Michelle Allasia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 24 June 1893 Ferrara, Italy |
| Died | 20 July 1918 |
| Allegiance | Italy |
| Service/ | Flying service |
| Rank | Sottotenente |
| Unit | 37a Squadriglia, 77a Squadriglia, 80a Squadriglia, 5a Sezione SVA |
| Awards | Medal for Military Valor (1 bronze and 3 silver awards) |
Sottotenente Michele Allasia was a World War I fighter ace credited with five aerial victories. [1]
Allasia was born on 24 June 1893, in Ferrara, Kingdom of Italy. [2] Allasia was a lathe operator in civilian life. In 1913, he was accepted into the Battaglione Squadriglie Aviatori because of his skills with a lathe. When the war began, he enrolled [3] in the Busto Arsizio flying school. In late May 1916, [4] he received his pilot's license. He was assigned to fly a Farman for 37a Squadriglia , [2] which was tasked with the defense of Bergamo. He flew 40 fruitless sorties there, before being selected for training on Nieuports. [3]
Allasia was transferred to 80a Squadriglia on 9 March 1917. [2] He returned to the Isonzo front with the rank of Sergente Maggiore . It was about this time that some of the squadron's pilots used Happy Hooligan as an insignia on their planes. Allasia's version showed Fortunello yelling wordlessly. [3]
On 25 April 1917, he was granted the Bronze award of the Medal of Military Valor. [2] On 27 April, in a letter home, Allasia depicted his previous day's (26 April) dogfight with three Austro-Hungarian machines: "If only you could see how badly holed my aircraft is! Four bullets grazed my back. Even the fuel tank was pierced." [3] The following day, 28 April 1917, six weeks after his first dog fight, Allasia was rated as a qualified Nieuport 11 pilot. [2] He was wounded by antiaircraft shrapnel on 10 May 1917. He landed for medical aid at Doberdò del Lago, and was unable to return to duty until early July. [3]
Upon his return, he submitted a claim for shooting down a seaplane on 13 July, but it went unverified. The next month, he and Giovanni Sabelli teamed to shoot down a Hansa-Brandenburg C.I for Allasia's first win. On 1 September 1917, Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta made a field award of the Silver Medal of Military Valor to Michele Allasia. [2]
Allasia scored twice more while with 80a Squadriglia, on 2 and 7 November 1917. He had flown 368 combat hours with the squadron by the time he left. [2] Allasia transferred to 77a Squadriglia later in November, to fly a Spad VII. [3] However, he flew only 37 hours with the 77th, including some night flying experiments, but only one combat. On 12 December, Allasia received his second field award of the Silver Medal for Military Valor. [2]
On 11 March 1918, Allasia engaged a formation of Austro-Hungarian fighters over Pordenone. His Spad took 18 hits from the guns of Benno Fiala Ritter von Fernbrugg, who claimed him as a victory. Nevertheless, the Italian escaped unscathed. On 8 June 1918, he transferred to the newly formed strategic reconnaissance unit, 5a Sezione SVA. A week later, he shot down a two-seater for his fourth triumph. On the 23rd, he shot down another enemy airplane. [3] Allasia also received a third Silver Medal for Military Valor for his courageous actions from 15 through 23 June 1918. [2]
On 20 July 1918, Allasia and his passenger, Capitano Giuseppe Graglia, crashed an Ansaldo SVA.9 near Marcon airfield. Both of them were trapped in the wreckage and burned to death. [3]
Count Francesco Baracca was Italy's top fighter ace of World War I. He was credited with 34 aerial victories. The emblem he wore side by side on his plane of a black horse prancing on its two rear hooves inspired Enzo Ferrari to use it on his racing car and later in his automotive company.
Fulco VIII, Prince Ruffo di Calabria, 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda was an Italian World War I flying ace and senator of the Kingdom from 1934 until his death. He was the father of Paola, Queen of the Belgians.
Flavio 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.
Maggiore Sebastiano Bedendo was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories. After completing his education postwar, he rejoined Italian military aviation. He set several world aviation flying records with a Nuvoli N.5 monoplane before dying in an air crash.
Sottotenente de Vascello Umberto Calvello was a World War I fighter ace credited with five victories.
Capitano Giulio Lega was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories. After finishing the war, he completed medical school, and began a near lifelong career caring for the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
CapitanoGuido Masiero was a World War I flying ace credited with five confirmed and ten unconfirmed aerial victories. He was a prewar lancer who used his civilian engineering expertise to wrangle a transfer to aviation duty.
Tenente ColonnelloGiorgio Michetti was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.
Tenente Giovanni Sabelli was an Italian World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories. At the start of World War I, he was already an experienced combat pilot.
MarescialloGuido Nardini (1881-1928) was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.
Tenente Luigi Olivi (1894–1917) was an Italian World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories. He won two awards of the Silver Medal for Military Valor and was killed in action.
TenenteMario Fucini was a World War I flying ace who claimed credit for 13 aerial victories during the war; seven of these were confirmed in 1919.
TenenteLuigi Olivari was a World War I flying ace who claimed 19 aerial victories. His Spad VII stalled into a fatal crash on 13 October 1917. Posthumously, he was awarded credit for eight aerial victories.
Tenente Gastone Novelli was a World War I flying ace credited with eight aerial victories.
TenenteCarlo Francesco Lombardi known as Francis was a World War I flying ace credited with eight aerial victories. Postwar, he was active in his family's rice refinery, as well as in record breaking flights. He formed the AVIA aviation company in 1938.
Brigadier General Ferruccio Ranza began his military career as a World War I flying ace credited with seventeen confirmed victories and eight unconfirmed ones. Postwar, he rose to command of several area commands of the resurgent Italian Air Force. He served through the end of World War II.
SergenteGiovanni Nicelli was an Italian World War I flying ace. He was credited with eight or nine confirmed aerial victories, and died in service to his nation on 5 May 1918.
Flaminio Avet was a World War I flying ace credited with eight aerial victories. Although born in Nice, France, he served in the Italian military as Italy entered World War I. After a transfer from Lancers to aviation, he trained as a pilot. He began his aerial combat career on 27 November 1918, and would stake a dozen victory claims, eight of which would be verified. He ended the war having won the Silver Medal for Military Valor three times. He returned to Nice postwar, and died there on 21 August 1928.
LieutenantGiovanni 'Giannino' Ancillotto was an Italian World War I flying ace credited with 11 confirmed aerial victories. Rather unusually, he served solely with aviation while he was in the military, beginning in the lowest rank. Among his aerial victories as a fighter pilot were three over enemy observation balloons right after the Battle of Caporetto. As an example of the hazards of balloon busting, on 5 December 1917 Ancillotto returned to base with singed swatches of the third balloon's fabric adhering to his damaged fighter plane.
CapitanoErnesto Cabruna (1889–1960) was a professional soldier who became a World War I flying ace credited with eight aerial victories. He served in Italy's military police, beginning in 1907. After service in Libya and Rhodes, he received a Bronze Medal for Military Valor a year after Italy's involvement in World War I began. He turned to aviation, became a pilot, and as such earned his first Silver Medal for Military Valor at the end of 1917.