Italian Aircraft in the Postwar Imperial Ethiopian Air ForceThe Imperial Ethiopian Air Force (
imiperiyali ye’itiyop’iya ayeri hayili was re-established in 1944 when African-American personnel set up a flying school at Lideta airfield outside of Addis Ababa. [1] Ethiopia acquired a handful of aircraft from the US and Britain but neither Allied country was prepared to offer much further aid. [2] Meanwhile, a peace treaty was being negotiated between postwar Italy and Ethiopia but compensation for the 1935 Fascist invasion and subsequent occupation was inevitable.
In anticipation of the peace treaty, Italy offered compensation in the form of military equipment. Ethiopia agreed to this gesture with the proviso that no Italian personnel would be permitted on Ethiopian soil. Under those conditions, Rome was to deliver equipment to the British military administration at Mogadiscio in former Italian Somaliland. From there, most equipment was shipped by rail to the Ethiopian border. Aircraft would be flown by contracted pilots to Kabri Dahar airfield for collection by the IEAF.
The first ex-Italian aircraft to arrive were all trainers. [2] The first combat aircraft was the Fiat G.55
Ch’ilifiti (Hawk). These fighters, referred to by the Italians as the G.55Et, were standard wartime G.55/0 models armed with an MG 151/20 motor-cannon and four 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns. The fighters were given a brief overhaul by Fiat at Turin but were unchanged in their equipment fit.
The G.55Et is shown in the approved Sand-and-Stone (
Sabbia e Pietra) camouflage. This camouflage was based on the RAF scheme of the same name but mixed from available, wartime Italian paint stocks. The camouflage pattern was applied by hand. The pattern on each airframe was similiar but not identical.
This
Ch’ilifiti was, however, delivered in wholely inappropriate markings. The fuselage roundels are correct but over-scale. The rudder stripes are completely wrong - tailplane markings should consist solely of the Imperial Ethiopian flag on either side of the fin. The individual aircraft number is also incorrect. Individual aircraft numbers were to positioned behind the fuselage roundel, rendered in black, using Ge'ez (Ethiopic) numerals (not Arabic).
'White 4' was the personal mount of IAA (
Ila Ammist Aleqa, Sergeant) Hassan Omer. This G.55 was named '
Shifta' (Bandit) but, in standard IEAF practice, such names were never marked on airframes.
The Ethiopians had also been offered advanced trainers but rejected both a two-seat
Ch’ilifiti - the Fiat G.55B - and more economical, radial-engined equivalent - the Fiat G.62. Instead, the IEAF opted for a single-seat derivative of the G.62. The G.63Et was effectively a Fiat A.76-powered G.55. As the IEAF's
Dinibit’i (Sparrowhawk), the G.63Et would act as an attack aircraft - without the G-55's belly radiator, the G.63 could accommodate a bomb rack on its centre section.
The
Dinibit’i shown is in fully correct IEAF markings. In contrast with the G.55 (above), a small Imperial flag is displayed on the fin with the Ge'ez numeral '4' in black on the rear fuselage. Properly, this G.63 is 'T4' for the fourth
tewagi awiropilani. The cowling has been painted in the yellow colour of
Tefokakari 6 (Sqn 6) This
Dinibit’i was the personal mount of
Matoalaga (Captain) Isaias Ahmed and was named '
Deborah' (Bee).
(To be continued ...)
Added: Hmmm, these were Sand-and-Spinach at home, here at the Uni computer lab they look a bit bilious
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[1] Heading this school was aviator John C. Robinson who had first helped establish the IEAF in 1935.
[2] After the Italians had been driven from the country, a British Military Mission to Ethiopia (BMME), under Major General Stephen Butler, was established to reorganise the Ethiopian Army.[19] The Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of 1944 removed the BMME from the jurisdiction of East Africa Command at Nairobi and made it responsible to the Ethiopian Minister of War.
[3] This included 6 x Caproni Ca.100 basic trainers -
Biguri (Partridge) in IEAF service; 6 x Nardi FN.506 intermediate trainers - IEAF
Dirich’itochi (Quail); and 4 x Caproni-Bergmaschi Ca.309 utility transport/trainers - IEAF
Rigibi (Dove).