Francesco Baracca

Lugo, 1888-Montello, 1918

World War I: Fighters

A Cavalry officer, in 1912 he is fascinated by an air show in Rome-Centocelle. After obtaining his pilot’s licence he is assigned to the Aviators’ Battalion. He trains in France on the Nieuport 10 fighter, returns to Italy (1915) and fights in the 2nd and 1st Fighters and Reconnaissance  Squadrillas. In 1916, at the controls of a Nieuport 11, he obtains his first victory. In 1917, along with the best Italian pilots, he sets up the 91st Squadrilla (the ‘Squadrilla of Aces’) that flies the new Spad S.VII. It is with this aircraft, decorated with a ‘Prancing Horse’, that he is killed in action on 19 June 1918. Till then he had downed 34 enemy aircraft. Gold Medal of Military Valor.

Bibliographical references
Pluviano, Marco – Guerrini, Irene | 2000 Francesco Baracca una vita al volo: guerra e privato di un mito dell’aviazione. Udine: Gaspari.

Goldoni, Luca – Goldoni, Alessandro | 2015 Francesco Baracca: l’eroe dimenticato della Grande Guerra. Milano: Rizzoli.