| Pier Ruggero Piccio | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 September 1880 Rome, Italy |
| Died | 31 July 1965 Rome, Italy |
| Allegiance | Italy |
| Service/branch | Artillery, infantry, aerial service |
| Years of service | 1900 - 1932 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Unit | 43rd Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Regiment, 19th Infantry Regiment, 5to Squadriglia, Squadriglia 3 |
| Commands held | 77to Nieuport Squadriglia, 10th Group Squadriglie, Regia Aeronautica |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | Order of the Crown of Italy, Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Medal for Military Valor (multiple awards), Military Order of Savoy, French Legion d'Honneur |
| Other work | Senator and Minister in Mussolini's government. |
Lieutenant General Count Pier Ruggero Piccio (September 27, 1880–July 30, 1965), Order of the Crown of Italy, Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Medal of Military Valor, was an Italian aviator[1] and the founding Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force. With 24 victories during his career, he is one of the principal Italian air aces of World War I, behind only Count Francesco Baracca and Tenente Silvio Scaroni.[1] Piccio rose to the rank of Lieutenant General and in later years, became a Roman senator under the Fascists before and during World War II.[2]
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Pier Ruggero Piccio was born in Rome on 27 September 1880, to Giacomo Piccio and Caterina Locatelli.[2] He attended the Military School of Modena, enrolling on October 29, 1898. He graduated on September 8, 1900, as a sottotenente (second lieutenant)[3] assigned to the 43rd Infantry Regiment.
In 1903, stultified by garrison duty, he had himself seconded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At that time, Italy and Belgium had an agreement to allow for exchange duty between their militaries; Piccio's aim was service in the Belgian Congo.[3] From November of that year until February, 1907, he was engaged in a mission to Kalambari, Africa, which is located in what is presently the nation of Chad. His return from Africa took him via Paris, where he managed to spend his three years' savings in a few days revelry. Upon his return to Italy, he shipped out again to join a multi-national force upon Crete.[3] He spent from March, 1908 to July 1909 assigned to the 2nd Joint Company of Crete.
From November 14, 1911 through December 2, 1912, he served in the Italo-Turkish War; this war is also sometimes called the Libyan War because Libya became an Italian protectorate as a result of the conflict. This war was notable for the first use of aircraft in battle, although the pioneer events of aerial reconnaissance and bombing occurred just before Piccio's arrival. Piccio's duty station was with an artillery unit belonging to the 37th Infantry. He was decorated with the Bronze Medal of Military Valor during this service.
On March 31, 1913, Piccio was transferred to the 19th Infantry at the rank of captain. Then finally one of his attempts to attend aviation training succeeded; he was approved to attend the Cascina Malpensa flying school. On 27 July 1913, he qualified as a pilot. Upon qualifying as a pilot on Nieuport Monoplanes in October, he was assigned to the 5to Squadriglia.[3]
When World War I broke out, Piccio was assigned to the Aeronautical Military Corps. For his reconnaissance flights between May to August, 1915, he was again decorated with the Bronze Medal of Military Valor. He then was posted to Malpensa to qualify on Caproni bombers. He also became commander of Squadriglia 3, which operated Caproni 300s. Piccio commanded until March 1916.
In the spring of 1916, he went to Paris for upgrading his skills to French Nieuport fighters. In June, he assumed command of 77to Nieuport Squadriglia, which was stationed at Istrana, Italy, near Venice. He was eager for combat, but enemy planes were scarce. In October, he was again decorated for valor; this was for the first of his air victories, on October 18, 1916. The enterprising Piccio had persuaded a nearby French escadrille into "loaning" him the latest in anti-balloon firepower, Le Prieur rockets. The loan was conditional upon an invitation for the French pilots to partake in the balloon buster expedition. Somehow, the driver who usually carried the French pilots to the flight line was uncharacteristically late that day, and Piccio departed before their arrival. So it was that Piccio was awarded a Silver Medaglia al Valore Militare for the hazardous combat duty of shooting a German observation balloon down in flames.[1][4]
In December 1916, he was promoted to major. On 15 April 1917, he was transferred to command the 10th Group Squadriglie.[4] During this time, he flew with either of two squadrons within the group, 77a or 91a. He usually favored the latter, which contained Francesco Baracca, already Italy's initial and leading ace. There was a break in Piccio's record until May 20, 1917. On that day, flying with the 91a Squadriglia, he shot down an Albatros. By June 29, he was an ace.[1][5] Up until this time, he flew a Nieuport.[6] At 36 years of age, he was one of the oldest pilots in a war full of youthful aces.[1]
On August 2, he caught Austro-Hungarian pilot Frank Linke-Crawford flying a two-seater without a rear gunner and shot him down for victory number eight.[7]
Piccio accumulated successes until his double wins of October 25, 1917, at which time his tally was up to 17.[1][5] It was during this stretch of time he transferred from the Nieuport he had been flying, to a Spad adorned with a black flag painted on the fuselage.[8] He was meritoriously promoted to lieutenant colonel in October, 1917. Once again, there was a break in his victory string.[5]
It wasn't until seven months later, on May 26, 1918, that he resumed his winning ways. He followed up with a victory in July, three in August, and an unconfirmed on 29 September 1918.[1][5]
In the meantime, in the summer of 1918, he had become Inspector of Fighter Units. He seized the opportunity to reorganize the fighter squadrons. He instituted formation flying and patrol discipline; he codified the first Italian manual of air tactics. He was also decorated again, this time with the Gold Medal of Military Valor for his leadership skills,[4] as well as a Silver Medal of Military Valor.
Piccio had his fighter squadrons massed against the final Austro-Hungarian offensive in June 1918. They gained immediate air supremacy over the Luftfahrtruppen; the Austro-Hungarians called this dismal time the "Black Weeks" for good reason. They lost 22 percent of their pilots, 19 percent of their observers, and an appalling 41 percent of their aircraft between 15 and 24 June 1918. For all practical purposes, it was the effective end of the Austro-Hungarian air arm. The invaders' infantry now faced bombing and strafing from the air whenever there was flying weather.[9]
Piccio was shot down and captured on 27 October 1918.[10] He was flying a ground attack mission into a storm of enemy ground fire, leading from the front as always, when he took a round in the engine and glided into captivity. He ended the war with 24 solidly confirmed victories.[11]
On November 4, the day of the Austro-Hungarian armistice, Piccio returned, having slipped out of the collapsing Empire in an enemy overcoat.[12]
In 1918, even as the war ended, one rather dramatic report says Piccio was courting the young daughter of a deceased Louisiana millionaire. Piccio had been assigned to the Air Attaché's office of the Italian Embassy in Paris. Loranda Batchelder was just sixteen years old and finishing her education at École Lamartine. She supposedly fell for Piccio after he took her on a flight over Paris.[13]
The teenager's mother objected to the match because of her daughter's age, but Piccio followed them to the United States and they were married in New York. They promptly returned to Paris, and from there, to Italy. They had one son, Pier Giacomo.[13]
It was a stormy relationship that descended into a welter of cultural misunderstandings and child custody issues. While living in Italy, Loranda Piccio attempted to flee her husband during or before August 1924, taking her child with her, only to be thwarted.[13] The marriage ended with the Countess's successful suit for annulment in July 1926.[14][15]
Piccio later married again, to Matilde Veglia.[16]
In 1921, Piccio was named the Italian air attache in France.[17]
In January 1923, Piccio began working for Benito Mussolini. Mussolini was the titular head of the Italian commissariat of aviation. His aim was to establish a Fascist base in Italian military service. Piccio had the skills needed to establish one of the original independent air forces (Britain being the other); his early adherence to Il Duce fueled his upward rise in the Fascist ranks.[18]
Piccio was named an honorary aide de camp of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III as of 1 March 1923.
He was the Commanding General of Regia Aeronautica from October 23, 1923[19] through March 1, 1925. The job was converted into Chief of Air Staff, and Piccio held it between 1 January 1926 and February 1927.[20] and Piccio was appointed the Air Attaché to the Italian Embassy in Paris from April 17 through November 15, 1925. He was then appointed Chief of Air Staff in August, but didn't give up his Air Attache's job. He was constantly in conflict with the Undersecretary of State in the former role while doing neither job well.[21] It did not end well. Piccio's superior, Italo Balbo, sacked Piccio for spending excessive time in Paris, where Piccio insisted he was still the Air Attaché. News of his playing the stock market and living luxuriously had led to cries of treason, which made Balbo's task easier.[22] Piccio was then promoted to air force Lieutenant General on 17 September 1932.
He was appointed a Senator of the kingdomby his king on November 3, 1933,[23] as a member of the Fascist Party.[2] Two years later, he was placed on permanent leave after 36 years military service. While in the Senate, he held several different positions. He spent two terms on the Board of Finance, from May 1, 1934 to March 2, 1939, and from April 17, 1939 to January 28, 1940. He served on the Commission to verify new senators from March 26, 1939 through August 5, 1943. He was also on the foreign trade and customs legislation Committee, from April 17, 1939 through August 5, 1943.[2]
None of this kept him from living mostly in France; in October 1934, he served as a backchannel between France's Premier Flandin and Foreign Secretary Laval and Piccio's own boss, Benito Mussolini.[22] Piccio even listed an address in Paris on his senatorial records.
In 1940, while living in Geneva, Piccio met his former enemy and long-time friend, Belgian ace Willy Coppens. Coppens mentioned that they must be enemies again. Piccio showed him a cigarette case salvaged from the wreckage of an Austro-Hungarian plane, and remarked, "From 1915 to 1918 Italy was at war to eliminate the spiked helmets and now Mussolini has brought them back to us!" During World War II, Piccio continued to live in neutral Switzerland. He helped Italian soldiers who sought sanctuary after the mid-war armistice. He was also a liaison between the Italian and French resistance movements.[24]
Post World War II, he seems to have temporarily forfeited the wealth he had made as a fascist; there is a decree of forfeiture dated 29 November 1945. It is followed by a revocation on 30 June 1946.[2] Pier Piccio died in Rome, Italy on 31 July 1965.[25]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New title | Chief of the Air Staff 1 January 1926-6 February 1927 |
Succeeded by Armando Armani |
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