81a Squadriglia

81a Squadriglia
	Nieuport 11
Active	Founded March 1917
Country	Kingdom of Italy
Branch	Corpo Aeronautico Militare
Type	Fighter squadron
Engagements	World War I
Aircraft flown
Fighter	Nieuport 11 ; Nieuport 17 ; Hanriot HD.1 ; Nieuport 27

Last updated March 05, 2019

81a Squadriglia was an Italian fighter squadron raised in March 1917 that served through the end of World War I. One of its aces, Flavio Baracchini, would become the first awardee of the Gold Medal for Military Valor. The squadron would be credited with 34 aerial victories, and suffer four dead. It ended the war with 28 aircraft on strength.

LieutenantFlavio Torello Baracchini was an Italian World War I fighter ace credited with 21 confirmed and nine unconfirmed aerial victories. His confirmed victory total ranked him fourth among Italian aces of the war.

History

81a Squadriglia of the Corpo Aeronautico Militare was founded at the Central Flying School in Arcade, Italy in March 1917, during World War I. In April 1917, it deployed to operate Nieuport 11 fighters, and was attached to 2o Gruppo. The new unit flew its first combat sorties on 23 April 1917 and fought its first fight the following day. On 1 May 1917, Sergente Enrico Sorrentino scored the fledgling squadron's first aerial victory. In July, Flavio Baracchini became the first Italian fighter pilot to win the Gold Medal for Military Valor. The squadron re-equipped with Nieuport 17s.^[1]

The Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare was formed as part of the part of the Regio Esercito on 7 January 1915, incorporating the Aviators Flights Battalion (airplanes), the Specialists Battalion (airships) and the Ballonists Battalion. Prior to World War I, Italy had pioneered military aviation in the Italo-Turkish War during 1911–1912. Its army also contained one of the world's foremost theorists about the future of military aviation, Giulio Douhet; Douhet also had a practical side, as he was largely responsible for the development of Italy's Caproni bombers starting in 1913. Italy also had the advantage of a delayed entry into World War I, not starting the fight until 24 May 1915, but took no advantage of it so far as aviation was concerned.

The Nieuport 11, nicknamed the Bébé, was a French World War I single seat sesquiplane fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage. It was the primary aircraft that ended the Fokker Scourge in 1916. The type saw service with several of France's allies, and gave rise to the series of "vee-strut" Nieuport fighters that remained in service into the 1920s.

A sortie is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The sortie, whether by one or more aircraft or vessels, usually has a specific mission. The sortie rate is the number of sorties that a given unit can support in a given time. The term is an evolution of the concept of "sortie" in siege warfare.

The squadron was one of those displaced in the wake of the Italian defeat at the Battle of Caporetto. It bounced about four airfields in the last week of October as it repeatedly relocated. To add to the confusion, its commanding officer, Mario Zoboli, had orders transferring him out of the squadron's command on 1 November 1917. On 6 November, he returned when the orders were rescinded. Three days later, the squadron relocated once more, to join 6o Gruppo at Istrana. The move would put them in position for the great air battle over their base on 26 December 1917.^[1]

The Battle of Caporetto was a battle on the Italian front of World War I. The battle was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Central Powers and took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid. The battle was named after the Italian name of the town.

Istrana is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about 35 kilometres (22 mi) northwest of Venice and about 12 kilometres (7 mi) west of Treviso. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 8,223 and an area of 26.3 square kilometres (10.2 sq mi).

In February 1918, the squadron began replacing its Nieuport 17s with Hanriot HD.1s. Hanriot supplies being insufficient, some Nieuport 27s were also brought on strength. The squadron served on through Summer 1918. Then, on 26 October 1918, it was included in the Massa da Caccia (Fighter Mass) that supported the victorious final Italian offensive at Vittorio Veneto. When the war in northern Italy ended on 3 November 1918, the 81a Squadriglia had flown 4,118 combat sorties, engaged the enemy 230 times, and were credited with 34 aerial victories. The squadron suffered four dead. It still had 21 Hanriots and a Nieuport 27 in service.^[1]

The Nieuport 17 C.1 was a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improved development of the Nieuport 11/16, it was a little larger than its predecessors, and better adapted to the more powerful engine of the N.16. It also incorporated innovations such as the newly-developed Alkan-Hamy synchronization gear, permitting the use of a fuselage-mounted synchronised Vickers gun firing directly through the propeller arc.

The Hanriot HD.1 was a French World War I single-seat fighter aircraft. Rejected for service with French squadrons in favour of the SPAD S.7. The type was supplied to the Belgian and the Italian air forces, with whom it proved highly successful. Of a total of about 1,200 examples built, 831 were produced by Italian companies under licence.

The Nieuport 27 was a French sesquiplane fighter aircraft during World War I designed by Gustave Delage. The model 27 was the last of the line of Nieuport "V-strut" single seat fighters stemming from the Bébé of early 1916. A few operational examples supplemented the very similar Nieuport 24bis in operational squadrons in late 1917 but most examples of the type served as advanced trainers.

Commanding officers

Capitano Salvatore Calori: March 1917 - 24 June 1917
Capitano Mario Zoboli: 24 June 1917 - 25 March 1918 (see above)
Capitano Renato Mazzucco: 25 March 1918 through war's end^[1]

Duty stations

Arcade, Italy: March 1917
Borgnano: April 1917
Aviano: 26 October 1917
Bassano: 27 October 1917
Arcade: 31 October 1917
Istrana: 9 November 1917
Isolo di Carturo: 2 February 1918
Casoni: 17 February 1918^[1]

Aviano is a town and comune in the province of Pordenone at the foot of the Dolomites mountain range in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy.

Notable members

Flying ace Flavio Baracchini scored 13 of his 21 accredited victories with 81a Squadriglia. Other aces who scored victories while with the squadron were Gastone Novelli and Alessandro Buzio.

Aircraft

Endnotes

1 2 3 4 5 6 Franks et al 1997, p. 125.

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References

Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell; Alegi, Gregory. Above the War Fronts: The British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces, 1914–1918: Volume 4 of Fighting Airmen of WWI Series: Volume 4 of Air Aces of WWI. Grub Street, 1997. ISBN 1-898697-56-6, ISBN 978-1-898697-56-5.

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[fronts125-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Franks et al 1997, p. 125.