Capitán García Pardo shot one down for his 12th kill, but this would prove to be the only air-to-air victory for the He 112 for the war. From then on they operated almost solely in the ground attack role and moved about the country as the war wound down, sometimes rejoining 1a Escuadra. Two aircraft and their pilots were lost in careless accidents during this time, but it appears none were lost in combat. The civil war ended on 1 April, leaving Spain with one of the most powerful and modern air forces in the world. 2a Escuadra returned to Léon where they had started off, but on 13 July they were moved to Sania Ramel in Spanish Morocco. Here they were renamed 1a Escuadra and joined a newly formed 2a Escuadra flying the new Fiat G.50s (still no match for the 112s). Together they formed Grupo 27. When Allied forces landed in North Africa, the Spanish forces in Morocco found themselves once again on alert. Due to the navigational difficulties of the day, they found themselves repeatedly intercepting straying aircraft from both Allied and German forces. For instance, on 8 November they intercepted C-47s dropping US paratroopers on Morocco by mistake. On other occasions they intercepted Spitfire Vs from Gibraltar, and Dewoitine D.520s operated by the Vichy French out of Algeria. None of these incidents resulted in losses. On March 3, 1943 a formation of Allied planes was seen straying into Spanish airspace yet again, and Grupo 27's alert plane was scrambled with Teniente Miguel Entrena Klett at the controls. After climbing to 3500 m, he spotted the target aircraft and identified them as eleven Lockheed P-38s. He then positioned for an attack out of the sun (which was to the rear of the formation) and made a diving pass on the trail-end aircraft. Several hits were made with the 20 mm rounds (his MGs were later discovered to be unloaded), and the plane started trailing smoke and was forced down on the eastern bank of the Mouluya river, in Algeria. By 1944 the planes found themselves sitting on the ground more and more due to a lack of fuel and maintenance. By 1945 there were only nine left, and they were rotated out of service for repairs in Spain. They continued to be atrophied due to accidents and cannibalization over the next few years, eventually returning to the