Guido Fibbia

Guido Fibbia (1 October 1917 – 1 July 1988) was an Italian Second World War fighter pilot
in the ''Regia Aeronautica'' and in the '' Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana''.Dunning 2000, p. 216.
He was credited with 9 enemy planes shot down flying with biplanes Fiat C.R.32, Fiat C.R.42 and monoplanes Macchi C.200, C.202, C.205, Fiat G.50, G.55 and the German Messerschmitt Bf 109.
He was decorated with two Silver Medal of Military Valor (''Medaglia d'Argento al Valor Militare''), one Bronze Medal of Military Valor (''Medaglia di Bronzo al Valor Militare''), one '' Croce di Guerra'' and one German Iron Cross 2nd Class.

Early life

Guido Fibbia was born in Treviso on 1 October 1917. During his youth he cultivated his passion for flying making models of gliders with his brothers.
When he was 17, he joined the ''Regia Aeronautica'' (Royal Air Force) and became ''Pilota militare'' ( military pilot) of the Fiat C.R.20 on 31 January 1936 in Aviano.
Between June and July 1936, in ''Mirafiori'' ( Torino), he got the qualification for Fiat C.R.32 (''367^ Squadriglia'')
and Fiat C.R.42 (''368^Squadriglia'').
On 17 September 1937, as a volunteer, he embarked on the ship ''"Domine"'' bound for Spain to fight
the Spanish Civil War.

Spain

When he arrived in Tablada ( Seville), he was assigned to a newly formed squadron, the ''33^ Squadriglia Autonoma Caccia bombardamento'', equipped with Fiat C.R.32, flying over the Cordova front. During this war he was credited with 3 aerial victories in 87 combat missions which earned him one Silver Medal of Military Valor (''Medaglia d'Argento al Valor Militare'') and one Bronze Medal of Military Valor (''Medaglia di Bronzo al Valor Militare'').
After almost ten months of campaigning, on 16 July 1938, he left Spain. When he arrived in Italy, he was assigned to ''365^ Squadriglia'' of ''53°Stormo''.

2nd World War

When the war against France and Great Britain started, he performed his first missions from Caselle ( Torino) and Albenga.
In September 1940 he moved to ''95^ Squadriglia 18° Gruppo 3° Stormo'', and in October he flew with '' Corpo Aereo Italiano'' during the Battle of Britain.
He operated escort missions from ''Ursel'' base ( Belgium) engaging in several dogfights with British Supermarine Spitfires. On 11 November 1940 he crashlanded in the vicinity of Cassel ( France).

North Africa and Greece

In January 1941 he was sent to Libya and on 14 April, during an escort mission on Junkers Ju 87 over Tobruk, he shot down a British Hurricane and damaged another.
Between August and September 1941 he got the qualification for monoplanes Fiat G.50 and Macchi C.200.
During winter 1941–42 he escorted convoys between Italy and Greece and in summer 1942, with ''85^ Squadriglia 18° Gruppo'', he went to Libya again to perform
escort missions and as well as bombing missions of armored vehicles.Massimello e Apostolo 2000, p. 65.
During the final months of 1942 and the first six months of 1943, he was trained to fly Macchi C.202.
In June 1943 he flew as a ferry pilot to transfer captured Dewoitine D.520 fighters from France to Italy, for Italian home defence.
At the beginning of summer 1943, he was given one of the three new Macchi C.205 ''"Veltro"'' assigned to "''3°Stormo''" (the other two were allotted to the aces Franco Bordoni and Luigi Gorrini).

Defence of Rome

At the end of August 1943, the Allied forces carried out massive air strikes over Rome with four-engine Boeing B-17 bombers ("Flying Fortresses"), escorted by Lockheed P-38 fighters.
On 28 and 29 August he shot down two P-38s. On 30 August, still flying with a Macchi C.205, he shot down a B-17 Flying Fortress (his war flight-log reports how many rounds of ammunition were used: 580 rounds of 12.7mm and 390 rounds of 20mm ammunition).

''Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana''

After the Cassibile armistice, in December 1943, he joined the '' Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana'',Nino Arena, ''L'Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana'', Albertelli Editore, 1995, where he was assigned to ''Squadriglia complementare d'allarme "Montefusco-Bonet"'' flying from '' Venaria Reale'' airfield in defence of the cities of northern Italy from the attacks of the Allied forces.
On 2 April 1944 he got the qualification on Fiat G.55, and on 12 May he fought against a B-17 formation. During the first days of June the ''Squadriglia'' was moved to ''Reggio Emilia'' and incorporated in the ''1°Gruppo caccia "Asso di bastoni"''.
On 22 June, 1st and 2nd Gruppo, in the area between Bologna and Ferrara, attacked together 400 Consolidated B-24 Liberator escorted by 60 P-38 Lightning, which had as their target the station of Parma.
Flying with a Macchi C.205, he shot down one P-38 flown by Lieutenant Tolmie of the 97th Fighter Squadron (he bailed out and was taken prisoner) and damaged two, firing 400 rounds of 20mm ammunition.
On 26 July, he took off again, flying a Fiat G.55, to intercept an Allied bombers formation escorted by P-47 Thunderbolt over the area of Mantua- Verona.
He engaged a low-altitude dogfight against 5 Thunderbolts, shooting down one.
This is the last aerial victory obtained by ''Maresciallo Fibbia''. At the end of November, in Holzkirchen airport ( Germany), he was trained on German Messerschmitt Bf 109-G10, with which he flew his last war missions.

The last sortie was reported on 17 April 1945.

Awards

*Two Silver Medal of Military Valor (''Medaglia d'Argento al V.M.'')
* Bronze Medal of Military Valor (''Medaglia di Bronzo al V.M.'')
* War Merit Cross
*German Iron Cross, 2nd class

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Dunning, Chris. ''Solo coraggio! La storia completa della Regia Aeronautica dal 1940 al 1943''. Parma, Delta Editrice, 2000. NO ISBN.
*Manfredi Giacomo: ''Ali d'Italia. «Vespa 2» La storia di Luigi Gorrini, asso dell'aviazione da caccia italiana, medaglia d'oro al valor militare Editore''. SEB Società Ed. Barbarossa.
* Haining, Peter. ''The Chianti Raiders: The Extraordinary Story of the Italian Air Force in the Battle of Britain''. London: Robson Books, 2005.
*Neulen, Hans Werner. ''In the Skies of Europe.'' Ramsbury, Marlborough, UK: The Crowood Press, 2000. .
*Pagliano Franco: ''Aviatori Italiani''. Milano Longanesi 1969
*Paravicini Pier Paolo: ''Pilota da caccia 1942-1945''. Milano Mursia 2007
* Nino Arena, ''L'Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana'', Albertelli Editore, 1995,
*Massimello, Giovanni and Giorgio Apostolo. ''Italian Aces of World War Two''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2000.
* Sgarlato, Nico. ''C.202 Lo chiamavano il Macchi'' (in Italian). Parma: Delta Editrice, 2008.
* Sgarlato, Nico. "Macchi Folgore" (in Italian). ''Aerei Nella Storia'' 1998 (8): 8-20. Parma, Italy: West-Ward sas.
* Shores, Christopher. ''Air Aces''. Greenwich, CT: Bison Books, 1983. .

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fibbia, Guido
1917 births
1988 deaths
People from Treviso
Regia Aeronautica personnel of World War II
Italian World War II flying aces
Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor
Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 2nd class
Recipients of the War Merit Cross (Italy)