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Bf 109G-14, WNr. 464380, Maggiore Mario Bellagambi, CO of 5ª Squadriglia, 2° Gruppo
Caccia ANR, Osoppo, Italy, March 1945
Bf 109G-14, WNr. 782205, Lt. Antal Szebeni, 101/5. Vadászszázad MKHL,
Börgönd, Hungary, October 1944
After the declaration of Italian Social Republic
on September 18, 1943, a puppet state on the
territory of Italy occupied by German military
under the command of Benito Mussolini,
Germany allowed this Republic to establish its
own military force consisting of four divisions.
Its air force component called Aeronautica
Nazionale Repubblicana consisted of two fighter
plane groups (Gruppo Caccia), torpedo groups
(Gruppo Aerosiluranti Buscaglia) and several
transportation squadrons. In 1945, both fighter
plane squadrons flew Messerschmitts Bf 109G-6/
G-10/G-14. The commander of 5
a
Squadriglia
(called Diavoli Rossi) was Maggiore Mario
Bellagambi, a fighter ace with 14 victories. In 1949
he was once again admitted to Italian air force
where he became Generale di brigata aerea prior
to his retirement. He died in Florence on June 25,
2001. Bellagambi’s 109 was camouflaged with RLM
74/75/76 colors. The Verde Oliva Scuro 2 color is
applied to the stain under the red devil painting,
the emblem of 5
a
squadriglia. The rudder was
supplied by one of the subcontractors and bears
a camouflage consisting of RLM 81 and RLM 82.
The yellow outline of fuselage ANR marking was
either reversed or had yellow triangles around
the flag as compared to other aircraft.
This aircraft was produced in September 1944
at the Messerschmitt Regensburg plant and
was received by the Hungarian Fighter Group
101/II. From the end of 1944, the unit was involved
in combat against the Soviet Air Force and
occasionally engaged with American forces. The
W0+58 was flown by Lt. Szebeni, who achieved
a total of three victories by the end of the war.
In the final months of the war, this unit also
received Bf 109G-10 and G-10/U4 aircraft. Szebeni
crashed one of these planes during a landing
at Szombathely on March 25, 1945. The “Black
4” rolled over on its back and was destroyed.
Lieutenant Szebeni, however, escaped unharmed.
He was also fortunate on April 14, 1945, during
a dogfight northeast of Vienna. A Soviet fighter
hit his Bf 109G-10/U4 “Black 14”, causing it to
catch fire. Szebeni, flying low over the ground,
was unable to bail out. Consequently, he fired
the magazines of his weapons before the belly
landing, inadvertently hitting a Yak-9 that passed
in front of him. Szebeni managed to make an
emergency landing at Grafenwörth and returned
to the unit uninjured.
KITS 04/2024
INFO Eduard
49
April 2024