''78a Squadriglia'' was one of the original Italian

fighter squadron A squadron in air force, army aviation, or naval aviation is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, dependi ...

s of World War I, serving in combat from 29 June 1916 to 3 November 1918. They flew 4,770 combat missions and were credited with 88 aerial victories.

History

78a Squadriglia of the ''

Corpo Aeronautico Militare The Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) was formed as part of the Regio Esercito (Royal Army) on 7 January 1915, incorporating the Aviators Flights Battalion (airplanes), the Specialists Battalion (airships) and the Ballon ...

'' was established on 29 June 1916. Equipped with seven

Nieuport 10 The Nieuport 10 (or Nieuport XB in contemporary sources) was a French First World War sesquiplane that filled a wide variety of roles, including reconnaissance, fighter and trainer. Design and development In January 1914, designer Gustave Delag ...

s and a

Nieuport 11 The Nieuport 11 (or Nieuport XI C.1 in contemporary sources), 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 ...

, it went operational on 16 August 1916. It deployed to

Campoformido Campoformido ( fur, Cjampfuarmit) is a town and ''comune'' in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, north-eastern Italy, with a population of 7743 (December 2019). It is notable for the Treaty of Campo Formio. History Campoformido is a village not far from Udin ...

on 3 September 1916. It flew its first combat

sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. ...

s six days later. The new squadron was an independent one until 10 April 1917, when it was attached to ''10o Gruppo''. It left the ''Gruppo'' in October 1917 to be subordinated to

Pier Ruggero Piccio Lieutenant General Count Pier Ruggero Piccio (27 September 1880 – 30 July 1965) was an Italian aviator and the founding Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force. With 24 victories during his career, he is one of the principal Italian air aces o ...

; this was at the time that Piccio was developing new aerial tactics for the Italians.Varriale 2009, p. 9. The squadron would subsequently be posted to the ''15o Gruppo'' on 24 January 1918. Its last wartime posting would be with ''23o Gruppo'', on 18 July 1918.Franks et al 1997, p. 124. When the war ended, ''78a Squadriglia'' had flown 4,770 combat

s, fought 443 aerial combats, and been credited with 88 aerial victories. Six of its members had shot down five or more enemy aircraft with the squadron. Four of the squadron's pilots had paid the final price.

Commanding officers

* Domenico Bolognesi: From ca. 29 June 1916 * Antonio Riva: 20 November 1917 through war's end

Duty stations

* Campoformido: 3 September 1916 * Borgnano: August 1917 *

Aviano Aviano ( fur, Davian; cim, Pleif) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pordenone at the foot of the Dolomites mountain range in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy. Aviano is home to the C.R.O. (Oncological Referral Center), a cancer rese ...

: October 1917 *

Istrana Istrana is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about northwest of Venice and about west of Treviso. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 8,223 and an area of .All demographics and ...

Notable members

* Amedeo Mecozzi * Antonio Riva *

Cosimo Rennella Lieutenant Colonel Cosimo Rennella Barbatto (1890–1937) was an Ecuadorian World War I flying ace of Italian birth. He was credited with seven confirmed aerial victories flying for Italian aviation during the war; however, his pioneering civil av ...

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Guglielmo Fornagiari '' Sergente Maggiore'' Guglielmo Fornagiari was an Italian World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories. Biography Guglielmo Fornagiari was born in Lizzano in Belvedere, Kingdom of Italy, in 1892.Franks et al 1997, pp. 139-140. His l ...

Guido Masiero '' Capitano'' Guido Masiero (24 August 1895 – 24 November 1942) was a World War I flying ace credited with five confirmed and ten unconfirmed aerial victories.The AerodromRetrieved 30 May 2010. He was a prewar lancer who used his civilian enginee ...

Aircraft

Hanriot Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in different ...

Endnotes

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. , . * Varriale, Paolo. ''Italian Aces of World War 1''. Osprey Pub Co, 2009. . {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Italian Air Force Military units and formations of Italy in World War I Military units and formations established in 1916 1916 establishments in Italy Squadriglie of Italy