''
Tenente colonnello'' Alvaro Leonardi (16 November 1895 – 1 January 1955) was a World War I ''
Sottotenente'' from
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and a
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 eight aerial victories.
Alvaro Leonardi at The Aerodrome
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Early life and service
Alvaro Leonardi was born in Terni
Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It is ...
, Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
, on 16 November 1895. In September 1915, just after Italy entered World War I, Leonardi served in the Technical Services Department of the Italian military. He was then posted to the 6th Railroad Engineers' Regiment before transferring to aviation.[Franks et al 1997, p. 142.]
World War I aviation service
He attended aviation training at Mirafiori
The Stabilimento di Mirafiori (in English, the Mirafiori Factory) is the headquarters and industrial district of the Italian automobile manufacturer Fiat, a subsidiary of FCA Italy, which is part of Stellantis, and is the headquarters of CNH I ...
, and was awarded his wings for the Caudron G.3 on 29 April 1916. In May, he went to aerial observers training at Centocelle Airport. He was then sent to a unit flying two-seater reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
craft, ''41a Squadriglia''. On 31 July, he was promoted to '' Caporal''; on 31 October to '' Sergente''. He was then packed off for training as a fighter pilot, arriving at Cascina Costa on 3 November 1916. He trained 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 was assigned to the Malpensa
Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest international airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, as well as the Swiss Canton of Ticino. The airport is northwest of Milan, next to the Ticino river dividing Lombardy and ...
defense flight on 25 January 1917. The following month, he rejoined ''80a Squadriglia''. On 2 May 1917, he was officially rated as a Nieuport pilot. On 24 May, he scored his first aerial victory. He continued to score throughout 1917 and 1918, posting his eleventh claim on 20 August 1918; though most of his claims were singular, he did share one each with Giovanni Ancillotto
''Lieutenant'' Giovanni 'Giannino' Ancillotto (15 November 1896 – 18 October 1924) 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, ...
and Cosimo Rizzotto
Sergente Cosimo Rizzotto (1893-1963) was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.
Early life
Cosimo Rizzotto was born on 26 June 1893, in Colognola ai Colli, Kingdom of Italy.Franks et al 1997, pp. 157-158.
World War I
Rizzott ...
.[
On 25 October 1918, Leonardi was transferred out of combat, being assigned to ''122a Squadriglia''. When the war ended,
Alvaro Leonardi had flown 140 fighter escort missions in 700 hours flight time, and engaged in 21 combats to stake his 11 victory claims. He had earned two awards of the Silver ]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 ...
.[
]
Post World War I
On 1 February 1919, the Bongiovanni 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 ...
committee approved eight of Leonardi's victory claims and denied three. On 6 November 1919, Leonardi was discharged from military service.[
Leonardi later joined the '']Regia Aeronautica
The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...
'' that had replaced 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 Ballo ...
''. He became an instructor in April 1934. He served in a number of posts during the late 1930s and the start of World War II, rising to '' Tenente colonnello'' in March 1938.[
When the ]Armistice of Cassibile
The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II.
It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brig ...
was signed between Italy and the Allies on 3 September 1943, Leonardi was caught on the Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
side of the lines. In March 1944, Leonardi reached out to the Italian resistance movement opposing the German occupiers. Postwar, he retired from military service in February 1946.[
Alvaro Leonardi died in ]Cameri
Cameri is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northeast of Novara.
Cameri borders the following municipalities: Bellinzago Novarese, Caltignaga, Castan ...
, Italy on 1 January 1955.[
]
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. , .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonardi, Alvaro
Italian World War I flying aces
1895 births
1955 deaths
Italian aviators
Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents
Italian military personnel of World War I
Italian Air Force personnel
Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor