Brigadier General Ferruccio Ranza (9 September 1892—25 April 1973) began his military career as 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 seventeen confirmed victories and eight unconfirmed ones. Postwar, he rose to command of several area commands of the resurgent Italian Air Force. He served through the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

Early life

Ferruccio Ranza was born on 9 September 1892 in

Fiorenzuola d'Arda Fiorenzuola d'Arda (; egl, label= Piacentino, Fiurinsöla, or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy in the province of Piacenza, part of the Emilia-Romagna region. Its name derives from ''Florentia'' ("prosperous" in Latin). The "d'Arda" portion r ...

, the

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 ...

.Franks et al 1997, pp. 153-154.

World War I service

Ranza was a '' Sottotenente'' in the engineers when World War I broke out, being assigned on 8 November 1914 as a lieutenant in 1st Engineer Regiment. He attended the flight school at

Venaria Venaria Reale ( pms, La Venerìa) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northwest of Turin. Venaria Reale borders the municipalities of Robassomero, Caselle Torinese, Druent ...

. His first assignment, on 14 October 1915, was to ''43a Squadriglia'' to fly

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 ...

missions. He won a Bronze award 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 exceptio ...

for carrying out an artillery spotting mission under heavy fire on 1 April 1916.

However, Ranza had no success in aerial warfare until he transitioned to

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 joined ''

77a Squadriglia ''77a Squadriglia'' was one of the first Italian fighter squadrons. After its founding on 31 May 1916, it began flying combat in July 1916, and would operate until the end of World War I. It was one of the squadrons drawn into late 1917's Battle ...

'' on 22 June 1916.Franks 2000, p. 79. Five days later, flying 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 ...

, he downed a

Hansa-Brandenburg C.I The Hansa-Brandenburg C.I, also known as Type LDD, was a 2-seater armed single-engine reconnaissance biplane designed by Ernst Heinkel, who worked at that time for the parent company in Germany. The C.I had similarities with the earlier B.I (Typ ...

. On 14 September 1916, he shot down a seaplane and received another Bronze award. By 25 November, he had four confirmed wins and one unconfirmed. He made another unconfirmed claim on 4 April 1917.

Fulco Ruffo di Calabria Fulco VIII, Prince Ruffo di Calabria, 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda (12 August 1884 – 23 August 1946) was an Italian World War I flying ace and senator of the Kingdom from 1934 until his death. He was the father of Paola, Queen of the Belgi ...

was removed from command of ''

91a Squadriglia ''Squadriglia 91a'' was one of the later fighter squadrons that the Italian Army created, on 1 May 1917. Because it drew an experienced cadre of pilots from pre-existing ''70a Squadriglia'', the squadron scored 14 victories within its first month ...

'' because of

combat fatigue Combat stress reaction (CSR) is acute behavioral disorganization as a direct result of the trauma of war. Also known as "combat fatigue", "battle fatigue", or "battle neurosis", it has some overlap with the diagnosis of acute stress reaction used ...

; Ranza was appointed to succeed him in command, on 1 May 1917, while still flying with ''77a Squadriglia'' through June. Ranza scored again on 23 June 1917, and would continue to score through the end of the war, with his last claims being two unconfirmed victories on 29 October 1918. He would be awarded two more Silver Medals for Military Valor. Ranza ended World War I having flown 465 combat

sorties 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. ...

and had posted 20 aerial victory claims. In the process, he was promoted to captain. During the war, he had won three Silver awards of the Medal for Military Valor, the Serbian

Order of the Star of Karađorđe Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

, four war crosses (two Italian, one French, one Belgian),Guttman 2002, pp. 27-28. and the

Military Order of Savoy The Military Order of Savoy was a military honorary order of the Kingdom of Sardinia first, and of the Kingdom of Italy later. Following the abolition of the Italian monarchy, the order became the Military Order of Italy. History The origin of ...

Post World War I

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 ...

commission verified 17 of Ranza's victory claims in their report of 1 February 1919.Franks et al 1997, pp. 167-168. Ranza remained in the Italian Air Force postwar. In February 1924, he took command of the 13th Group. On 15 April 1927, he stepped up to command of 2nd Wing. He rose to command of Italian air assets in

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

, in 1928, then returned to Italy as Chief of Staff for 1st Zone Air Place. From January to September 1935, he returned to

Italian East Africa Italian East Africa ( it, Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the Seco ...

being promoted in March to Brigadier General. In May 1939, he moved to become Air Officer Commanding in Albania. The following year, he was appointed AOC Southern Italy. Ranza retired on 29 January 1945. He died in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, Italy on 25 April 1973.

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'' : Volume 4 of Air Aces of WWI. Grub Street, 1997. , . *. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranza, Ferruccio 1892 births 1973 deaths Italian World War I flying aces People from Fiorenzuola d'Arda Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents Italian military personnel of World War I Italian Air Force personnel Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor