Livio Bassi
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Livio Bassi (8 October 1918 – 2 April 1941) was an Italian aviator, and a
fighter 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 ...
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 ...
.


Early life

Bassi was born in
Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an impor ...
,
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
, in 1918, was a cadet of the prestigious
Nunziatella military academy The Nunziatella Military School of Naples, Italy, founded November 18, 1787 under the name of ''Royal Military Academy'' (it.: ''Reale Accademia Militare''), is the oldest Italian institution of military education among those still operating. Its b ...
between 1932 and 1935, and entered the Italian ''
Accademia Aeronautica The Accademia Aeronautica is the Italian Air Force Academy, the institute for the training of Air Force officers. It's located in Pozzuoli in the province of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. Among the oldest aviation academies in th ...
'' (Air Force Academy) in 1936. In 1939 he was made ''Sottotenente'' (2nd Lieutenant) of
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 assigned to the 395th Squadron (160nd Fighter Wing).


Second World War

In 1940 he was promoted to full Lieutenant. In this unit, with
Fiat G.50 The Fiat G.50 ''Freccia'' ("Arrow") was a World War II Italian fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by aviation company Fiat. Upon entering service, the type became Italy’s first single-seat, all-metal monoplane that had an enclosed ...
, he took part in his first military mission, on November 4, 1940, in Jannina (Greece). In December 1940 and January 1941 destroyed four enemy planes in combat. On 20 February 1941
Pat Pattle Marmaduke Thomas St John Pattle, (3 July 1914 – 20 April 1941), usually known as Pat Pattle, was a South African-born English Second World War fighter pilot and flying ace (an aviator credited with the destruction of five or more enem ...
, a
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 ...
of the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, flying Hurricane Mk I V7724, was leading a group of six Hurricanes escorting 16 Blenheim light bombers — eight of
No. 84 Squadron RAF No. 84 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is at present a Search and Rescue Squadron based at RAF Akrotiri, using the Bell Griffin HAR.2 helicopter. It is currently one of the two operational parts of the RAF Search and Rescue Force left in serv ...
, six of No. 211 Squadron and three of
No. 30 Squadron RAF Number 30 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft and is based at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. The squadron was first formed as a unit of the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, serving through the rest of t ...
— to
Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier. Berat is located in th ...
. Fiat G.50bis from the 361a and 395a ''Squadriglia'', 154° ''Autonomo Gruppo'' were scrambled from Berat airfield, but they were attacked by the higher altitude Hurricanes. Pattle led his section straight towards four Fiat G.50s and selected the leading aircraft as his own target. It was the first time he had fired the eight guns of the Hurricane, and the G.50 exploded. The Fiat G.50 was from 154° ''Gruppo'' and it was the first Hurricane victory that Pattle would claim. The plane of Bassi was hit in this battle, after knocking down two British planes.Shores, Cull, Malizia 1987, p. 88. He could land even with the damaged plane, but the aircraft caught fire burning. Bassi died a few weeks after at the military hospital in Rome. A
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 ...
awarded posthumously.


Memorials

The Airport Trapani-Chinisia was named in 1949 to Livio Bassi, and after named the military
Trapani–Birgi Airport Trapani–Birgi Airport ( it, link=no, Aeroporto Vincenzo Florio di Trapani-Birgi), is a military air base and public airport serving Trapani, in Sicily, Italy. Located between Trapani and Marsala, it is one of the five civil airports in Sicily. ...
.


References


Bibliography

* Baker, E.C.R. ''Ace of Aces: The Story of Squadron Leader Pat Pattle, greatest fighter ace of the R.A.F''. London: William Kimber, 1965. * Shores, Christopher, Brian Cull and Maria Malizia. ''Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete: 1940–41''. London: Grub Street, 1992. . * Thomas, Andrew. ''Hurricane Aces 1941–45''. Oxford: Osprey, 2003. * Chris Dunning, ''Combat Units of the Regia Aeronautica. Italia Air Force 1940-1943'', Oxford University Press, 1988


See also

*
List of World War II flying aces Fighter aces in World War II had tremendously varying kill scores, affected as they were by many factors: the pilot's skill level, the performance of the airplane the pilot flew and the planes they flew against, how long they served, their opport ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassi, Livio 1918 births 1941 deaths People from Trapani Italian World War II pilots Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor Regia Aeronautica personnel killed in World War II