'' Tenente'' Leopoldo Eleuteri was 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 seven aerial victories.

Biography

Leopoldo Eleuteri was born in

Castel Ritaldi Castel Ritaldi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located about 40 km southeast of Perugia. Castel Ritaldi borders the following municipalities: Giano dell'Umbria, Montefalco, Spoleto, Trev ...

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 ...

, on 27 December 1894. He was a student in a technical school until conscripted in 1915. At first, he was assigned to duty in ordnance factories. However, he was forwarded to the 3rd Infantry Regiment. From there, he went to aviation training. On 18 October 1916, he qualified as a pilot at Gabardini's flying school at Cameri. He was certified on the

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 earli ...

on 4 December.Franks et al 1997, p. 139. On 28 April 1917, Eleuteri mastered the SAML before being posted out. He served with two SAML squadrons, ''73a Squadriglia'' and ''121a Squadriglia''. In January 1918, he underwent gunnery training at Furbara. On 22 February 1918, he was transferred to ''70a Squadriglia''. After flying a few

sortie 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. ...

s, he made an abortive attack on an

observation balloon An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War ...

. On 17 April, he teamed with

Aldo Bocchese Sergente Maggiore Aldo Bocchese was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories. Biography Aldo Bocchese was born in Milan, the Kingdom of Italy on 23 December 1894. When he reported for duty in World War I, his original military s ...

, Alessandro Resch, and Flaminio Avet in staking claims for an enemy two-seater and two fighters; Eleuteri was credited with two victories. Eleuteri would go on to fly 151 combat sorties and would engage the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

enemy 26 times. He had seven of his eight combat claims confirmed, usually in conjunction with Bocchese and Avet, with his final victory forced to land on an Italian aerodrome on 28 October 1918. Leopoldo Eleuteri was thrice awarded the Silver

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 ...

, as well as the

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross (german: Kriegsverdienstkreuz) was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit ...

. Following his discharge after the war, he returned to his engineering studies, enrolling in

Milan Polytechnic The Polytechnic University of Milan () is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design. Founded in 186 ...

. He graduated in 1922. In 1923, he entered the first engineering officers' competition for 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 was appointed as ''Capitano'' in the construction section of the new air force on 23 October. He returned to Furbara as commander of the armament flight in the

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

portion of the ''Regia Aeronautica''. On 19 January 1926, Leopoldo Eleuteri perished in a midair collision. The

Castiglione del Lago Castiglione del Lago is a town in the province of Perugia of Umbria (central Italy), on the southwest corner of Lake Trasimeno. Orvieto is south, Chiusi is to the south west, Arezzo is to the north west, Cortona is to the north and Perugi ...

fighter school was named after him.

Sources of information

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eleuteri, Leopoldo 1894 births 1926 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents Italian Air Force personnel Italian World War I flying aces Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the War Merit Cross (Italy) Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1926