Italian BoB forces used against Malta

[wiking85]

What if the Italians, instead of insisting they fight in the Battle of Britain use their air forces to attack Malta instead?

Corpo Aereo Italiano - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

They were badly outclassed against Britain by October 1940, but could have been useful since at least September 1940 if not earlier against Malta to keep it suppressed and potentially cause enough trouble to get them to surrender. Though it isn't clear how many aircraft participated it seems at least around 150 if not more. Thoughts about the impact on Malta?

 

[mack8]

Hi Wiking,

According to italian wiki there would have been a total of 75 BR-20M, 50 CR-42 and 45 G-50. Obviously they would have increased the pressure on Malta, though not sure what was the situation in October-November 1940, and whether the extra 150 aicraft would have ben the proverbial straw for the british defences. But imo, it would be all hollow without actually carrying out a landing on Malta, however risky and heavy the losses, if they take Malta it's still hugely beneficial in the long term, avoiding most or all the air and naval losses from 1941-1943 caused by it being in british hands.

PS: The other option being to use them in Greece, if they still proceed with that unfortunate adventure. At least they could have had more of an impact than they had over Britain.

 

[EwenS]

Hi Wiking,

According to italian wiki there would have been a total of 75 BR-20M, 50 CR-42 and 45 G-50. Obviously they would have increased the pressure on Malta, though not sure what was the situation in October-November 1940, and whether the extra 150 aicraft would have ben the proverbial straw for the british defences. But imo, it would be all hollow without actually carrying out a landing on Malta, however risky and heavy the losses, if they take Malta it's still hugely beneficial in the long term, avoiding most or all the air and naval losses from 1941-1943 caused by it being in british hands.

PS: The other option being to use them in Greece, if they still proceed with that unfortunate adventure. At least they could have had more of an impact than they had over Britain.

Or sought to base them on Rhodes, the most easterly of Italian possessions in the Aegean, and attempt to strike strategic targets in the MIddle East.

Some of the few SM.82s that they possessed were based on Rhodes and carried out a series of attacks on British oil installations across the Middle East. The attack on Haifa was successful, but the one on Bahrain less so with the attack on Dhahran unsuccessful.

Italian bombing of Mandatory Palestine in World War II - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Saudi Aramco World : Air Raid! A Sequel

Oil from around Mosul in northern Iraq was piped across the desert to the refinery at Haifa. It was responsible for supplying most of the fuel for the campaigns in the eastern Med/Egypt. Cut that and mine the Suez Canal and it becomes a lot more difficult to ship oil from the Persian Gulf. They also bombed Alexandria (home to the Med Fleet) from bases in Libya.

These raids were pushing the range of the SM.82 beyond that quoted in Wiki. Not sure how they did it as I'm not an expert in Italian aircraft or how the BR.20M might compare