Regia Aeronautica – 235ª Squadriglia, 60º Gruppo, 41º Stormo, Capt. Ammannato, Lonate Pozzolo (Italy), Summer 1943

Twelve Do 217 J-1 and J-2 variants were acquired by Italian Regia Aeronautica between September 1942 and June 1943 for night fighter operations. One Italian unit was equipped: 235a Squadriglia of 60° Gruppo (41° Stormo). Based at Treviso San Giuseppe, then at Lonate Pozzolo, the unit performed poorly. The unit shot down only one enemy aircraft, and lost one of their own, after nearly a year of activity.

• Coded 235-4 (red) with white German crosses under the wings only and no Italian markings at all, except for the white recognition stripe. Its colour scheme is over-all Matt Black with Black-Grey (RLM 66?) on the exhaust shrouds and spinners plus RLM 74 engine covers on the cowlings
• No coding, Verde Oliva Scuro all over, matt black under the wings (?), black fasci on the wings, no Stemma Sabaudo on the cross
• Coded 235-8 (blue), flown by Capt Ammannato, based in Venegono, Italy, 1943

History

The Reich Ministry of Aviation, which at the beginning of 1942 promised to supply the Italian Air Force as soon as possible with enough Do 217Js to arm a fully night fighter group, began to struggle with the slow delivery of fully equipped Do 217J-1s. On August 15, 1942, not a single Dornier had yet reached Italy. An Italian commission arrived in Germany to speed up deliveries to its air force. The Commission was given the opportunity to test the Do 217J-2 and had favorable impressions of its capabilities, although it was somewhat embarrassed, as recorded in a subsequent report, by the "complexity" of the aircraft. In fact, only two Do 217J-1s could be immediately dispatched to the Italians. They were handed over to the Italian Air Force on September 10, 1942 and immediately drew a protest from the Italian ambassador, who said that these second-hand aircraft were "defective and lacking the promised radar." However, on October 21, 1942, two Do 217J-1s were handed over to 235 Squadron (Group 60, 41 Division) at Treviso San Giuseppe. Two additional Do 217J-1s were delivered to this unit towards the end of the year, when, in addition to the four Dorniers, the squadron used three Bf 110s, one Fiat CR 42CN and one captured Bristol Beaufighter. In early February 1943, two more Do 217J-1s plus one equipped with a Do 217J-2 radar were flown to Italy by a group of Italian pilots who were trained on night fighters at NJG3. They were followed by five more Do 217J-2s. 235 Squadron was assigned to patrol a very large area covering Liguria, Piedmont, Lombardy and Emilia. Although several victories were recorded, the number of aircraft was too small to provide anything other than the appearance of cover. The Dornier's suitability for service was poor, mainly due to a lack of spare parts. Radars "Liechtenstein" constantly junk due to inadequate training of service personnel. There were also problems with the Do 217 chassis. The unit, as a rule, could exhibit no more than 50% of its composition. For example, on July 31, 1943, in the 235th squadron of 11 Do 217 fighters (one was decommissioned as a result of an accident after a chassis failure), three were under repair, and three were not operational due to a lack of spare parts.

Kit details

• Kit: Italaerei 125
• Scale: 1:72
• Completed on: 2/15/2025