On the night of 2 and 3 January 1941, four Fiat BR.20 bombers of the Corpo Aereo Italiano attempted to bomb Ipswich. The Corpo Aereo Italiano was the Italian air contingent based in occupied Belgium to support the German air offensive against Britain. The raid came during the final phase of the Italian deployment against Britain, as its bomber operations from Belgium were drawing to a close.
Why Italy Was Flying from Belgium
The Corpo Aereo Italiano existed because Benito Mussolini wanted Italy to share directly in the air war against Britain rather than confine his forces to the Mediterranean and North Africa. With Italy’s own campaigns going poorly elsewhere, a visible contribution during the closing stages of the Battle of Britain offered a way to demonstrate solidarity with Germany and give Italian aircrew combat experience against the RAF.
The force operated under the Regia Aeronautica from Belgian airfields including Melsbroek, Chievres, Maldegem and Ursel, flying alongside the Luftwaffe from occupied Belgium. Its aircraft included the twin-engined Fiat BR.20 bomber, the Fiat CR.42 biplane fighter and the more modern Fiat G.50 monoplane fighter. Against Britain’s established air-defence system, the Italian force faced a difficult campaign with aircraft and tactics that proved poorly suited to operations over Britain and the North Sea.
The Ipswich Raid
The Ipswich attack came after several earlier Italian operations against the British coast. Since late October 1940, BR.20s had flown night raids against targets including Harwich, Felixstowe and Ramsgate, while Italian fighters had clashed with RAF squadrons over Kent in daylight.
By the beginning of 1941, the Italian bomber force was flying fewer and smaller operations. The mission of 2 and 3 January reflected that decline, with only four BR.20s committed to the attempt on Ipswich. Britain’s east coast was by then protected by the Chain Home radar network, searchlights, anti-aircraft batteries and RAF night-fighter patrols, including units equipped with the Bristol Beaufighter, making the North Sea crossing increasingly hazardous for Axis bombers.
The Ipswich operation was among the final bombing missions flown against Britain by the Italian contingent from Belgium. Italian night-bomber operations continued for a short period afterwards, before the BR.20 units were withdrawn and returned to Italy.
A Campaign That Achieved Little
Judged against Rome’s ambitions, the Corpo Aereo Italiano’s campaign over Britain had achieved little. Its opening raids against Harwich and Felixstowe on the night of 24 and 25 October 1940, followed by further operations against the British coast, established a pattern of relatively small bomber formations operating in difficult conditions.
The most costly episode came on 11 November 1940, when Italian bombers and fighters encountered RAF squadrons during a daylight operation over south-east England and suffered significant losses. Winter weather over the North Sea, the distance between the Belgian bases and British targets, and the limitations of the aircraft themselves further reduced the effectiveness of the Italian force.
By the turn of the year, the scale of its offensive operations had diminished considerably. The four-aircraft attempt on Ipswich illustrated how far the campaign had contracted since the larger formations committed during the autumn of 1940.
What Happened Next
Italian bomber operations against Britain continued briefly into early 1941 before the BR.20 units returned to Italy. The withdrawal did not bring the entire Italian presence in Belgium to an immediate end. Two Fiat G.50bis squadrons remained and continued local coastal patrol and defensive duties until April 1941.
The Corpo Aereo Italiano therefore disappeared from northern Europe in stages. The bomber offensive against Britain ended first, followed later by the remaining fighter units. What had begun in October 1940 as a conspicuous Italian contribution to the Axis air offensive had dwindled within a few months to defensive operations from Belgian bases.
Significance
The departure of the Corpo Aereo Italiano changed little in the immediate defence of Britain, which continued to face far greater pressure from the Luftwaffe during the Blitz. The Italian deployment nevertheless demonstrated the difficulties of transferring an air force designed and trained for different conditions into the demanding operational environment over Britain and the North Sea.
The attempted raid on Ipswich on 2 and 3 January 1941 belonged to the closing phase of that campaign. Within weeks the Italian bomber force had withdrawn from Belgium, bringing a brief and largely unsuccessful chapter in the Regia Aeronautica’s contribution to the air war over Britain towards its end.
