History of the 2º Stormo
After the Armistice
The days after the Armistice were extremely uncertain for the two Gruppi: after the German withdraw from Sardinia, the 13º Gruppo, or we should say the remains of its sole Squadriglia, the 82ª, moved by its own initiative from Venafiorita to Casa Zeppera, near Oristano to join the 155º Gruppo of the 51º Stormo, and within this Unit, it fought through the end of the war.
The 8º Gruppo, at that time based at Sarzana, La Spezia, had a different fate: thanks to a series of favourable circumstances and through the strong action of its Commander, Major Bacich, it managed to remain autonomous: at dawn of 8 September, the Unit was ordered to depart immediately with all the serviceable aircraft (twenty-two MC200) and deploy first to Guidonia, to escort some flights of torpedo-bombers, then to Castiglione del Lago. On September 10th the Gruppo learnt of the falling of Sarzana airfield in German hands: lacking further orders, Major Bacich decided not to return and, supported by three cargo aircraft, moved the Gruppo to Decimomannu airport.
Three days later the Gruppo left Sardinia to deploy to Sicily, to the Sciacca airport, home base of different USAAF Fighter and Bombing Groups, to fulfill the armistice's obligations. On September 16th, by order of the American Headquarter the Gruppo was to move to Agrigento airfield and the aircraft consigned to the Allies at Korba, Tunisia, as stated on the armistice's agreement.
The Italian aircrew remained in Tunisia until October 1st, when they were ordered to transfer to Lecce airport and there was left to its own resources, without further order and without a decent accommodation for many weeks. Only in Spring 1944 the squadron was called back into battle: it joined the 5º Stormo and its aircraft (eleven MC200, two CR42 and one Fiat G.50) performed the first mission against the Axis forces on July 11th 1944, strafing a German train in Kosovo.
Eventually reequipped with the MC202, the Squadron performed numerous missions in the Balkan area, ranging from Scutari to Tirana, Durazzo etc. The 2º Stormo was been the Unit that suffered the most the armistice's trials, yet, organized within another Stormo, it fought until the end of the war (May 5th, 1945).