A mechanic by trade, he is an irredentist volunteer of WWI with the nom de guerre ‘Pio Maderna’. Having joined the Royal Army in May 1915, he is assigned to the Aviators’ Battalion of Turin. He attends courses to obtain his pilot’s licence in Busto Arsizio, Cascina Costa and Foggia. On 9 August 1916 he is injured during an airplane accident while training. A pilot of Nieuport, Farman and Savoia Pomilio aircraft, in the summer of 1918 he is assigned to the 75th Squadrilla. At the end of the war he holds the rank of pilot sergeant. Between 1935 and 1936 he takes part in the Italo-Ethiopian war on a Caproni Ca.133. He works as flight instructor during WWII.