WesWorld

March 5th

King Vittorio Emanuele has announced that he will be travelling to the Carribbean for holidaying during the latter part of May.

March 9th

There have been several periods of unrest and demonstrations up and down Italy but mainly focused in the Romagna. The Council seem to be taking a great deal of flak over the situation in Mexico. Most manifestations are short lived before being broken up. Mussolini has asked that the police be extra vigilant for socialist agitators.

March 11th

First flight of Ambrosini SS.3 and unusual aircraft with a canard layout similar to that seen on Siam's Fw 42s. The aircraft is a 4/5th scale flying model used as a flying testbed.

March 20th

More protests in Italy against the government. Scandal erupts as it emerges that military aircraft were sold to rebellious Mexican forces. In Torino a riot breaks out after a demonstration was brutally crushed by the blackshirts. The centre is engulfed by violence with rocks and Mindanao cocktails being thrown by both sides. Eventually the Carabinieri are called in a eventually halt the violence with a number of the instigators arrested.



March 24th

Regio Esercito makes an order for 250 AutoBlindata 34 type after they complete succesful trials in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. The vehicle is part of the continuing cost-cutting drive in the RE, the wheeled design being both cheaper to build and too maintain than a tank. The 37/54 gun used is an air-cooled derivative of the Breda AA weapon and retains the selective fire mechanism. Officials indicated that later production blocks would probably be armed with 47mm weapons.

I also drew up this which'll probably never get built.

Is that a 75mm gun on the AB36?

Yes. Breda 75/34. Penetration from the AP shell isn't great but the Effeto Pronto (HEAT) can take out just about anything. The gun is more useful for infantry support with the HE shell. As I said, Its just something I drew.

Is that gun fixed to fire over the rear? If so then it seems very Italian ; )

If you are smart enough to have HEAT rounds you'd think you'd develop an all welded hull and eliminate all those rivets.

The 8 wheeled one reminds me of something South African in the 1990's...

Cheers,

Nah. The turreted 37/54 on the AB.34 is able to traverse 360°. A fixed weapon isn't as useful for an armoured car.

The Effeto Pronto rounds were introduced in 1940/41. I've no idea why a welded/cast hull wasn't used for AFVs. Some sources state that it was a lack of manufacturing ability but that makes little sense.

Could be that the producers of the vehicles didn't have the ability or skills to cast or weld the turrets or hulls, and the projects weren't farmed out to others that did.

You can trace back most problems to the Fiat-Ansaldo monoply on producing vehicles and other items. Why would they sell 1x20ton tank when they could sell(and Italy will buy) 4x5ton tanks and get more money?

April 3rd

Continued protests in Italy. The violence has intensified with armed clashes becoming more common. The government position looks ever more perilous with questions being raised in the newspapers over the situation in Mexico. Did Italy sell arms to rebels? Did Italy assassinate a member of the Mexican government? The halted denials of government spokesmen have not been convincing, only helping to further the violence.

April 10th

The King, Vittorio Emanuele has stepped into the fray after escaping an assassination attempt by a latino anarchist. He has insisted that Mussolini restores parliament and creates a new government. The fascisti were invited to form a new government after the fall of the previous government in 1931. Instead they dismissed parliament and the country slipped into near-dictatorship. Until now, the system appeared to be working. It remains to be seen whether the army will remain loyal to the King or will follow the fascists.

April 12th

SuperAero gives assent to the construction of three new heavy bomber prototypes, the Piaggio 108, the Caproni 211 and the Cant Z.1014. The 6 prototypes should be completed in 1935 in time for the competition.

Quoted

April 3rd

Continued protests in Italy. The violence has intensified with armed clashes becoming more common. The government position looks ever more perilous with questions being raised in the newspapers over the situation in Mexico. Did Italy sell arms to rebels? Did Italy assassinate a member of the Mexican government? The halted denials of government spokesmen have not been convincing, only helping to further the violence

Hmm I never pointed fingers...

April 20th

Mussolini and the fascists are coming under mounting pressure to form a government and call elections. The fascists are still dragging their feet to see whether the current situation can be dealt with. In the country it doesn't seem that way with a surge of violent protests. The scenes are reminders of the early 1920s. The brief period of stability in the late 20s seems to have just been a passing phase. It remains to be seen whether a solution can be found to Italy's ongoing political strife.

April 22nd

Journalists were invited to see the Macchi C.72 seaplanes flying at Desenzano in preparation for the upcoming Schneider trophy event in Venice. They were told that the previously fickle engines had been tamed and were now running reliably for hours at full throttle. *

April 26th

Announcement of a small order of tanks and armoured cars to Argentina. The small shipment will hopefully meet Argentina's two year old requirement for a fast tank. A large order is expected once the reliability issues have been worked out. The tank itself uses a new suspension system developed after the trials at Grafenwohr. Fiat has had some problems coming to grips with the new technology but the manufacturing processes are now better understood. The longer travel springs and increased engine power have given the vehicle an impressive top speed : when it isn't broken down.



* I found a reference to the AS.6 engines being run for 3 hours at full throttle, 7.5hours at 90% and 64hrs total without a breakdown. Quite impressive for a racing engine.