Luigi Caneppele

Lavarone, 1913-the skies of northern Africa, 1942

World War II: Fighters

With a degree in mechanical engineering obtained in Milan, he joins the Study Centre for  Gliding Experience and is selected to be one of the 182 Italian athletes to participate in the Olympic Games in Berlin (1936). After enlisting in the Italian Royal Air Force, he serves as reserve second lieutenant in the 150th Group. In June 1940, he fights in northern Africa. Assigned to a unit of reconnaissance seaplanes (1941), he is then assigned to the 363rd Fighter Squadrilla. He dies on 1 February 1942. The 2nd Fighter Group of the National Republican Air Force (ANR) takes the name of ‘Gigi tre osei’ (Louie Three Birds), Luigi Caneppele’s moniker. Two Silver Medals of Military Valor, of which one commemorative.