybe just when entered in service.
+Esteban Mata Vargas The first models of that aeroplane had many defects, and could be a death trap if the pilot was not careful, and the Spitfire had a superior rate of climb. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macchi_C.202
Did you notice I compared it with the Spitfire and the Me109?
Esteban Mata Vargas
Yes, which still does not change the fact that the Supermarine Spitfire had a better rate of climb. The Ma. 202 did, however, have a better rate of climb than the Hawker Hurricane.
+infinitecanadian Thank you for correcting me on the rate of climb topic. My previous comment wasn't actually addressed to you at all.
@deino117 was the fiat g55, after 8th september germans tested all the italian serie 5 aircrafts, and found the fiat to be better then their current 109 g(score of 10; 109, reggiane 2005 and fw 109 at score of 9 and the poor 205 gained only 8); they even considered switching the production from 109 to g55, but the italian fighter took more rawmeterials and exactly twice the time to build
Been really enjoying flying these in War Thunder.
Bit of scary thought there; Italian panache in design coupled to German engineering. If that had meshed we'd be drinking German beer and eating Italian pasta.
Uh, we are... ?
🤔 I mean, I heard that German beer is wunderbar and Italian pasta is deliziosa ...
very informative, thanks for posting
@deino117
The Late war Italian fighters plane for plane were the equal of any produced by any country during the war. However the fact that three seperate and similiar planes were produced using three airframes and the same engine also shows the weakness of Italian war planning and production. In the battle for meaningful numbers the Italians were not in the game. The American P-40 and British Hurricane both less capable planes were significant because of numbers.
Spit was superior though
The film footage is in great shape.
The italian air force never embraced the idea of "ace" status and how many kills a pilot had.
Well, the 202 was a very good plane, one of the best of ww2. It came in far too late to make any change.
Beautiful aircraft!
Fortunately I have a 21st. Century plastic 1/32nd. scale of a 205 in my collection. Jamming it full of "nuts & bolts" from my shed, it feels like a diecast model........VIVA ITALIA !!
Unlike the Germans and British who started rearming in the 30's the Italians rearmed in the 20's which meant that by the time the war started their equipment was largely obsolete
OK, so the radial engine version of the MC202 was underpowered and under gunned, but it did have very sexy lines, arguably making it the best looking of WW2 fighters. I like the looks of the Fairy Swordfish.
Excellent elementary/middle school history books level there.
The italian front took the lives of... more than 1.000.000 human beings, either italians, austrians, germans (who contrary to your in-depth assessment , were there from 1917 on...), croats, and many others. The injured were more than 2.200.000 men, from both sides.
The Austrian empire was not falling apart.WW1 was the cause of its finale demise, and relocated Austria inland and without sea access.Russian,Italians and the allies (more)
There is a small wargame covering the aerial combats over Malta during WW2 called Dueling Eagles. We have done a review of it on our channel some time ago. Very nice design.
@orione310 il nostro esercito, se avesse avuto i mezzi in possesso agli americani, avrebbe ancora oggi il controllo su tutta l'europa...
May be, history is made by the winners, that's why almost no one knows the deadly Raid on Alexandria by the Decima Mas, but one must admit that 600 aircrafts are a really paltry number when compared with the 15,000 Mustang P51. We must admit that Italy started the war with too many Fiat Cr 42, and underpowered Macchi Mc 200 and Fiat G50. in the thirties, the Ministry of Aeronautics blocked the development of linear motor, in which Italy had achieved excellent results in favor of radial engines.
Not maybe, but Always.
Fiat G56 centauro, best propeller fighter plane of WW2!
Hey can i use this footage for a youtube vid?
Supposedly its been said that Italian pilots were by nature very conservative and resisted enclosed cockpits.
Brits, Aussies & Kiwis should take the Red Pill and wake up to reality. The Italian 8th Bersaglieri Regiment & Ariete Armoured Division scored Rommel's first goal in North Africa when they surrounded and captured 3,000 British and Australian troops at Mechili in April 1941. And it was the Italians in the form of the 5th Bersaglieri Regiment & Centauro Armoured Division that scored Rommel's last goal in North Africa when they smashed the Americans at Kasserine Pass in February 1943, capturing 2,450 GIs. (Source: "101 Italian WW2 Victories & Counting", available online)
And from whom Churchill said "Never in the history of mankind have so many surrended to so few"?
lol , Italy is a third world nation propped up foreign aid. Brilliant Italian Engineers built italy on a Volcanoe in a earthquake zone. Third raters despite over dressing & too much after shave.
Most of the Troops Rommel used in his operations were Italian. If you admire the "Desert Fox" for his generalship, why not admire the men he led as well?
Angus1996 envy
I don't know why you talking shit Italy's the shittiest military in World War II. you guys were bad at tactics and fighting. you can't even fight your own war in North Africa and lost to the Greeks😂🤣💀. it was so bad that the Germans had to help you, in Greece and North Africa and you guys can't even fight or even beat the Ethiopians. The Italians outnumbered the British in North Africa but you still lost stop making excuses Italy was one of the worst World War II Army's. and has a bad record of when in lose ratio records you're lucky you beat Austria. just stick to eating pasta and wine.
We were the first to use airplanes in war
Against tribal sheep herders in Ethiopia. My big brave mamma boy
Angus1966
No, against Turks in Libya, my ignorant friend.
@Legio XXI Rapax- What is the honor of using a nice American invention to bomb peasants defending their poor country that you want to abuse and also invade?? That is frccking shameful. Fight on equal terms and you run like girls..
@Legio XXI Rapax--over perfumed Italian typical bullshitter-First one squeduled flight was American. copy and paste this, arrogant arsehole..
www.space.com/16657-worlds-first-commercial-airline-the-greatest-moments-in-flight.html
Over dressed, over perfumed abusers
"Mein gott, ve are being shot down by our former allies!"
"I said you should not have made all those jokes about spaghetti trees and macaroni harvests,Herman!"
Very true. Mussolini had the chance to sit out WW2, but he was afraid that too many German conquests would make his Italy mere lackeys so they decided to invade France (which was a disaster, French Alp troops repelled them), Greece (another disaster), Albania (relative disaster) and finally North Africa (which was such a disaster Hitler had to save them).
The British attack at Taranto against the Italian navy was such a success, the Japanese used it as a template for their Pearl Harbor attack.
The Germans used Italians as doormats, they took Italian workers, after the armistice: planes, weapons, tanks.
Italy helped the Germans in Russia with nearly a million men, even in France and during the Battle of England
You don't badmouth for fanatical nationalism, but you informed. Fighter aircraft such as the Reggiane Re.2005, Fiat G.55 and Macchi MC205 could compete with any Allied fighter, but they were produced late and in small quantities.
...the best propeller engine fighter was the Fiat G.55 Sagittario, but production of airplane was reduced by allied bombing raid against italian factory
Where can I find the full version of this documentary? Thanks.
Great grandpa was one of the best italian pilots in the war lol
Guglielmo Marconi was the first scientist to achieve successful radio transmission.
The first primitive "helicopter" was designed by Leonardo Da Vinci, anyway the first real and functional helicopter was german.
"After emigrating to the U.S. in 1884, Tesla invented the induction coil or Tesla coil, a device essential to sending and receiving radio waves and one the U.S. Patent Office would later say Marconi relied on for his work [source: Britannica]. But in 1895, a fire destroyed Tesla's lab as he prepared to send a radio signal approximately 50 miles (80 kilometres) to West Point, N.Y." - Josh Briggs. Marconi may have made the first transmission in 1895 but Tesla designed the first radio. It has been a matter of controversy for over a century.
Folgore8585 the brazilian catholic father Landell de Moura was a contemporary scientist to Marconi that developed and even registered at US Patent Office some equipments to transmit Voice, not only CW morse codes from one point to other, only the fact of Catholic Bishops and Vatican don't approved his radio experiences and even dismantled them for a lot of times....
@@sigeberhtmercia767 ha ha ha ha. Who did invent the telephone ? Bell ?? Ha ha ha ha. It was Meucci, but, you know, the most powerful write the truth ha ha ha
@@enriconicolafasciani9151 Alex had more money.
@scottduncan44 I wish I could remember where I read this - someone involved in Allied fighter development said the design of the Me-109 wouldn't have made it off their drawing boards. A German pilot said the cramped cockpit showed the low opinion Willi Messerschmitt had of pilots.
People always respond that most of the big aces flew 109s for all/most of their careers, but that just proves the value of experience.
The Fw 109 is my favourite WWII fighter. "A Porsche with wings."
This guys voice is so fantastically British that it almost hurts
@deino117
By 1944 the ME-109 airframe had passed the limits of development. Italian and Japanese fighters built around the Bb 605 engines had superior airframes. The 109 had moved away from its origins as a nimble dog fighter to become a heavy unweildy high altitude high speed intercepter for use against the Allied Bomber formations. The Germans replaced the ME-109 as an air superiority fighter with the Radial Engined FW-109 which was the equal of any allied fighter.
Luigi gorrini the greatest italian ace of world war two
Hello,
I am a high school student involved in the Illinois Veterans & Community Classroom Project. I am making a 30 minute documentary about a local veteran and would like to use this video in my project. Please let me know as soon as possible!
Thank you,
Charli
It's correct. Not only the mc205 but also their 'brother' Fiat G55 and, the best, Reggiane RE2005
When was the Italian roundel on their aircraft changed from the fasces to the tri-coloured one?
Officially in 1946 however the first threcolour appear in 12 semptember 1943 with the italian cobelligerant air force in south italy when the king of italy decided to fight with the allies against Hitler and Mussolini
so where did you found the records of the battle of rome?
The main problem with 202 and other planes was the lack of sufficient firepower armament.
Of course
There is a huge lack of credible information on the Italian war effort and the majority of it is Anglo developed and directed anti-italian (and of course Catholic) propaganda. This nonsense has been paraded around as fact for decades through the post-war period. Italians need to become more involved in writing and contributing to more accurate histories of what actually happened during the war and link up with people overseas. There are probably many Americans (including Italian Americans who have been observing the above for decades) who can help with translations, editing and research. I understand the Italian attitude up until now has been to ignore and/or not comment but the "A-J" mass media now has rapidly lost the narrative due to the internet maturing over the past 20 years and its only a matter of time when wholesale histories of the war will be re-written to reflect what actually happened, why and who was behind it.
If you dont take action, you will see these people "double down" on the propaganda to bizarre levels as they continue to lose the power to control the narrative. For example, note the attempt to re-write the history of the Roman Empire. The Romans now are portrayed as either Nazis or incompetent fools, they committed "genocide" (i.e. destruction of Carthage), were often (really) incompetent and a new favorite of mine-- there was very little real influence on the Brits during the hundreds of years of occupation. In the area of technology and science, the effort to discredit Italian inventions and/or usurp credit from the real Italian inventor(s) has a long history.
Only fighter ever to have a reverse gear which wore out quickly & needed replacing.
Like the American planes in Kasserine Pass lol 😂😂😂 That's why there are no American planes over Kasserine . They are afraid to fight the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica.
When was this quoted when you teamed up with the krauts or when you swopped shirts at half time..
Great video.
from what documentary is this?
Great video, but wonder why they omitted the Reggiane designs?
MC 205 was the best propellor fighter of WW2 and it served even after it against the isreali mustangs P 51
Not the best. Spitfire = best wwii fighter
Ringraziate il Tradimento del Re e di Badoglio.
How does this compare to the Mustang, Thunderbolt, or Lightening
@scottduncan44 I read somewhere that German test pilots went and checked out the 205 (or maybe the 202) and said it was the best fighter the Axis had.
Very compact and intelligible history of Italian warfighters in WWll. Thanks!
Ah the great Italian air force. I was just waiting for the Benny Hill music to start.
Ian Johnson Tiamo
Yeah play that when the RAF runs away from them
The point-nosed 202 looks a whole lot better to me than it's earlier incarnation. I used to play IL2 and reckoned the Folgore a very tough opponent though I'm not sure how realistic the game is. One wing appeared to be longer than other for some reason.
One wing was longer than the other in order to negate the roll created by the torque of the engine.
0:15 - Sorry, but it was the Fiat CR.32 in Spain, not the CR.42 Falco.
Italian pilots didn't like canopies because those on the early types were difficult to move if they had to move out... also btw, in Spain it was the Fiat CR.32 that fought the Republicans, not the CR.42
And at the rate that they had to bail out that would have been a REAL concern.
Stephen Coleman Right; FYI, the Fiat CR.42 was every bit as good as the Gloster Gladiator, the Macchi C.200 was a match for the Hurricane, the Macchi C.202 was even with the Spitfire Mk V, and the Macchi C.205, Reggiane Re.2005 and Fiat G.55 could fight all late-war Allied fighters on even terms.
And in some cases, even though it wasn't exactly chivalrous, Allied pilots strafed Italian pilots after they bailed out and were descending with their parachutes. Like it happened on October 2, 1942 to Captain Livio Ceccotti in North Africa.
Hardly a honourable way to win a war.
***** What I meant to say was that the so much vaunted Allied pilots weren't above doing something technically allowed (since it would be formally condemned only after the war's end) but not chivalrous at all like strafing a bailed out pilot while he was descending on Earth.
***** No problem. I didn't explain myself clearly.
@@historynerd88 c.202 was nowhere near he spitfire mk v. Mabye RE-2005 was a bit, but not the 202. Also hurricanes butchered c.200s
"Fòlgore" (not Folgòre) don't translate "thunderbolt",but "lightning".Saetta e Folgore are synonyms.
Another good video but too short.
To think, Italy was the first to make the jet plane. It was in 1908 first done, but as always, the government ruined everything. Italy was way ahead of everyone, but their Goverments meat everything up.
Se fabricaron buenos aviones como el Macchi 202 y 205 Reggiane 2001 y 2005 pero tenían el problema poco poder de fuego para cuando se construyó el Fiat G55 Centauro en 1943 Italia firma el Armisticio con los Aliados
Where are the Reggianes???