Ciclic, Boris Savoia Marchetti SM.79. The Yugoslav Story

Beautiful and ugly, rugged and elegant, celebrated and underrated, Savoia Marchetti SM.79 was one of the greatest aircraft of its time. Sidelined by other, more famous and potent types, with a combat record unpretentious, it still left a colorful mark in Yugoslav military history. This book tells the story of the acquisition of the third modern bomber type in the inventory of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force, its peacetime service and the role it played during the April War in 1941. It uncovers in detail the fate of the Yugoslav tri-motors which escaped to the Soviet Union and Middle East, where they were pressed into service by their new owners and with new markings. It describes the operations of the few aircraft in the inventory of the air arm of the puppet Independent State of Croatia, used both as bombers against Partisans and transports in the final stages of the war. It chronicles the episodes played by the iconic aircraft with three different Italian air forces, beginning with incursions during the Greek campaign and the assault on Yugoslavia, long-range flights of torpedo bombers at the time of changed fortunes of war, and ending with bizarre defection in 1946. Illustrated with 22 aircraft profiles and 125 photographs, many of which are published for the first time, this book represents the result of decades of painstaking research. It is drawn from archival sources, interviews and personal recollections, as well as documents and artifacts from private collections in Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Netherlands, Hungary, Slovenia and United Kingdom.

It reveals the fate of those Yugoslav SM.79 aircraft that fled to the Soviet Union and the Middle East after April 1941, where they resumed the fight against the Axis powers with new owners and new markings. It describes the operations of the few aircraft in the inventory of the air forces of the Croatian puppet state, which used the SM.79 both as bombers against partisans and as transports in the final phase of the war. It traces the episodes that the legendary aircraft played in the three different Italian air forces, from the flights during the Greek campaign and the attack on Yugoslavia, the long-range flights of torpedo bombers at the time of shifting fortunes of war, to bizarre defections in 1946.