TGr 10(Ital.)
Transportfliegergruppe 10 (Ital.)
(Unit Code: 8Q+)
also as: 1º Gruppo Aerotransporti “Capitano Felice Terracciano”
Formation. (Nov 43)
Formed 20 November 1943 at Bergamo – Orio al Serio airfield in North Italy without aircraft. The Gruppe (Gruppo) belonged to the air force of the Italian Socialist Republic (R.S.I.), but operated outside Italy under the tactical command of the Luftwaffe. All personnel were Italian except for a small liaison team from the Luftwaffe that handled communications and coordinated operations with higher commands.[1]
Germany and the Baltic States. (Jan 44 - Nov 44)
The personnel transferred to Goslar/N Germany on 20 January 1944, where the Gruppe’s technical and servicing people together with civilians sent from Italy refurbished 36 Savoia SM. 81s that had been part of some 60 assembled there by the Germans after the surrender of Italy in September 1943. It was declared operational and ordered to Schaulen (Siauliai)/Lithuania on 14 May, from where supply missions were flown over the next 5 months to Estonia, Latvia, the central sector of the Eastern Front, as well as more distant missions to Finland and Czechoslovakia. Although Schlaulen remained its home field, elements of the Gruppe also used Reval (Tallinn) and Dorpat (Tartu) in Estonia, Mitau (Jelgava) in Latvia and Kaunas in Lithuania. By October 1944, Soviet advances along the northern sector of the front forced TGr. 10 (Ital.) back to Königsberg in East Prussia and then to Prenzlau and Bitterfeld, and finally to Bautzen-Litten/NE of Dresden where further operations were halted due to attrition, shortage of spare parts and a lack of fuel. The personnel returned to Bergamo – Orio al Serio in early November, and on 20 November they were disbanded and reorganized into an anti-aircraft/anti-parachutist battalion for the defense of Bergamo, Ghedi and Ponte S. Pietro airfields. It is occasionally stated that the Gruppe was expanded to a Geschwader in April 1944, but this is highly unlikely since, according to Italian records, it never had more that three Staffeln and a total of 36 SM. 81s.
FpN:Gruppenstab and 1. - 3. Staffel (L 60606, L 81663)
Kommandeur:
Maggiore Egidio Pelizzari (20 Nov 43 - 20 Nov 44)
Also see:
(no names of Luftwaffe personnel found)
© by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress, 2022).
(1st Draft 2022)
References
- ↑ N.Kannapin-Feldpostübersicht; N.Arena-Air War in North Italy 1943-1945:26-28; G.Pisano-Gli Ultimi in Grigioverde – Storia delle forze armate della Repubblica Sociale Italiana (1943-1945), 3 volumes, vol. III, Chapter LXI, pp.1453-76; Neulen, Hans Werner. In the Skies of Europe: Air forces allied to the Luftwaffe 1939-1945. Ramsburg (Wilts): The Crowood Press, 2000. ISBN: 1 86126 326 0. Hb. Dj. 383p. Illus. Appendices. Source notes. Bibliography. Index.
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