Ustaška Eskadrila’s Fiat G.50
Fiat G.50bis of the Ustaška Eskadrila in front of a hangar at Borongaj airfield, Zagreb. The aircraft is one of first batch of this fighters, nine G.50bis single-seat and one G.50B two-seat fighter trainer, sold by Italians to Independent State of Croatia’s Air Force Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske or ZNDH) together twenty AVIA FL. 3 basic trainers, and delivered from 25 June 1942. Later, during the course of the same year, five were transferred to the 1st Squadron at Zagreb in order to strengthen the defence of the NDH capital. Their deployment between the two squadrons was aimed to further familiarize the ZNDH’s pilots with aircraft most modern of the former Royal Yugoslav Air Force employed until then: seven Avia BH-33E, four Ikarus IK-2 and eleven 11 Rogozarski R-100 fighter-trainers. The number of the Croat G.50s, never employed outside of the Country, grew after the Italy’s armistice on 8 September 1943 when the ZNDH received about 20-25 aircraft of this type seized by the Germans on Regia Aeronautica airfields in the Balkans together other Italian planes. On 1944 some G.50, together some French Morane-Saulnier MS.406, was included in the newly formed 11 Lovacka Skupina (11th Fighter Group) with four Squadron (Lovacka Jata) for defence of the Croatia territory. But the role of the now obsolete G.50 was taken by the Bf.109Gs and the survivors was moved to Kurilovac, near Velika Gorica. At the end of the war the few G.50 still in flight conditions was inherited by the new Yugoslav Air Force and used again for few years. Victor Sierra
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/other-forces/49209/ustaska-eskadrila's-fiat-g.50