Sabato Martelli Castaldi

Cava de' Tirreni, 1896-Rome, 1944

World War I: Bombers

An officer of the Engineering Corps, he then transfers to the Aviation Corps and fights with the 56th Squadrilla (1917-1918). He is one of the founders of the Italian Royal Air Force and the youngest Italian senior officer of all times, having achieved the rank of Air Brigade General at the age of 37. He is dismissed after denouncing to the Duce the faults of the aviation (1934). With his nom de guerre ‘Tevere’, after 8 September, he joins the Roman Resistance and the clandestine military front. Arrested by the SS, after more than two months of detention in via Tasso, he is shot at the Fosse Ardeatine on 24 March 1944. One Commemorative Gold Medal of Military Valor, one Silver Medal and two Bronze Medals of Military Valor.

Bibliographical references
Avagliano, Mario | 1996 Il partigiano Tevere: il generale Sabato Martelli Castaldi dalle vie dell’aria alle Fosse Ardeatine. Cava dei Tirreni (SA): Avagliano.