Operational History of The Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 - The Late 1930s and World War II

The Late 1930s and World War II

The SM.81 was one of the most ubiquitous multi-engine aircraft of the Regia Aereonautica in the second half of the 1930s. It was a pleasant and reliable aircraft to fly, even if it was too slow and not as manoeuvrable as the SM.79. The aircraft made a good impression in pre-war exercises, flying in three-aircraft formations. Several complex manoeuvres were performed, but the reality, in spite of the propaganda of the regime, was that the Regia lagged behind in training and tactics, in spite of a small core of very experienced aircrew.

With Albania's occupation, the SM.81 was used by 37 and 39 Wings as a transport aircraft over the Adriatic Sea, quickly taking soldiers to Albania in a much publicized operation that showed the 'efficiency' of the Italian armed forces. In Libya, in 1938, a whole parachute battalion was lifted when the King went on an official visit to Italo Balbo's colony.

Production of the SM 81 at this point was: SIAI, 237; Piaggio, 60; Macchi, 76; CRDA, 36; Breda, 36; CMSA, 58; AerUmbra, 20; and Caproni, eight. Total, 530 (plus one twin-engine example, the SIAI).

When World War II began, the Regia still had approximately 300 machines on charge, with 37 Wing at Lecce and 40 Group of 38 Wing. The other 38 Wing group, 39°, was in Albania. The Egeum Aereonautic, a small and almost independent military entity of the RA, had 39 Wing, Libya had 14 and 15 Wings and five Groups in Ethiopia were present with this aircraft in strength.

SM.81s fought initially with anti-ship attacks and missions over Alexandria. 37, 38 and 39 Wings fought at Punta Stilo, others saw modest success at the battle of Capo Spada. Alexandria was attacked for the first time on 7 July, with 11 machines. These long-range missions were repeated on 16 and 25 July, 26 August, 8 and 21 September and 5 October. All these missions, especially those against ships, were only modestly successful.

Greece was attacked in the fall, with the use of 37 Wings at Valona and 39 at Lecce.

There were 59 SM.81s In eastern Africa, every group had around a squadron of aircraft. Despite the presence of the more modern SM.79, the SM.81 was the main Italian bomber. The first Italian aircraft to see action in East Africa were a pair of SM.81s. On 11 June 1940, one of them attacked Port Sudan, the other carried out a reconnaissance flight over the Red Sea. That same night, three SM.81s took off to bomb Aden, but one turned back, one of the other two hit a hill near Massawa while trying to land. When Gloster Gladiators and Hawker Hurricanes made the things difficult, the SM.81 was used less and less. Initially only 43 of the 59 aircraft were operational. They were involved in several bombing sorties, generally at night. SM.81s were used to bomb a major British convoy without suffering any losses, but many aircraft were damaged. On 13 June, four bombers were sent to Aden, the main British base, two of them were shot down. In 30 days, nine aircraft were shot down, 10 were destroyed on the ground, and 18 were badly damaged - two-thirds of the total; there were no replacements. On 10 February, there were only 10 serviceable aircraft, only three remained in March.

An SM.81 with an A.130/AR.8 long-range radio landed at Kirkuk in the spring of 1941. It was the command aircraft for the expedition made by Italian forces (together with the Germans), to help the 1941 Iraqi rising. But the Iraqis were already defeated by the British, so the Axis mission failed. Of the 12 Fiat CR.42s of the "Squadriglia Irak", only seven returned.

In North Africa and Italy, SM.81s were used more and more as night bombers, no longer assigned to anti-ship and day-light bombing after the first year of war. 145 Group delivered as of the end of January 1941: 11,600 men and 1,140 tonnes (1,260 tons) of various materials, in 3,200 flying hours.

For Operation Herkules, the invasion of Malta, SM.81s of 18 Wing were to have moved an assault division to Malta, but in the end they were used to transport the Folgore division to El Alamein. After that battle, SM.81s were used to supply the North African forces with reinforcements and stores and to evacuate Tunisia, with 18 Wing alone transporting 28,000 men. In Pantelleria and Lampedusa, SM.81s were the only Italian air cargo aircraft capable of operating due to the short runways.

SM.81s were used only for second-line tasks like troop and materials transport after the first year of the war. Many were marked with the red cross and evacuated wounded. Almost all the first-line Groups had SM.81s or other aircraft in their squadrons for use as support aircraft and transport, with one SM.81 often present in every squadron. SM.81s with their fixed and robust undercarriage were able to operate from every type of terrain, despite the lack of slats, unlike the SM.79s.

Many SM.81s and SM.73s were in Russia during the Battle of Stalingrad. These aircraft tried to help the trapped troops when the Soviets began the Stalingrad offensive, all these machines were lost in that battle.

In September 1943, there were still numerous SM.81s in Italy. Many of them were organized in the south into bomber and transport groups, some flew sorties in the Balkan territories. Eventually the lack of spare parts stopped SM.81 operations. There were some 60 aircraft in northern Italy, 36 of which were still serviceable.

The Transport Group Terracciano, commanded by Maggiore Egidio Pellizzari, was formed in Bergamo and transferred to Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany, in January 1944. Here 44 SM.81s were waiting for Italian pilots. The aircraft, in bad condition, were restored to an operational state by their future crews. Administratively the Italians were subordinated to the ANR but operationally to the Luftwaffe under the German designation of "Transport Gruppe Italien 10". On 8 April, the first squadron equipped with 12 SM.81s, was deployed to Šiauliai in Lithuania, followed by the Savoia-Marchetti from the 2nd and 3rd squadrons. The Terracciano operated over the Baltic States, Russia and Finland, evacuating wounded soldiers and carrying fresh troops to the front. On 16 June 19 SM.81s landed in Immola, Finland, bringing from Estonia the technical personnel of the German combat task force Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey sent to strengthen the fighter force in Finland. When the Soviets broke through to Jelgava, in Latvia, in July 1944, the "Transport Gruppe Italien 10" still had 32 serviceable Pipistrelli but there was a shortage of fuel and the Germans were less interested in Italian transport. Thus, after six months of heavy employment the surviving aircraft, some of which were badly damaged, were phased out. None of this group of SM.81s survived the war, as the last four were destroyed when hostilities ended.