![Arturo Ferrarin - Roma-Tokyo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Arturo_Ferrarin_-_Roma-Tokyo.svg)
The Rome-Tokyo Raid ( it, Raid Roma-Tokyo) was an Italian long-distance air expedition across Eurasia between 14 February and 31 May 1920. It was organised by
Gabriele D'Annunzio and
Harukichi Shimoi
was a Japanese poet and writer that lived in Italy for many years and was influential in introducing the haiku to European literature.
Biography
Born in Fukuoka as , he later adopted the surname of his wife when they married in 1907. He finis ...
and completed by the aviators
Guido Masiero
'' Capitano'' Guido Masiero (24 August 1895 – 24 November 1942) was a World War I flying ace credited with five confirmed and ten unconfirmed aerial victories.The AerodromRetrieved 30 May 2010. He was a prewar lancer who used his civilian enginee ...
and
Arturo Ferrarin together with their respective engineers Roberto Maretto and Gino Capannini.
Origin of the idea
Gabriele D'Annunzio conceived the idea of the Rome-Tokyo raid in March 1919:
it was born from his meeting during the
First World War
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 ...
with the Japanese poet Harukichi Shimoi, who had enlisted in the
Arditi
Arditi (from the Italian verb ''ardire'', lit. "to dare", and translates as "The Daring nes) was the name adopted by a Royal Italian Army elite special force of World War I. They and the opposing German '' Stormtroopers'' were the first modern ...
.
D’Annunzio, a veteran of the
Flight over Vienna
The Flight over Vienna was an air raid during World War I undertaken by Italian poet and nationalist Gabriele D'Annunzio on . With 11 Ansaldo SVA aircraft from his team, the 87ma ''squadriglia'' (squadron) called ''La Serenissima'' (Venice) ...
, originally intended to undertake the expedition himself and for this reason he was helped and supported by the Italian government, which saw it as a possible means of distracting him from the
Fiume adventure.
As it turned out, D'Annunzio, was not distracted from Fiume and gave up the idea of flying himself. Although this plan involved eleven aircraft, only Ferrarin, with his engineer Gino Cappannini,
was ultimately able to reach the Japanese capital purely by flying, totalling 112 flying hours.
Masiero and Maretto travelled the section between
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
and
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
by train and the between
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
and
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
by ship.
All the other crews failed to complete the journey and one aircraft even crashed, killing its two crew members.
Crew
The officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers chosen by D'Annunzio were:
*Lieutenant Edoardo Scavini, second lieutenant Carlo Bonalumi,
Caproni Ca.33
The Caproni Ca.3 is an Italian heavy bomber of World War I and the postwar era. It was the most produced version of the series of aircraft that began with the 1914 Caproni Ca.1 and continued until the more powerful 1917 Caproni Ca.5 variant.
...
biplane
*Lieutenant Luigi Garrone, Lieutenant Enrico Abba, engineers Alfredo Momo and Alfredo Rossi,
Caproni Ca.40
The Caproni Ca.4 was an Italian heavy bomber of the World War I era.
Development
After designing the successful Ca.3, Gianni Caproni of the Caproni works designed a much bigger aircraft. It shared the unusual layout of the Caproni Ca.3, being a ...
triplane
*Lieutenant Leandro Negrini, second lieutenant Giovanni Origgi, engineer Dario Cotti, Caproni Ca.33 biplane
*Lieutenant Virgilio Sala, Lieutenant Innocente Borello, engineer Antonio Sanità,
Caproni Ca.44
The Caproni Ca.5 was an Italian heavy bomber of World War I and the postwar era. It was the final version of the series of aircraft that began with the Caproni Ca.1 in 1914.
Development
By late World War I, developments in aircraft technology ...
biplane
*Lieutenant Guido Masiero, engineer Roberto Maretto,
Ansaldo SVA
The Ansaldo SVA (named for Savoia-Verduzio- Ansaldo) was a family of Italian reconnaissance biplane aircraft of World War I and the decade after. Originally conceived as a fighter, the SVA was found inadequate for that role. Nevertheless, its ...
9 biplane
*Lieutenant Arturo Ferrarin, engineer Gino Cappannini, Ansaldo SVA 9 biplane
*Pilot Lieutenant Giuseppe Grassa, Captain
Mario Gordesco
Mario Ugo Gordesco was an Italian captain and aviator of the ''Regia Aeronautica'' during World War I. He is considered to be a pioneer within Italian aviationGrossi E., ''Eroi e Pionieri dell'Ala - Dizionario Biografico dell'Aeronautica Italian ...
, Ansaldo SVA 9 biplane
*Captain Umberto Re, cinematographer Bixio Alberini, Ansaldo SVA 9 biplane
*Captain Ferruccio Ranza, engineer Brigidi, Ansaldo SVA 9 biplane
*Lieutenant Amedeo Mecozzi, Lieutenant Bruno Bilisco, Ansaldo SVA 9 biplane
*Lieutenant Ferruccio Marwari, engineer Giuseppe Da Monte, Ansaldo SVA 9 biplane
The expedition: Italy to India
Ferrarin and Masiero set off on 14 February 1920 at 11 from
Centocelle airport
Centocelle Airport ( it, Aeroporto di Centocelle) was an airport situated in Centocelle, a quarter of Rome in Italy. It is also referred to as Rome-Centocelle Airport (''Aeroporto di Roma-Centocelle'').
It was the first airport and flight schoo ...
in Rome.
Their first stop was at
Gioia del Colle
Gioia del Colle (; Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. The town is located on the Murge plateau at above sea level, between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. Physical geography Territory ...
, Puglia, as both aircraft were experiencing technical problems.
The next stop was at
Vlora, in
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
, where there were still Italian troops who had been occupying the city since 1914. After Vlora they stopped at
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
and from there they moved
Izmir, at that time
occupied by the Greeks.
From Izmir they headed for
Antalya
Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...
but technical problems forced them to make a landing at
Aydın
Aydın ( ''EYE-din''; ; formerly named ''Güzelhisar'', Ancient and Modern Greek: Τράλλεις /''Tralleis''/) is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of B ...
.
They flew to Antalya, then
occupied by the Italians, then on to
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, image_map1 =
...
and
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
. In the Iraqi capital Ferrarin was forced to land on a field where a soccer match was taking place. On 23 February they left for
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...
, where Ferrarin waited for Masiero for three days before resuming the flight for
Bandar Abbas, though he was interrupted by bad weather which forced him to land at
Bushehr
Bushehr, Booshehr or Bushire ( fa, بوشهر ; also romanised as ''Būshehr'', ''Bouchehr'', ''Buschir'' and ''Busehr''), also known as Bandar Bushehr ( fa, ; also romanised as ''Bandar Būshehr'' and ''Bandar-e Būshehr''), previously Antioc ...
. Finally reaching Bandar Abbas, after a first failed attempt due to a problem with his radiator, Ferrarin eventually managed to reach Chabahar.
The expedition: India to China
From there Ferrarin wanted to reach
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
directly but, due to an engine problem, he was forced to land near a village inhabited by rebels who opposed British rule. Luckily the villagers mistook the Italian tricolor for the flag of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, an enemy of Britain during the First World War. Taking advantage of this mistake, Ferrarin managed to leave the village unharmed and resume his journey towards Karachi. There Ferrarin rejoined Masiero who had managed to fly directly from Bandar Abbas.
From Karachi Ferrarin left for
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, which he reached after a stop in
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
and a short stop at a railway station.
He then arrived in
Allahabad
Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
and from there reached
Kolkatta. After a long stop in there, waiting in vain for his other companions, Ferrarin resumed his flight in the direction of
Akyab
Sittwe (; ; formerly Akyab) is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Sittwe, pronounced ''sait-tway'' in the Rakhine language, is located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers emptyi ...
(one source states that he was flying a new plane, since his original one had been irreparably damaged by the carelessness of the local staff) and from there reached
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
,
the last staging post under British control - for the Baghdad to Burma stretch, the British authorities had given the pilots full support, providing help for repairs and guidance on routing.
Masiero reached Yangon first, and Ferrarin then set off to follow him by way of
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
,
Ubon Ratchathani
Ubon Ratchathani ( th, อุบลราชธานี, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan (with Khorat/Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen), also known as the "big four of Isan." The city is on the Mun River in the south ...
and
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
, where he caught up with him. On 21 April Ferrarin set off again. He made two short landings, the first on a small island in the South China Sea and the second near
Macao
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
, before reaching
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
. From there he proceeded to
Fuzhou
Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...
and then
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
.
The expedition: China to Japan
![Aereo raid Roma-Tokio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Aereo_raid_Roma-Tokio.jpg)
From Shanghai, where he stopped for a week, he went in to
Qingdao
Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
, which was then
occupied by Japanese forces. Welcomed by the Japanese authorities, he was promised that when he arrived in Japan he would be presented with a golden samurai katana and that his plane would remain on display in Tokyo.
It was in fact exhibited until 1933, but them destroyed due to irreparable deterioration.
From Qingdao he reached the Chinese capital
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, where he spent a week, honored by the local population and authorities, then he left again for Kow Pangtzu, near
Shenyang
Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...
then for
Sinŭiju
Sinŭiju (''Sinŭiju-si'', ; known before 1925 in English as Yeng Byen City) is a city in North Korea which faces Dandong, Liaoning, China across the international border of the Yalu River. It is the capital of North P'yŏngan province. Part of ...
in Korea, at that time an integral part of the
Japanese empire
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
.
The next stop on the journey was
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, a destination imposed on Ferrarin by both the Japanese authorities and the Italian representatives in Korea.
From Seoul he headed to
Daegu
Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea.
It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...
, which was the last stop on mainland soil.
On orders from the Japanese authorities, Ferrarin was forced to follow a longer and more northern route than the one he envisaged because there was an absolute ban on flying over the strongholds of
Pusan
Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...
and
Tsushima.
Despite the imposed change of course, Ferrarin reached
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
on May 30, where he was welcomed by the entire citizenry.
Landing in Yoyogi Park,
Ferrarin reached the last leg of the journey, Tokyo where, in addition to the usual crowds that had met him at all his stops since he arrived in China, he had the honor of being received by the royal prince
Hirohito
Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
and by
Empress Teimei.
Ferrarin went on to publish his travel memoirs in the book ''My Flight Rome-Tokyo'' in 1921.
The other crews
A total of eleven aircraft and their crews attempted to journey, but only the planes of Arturo Ferrarin and Guido Masiero reached Japan. The other crews ran into accidents, even fatal ones, which prevented them from reaching Tokyo .
The first crew to drop out were Abba and Garrone, who lost their plane in Thessalonika. Sala and Borello’s Caproni had a breakdown along the course of the
Meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...
while Origgi and Negrini ended their journey in
Konya
Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...
: they were captured on September 2nd and their aircraft destroyed. In the
Syrian desert
The Syrian Desert ( ar, بادية الشام ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert and steppe covering of the Middle East, including parts of sou ...
it was the turn of Scavini and Bonalumi, aboard a Caproni trimotor, to abandon the enterprise.
The most serious accident of the raid took place in
Bushehr
Bushehr, Booshehr or Bushire ( fa, بوشهر ; also romanised as ''Būshehr'', ''Bouchehr'', ''Buschir'' and ''Busehr''), also known as Bandar Bushehr ( fa, ; also romanised as ''Bandar Būshehr'' and ''Bandar-e Būshehr''), previously Antioc ...
as Gordesco and Grassa had a fatal accident: their plane, an SVA9 like that of Masiero and Ferrarin, broke down on take-off and after catching fire it crashed.
In Japan, the Empress Teimei decreed that funeral rites should be conducted in their honor at a temple in Tokyo, in the presence of the Italian pilots who had arrived safely.
Criticism
Despite the success of the enterprise, the raid was criticized in Italy. Left-wing parties, while recognizing the value of what Ferrarin had accomplished, challenged the excessive spending of public money and the sloppy organization.
Legacy
In 2020, for the centenary of the raid, the
Italian Air Force
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 28 March ...
dedicated a special livery sported by five SIAI S.208Ms of the 60th Wing of Guidonia, with the image of Arturo Ferrarin on the tail and a cockade with the Italian and Japanese colors.
The same year, a documentary was made by the municipality of
Cadoneghe
Cadoneghe is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Padua, in the Veneto region of northern Italy. The town is approximately from Venice, the capital of the region. The city is situated on the Brenta River.
Cadoneghe was once famous for being t ...
, particularly focused on Roberto Maretto, a native of the place. In June 2021, celebrations were held in Cadoneghe with many activities in memory of the Raid.
References
{{reflist
February 1920 events
May 1920 events
1920 in aviation
1920 in Italy
1920 in Japan
Gabriele D'Annunzio
Aviation records