'' Tenente Colonnello'' Alessandro Buzio was an Italian

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, four of them shared.

Early life and service

Alessandro Buzio was born in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

on 13 January 1893. He studied accounting in school. On 13 December 1913, he reported for his reserve officer training in military service with the 1st Engineers Regiment. After earning a couple of promotions in the enlisted ranks, Buzio was commissioned as a '' Sottotenente'' in the 5th Engineers Regiment on 8 November 1914.Franks et al 1997, p. 135.

Aerial service in World War I

On 23 May 1915, Buzio was assigned to aviation duty. He began pilot's training on 9 June 1915. On 7 December 1915, he was awarded his military pilot's license. By February 1916, Buzio was flying

Macchi Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the Ita ...

Parasols. On 24 April 1916, he was posted to ''75a Squadriglia''. On 27 June 1916, he scored his first aerial victory in concert with

Guido Nardini ''Maresciallo'' Guido Nardini (1881-1928) was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories. Biography Guido Nardini was born in Florence, Kingdom of Italy. His reported birth date differs according to authority consulted; dates giv ...

and other Italian pilots. This feat earned him a Bronze

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 exceptio ...

. In October 1916, he was promoted to '' Tenente''. On 27 April 1917, he was posted to the ''

81a Squadriglia ''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 cre ...

''. He would score another shared victory while with this squadron, and be awarded a Silver Medal for Military Valor. He would score his third victory with ''76a Squadriglia'' on 22 September 1917, though records show his official transfer as being on 1 November. He would score three more times with ''76a'', with a couple of shared victories on 3 May 1918 rounding off his tally. On 15 July 1918, during the

Battle of the Piave River The Second Battle of the Piave River, fought between 15 and 23 June 1918, was a decisive victory for the Kingdom of Italy, Italian Army against the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I. Though the battle proved to be a de ...

, Buzio managed to taxi his

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 ...

Scout airplane into that of Lieutenant J. W. Davis of

No. 66 Squadron RAF No. 66 Squadron was a Royal Flying Corps and eventually Royal Air Force aircraft squadron. History World War I It was first formed at Filton on 30 June 1916 as a training squadron equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory BE2, BE12s and the Avro 50 ...

in a ground accident.

Post World War I

A postwar committee from

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

vetted the wartime aerial victory claims and released verification on 1 February 1919.Franks et al 1997, p. 116. Alessandro Buzio was credited with five confirmed victories. Buzio served in the air force reserves in the 1930s. In 1940, he left flight status as a '' Tenente Colonnello''. Alessandro Buzio died on 1 October 1972.

Notes

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. , .

External links

Biography in Italian
at Kaos Online (reliability uncertain) {{DEFAULTSORT:Buzio, Alessandro 1893 births 1972 deaths Italian World War I flying aces Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor