Mario Stanzani

Castel San Pietro Terme, 1888-Rome, 1953

The Libya wars (1911-1931)

A military engineering officer, he then joins the Aviators’ Battalion and obtains his pilot’s licence (1912-1913) at the controls of a Blériot XI. In WWI, he fights in the 1st Fighter and Reconnaissance Squadrilla and later in the 5th Squadrilla that flies French Voisin aircraft. In the post-war period, he commands the Tripolitania Aviation (1924-1926) during the recapture of Cyrenaica. Promoted Air Brigade General, he is made prisoner by the Allied Forces (November 1942) and transferred to the United States of America. Repatriated in October 1945, he leaves the military career. President of the Rieti Aeroclub. Knight Grand Cross of the Military order of Savoy.