| Antonio Riva | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 April 1896 Shanghai, China |
| Died | 17 August 1951 Beijing, China |
| Allegiance | Italy |
| Service/branch | Aviation |
| Rank | Capitano |
| Unit | 71a Squadriglia, 78a Squadriglia |
| Awards | Medal for Military Valor |
| Other work | Executed by Chinese Communists for "counter-revolutionary activities". |
Capitano (It. captain) Antonio Riva, (8 April 1896 Shanghai – 17 August 1951 Beijing) was an Italian pilot and a World War I flying ace, credited with seven confirmed and seven unconfirmed aerial victories.
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Riva began his successes while flying a Nieuport with Squadriglia 71a, when he shared a victory with Antonio Amantea and another Italian pilot. The trio shot down Austro-Hungarian ace Julius Kowalczik in his Albatros D.III on 24 August 1917. Riva's next success came four months later, on 26 December 1917, after he had switched to flying a Hanriot HD.1 for Squadriglia 78a, when he shot down a DFW reconnaissance plane solo, followed by a second win over another DFW, shared with Silvio Scaroni and three British pilots. A month later, on 27 January 1918, Riva teamed with Guglielmo Fornagiari for a fourth victory. On 15 June 1918, Riva became an ace. He and Amedeo Mecozzi teamed to down a Hansa-Brandenburg C.I. After a string of five unconfirmed claims, he would down two more planes in 1918, to bring his total to seven; he had an equal number of unconfirmed claims.[1]
See also Aerial victory standards of World War I
Confirmed victories are numbered and listed chronologically. Unconfirmed victories are denoted by "u/c" and may or may not be listed by date.
| No. | Date/time | Aircraft | Foe | Result | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 August 1917 | Nieuport 11 | Albatros D.III serial number 53.33 | Destroyed | Forte Luserna | Victory shared with Antonio Amantea and another aviator |
| 2 | 26 December 1917 | Hanriot HD.1 | DFW reconnaissance plane s/n G128 | Destroyed | Signoressa | |
| 3 | 26 December 1917 @ 0920 hours | Hanriot HD.1 | DFW reconnaissance plane | Destroyed | Camalo | Victory shared with Silvio Scaroni, Arthur Jarvis, two other RFC pilots |
| 4 | 27 January 1918 | Hanriot HD.1 | Enemy airplane | Destroyed | San Marino | Victory shared with Guglielmo Fornagiari |
| u/c | 1 May 1918 | Hanriot HD.1 | Enemy airplane | Cimadolmo | Cosimo Rennella was also involved | |
| 5 | 15 June 1918 @ 1000 hours | Hanriot HD.1 | Hansa-Brandenburg C.I | Destroyed | Between Montello and Nervesa della Battaglia | Victory shared with Amedeo Mecozzi |
| u/c | 16 June 1918 @ 1030 hours | Hanriot HD.I | Hansa-Brandenburg C.I | Between Malborghetto Valbruna and Fontigo | Mario Fucini and another Italian aviator were also involved | |
| u/c | 16 June 1918 | Hanriot HD.I | Enemy airplane | Pillonetto | ||
| u/c | 12 August 1918 | Hanriot HD.I | DFW reconnaissance plane | Santa Lucia di Piave | ||
| u/c | 6 October 1918 @ 1550 hours | Hanriot HD.I | DFW reconnaissance plane | Susegana | Amadeo Mecozzi and another Italian aviator were involved | |
| u/c | 6 October 1918 @ 1550 hours | Hanriot HD.I | Albatros D.V | Susegana | ||
| 6 | 27 October 1918 @ 1620 hours | Hanriot HD.I | Enemy two-seater | Pieve di Soligo | Victory shared with another Italian aviator | |
| u/c | 28 October 1918 | Hanriot HD.I | LVG | Between Pederobba and Grave di Papadopoli | ||
| 7 | 29 October 1918 @ 0729 | Hanriot HD.I | Hansa-Brandenburg C.I s/n 369.175 | Destroyed | Oderzo | Another Italian aviator was involved[2] |
Antonio was executed in Beijing, China, by a firing squad in 1951, along with a Japanese citizen, Ruichi Yamaguchi. They were convicted of being involved in a plot to assassinate Mao Zedong and other high-ranking Communist officials.[3]. The plot allegedly involved attacking Mao and other officials atop Tiananmen Gate with a mortar on the 1st of October 1950, during National Day celebrations. [4]
However, there were several issues with the plot. Most obviously, the idea that two foreigners could carry a mortar all the way to Tiananmen Square during a large celebration seems highly improbable. The mortar seized from Riva's house was a nonfunctional part of an antique from the 1930s which could not have been used to attack anyone. Riva had found the antique in a junk pile outside the Holy See legation; the unfortunate priest whose house was next to the other parts of the mortar was imprisoned for life. A map of the square seized from Yamaguchi's house and used as evidence was actually commissioned by the Beijing Fire Department, to whom Yamaguchi was selling firefighting equipment. It was alleged that the ringleader of the plot was an American serviceman named David Barrett, but he was simply a neighbor to the two who had moved out a year before.[5] In any case, the incident was used to banish the Holy See from China. Two decades later, Zhou apologized to Barrett and invited him back to China.