Leonardo Ferrulli (1 January 1918 – 5 July 1943) was an ace of 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 a recipient of the ''Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare'' (

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 ...

). He was credited with 22 air victories, one during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

and 21 during World War II. He shot down Hurricanes, P-40s, P-38 Lightnings,

Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

and B-17s, flying

Fiat C.R.42 The Fiat CR.42 ''Falco'' ("Falcon", plural: ''Falchi'') is a single-seat sesquiplane Fighter aircraft, fighter developed and produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It served primarily in the Italian in the 1930s and during th ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

s and

Macchi C.200 The Macchi C.200 Saetta (Italian: "Lightning"), or MC.200, was a fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Aeronautica Macchi in Italy. Various versions were flown by the ''Regia Aeronautica'' (Italian Air Force) who used the type throughou ...

202 Year 202 (Roman numerals, CCII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Antoninus (or, less frequently, year 955 '' ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

s. His unit was 91a ''Squadriglia'', 10° ''Gruppo'', from 4° ''Stormo'', one of the top-scoring fighter units of

.Dunning 2000, p. 216.Spick 1999, p. 106.

Early life

Ferrulli was born in

Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

on 1 January 1918. In 1935, he enrolled in the

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

, entering flight training at the Benevento Flight School before the age of 18 years. After completing his training as a military pilot, he was assigned to the 4° Stormo.

Spain

In February 1937, Ferrulli volunteered to fight in Spain as part of the ''Aviazione Legionaria''. He served in the 101a Squadriglia of X Gruppo Caccia Baleari. On 7 October 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Ferrulli shot down a Tupolev SB flying a

Fiat CR.32 The Fiat CR.32 was an Italian biplane fighter used in the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. Designed by the aeronautical engineer Celestino Rosatelli, it was a compact, robust and highly manoeuvrable aircraft for its era, leading to i ...

. The Republican bomber fell into the sea off

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

. For this victory he was awarded the ''Medaglia d'Argento al Valore militare'' ( Silver Medal of Military Valor).

World War II

In World War II, Ferrulli was in North Africa when he achieved his first air victory on 19 December 1940. That day, his unit (10° ''Gruppo'', flying Fiat CR. 42s) was escorting some

Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 The Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 ''Sparviero'' (Italian for sparrowhawk) was a three-engined Italian medium bomber developed and manufactured by aviation company Savoia-Marchetti. It may be the best-known Italian aeroplane of the Second World War. Th ...

s of 41° ''Stormo'' in the sky above

Sollum Sallum ( ar, السلوم, translit=as-Sallūm various transliterations include ''El Salloum'', ''As Sallum'' or ''Sollum'') is a harbourside village or town in Egypt. It is along the Egypt/Libyan short north–south aligned coast of the Mediterra ...

, when a formation of

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

s attacked the bombers. In the dogfight that followed, ''Sergente Maggiore'' Ferrulli was credited with a Hurricane destroyed (one of the rare individual victories assigned by 10° ''Gruppo'') and another damaged, but his Fiat was hit in the engine and he had to make an emergency landing near Bardia. Ferrulli was unhurt and returned to his unit on 22 December.Gustavsson, Håkan
URL "Italy Sottotenente Leonardo Ferrulli Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare."
''Biplane fighter aces'' on Håkan's aviation page. Retrieved: 12 November 2009. In North Africa he shot down five more Hurricanes and a Bristol Blenheim, still flying the nimble Fiat biplane.Gustavsson and Caruana 2009, p. 47. After the attack against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, Ferrulli, along with 10° ''Gruppo'' (now equipped with the Macchi C.200s delivered by 54° ''Stormo''), moved to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

for operations against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. On 11 July 1941, with fellow pilots of his ''Gruppo'', Ferrulli took part in the attack against the Maltese base of Mqabba. He was one of the ''Comandante'' Romagnoli's wingmen. Flying above the sea after strafing the airfield, Ferrulli saw fellow pilot Devoto being pursued by two Hurricanes. He and

Franco Lucchini Franco Lucchini, MOVM, (24 December 1914 – 5 July 1943) was an Italian World War II fighter pilot in the Aviazione Legionaria and in the Regia Aeronautica. During World War II he achieved 21 (22, according to other sources) individual air victo ...

turned back to give help but four or five more Hurricanes arrived on the scene and a violent dogfight ensued. The three Macchis were forced to disengage by flying very low over the sea, chased by the British fighters for about 30–40 km. Ferrulli's Macchi was hit many times and was heavily damaged, but he was unscathed. The attack on Mqabba was regarded as a success and mentioned in the ''Bollettino di Guerra'' (War Bulletin) n.402.Duma 1981, pp. 199–200. At the end of 1941, 4° ''Stormo'' was equipped with the new and more effective

Macchi C.202 The Macchi C.202 ''Folgore'' (Italian "thunderbolt") was an Italian fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Macchi Aeronautica. It was operated mainly by the '' Regia Aeronautica'' (''RA''; Royal (Italian) Air Force) in and around the S ...

. During 1942 Ferrulli shot down eight P-40s and a Spitfire, and on December of that year was promoted ''Sottotenente'' (

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

) for war merits.Massimello and Apostolo 2000, pp. 63–64.

Death

Ferrulli made his two last kills on the very day of his demise, 5 July 1943, in the sky of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. At 14:20, few hours after the death of his friend (and fellow "ace")

, Ferrulli, '' Tenente'' Giorgio Bertolaso and ''Sergente'' Giulio Fornalé, also from 91a Squadriglia, took off from Sigonella to intercept a squadron of B-17s escorted by P-38s and Spitfires. He was seen shooting down a four-engined American bomber from which three men bailed out, and then a twin-engined P-38 fighter. However, immediately thereafter, Ferrulli was attacked by Spitfires. His Macchi was hit and he bailed out; too low for his parachute to open. Ferrulli was killed, hitting the ground near Scordia (

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

). The identity of the Allied pilot who shot down the then-top-scoring Italian ace is unknown; it was possibly

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

Chandler (JK139/V-X), who claimed to have damaged a Macchi during that combat, or Flight Sergeant F. K. Halcombe (JK368/V-J) from 1435 Squadron, who claimed to have hit a

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

(the two Axis fighters looked very similar to one another), or Flying Officer Geoff White (JK611/MK-M) from 126 Squadron that shot down a Macchi, but his victim was more likely ''Sergente Maggiore'' Corrado Patrizi from 84a ''Squadriglia'' who parachuted successfully from his damaged Macchi C.205.

Awards

Ferrulli was awarded a posthumous Medaglia d’oro al valor militare and three

Silver medals A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Duma, Antonio. ''Quelli del Cavallino Rampante – Storia del 4° Stormo Caccia Francesco Baracca''. Rome: Aeronautica Militare – Ufficio Storico, 1981. NO ISBN. * Gustavsson, Håkan and Richard Caruana. ''Fiat CR.42 Aces of World War 2.'' Oxford, UK: Osprey, 2009. . * Lazzati, Giulio. ''I soliti Quattro gatti'' . Milan: Mursia, 1965. . * Massimello, Giovanni and Giorgio Apostolo. ''Italian Aces of World War Two''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2000. . * Neulen, Hans Werner. ''In the Skies of Europe.'' Ramsbury, Marlborough, UK: The Crowood Press, 2000. . * Pagliano, Franco. ''Storia di 10.000 aeroplani'' . Milan: Longanesi, 2003. . * Spick, Mike: ''The complete fighter ace - All the World's Fighter Aces, 1914-2000''. London: Greenhill Books, 1999. .

External links

Sottotenente Leonardo Ferrulli Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare Håkans aviation page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrulli, Leonardo Regia Aeronautica personnel of World War II Italian World War II flying aces Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor 1918 births 1943 deaths Italian military personnel killed in World War II Aviators killed by being shot down