The Italian armistice was declared on September 8, 1943; however, this was not the end of Italian participation with the Axis during World War II. On September 12, Benito Mussolini was freed from prison by German paratroopers under command of SS Major Otto Skorzeny.

On September 23, Mussolini founded the Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI), which by October 10 had reestablished an army, a navy, and an air force to continue fighting. The air force was the best of the reformed military units, and was properly named the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana, the Republican National Air Force.

The ANR consisted largely of fighter units, and their main incentive for continuing to fight was to protect Italian lives and property from Allied air attacks. The primary reason the ANR was so successful in recruiting former fighter pilots was the appointment of Lt. Col. Ernesto Botto, a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and a fighter pilot in the Regia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force), as its commander. On October 12, 1943 he issued a proclamation establishing reporting centers at which former members of the Regia Aeronautica, and their aircraft, were to gather.

Since they were operating in an area under German control, all reorganizing was done along Luftwaffe lines, with Rotte, Schwarme, Staffel, and Gruppen replacing Italian configurations. All ground formations such as paratroopers and antiaircraft units received Luftwaffe tactical training, and were equipped with radar including Freya (long range) and Wurzburg and Reisen (short range).

Equipment problems were not as severe in the north, where the majority of the Italian aircraft industry's factories were located (the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force in the south suffered from an acute shortage of spare parts). New aircraft such as Macchi C.205, Fiat G.55, and Savoia Marchetti S.79s for the ANR and Reggiane Re 2002 and Fiat CR.42s for the Luftwaffe, plus spare parts, continued to be produced in factories during early 1944, despite Allied bombing efforts. Additional aircraft were salvaged from airfields all over Northern Italy. As a result, five operational Gruppos, two fighter, two transport, and one torpedo saw action during the ANR's nineteen months of operations. One other fighter Gruppo, the 3rd, never reached combat status, two other fighter units and several lesser units were also formed during this period.

A bomber unit, Squadfiglia Autonomo Bombardamento "Ettore Muti" (Autonomous Bomber Squadron), was formed with 20 Cant Z. 1007 bombers. This unit never entered combat, however, due to the reluctance of Italians to bomb Italian soil.

Squadrigha Complementare Caccia "Montefusco" (Auxiliary Fighter Squadron) formed in late 1943 near Turin. Flying six Fiat G.55 and five Macchi C.205 fighters, the unit flew in reserve capacity and was added to 1st Gruppo in June 1944.

The Reparto Aerocollegamento Sottosegretariato (Air Ministry Liaison Unit) formed in December 1943 at Bresso airfield in Milan. This formation served various functions including transport, recovery of damaged aircraft, and liaison to the RS1.

Few details are known about a Caccia Nottumo (Night Fighter) unit which was formed in the Spring of 1944. Based near Savona, flying mainly Fiat CRA2 biplanes, this unit seems to have reached Gruppo strength around July, and was sent to Germany for training. This unit disappeared in the wake of Operation Phoenix, which will be discussed later. It appears that there may have only been some twenty aircraft available to this unit, so whether it warrants a unit in Second Front terms is a close call. Should anyone have any concrete information on this unit, please pass it along.

The only offensive unit of the ANR was the Gruppo Autonomo Aerosiluranti "Buscaglia" (Autonomous Torpedo-Bomber Squadron). Flying Savoia Marchetti S.79s from Lonate Pozzolo, just west of Milan, the Gruppo made attacks on Allied shipping at Anzio and Nettuno bays. It later staged to Istres in France, from which a night raid on Gibraltar was carried out on June 5, 1944. The unit's greatest successes occurred when it transferred to Eleusis, Greece during July and August 1944: ten Allied ships were sunk and several others damaged during this period. The Gruppo was renamed "Faggioni" after learning that Carlo Buscaglia had not died during a 1942 raid on Bougie harbor, but was in fact flying for the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force in the south after his release from a prisoner of war camp.

A prototype Fiat G.55S single engined, single seated Fiat G.55 torpedo-bomber, converted from the fighter and designed to replace the S.79s, was tested toward the end of the war. However, it was too late to be fully developed. The unit flew only sporadic missions after Operation Phoenix, with the final mission being flown during the first week of 1945. The Gruppo sank thirteen merchant ships and a destroyer tor a total of 115,000 tons during iis operational tour. 

The 1st Gruppo Aerstransporti "Terracciano" (1st Transport Group) flying SIAI Marchetti S.81 transports was formed in late Fall 1943 near Bergamo. The RSI was too territorially small to require transport aircraft, so the unit was transferred to Goslar, in Germany, to provide logistical support to VI Luffflotte on the Eastern Front during January 1944. During April, the Gruppo was redesignated 1/Flieger Transport Gruppe 10 Italien, serving with XIV Fliegerkorps. Based at Schaulway, Germany, it flew missions into Finland, Slovakia, East Prussia, and the Baltic States.

The 2nd Gruppo Aerstransporti "Trabucchi" started forming in the spring of 1944. It transferred to Goslar on June 7, with 48 SIAI Marchetti S.82 transports. Redesignated 2/Flieger Transport Gruppe 110 Italien, it served from July through October on the Eastern Front. Both Gruppos' aircraft carried German markings, with only an Italian flag under the pilot's port side window indicating the aircraft's true nationality. All personnel were ordered back to Italy on October 28, 1944 without transports, and were formed into anti-parachutist battalions due to lack of aircraft.

These two transport units should have been included in SE and players may wish to have them enter that game and later withdraw as shown on the Order of Battle Chart at the end of this article.

August 24, 1944

The events of August 25, 1944 should be reviewed at this point before we look at the fighter Gruppos. General von Richthofen, commander of Luftwaffe Italien Command, and Ober Kommando der Luftwaffe (German Air Force High Command) created a plan to disband the ANR and reform it as an Italian Legion of the Luftwaffe, requiring an oath of loyalty pledged to Adolf Hitler. With no prior warning, the plan, Operation Phoenix, gave the Italians 24 hours to join the new legion or be forced into Luftwaffe antiaircraft units. Airfields, equipment, and all communications were seized by the Germans, almost causing an armed revolt. For six weeks the ANR was grounded until von Richtoven's successor, General von Pohl, took command. He reacted quickly to restore the ANR, realizing this would free German pilots badly needed for the defense of the Reich.

If these six weeks had not been lost, it is conceivable that the ANR could have had three Gruppos of Me 109Gs and a Gruppo of night fighters flying CR.42s, or improved aircraft, operational by the end of 1944.

1st Gruppo Caccia

The 1st Gruppo Caccia (1st Fighter Group) started forming in mid-November, 1943 and became an official unit in January 1944. The Gruppo started training at Lagnasco, learning German tactics and flying Macchi C.205 fighters, some of which the Germans had seized and flown with II/JG77 after the Italian surrender. Moving to Campoformido the Gruppo flew many missions during the Spring, sometimes in conjunction with JG77's Me 109s, attacking the medium and heavy bombers of the 12th and 15th Air Forces, which were pounding at Italian industrial areas. In six months of action, the Gruppo lost over 100 aircraft, so that when 2nd Gruppo converted to Me 109Gs, it turned over 30 Fiat G.55 fighters to 1st Gruppo to help ease these losses.

To protest Operation Phoenix, 1st Gruppo burned its aircraft rather than let the Germans seize them. In the weeks that followed, the group stood idle. Finally, in early November they transferred to Holzkirchen, Germany to start trainings in Me 109s. Some of the Gruppo's pilots started training in Me 163 Komet rocket interceptors during this period, but time prevented them from finishing the course. The Gruppo returned from Germany in the beginning of January, 1945 with 52 brand-new Me 109Gs. Stationed at Malpensa airfield, west of Milan, they resumed combat around March 1st, 1945. Shortly thereafter the situation became so hopeless in the face of overwhelming Allied air superiority that on April 27th, 1945 the Gruppo gathered its 42 serviceable aircraft and destroyed them for the second time in eight months to prevent them from returning to German hands. The 1st Gruppo then disbanded.

2nd Gruppo Caccia

The 2nd Gruppo Caccia (2nd Fighter Group), comprised of many veteran pilots who had flown Mel 09s with the Regia Aeronautica's 3rd and 150th Gruppos in Sicily, started forming at Bresso in February 1944. Operational training began in March with delivery of 40 Fiat G.55 Centauro fighters and by the end of April the Gruppo had begun combat operations. Moving near Verona in early June, the transition to Me 109s supplied by JG53 and JG77 continued through the month.

The newly equipped Gruppo saw heavy action through mid-August, when "Operation Phoenix" canceled operations and its planes were repossessed by 2nd Luftflotte. It returned to combat in early October with planes provided by the departing I./JG4 and III./JG77. The MATAF (Mediterranean Army Tactical Air Force) launched heavy raids against airfields during the first two weeks of November, trying to knock the ANR out of the war. When this failed, B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers of the 15th Air Force launched 450-plane raids against ANR targets on November 17th, 19th, and 22nd, 1944, damaging or destroying over a dozen aircraft. In spite of this massive Allied air effort, the 2nd Gruppo remained operational at Gruppo strength, and was nicknamed the "Fascist Ghost Group". The Gruppo flew alone during the bitter winter months of December 1944 and January 1945 until 1st Gruppo returned.

The German Kommando "Sommer" deployed three Arado AR234 reconnaissance jets to Campoformido during March, with 4th Squadriglia responsible for their protection. The German confidence in the Italian pilots was reinforced when the ANR command was informed that "4th Staffel of 2. Italienische Jadggruppe" would be trained and equipped with Messerschmitt Me262 jet fighters. The airfields at Villafranca and Ghedia were lengthened, paved, and had special dispersal bunkers constructed for jet operations. However, like many other plans created at this late date in the war, nothing ever developed. Several heavy engagements in early April with various P-47 Thunderbolt fighter units destroyed over one third of the 2nd Gruppo.

By mid-April, increased partisan activity forced the unit to return its planes to a German unit, III NAG 11. The most active of the ANR's fighter units, this outfit shot down 99 Allied planes at a cost of 36 pilots and 89 aircraft (many of which were destroyed on the ground) against seemingly unbelievable Allied air superiority.

3rd Gruppo Caccia

In August 1944, a collection of two Squadriglie Autonomo Caccia (Autonomous Fighter Squadrons), a Squadriglia Addestramento Caccia (Fighter Training Squadron), and a Gruppo Complementare Caccia (Auxiliary Fighter Group) were merged into 3rd Gruppo Caccia (3rd Fighter Group). The Gruppo flew a mixed collection of fighters, the most numerous type being Macchi C.202s. While operational as a Gruppo they desperately waited for 1st Gruppo to convert to Me 109s in order to inherit their aircraft. Operation Phoenix left 3rd Gruppo inoperative until mid-December, when they entrained for Germany. Formal training began in early February at Holzkirchen. After many delays, two Squadriglie returned to Italy by truck to await aircraft that would never come. The 9th Squadriglia had made it to Trento when the war ended. The other two Squadriglie, 7th and 8th, disbanded at Orio al Serio. Thus 3rd Gruppo languished in a secondary role and never really had much of a chance to fight with any decent equipment.

Overall, the ANR tried in vain to protect Italy from Allied attack. While not a numerically large force, considering the air units engaged in this theater of operations the ANR gave a good account of itself. Had the Germans had the foresight to provide these allies with the proper training and equipment, instead of animosity, possibly two additional fighter Gruppos could have been made available. Considering that every Axis plane was critical to try to stave off the seemingly inevitable outcome, the Germans handled this entire enterprise very poorly.

The ANR's fighter units were respected by Germans and Allies alike. Even Italian partisans made special local non-aggression pacts with these fighter units because of their attempts to stop Allied bombing. Despite heavy losses and initial poor equipment, these Italian pilots and aircrew served their country honorably during the last months of World War II.

The following Orders of Battle and Rules are written from a historical point of view and may not reflect the final treatment of the subject in Second Front. However, the ratings are as they will appear in the SF playtest.