Luigi Gorrini – fighter pilot

Flying ace defended Italy from the skies

Luigi Gorrini, pictured with one of the MAM Ro.41
biplane fighter aircraft which he flew in early WW2 

Valiant Italian airman Luigi Gorrini, who is believed to have shot down 19 Allied planes during World War II, was born on this day in 1917 in Alseno in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna.

Gorrini was awarded the Medaglia d’oro al valore militare - the Gold Medal of Military Valour - and both the first, and second classes of the German Iron Cross. When he died at the age of 97, he was the last surviving Italian pilot to have been awarded the Medaglia d’oro.

During World War II, Gorrini flew with the Corpo Aereo Italiano - the Italian expeditionary force set up to support the German Luftwaffe - during the Battle of Britain. He also fought over Libya and Tunisia and helped to defend the Italian mainland.

After joining the Regia Aeronautica - the Royal Italian Air Force - in 1937 he trained at their fighter school near Perugia.

He later took part in operations over France as well as in the Battle of Britain, when he was involved in a large combat operation over Harwich in November 1940.  Piloting a Fiat CR 42 biplane,  he took part in operations over the English Channel and southern England engaging RAF Spitfires in aerial combat.

Having been sent to North Africa, Gorrini shot down his first aircraft in 1941 over Libya. While flying a solo sortie he intercepted two Allied planes that had just arrived in the area and opened fire on them. He was credited with a kill and a damaged aircraft. He later shot down a Blenheim bomber over Benghazi.

In the winter of 1941, while escorting convoys between Italy and Greece, Gorrini encountered two Allied aircraft and attacked them both, hitting one repeatedly and strafing the second.

Gorrini notched many successes flying the more
advanced Macchi C200 during the defence of Italy

The following year, flying a Fiat CR.42 in a dogfight with Allied airmen, Gorrini shot down one RAF plane and damaged another. He was frequently tasked with escorting German bombers and would down any Allied planes he encountered, but he was sent back to Italy in 1943 when an eye injury he had sustained started to get worse.

Later that year, while defending Italy from the skies in the more advanced Macchi C200 and C205 fighter aircraft, he shot down 11 Allied aircraft. Even after the arrest of Mussolini, Italian pilots remained committed to trying to prevent damage to Italian cities by the Allies, although they realised it might cost them their lives.

While shooting down an Allied plane off the coast of Ostia in Lazio, Gorrini himself was shot down by defensive fire from the bomber, but he bailed out safely. On another occasion after shooting down more planes, he ran out of fuel and had to glide back to his base in a powerless landing.

Then, after shooting down his 15th Allied plane, his own aircraft was seriously damaged and he had to make a forced landing away from his airfield. He was seriously wounded as a result and was out of the fighting when Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943.

Gorrini reckoned he flew in 212
combat missions in his career

In December 1943, Gorrini joined the Italian Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana - the air force of Mussolini's Italian Social Republic - and, flying the more versatile Fiat G55 fighter aircraft, went on to reach his total of 19 downed Allied planes. Other estimates put his tally at 24, although this tally was not verified.

In June 1944, he fought his last air battle when he found himself surrounded by four Allied planes. After his plane was hit, he was forced to bail out, but he did not open his parachute until he was near the ground, fearing that he would be strafed by American pilots. But when he finally opened it, he suffered a violent jerk and lost consciousness.

When he woke up he was in hospital and was subsequently sent on leave. He later summed up his own career: “212 air combat, 24 solo air victories, five parachute jumps.”

After the war, Gorrini enlisted in the newly-formed Italian Air Force, but because of Allied opposition, he remained as a warrant officer. He was promoted to tenente - lieutenant - only after he had retired.

When Gorrini died in November 2014 in Alseno, aged 97, he was believed to have been the last surviving Italian World War II flying ace.

The Abbey of Chiaravalle della Colomba
attracts visitors to Alseno, near Piacenza

Travel tip:

Alseno, where Gorrini was born and died, is a town of just under 5,000 people in the province of Piacenza in the Emilia-Romagna region. It is about 120km (72 miles) northwest of Bologna and 40km (24 miles) southeast of Piacenza. It originated in Roman times following the construction of the Via Emilia, the road that links Piacenza with Rimini. Alseno borders Busseto, a small town that is famous because it was where the opera composer Giuseppe Verdi - born nearby in Le Roncole - attended school and later lived with his first wife, Margherita. Just outside Alseno is the Cistercian Abbey of Chiaravalle della Colomba, founded in 1136 by the abbot Bernardo di Clairvaux. Another nearby attraction, just a few kilometres outside Alseno, is the castle of Castelnuovo Fogliani (4 km), a fascinating medieval borough developed around a fortress.  Cold cuts feature heavily in local cuisine, with the local coppa, salame and pancetta, as well as the less well known mariola and goletta, worth seeking out.

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Piacenza's main square, the Piazza Cavalli, with
Francesco Mocchi's two equestrian statues

Travel tip:

Piacenza is a city in Emilia-Romagna lying between Bologna and Milan. Its main square is named Piazza Cavalli because of its two famous bronze equestrian monuments featuring Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma and his son, Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma, who succeeded him. The statues are masterpieces by the sculptor Francesco Mochi.  Piacenza’s Romanesque duomo, the 12th century Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta e Santa Giustina, is the city’s most important monument. Its pink Verona marble and sandstone façade, rose window, and sculpted portals set the tone for the historic centre. Inside, there are frescoes by Guercino and Morazzone. The impressive ducal palace, the Palazzo Farnese, today houses the Musei Civici, which includes archaeology collections, including Roman mosaics and Lombard artefacts, and the famous “Madonna della Scodella” by Correggio.

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More reading: 

The World War One flying ace who survived combat to become physician to the Chamber of Deputies

A World War One pilot who survived 465 combat sorties and scored 17 verified victories

Italy’s most successful First World War fighter pilot

Also on this day:

1664: The death of printmaker Stefano della Bella

1793: The birth of soldier and mapmaker Agostino Codazzi

1884: The birth of painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani

1937: The birth of fashion executive Carla Fendi

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Leopoldo Eleuteri - flying ace

World War I pilot claimed eight aerial victories

Leopoldo Eleuteri in
his pilot's uniform

First World War pilot Leopoldo Eleuteri, who was credited with seven of the eight combat victories he claimed, was born in Castel Ritaldi, a small town in Umbria about 60km (37 miles) by road southeast of Perugia, on this day in 1894.

Eleuteri did not begin flying active combat sorties as a fighter pilot until February 1918 but progressed rapidly with the 70th Squadron of the Corpo Aeronautico Militare, the airborne arm of the Royal Italian Army.

He went on to fly more than 150 sorties and between April 1918 and October 1918 claimed eight enemy planes shot down, being eventually credited with seven successes in his own right.

Passionate about all forms of mechanised flight since he was a boy, Eleuteri volunteered for aeronautical service as soon as he was old enough.

He was a student in a technical school until he was conscripted in 1915. At first, he was assigned to duty in ordnance factories before being sent to join the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Royal Italian Army.

An Ansaldo A1 Balilla similar to those flown by Leopoldo
 Eleuteri towards the end of the First World War

There, he was allowed to begin aviation training. In October 1916, he qualified as a pilot at Gabardini's flying school at Cameri in Piedmont.

In April 1917, Eleuteri mastered the two-seater Lombardy-built SAML aircraft and was posted first to the 73rd Squadron, stationed in Verona, which was later renamed the 121st Squadron.  His first assignment while based in Verona was to defend the city from possible Austrian air strikes.

After flying a few sorties, he made an abortive attack on an observation balloon.  Later that year, still flying SAMLs, following the army’s defeat at the Battle of Caporetto, he was lucky to survive after his plane was attacked by three enemy fighters above Asiago, about 21km (13 miles) northwest of Bassano del Grappa. The plane was hit several times and his co-pilot wounded, but they managed to limp back to base and land successfully.

At the beginning of 1918 he underwent training at Malpensa airfield near Milan to fly as a fighter pilot.  Re-assigned to the 73rd squadron, based at San Pietro in Gu, 16km (10 miles) northeast of Vicenza, he teamed with fellow fighter pilots Aldo Bocchese, Alessandro Resch and Flaminio Avet, who often flew combat missions together.

In April, he staked claims to have shot down an Austro-Hungarian two-seater and two fighters in an aerial battle above the countryside of Valdobbiadene, a wine-growing area in the Veneto, about 40km (25 miles) northwest of Treviso. In the end, Eleuteri was credited with two victories.

Eleuteri learned to fly combat missions largely in two-seater
SAML aircraft similar to the one pictured 

Over the next six months, usually flying alongside Bocchese and Avet, he would engage enemy aircraft in combat 26 times.  As well as the SAML planes, Eleuteri also flew the Ansaldo A1 Balilla, a single-engine hunter plane.  He was the only pilot to be credited with a kill in the Ansaldo.

His final success came in October 1918, when he forced an Austro-Hungarian pilot to land on a Corpo Aeronautico Militare airfield at Arcade, just north of Treviso.

His prowess in airborne combat was rewarded three times with the Silver Medal for Military Valor, as well as the War Merit Cross.

After being discharged, Eleuteri returned to his engineering studies, enrolling at the Milan Polytechnic. He graduated in 1922.

In 1923, he joined the newly formed Royal Aeronautics as an officer in the engineering department,and was promoted to the rank of captain in October of that year.  He was stationed at Furbara, about 50km (31 miles) northwest of Rome on the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Tragically, in January, 1926, Eleuteri was flying a simulated combat mission when his aircraft collided with the “enemy” plane.  Both planes lost a wing and fell to the ground from about 1,000m (3,281ft), causing the death of both pilots.

The Castiglione del Lago fighter school was renamed in his honour, as was the flying club at Perugia airfield. There are statues of him in his home town, Castel Ritaldi, which has also named a street after him, and further monuments at the civil airport of Via Salaria in Rome and in Furbara.

The fortification of Castel San Giovanni is just outside
the Umbrian town of Castel Ritaldi

Travel tip:

Castel Ritaldi, where Eleuteri was born, is a pretty hill town in the green countryside of Umbria, overlooking fields of wheat and barley, sunflowers, vines and olive groves. It is known for its woodland mushrooms and truffles and lies in the area that grows the sagrantino grape, from which is made the Montefalco Sagrantino and Montefalco Rosso wines. The well preserved Castel San Giovanni, which encloses a small village within its walls, can be found just outside the town.  Castel Ritaldi is also known for the Palio del Fantasma, a lively Renaissance-costumed festival involving games of skill and chance that celebrates the visit to the town by Lucrezia Borgia.

Vines growing in the Valdobbiadene region, which produces
Italy's world-famous prosecco sparkling wine

Travel tip:

The picturesque hills around Valdobbiadene, scene of Eleuteri’s maiden combat victories, are famous for the production of what is generally regarded as the best prosecco in Italy. It is largely made from Glera grapes and though the name comes from that of the village of Prosecco near Trieste, where the grape and wine originated, the only prosecco granted DOCG status - the classification granted to superior Italian wines - is produced from grapes grown on the hills between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, or from a smaller area around the town of Asolo, north and west of Treviso.

Also on this day:

546: Rome is sacked by the Ostrogoths

1538: Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII

1749: The birth of opera composer Domenico Cimarosa

1981: Red Brigades seize NATO boss in Verona


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