Brave airman tried to circumnavigate the globe
.jpg "A Dornier Do J flying boat similar to that in which Antonio Locatelli attempted to fly around the globe") |
| A Dornier Do J flying boat similar to that in which Antonio Locatelli attempted to fly around the globe |
Locatelli was celebrated for performing solo reconnaissance flights over Zeppelin yards in Austria and for being daring enough to fly over Vienna, before he was shot down and captured and sent to a prisoner of war camp.
He tried unsuccessfully to escape twice, but was successful on his third attempt and was able to rejoin the Italian troops.
After the war, he was awarded three Gold medals and a Silver medal for military valour and made a Knight of the Military Order of Savoy.
Born into a Bergamo family, Locatelli studied at the Istituto Industriale Pietro Paleocapa in Bergamo and then became chief technician at a local company.
After World War I broke out, Locatelli joined a flying unit and was granted his pilot’s licence in 1915. He then served in writer and patriot Gabriele D’Annunzio’s air squadron.
He flew 513 sorties during the war, starting with reconnaissance missions, but then flying fighters and bombers.
 |
| Locatelli was decorated for his valour during World War I |
He left Pisa on July 25 heading west, but his attempt came to an end on August 21 when heavy fog forced him to touch down in the sea 120 miles short of Greenland. The plane’s engine carriers were damaged and so the flight could not be resumed.
Fortunately, four days earlier he had met up in Reykjavik with the American team who were attempting the same feat and this meeting was to save the lives of Locatelli and his crew.
When the Italians failed to arrive in Greenland, the Americans raised the alarm and Locatelli and his crew were picked up by a US naval ship that had been sent to search the area.
Locatelli later became a National Fascist party legislator and was elected as a deputy to parliament. In 1933 he was nominated as podestà - mayor - of Bergamo, a role in which he served for a year.
In 1936, at the age of 41, Locatelli was killed in Lechemeti in Ethiopia during the second Italo-Ethiopian war. He was buried in the Cimitero Monumentale di Bergamo.
In Bergamo, Via Antonio Locatelli in the Città Bassa is named after him and he is also commemorated by the Antonio Locatelli Primary School in Cavernago, a comune - municipality - situated about 11km (7 miles) southeast of Bergamo.
 |
| Bergamo's Piazza Vecchia has been hailed as the most beautiful squares in all of Italy |
Bergamo, where Antonio Locatelli was born, is a fascinating, historic city in Lombardy in the north of Italy, which has two distinct centres. The Città Alta (upper town) is a beautiful walled city with buildings that date back to medieval times. But there are plenty of shops, bars, and restaurants to make it comfortable and welcoming for visitors today. At the heart of the upper town is the Piazza Vecchia, which was remodelled during the Renaissance and has been hailed by architects and writers as the most beautiful square in Italy. It is surrounded by old palaces and has a 12th century bell tower that still strikes 100 times at ten pm each night to mark the ancient curfew. The elegant Città Bassa (lower town) grew up on the plain below and still has some buildings left that date back to the 15th century. But more imposing and elaborate architecture was added in the 19th and early 20th centuries and it is now a vibrant city with palaces, churches, art galleries and museums worth visiting as well as a theatre named after Bergamo-born composer Gaetano Donizetti.
 |
| The Tre Cime - three peaks - di Lavoredo is in an area where Locatelli would climb as a young man |
Locatelli had been a keen mountaineer in his youth and had climbed the Adamello in Trentino with his brother, Carlo. Therefore, the Antonio Locatelli Hut, a refuge in the Tre Cime Natural Park in Alto Adige-South Tyrol is named after him. The Locatelli refuge can be reached by walking from the Auronzo refuge, which takes approximately one hour and twenty minutes’ or from Lake Landro, a journey of three hours. To honour Locatelli’s memory, a statue of the Virgin of Loreto, the patron saint of airmen, is housed inside the refuge. From the refuge, visitors have panoramic views of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, three distinctive mountain peaks that look like battlements.
Also on this day:
1588: The death of painter Paolo Veronese
1798: The death of the Venetian painter Canaletto
1937: The birth of chef and restaurateur Antonio Carluccio
1953: The birth of high jumper Sara Simeoni
1957: The birth of TV journalist Lilli Gruber