That’s great, thanks!
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I’m going from memory here. If I have time tonight, I’ll check a book I have on the Helldivers, although I’m sure someone else already has it at hand.
The Helldivers delivered to Italy were handed over to the Navy fully operational. They were later transferred to the Air Force and assigned to the 86th Antisom Group, although they were also used in secondary roles, including target towing.
As for the removal of the rear machine guns, this is often reported in the sources, it is quite possible that the two 7.7 mm guns were simply considered completely superfluous by that stage, especially given both the historical period and the aircraft’s later secondary use as a target tug.
I cannot say whether the removal was permanent, but the key points are that the aircraft were delivered complete and operational, and were later modified after passing to the Air Force to suit their new duties. As I mentioned in my post above, for Italy I doubt they will ever add it. If they do, the Navy version would probably be the better choice, as it would avoid any ambiguity or issues regarding the armament configuration. in this photo you can cleary see the cover (a canvas) of the two rear MG.
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No, they were first shipped to the airforce and then they tried transferring them to the navy with great difficulties. And yes they were used for towing wich meant turning the sear back the other way again.
Btw the cover is present in the airforce ones as well
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