Sottotenente Antonio Amantea was a World War I

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 five aerial victories. He lived to become the last surviving Italian ace of the war.''The Aerodrome''
Retrieved on 31 May 2010.

World War I service

Amantea was working as an electrician when he was conscripted into Italian military in September 1914. He volunteered for aviation. A year later, on 1 September 1915, ''Sergente'' Amantea pinned on his wings. His first assignment was to fly artillery spotting missions in a

Caudron G-3 The Caudron G.3 was a single-engined French sesquiplane built by Caudron, widely used in World War I as a reconnaissance aircraft and trainer. Development The Caudron G.3 was designed by René and Gaston Caudron as a development of their earlie ...

on the

Isonzo front The Battles of the Isonzo (known as the Isonzo Front by historians, sl, soška fronta) were a series of 12 battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I mostly on the territory of present-day Slovenia, and the remaind ...

. He flew 173 combat sorties over the next few months before being picked for fighter training in February 1917. In late March, he returned to action as a member of ''71a Squadriglia'', flying over the

Asiago plateau Asiago (; Venetian: ''Axiago'', Cimbrian: ''Slege'', German: ''Schlägen'' ) is a minor township (population roughly 6,500) in the surrounding plateau region (the ''Altopiano di Asiago'' or '' Altopiano dei Sette Comuni'', Asiago plateau) in ...

.Varriale 2009, pp. 14-15. On 2 August 1917, he scored his first confirmed victory, although he had to break off his attack because of a bum magneto and sputtering engine and crashland his own plane. He submitted a claim for the 23rd that went unverified. However, he had better luck the next day, sharing a confirmed win over an

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service (''Luftstreitkräfte'') during World War I. A modified licence model was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service ( ''Luftfahrtruppen''). T ...

with Antonio Riva but not having a solo second victory confirmed. In December 1917, he upgraded to piloting a

Spad VII The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and r ...

. By the time he ended his triumphant string on 3 May 1918, he had posted nine victory claims to have five confirmed under the stringent rules used by the Italians.

Postwar

Amantea left Italian aviation with the rank of ''Tenente''. In 1922, he returned. He fought in the Ethiopian War, and worked his way up to ''Colonello'' by June 1940, when Italy entered World War II. He was commanding Galatina Airfield when Italy declared its armistice on 8 September 1943. Although his airmen were few and poorly armed, General Amantea organized the defence of the airfield against the Germans forcing them to leave the area, being able then to give the undamaged base to the Allied troops. He served three more years, retiring in 1946. By the time of his death on 13 July 1983 in

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

, he was the last surviving Italian ace from World War I.

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. , . * Varriale, Paolo. ''Italian Aces of World War 1''. Osprey Pub Co, 2009. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Amantea, Antonio Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor 1894 births 1983 deaths Italian World War I flying aces