Sergente Maggiore Aldo Bocchese was a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with six aerial victories.

Biography

Aldo Bocchese was born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

on 23 December 1894. When he reported for duty in World War I, his original military service was with his nation's 49th Infantry Regiment. Ranked as a '' sergente'', he transferred to aviation and began training as a pilot at Cascina Costa on 7 March 1917. On 29 August 1917, he was granted his initial license. He earned four more advanced ratings, including one on

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

s, and began gunnery training at Furbara on 7 December 1917. Upon graduation, he was assigned to ''70a Squadriglia'', with whom he would fly 119 combat sorties.Franks et al 1997, pp. 134-135. On 17 April 1918, Bocchese, Leopoldo Eleuteri, Flaminio Avet, and Alessandro Resch were credited with downing a two-seater and two fighter planes over

Valdobbiadene Valdobbiadene () is a town in the province of Treviso, Veneto, Italy. Valdobbiadene is a wine growing area. Just below the Alpine-Dolomite areas of Veneto, it provides a climate for a cool variety of grape (Glera). The Conegliano Valdobbiadene ar ...

for Bocchese's first three victories. Avet and Eleuteri also aided Bocchese in his next two victories, on 15 July and 28 October 1918. A postwar committee from Italian military intelligence adjudged all aerial victories postwar. On 1 February 1919, in their released report on aerial victories,Franks et al 1997, p. 116. they awarded Bocchese six confirmed aerial victories. Also in 1919, Aldo Bocchese was discharged from service as a '' sergente maggiore'' with two Bronze awards of the

Medal for Military Valor The Medal of Military Valor (Italian language: ''Medaglia al valor militare'') is an Italian medal, originally established as a Sardinian award. It is awarded to military personnel, units above the level of company, and civilians for excepti ...

. In 1963, Bocchese moved from Milan to Signa. He died in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

on 19 March 1976.

Sources

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. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Bocchese 1894 births 1976 deaths Italian World War I flying aces