Giulio Cesare Graziani (24 January 1915

Affile Affile ( la, Afilae) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about east of Rome. History Archaeology has shown the existence of a pre-Roman centre here, on the border of the lands of th ...

– 23 December 1998

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) was an Italian aviator, and one of the most famous Italian pilots of the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 ''Sparviero''

torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...

, the "Damned Hunchback", in

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 ...

Career

Born on 24 January 1915 the son of Ermenegildo and Giovanna Lonfernini, Graziani developed an early interest in aviation, gaining his pilots license before the age of 20 at Rimini Airport with a

Caproni Ca.100 The Caproni Ca.100 was the standard Trainer (aircraft), trainer aircraft of the ''Regia Aeronautica'' in the 1930s. Large numbers of this tandem, two-seat, biplane were built, powered by different engines. Design and development The Ca.100 (ni ...

thanks to the influence of

Rodolfo Graziani Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli (; 11 August 1882 – 11 January 1955), was a prominent Italian military officer in the Kingdom of Italy's '' Regio Esercito'' ("Royal Army"), primarily noted for his campaigns in Africa before and durin ...

. He 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 ...

and served initially flying

Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 The Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 ''Pipistrello'' (Italian: bat) was the first three-engine bomber/transport aircraft serving in the Italian ''Regia Aeronautica''.Angelucci and Matricardi 1978, p. 188. When it appeared in 1935, it represented a real s ...

bomber aircraft at the start of

Giulio Cesare Graziani - Savoia-Marchetti SM

During 1940, he transferred to the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and developed particular skill attacking shipping with torpedoes, initially in the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

theatre and later over the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. He was injured in action attacking

Port Sudan Port Sudan ( ar, بور سودان, Būr Sūdān) is a port city in eastern Sudan, and the capital of the state of Red Sea. , it has 489,725 residents. Located on the Red Sea, Port Sudan is recognized as Sudan's main seaport and the source of 90% ...

in December 1940 but successfully piloted his aircraft home, for which he was awarded the

Gold Medal of Military Valor The Gold Medal of Military Valour ( it, Medaglia d'oro al valor militare) is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers. The fac ...

. On 13 October 1941, Graziani was involved in the attack on the battleships and , along with a fleet of four cruisers and twelve destroyers. He was also responsible for a night raid on shipping in the harbour at

Philippeville Philippeville (; wa, Flipveye) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. The Philippeville municipality includes the former municipalities of Fagnolle, Franchimont, Jamagne, Jamiolle, Merlemont, Ne ...

which destroyed one ship and damaged another on 20 November 1942. Following 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 ...

, Graziani flew

Martin Baltimore The Martin 187 Baltimore was a twin-engined light attack bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in the United States as the A-30. The model was originally ordered by the French in May 1940 as a follow-up to the earlier Martin Maryland, then ...

s for the Italian Co-belligerent Air Force, flying a total of 78 bombing missions. After the war, Graziani was heavily involved in the deployment of the

PGM-19 Jupiter The PGM-19 Jupiter was the first nuclear armed, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was a liquid-propellant rocket using RP-1 fuel and LOX oxidizer, with a single Rocketdyne LR79-NA (model S-3D) roc ...

nuclear missiles in Italy. He was promoted to Generale di squadra aerea in 1969 and retired in 1975.

Legacy

The ''70º Stormo'' of the current ''

Aeronautica Militare , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

Italiana'', based at

Latina Air Base Latina Airport ( it, Aeroporto di Latina) is a military airport located near Latina, a city in the Lazio region of central Italy. The airport is approximately north of Latina. It is also known as Enrico Comani Airport, named after Enrico Comani ...

, was named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graziani, Giulio Cesare 1915 births 1998 deaths Grand Officers of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Italian World War II pilots Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor People from the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital Regia Aeronautica personnel of World War II