June 1940

The ground war

On 14 June, British patrols probing the Italian defences attacked and captured the forts of Capuzzo and Maddalena.

On 16 June, an Italian contingent with infantry units coming from the Marmarica Division and the 1a Divisione Libica (1st Libyan division) and some L3/35 tankettes, which was marching through Capuzzo, was intercepted by elements of the 11th Hussars reinforced by some cruiser tanks from the 4th Armoured Brigade. The Italians were annihilated, losing also their commander ten. col. D’Avanzo.

On 24 June, the Franco-Italian armistice was signed, with effect from 00:35 on 25 June.

Later in the month, the British patrols retreated behind the border, and Capuzzo and Maddalena returned to Italian hands.

Regia Aeronautica

On the Italian airbases on 14 June, work started to modify the national insignias of the aircraft. In particular, the red-white-green stripes (Italian national colours) on the tail fin were replaced by a white cross of the coat of arms of the Savoia dynasty then reigning over Italy. The operation was performed by maintaining the central white stripe, covering the red and green stripes with camouflage, and then drawing a second transverse white stripe.

Around 19 June, the fighters and assault aircraft of Aeronautica Della Libia were formed together into a new unit, Brigata Mista di Formazione (Compound Air Brigade). On 24 July, the unit changed name to the 14°Brigata Aerea (Air Brigade) Rex. Command of the Brigata was given to Generale di Brigata Aerea Guglielmo Cassinelli.

Fighters

On 12 June, the first fighter of the 10° Gr. to arrive at Tobruk T2 was that of cap. Luigi Monti, who landed in the morning. His comrades arrived later, obliged to turn back by bad weather. Then the other Squadriglie followed.

Capitano Aldo Iannaci of the 160a Squadriglia in front of a Fiat CR.32 at Tobruk T2 during the summer of 1940.

[via Przemek Skulski]

The Gruppo received six additional CR.42s on 17 June.

The CR.42s were devoid of any protective devices, and thus suffered heavily from wear due to the sand. They were continuously required to perform protective cruises over the Italian infantry, but these useless patrols involved many flying hours, and the low-level attacks against enemy troops put the aircraft in a sandy environment that affected guns and engines. The engines of the CR.42s were worn out after only around ten hours, oil consumption increased alarmingly and breakdowns too. This problem had never emerged before, mainly because the Fiat A 30 R.A. engines of the CR.32s had the carburettor air intake on the upper part of the nose and thus were less prone to ingest sand than the Fiat A 74 of the CR.42s, which had its inlet under the nose and closer to the ground.

On 20 June, an aircraft of the 90a Sq. caught fire during maintenance, while two other fighters of the Gruppo suffered breakdowns to their oil pumps. Because of the total lack of any spare parts, the three fighters remained unserviceable. The efficiency of the line decreased steadily.

On 30 June, in fact, after only twenty days of war, the 10° Gr. received the order to return to Benghazi Berka K airfield to start the general overhaul of its fighters.

The 90a Sq. managed to muster only six flyable CR.42s, which with the unit’s Caproni Ca.133 flew back to Benghazi. serg. Giovanni Battista Ceoletta was forced to make an emergency landing near Barce airfield, caused by the total loss of the engine’s oil. The aircraft was not recovered; the other five aircraft also arrived at Berka without oil in their engines.

Two more CR.42s suffered accidents during the move (serg. Roberto Steppi of the 84a Sq. and serg. magg. Lorenzo Migliorato of the 91a Sq.

Finally, on 4 July, all the aircraft of the Gruppo met in Benghazi.

On 21 June, the first nine CR.42s arrived from Tripoli to replace the CR.32s of the 8° Gr.; they were assigned to the 94a Sq. During the day, cap. Mario Bacich, ten. Alberto Argenton, ten. Gioacchino Bissoli, serg. magg. Italo Bertinelli and serg. Roberto Lendaro of the 93a Sq. went to Castel Benito in an S.81 to collect the first six CR.42s for the Squadriglia. In the meantime, the CR.32s were passed on to the 50°Stormo. serg. magg. Trento Cecchi, serg. magg. Alessandro Ruzzene and serg. magg. Danilo Billi of the 94a Sq. went with them, taking off at 12:30.

At 08:30 on 26 June, the first three CR.42s of the 93a Sq. arrived. On 27 June, eight pilots of the 92a Sq. left their nine CR.32s to the pilots of 12° Gr. at T2, and then flew to Tripoli Castel Benito in a transport SM 82 to collect the first CR.42s. They returned with ten machines at 11:30 on 4 July. At 06:20 on 28 June, the last two CR.42s of the 93a Sq. arrived at T2 together with three aircraft of the 94a Sq.

The general lack of spare parts and means of transport, combined with the distance between T2 and the Tripoli area (where the Stormo depots were located), meant that serviceability of the 8°and 13°Gruppi steadily decreased.

On 18 June, the 13° Gr. rejoined its sister Gruppo on T2 airfield minus one Squadriglia (78a) that remained in Berka to protect Benghazi.

On 29 June, ten. Guglielmo Chiarini of the 82a Sq. scrambled in a 77a Sq. fighter, and while testing the guns, pierced one propeller blade (a common problem with the synchronisation). During the last mission of the day, serg. Ernesto Paolini’s aircraft suffered from overheating, and thus at the end of the day only six of the 77a Sq.’s nine fighters remained serviceable.

Bombers

Following the heavy losses suffered on the ground at El Adem by the 45° Gr. (which was already suffering from lack of aircraft), it was retired to Benghazi Berka on 19 June and momentarily classified as not operational. The pilots returned to Italy, where on 29 June they collected the first six factory-fresh SM 79s that were assigned to the 2a Sq.

The 14°Stormo was back on operations as a whole only on 22 July, now equipped entirely with SM 79s and based at Benghazi Benina.

On 30 June, the Aeronautica della Libia had 82 combat-ready SM 79s.

Ground attack forces

On 12 June, the 50°Stormo moved to Tobruk T2.

On 14 June, the Bredas of the 165a Sq. were passed to 159a Sq., 12° Gr., 50°Stormo.

On 20 June, ten. Adriano Visconti was assigned from the 2°Gr. A.P.C. to the 159a Sq., 12°Gr. Assalto.

With the French threat less dangerous, the 16°Gr. Assalto was transferred from Sorman, Tripolitania, to El Adem T3.

The Gruppo was still without aircraft and started to take on charge the Capronis of the 12° Gr. This Gruppo in the meantime received nine Fiat CR.32s at T2 from the 8° Gr. (those from the 93a Sq. plus probably one aircraft from the 94a Sq.) and equipped cap. Duilio Fanali’s 160a Sq. with these. On 14 June, cap. Fanali had left the command of the autonomous Squadriglia of Bredas (which had been disbanded, passing its Bredas to the 159a Sq., 12° Gr.) and took command of the unit on 21 June. Part of the Fiats remained in T2, occupying the south-west side of the airfield, while others went to Benghazi-Benina airfield to be modified with a belly rack for two 15kg bombs.

Until 24 June the 160a Sq. underwent a training period on their new CR.32s. During this period, serg. magg. Angelo Cirillo died in a landing accident.

At the very end of June, the 167a Sq. of the 16° Gr. also took charge of its Fiat CR.32s.

Reconaissance forces

After the heavy losses suffered the first day of war, the 136a Sq. of the 64° Gr. under cap. Nicola Nicolai was moved from Tripolitania to Tobruk T5 on 21 June to operate under control of 73° Gr. In the meantime, the 127a Sq. had given its planes to the 137a Sq. to make good its losses.

Colonial forces

The 2°Gr. A.P.C. received five S.81s modified as ambulance aircraft in June. The 16a Sq. used these.

Royal Air Force

The French in Syria operated the most modern fighters in the area and following the Italian declaration of war, the RAF ME Command requested assistance from them. After a meeting in Beirut on 20 June between French and British Officers, the French GOC in the Orient, Général Mittelhauser, authorised GC I/7 based at Estabel south of Rayak in the Lebanon to move to Egypt. At 08:30 on 23 June, a vanguard of three Morane Saulnier MS.406s arrived at Ismailia. The pilots were Lieutenant Antoine Péronne of 1ère Escadrille, who badly damaged his aircraft (No. 833 and with no. 3 in Arabic letter on the fin) on landing, Adjutant-Chef Christian Coudray of 1ère Escadrille (No. 826 with no. 4 in Arabic letter on the fin. This aircraft later received the British serial AX674) and Adjutant-Chef André Ballatore of 2ème Escadrille (No. 827 and with no. 2 in French letter on the fin. This aircraft later received the British serial AX675). Ground crews consisted of five mechanics (Adjudant-Chef Th. Epery radio, Sergents-chefs R. Geiger and L. Couturier and CaporalChef J-B Calorbe mechanics and Sergent L. Chaïla armourer), which arrived aboard two Fokker trimotor F.VIIs.

Following the armistice between Italy and France, some of the French wanted to continue fight beside the RAF while others wanted to return to Syria including the two pilots on the two Fokker F.VIIs. On 27 June, Capitaine Paul Jacquier of GAO 1/583 based at Qoussair in Syria, landed at Ismailia in a twin-engine Potez 63.11 reconnaissance aircraft (No. 799. Later with the British serial AX672). The day after, Lieutenant Peronne and Adjutant-Chef Coudray landed with their Morane Saulnier MS.406s to try to understand the situation. Despite pleas of French officers who were sent (in a Potez 540) from Beirut to persuade them to return to Estabel, the two pilots were pleased to meet Paul Jacquier, this latter explained them the situation and asked them to continue fight the war with the RAF. The Frenchmen decided unanimously to enrol in the RAF.

On 30 June, some other pilots joined them with two Caudron Simouns (no. 110 and no. 158, which later received the British serial AX676) and a Bloch 81 (no. 4, which later received the British serial AX677).

Both sides suffered from problems with the dust, and I. S. O. Playfair recorded in the official history that:

...there was no air filter that would satisfactorily resist the all-pervading sand and dust, with the result that day-to-day serviceability was seriously affected, while the change to coarse pitch of the variable pitch air screw was often made impracticable. Instruments, too, were so badly affected that it was necessary, soon after war began, to form a special mobile section to service the instruments in the Sqn aircraft. Another serious inconvenient was the blowing-out and cracking of the Perspex panels of the Blenheim aircraft due to distortion from the heat of the sun. All these difficulties and many others, involved so much additional maintenance work that it was found necessary, soon after the war began, to form an advanced repair and salvage section in the Western Desert and to augment the maintenance organization in the Canal Zone.

Fighters

When the war started, 33 Sqn went to the front line to confront the Regia Aeronautica.

The squadron was based at Qasaba, an airstrip around 40 kilometres south-east of Mersa Matruh, with sections based further west at Sidi Barrani. Periodically pilots of the other two squadrons joined 33 Sqn to gain combat experience.

On 13 June, the ‘B’ Flight of 33 Sqn (six or seven Gladiators) moved from Mersa Matruh to Sidi Barrani to be within range to escort bombers the next day.

To counter the increased Italian bombers activity, a section composed of two Blenheim Mk IFs of 30 Sqn and a Hurricane of 80 Sqn was formed, and attached to 33 Sqn from 16 June.

On 17 June, the squadron moved from Mersa Matruh to Qasaba. The unit was to remain there for a very short period until a satellite aerodrome was prepared at Ma’aten Gerawla. The unit was at Gerawla on 22 June.

On 13 June, three Hawker Hurricane Mk.Is arrived in Egypt and were taken on charge by 80 Sqn. S/Ldr Charles Ryley, F/Lt T. M. Lockyer and P/O D. T. Saville flew them.

On 24 June, three more Hawker Hurricanes arrived: P2544 flown by P/O Carter, P 2651 flown by P/O Glen and P 2641 flown by P/O Collins. They all came via Malta and landed at Mersa Matruh before reaching Amryia.

80 Sqn Gladiator L8010/YK-V on a desert patrol. This aircraft was lost on 8 August 1940 after being involved in combat with Italian CR.42s. F/L Evers-Swindell force-landed but not before he had shot down two of the enemy biplanes. He set the aircraft on fire and started walking towards his own lines. Armoured cars recovered him the next day.

[via Dave Williams]

Known serial numbers of the Hurricanes in the Middle East up to that moment were L1669, N2624, N2499, P2544, P2627, P2639, P2641, P2651, P2687, P2695 and P2864. This meant that at the beginning of July RAF had at least eleven Hurricanes on hand in Egypt.

On 25 June, F/Lt ‘Pat’ Pattle with one of the new Hurricanes relieved F/O Peter Wykeham-Barnes at 33 Sqn’s landing ground.

On 28 June, the 80 Sqn formed a complete flight armed with seven Hawker Hurricanes and its command was taken by F/Lt Edward ‘Tap’ Jones.

On 24 June, S/Ldr A. R. G. Bax ceased to be attached to 112 Sqn on the return of S/Ldr D. M. Somerville.

Bombers

On 11 June, 55 Sqn moved from Ismailia to its war base at Fuka, with 13 combat-ready Blenheims.

During June, daily small-scale raids against Italian Army bases and airfields in Libya were made in rotation by aircraft of the four Egyptian-based Blenheim squadrons – 113 with its Mk.IVs at Ma’aten Bagush, together with the Mk.Is of 45 and 55 at Fuka and 211 at El Daba –so that each squadron operated only every fourth day. However, 45 Sqn soon ceased operations and from 15 June was released from active service and placed in reserve at Helwan, as a measure of the severity of the losses suffered by the squadron during the first four days of war (three complete crews). The Blenheims of all the squadrons had been dispersed to satellite landing grounds to avoid the frequent bombing of their main airfields by the Italians. It was not possible to launch any larger-scale raids, as fewer serviceable aircraft remained available. At the end of the month, 45 Sqn send a flight of four aircraft to 211 Sqn at El Daba and three aircrews to 113 Sqn at Ma’aten Bagush.

On the first day of the war 30 Sqn began fitting packs containing four forward-firing Brownings under the fuselage of half their Blenheims, converting the aircraft into Blenheim Mk.IF fighters. On 15 June, the ‘B’ and ‘C’ Flights finished the conversion of their nine Bristol Blenheims Mk.I to Mk.IF standard. These fighter Blenheims had in the meantime been joined by one Mk.IF coming from 211 Sqn and two coming from 11 Sqn (three machines not produced directly by Bristol but coming from a shadow factory), so that the strength of the squadron at this date was twelve Mk.IFs and six standard Mk.Is.

Several detachments were temporarily sent to Amiriya, Helwan, Qasaba, Gerawla and Mersa Matruh during the first weeks of the war, but no action was recorded. One of the first duties assigned to 30 Sqn was that of Shadow Patrols, a kind of mission where the Blenheims had to take off and shadow the Italian bombers after they had bombed Amriya and Helwan and to follow them to their home bases to discover where these airstrips were. This type of mission was very dangerous and of dubious utility, and thus was quickly cancelled.

The Blenheim forces in the Mediterranean area suffered a heavy blow on 18 June, when seven Blenheim Mk.IVs (L9263, L9314, L9315, L9317, L9318, L9334 and L935) were lost, mostly due to bad weather, during delivery flights from the U.K. Aboard these aircraft, no less than 18 pilots and crewmembers lost their life.

On 10 June, 70 Sqn reached Heliopolis from Helwan with eleven aircraft. The squadron received a fifteenth machine (Valentia J8062) on 12 June, while a detachment of the squadron (force unknown) remained at Habbaniya in Iraq. Activity during the months of June, July and August was transport duties. However, a three-aircraft detachment, left in Dekheila under command of S/Ldr C. G. Hohler, carried out some operational flying with general sea reconnaissance missions to a maximum of 100 miles from land, convoy protection and anti-submarine patrols. No losses were suffered during the period.

A Royal Egyptian Air Force Lysander on roll-out at Yeovil.

[via Westland Archives]

Reconnaissance forces

On 11 June, ‘B’ Flight of 208 Sqn under F/Lt Black moved from Qasaba to Sidi Barrani with four Lysanders, to work with 7th Armoured Division. P/O Webber flew F/O Finch of 45 Sqn back to Fuka during the day.

‘B’ Flight moved its four Lysanders from Sidi Barrani to Buq-Buq on 13 June. In the next weeks, their comrades from Qasaba would periodically relieve pilots of the Flight.

The squadron’s diarist reported the arrival of four reserve Blenheims of 113 Sqn at Qasaba together with 40 men of a maintenance party and a workshop party on 15 June. They were attached to the squadron. ‘B’ Flight in the meantime returned to Sidi Barrani from Buq-Buq.

On 20 June, the squadron started to disperse to the new airstrip of Bir Kenayis, south of Mersa Matruh, to avoid the Italian bombing attacks. squadron strength was 14 aircraft, five still at Qasaba, five at Bir Kenayis and four at Sidi Barrani.

L8017 was one of 18 Gladiators supplied of the Royal Egyptian Air Force in 1939. They were given the Egyptian serials K1331-1348, although it is not known if these were ever worn. This aircraft appears to be in overall aluminum. No machine-guns are carried and the port outer wheel covers looks to be darker than the rest of the airframe, although this may be a flight color.

[via Tim Kershaw]

228 Sqn was reinforced by the arrival of Sunderland N9020/W, which arrived from Mount Batten piloted by S/Ldr Menzies.

Sunderlands P9621 and P9622 completed 228 Sqn’s complement, on 30 June flying from Pembroke Dock to Gibraltar piloted by F/Lt Brooks and F/Lt Craven DFC. The flying-boats however remained at The Rock on attachment to 202 Sqn.

Royal Egyptian Air Force

After the first raid on Alexandria during the night of 21-22 June both REAF Gladiator squadrons were placed under the command of 252 Fighter Wing RAF. 2 Sqn was based at Helwan under command of S/Ldr Muhammed Ibrahim Abu Rabia, while 5 Sqn was based at Dekhalia.

Armée de l’Air

Fighters

GC I/10 was sent to Djedeida airstrip (close to Tunis) on 11 June, and two days later the first Escadrille of GC III/5 joined it. It never saw action against the Italians.

On 13 June, Capitaine De Place replaced Capitaine Davy as commander of GC III/4.

On 17 June, the French fighters in Tunisia were reorganized with the formation of Sous-Groupement n°45 that included GC I/9 (which went to El Hamma in the south), and the 2ème Escadrille of GC III/5 (at Bir Guénich), together with the only Escadrille of GC I/10 (at Djedeida near Tunis).

GC III/5 was reunited at Bir Guénich some days later.

All the units remained equipped with their old Morane Saulnier MS.406s

On 17 June, the French opened negotiations for the surrender. From this moment onwards, the maximum possible numbers of air units were to retreat to AFN. For some units heavily committed against the Germans the retreat was impossible, as it was for units equipped with short range aircraft (Bloch 151 and 152 fighters and the Morane Saulnier MS.406s) but many other units, among them some of the best up to that moment, were able to reach Algeria at full strength. However, apart from the bombers of Groupements n°1 and n°2, and GB II/11, none of these aircraft saw further action during the closing stages of the war. Most fighter units, in particular, arrived without their ground echelons, and obviously without any form of spare part or maintenance equipment.

Curtiss fighters of GC II/5 at Saint-Denis-du-Sig at the end of June 1940. Nearest the camera are n°153 and H-751 (H 75 A4) n°8 of the 3rd Escadrille.

[via G.Botquin]

On 18 June, GC III/2, GC I/3 and GC I/4 reached Oran. GC III/2 had 24 Curtiss H75s and 26 pilots, and was credited with 33 victories against the Luftwaffe. GC I/3 had 28 Dewoitine D.520s, 31 pilots, and had claimed 55 confirmed victories against the Germans; among its pilots was seven-victories ace Sous-Lieutenant Michel Madon. GC I/4 had 17 Curtiss H75s and in the period September 1939 – June 1940 its pilots had claimed 36 victories; among its pilots was the seven victory ace Lieutenant Edmond Guillaume.

On the same day, GC III/6 left Le Luc en Provence for AFN with its Dewoitine D.520s after its successful encounters with the Regia Aeronautica on 13 and 15 June. The newly promoted Sous Lieutenant Pierre Le Gloan, who joined the Vichy Air forces with his comrades, had scored eleven of the 18 victories claimed by the unit.

The two Escadrilles of GC I/9 reunited at El Hamma around 19 June. Up to that moment, only the 2ème Escadrille had had opportunities to engage the Italians near Tunis.

On 19 and 20 June, GC III/3 reached Algiers in two groups. After some flight problems, which resulted in one destroyed aircraft and one killed pilot, the Groupe reunited at Relizane.

On 20 June, GC II/3 (15 Dewoitine D.520s), GC II/4 (22 Curtiss H75s and 22 pilots), GC I/5 (24 Curtiss H75s and 30 pilots) and GC II/5 (34 Curtiss H75s, some of them of the latest A4 model, and 34 pilots) reached Algiers.

GC II/5 went on to St-Denis-du-Sig after the stop in Algiers. The Groupe was credited with 48 confirmed victories up to that time.

On the same day, GC II/7 went to Bone with 25 Dewoitine D.520s and 22 pilots, while GC I/3 regrouped at Oudna.

The day after the Franco-Italian armistice, on 25 June, GC III/3 had 22 Dewoitines and 35 pilots. The unit had claimed 33 victories against the Luftwaffe and had among its pilots one of the highest scoring of the Campaign, Sous-Lieutenant Edouard Le Nigen, credited with twelve victories (tragically he was to die of peritonitis in July).

GC I/4 was at Meknès with 25 fighters and 24 pilots.

GC II/3 was at Relizane with 20 Dewoitines and 27 pilots. The unit was credited with 35 victories against the Luftwaffe.

GC II/4 was at Meknès. It was credited with 52 victories against the Luftwaffe; among its pilots there were 14 victories-ace Sous-Lieutenant Camille Plumbeau and nine victory ace Sous-Lieutenant Georges Baptizet.

GC I/5 went to St-Denis-du-Sig. This unit was the highest scoring French unit from the May-June Campaign, with 84 confirmed victories. Among its pilots retreating to North Africa were the triple ace (16 "homologuées victories") Lieutenant Edmond Marin La Meslée, top scorer of the campaign for Armèe de l’Air and 14 victory ace Lieutenant Michel Dorance. Many other aces also still served with the unit.

GC II/7 was at Oudna. It had 29 victories to its credit.

GC III/2 moved on to Rouiba during the day.

French Martin 167 in North Africa in 1941.

[via B. Belcarz]

Bombers

GB II/32 went to Aïn Beda in Algeria on 17 June but never saw action against Italy.

A few days after the declaration of war, the French bomber forces were joined by Groupements n°1 and n°2 from France, which just had re-equipped with the latest American Douglas and Martin bombers. These saw frequent action before the end of the campaign against Italy.

GB I/62, GB II/62, GBI/63, GB II/63, forming Groupement n°1, arrived from France on 19 June. The Escadre 62 went to Canrobert and the Escadre 63 to Aïn Beda in northern and southern Algeria respectively. The Glenn-Martins of the Groupement operated frequently against Italy from their new bases, from 22 June to 25 June.

GB I/19, GB II/19, GB II/61, forming Groupement n°2, arrived from France with twenty aircraft, and on 22 June went to the airfield of Souk-el-Arba in Algeria. The Douglas DB 7s of the Groupement operated against Italy on 24 June.

GB II/11 took off at 14:00 in the afternoon on 18 June from Avignon, and reached Blida in Algeria four hours later with 14 Lioré et Olivier LeO 451s. The LeO no. 387 suffered a fire in the engine during landing, but the crew escaped unhurt.

Groupement n°7, formed by GB II/23 and GB I/11 on Liorè et Olivier LeO 451s, started to reach Blida on 19 June, its redeployment was completed on 24 June.

During the day on 20 June, Groupement n°9 (composed of GB I/21, GB II/21, GB I/34 and GB II/34) reached Blida. It was equipped with a collection of types - Amiot A 351/354, Amiot A 143 and Bloch MB 210. The movement was completed the day after.

On 21 June GB I/32 went to Sidi-Rahal near Marrakech. It never saw action against the Italians.

Reconnaissance forces

Around 20 June reconnaissance units also reached ANF; twelve GAOs went to Algeria and four to Tunisia. These were mainly equipped with Potez 63.11s.

On 20 June, GR I/33, GR II/33 (the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s unit and to which he dedicated his novel Flight to Arras), GR I/35, GR I/36, GR II/36, GR II/52, GR I/55, went to Algeria with 17 Bloch MB 174s, 12 MB 175s, 22 Potez 63.11s, 5 Leo 45s plus one Glenn Martin GM 167F, one Bréguet 693 and one Farman 222.

GR I/22 and GR I/52 went to Tunisia with 18 Potez 63.11s, two Bloch MB 174 and four Bréguet 693s.

Aeronavale

On 10 June Groupement HS7 was created, and equipped with six Loire 130 unloaded from the fleet and based at Arzew for the defence of Mers-el-Kébir.

HB1 and HB2 moved to Oubeïra, Algeria, from 19 June.

On 21 June, T2 arrived from France equipped with nine Latécoère 298s, to be based at Bougie, Algeria. The unit was commanded by Lieutenant de Vaisseau Lamiot and had seen action against the German army, employing its Laté as dive-bombers, suffering heavy losses in May.

Many aircraft of the Aeronavale received the order to retreat to AFN during 24 June.

B3 returned to Morocco with its Glenn-Martin GM 167Fs on 24 June.

Four Bloch MB.151s of AC3 succeeded in reaching Bone after a stop in Corsica on the evening on 24 June, with almost empty tanks.

The Loire-Nieuport 411 dive bombers of AB2 and AB4 arrived at Bone in the morning of 25 June. Three planes failed to arrive because of mechanical breakdowns. Two of them (from AB 4) crash-landed on Sardinia where the pilots were interned (Maitre Méheut and Second-Maitre Le Moal). The last planes of AB4 landed at Bone on 28 June. During these last attempts to reach AFN, another LN dive-bomber crash-landed on Sardinia (Second-Maitre Méhault