Capitano Antonio Reali was an Italian

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

credited with eleven confirmed aerial victories, and 22 unconfirmed victories. He served in the ''

Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was ...

'' Reserves from 1923 to about 1940.Franks (2000), p. 17.

Early life and service

Antonio Reali was born on 31 March 1891 in

Ozegna Ozegna is a ''comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City ...

, the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. Reali was called to the colors as a

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in the Engineers. He then transferred to the ''

Corpo Aeronautico Militare The Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) was formed as part of the Regio Esercito (Royal Army) on 7 January 1915, incorporating the Aviators Flights Battalion (airplanes), the Specialists Battalion (airships) and the Ballon ...

''.Franks et al (1997), pp. 154-155.

World War I aerial service

Reali went to aviation training at Coltano; there he earned a

Maurice Farman Maurice Alain Farman (21 March 1877 – 25 February 1964) was a British-French Grand Prix motor racing champion, an aviator, and an aircraft manufacturer and designer. Biography Born in Paris to English parents, he and his brothers Richard an ...

12 rating on 1 July 1916. He was granted an advanced pilot's license on 14 July, and qualified on a Farman 15 on 15 August 1916. After forwarding to Cascina Costa, he underwent

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

fighter training. He was assigned to a fighter squadron, ''

79a Squadriglia ''79a Squadriglia'' was one of Italy's first fighter squadrons. It served in combat during World War I from 13 January 1917 though war's end. It was credited with 47 aerial victories. History 79a Squadriglia of the ''Corpo Aeronautico Militare'' ...

'', on 20 January 1917. He submitted a victory claim as early as 3 June 1917, but it was not until his fourth claim, on 14 January 1918, that he got his first official victory. By 1 February, he was an ace, with four of the next five victory claims confirmed. Then, from 4 February to 17 June 1918, he had nine consecutive unconfirmed wins. He then got confirmation of consecutive doubles on consecutive days, on 20 and 21 June. Beginning the next day, and running through 8 October, Reali submitted eleven claims, only two of which were approved as victories. In the end, Reali would have 11 of 33 combat claims approved as victories. Nevertheless, Sergente Reali won a Silver award of the

Medal for Military Valor The Medal of Military Valor (Italian language: ''Medaglia al valor militare'') is an Italian medal, originally established as a Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinian award. It is awarded to military personnel, units above the level of Company (milita ...

for his 1 February 1918 victory.

Postwar

Reali left the service in 1919. He joined the ''Regia Aeronautica'' Reserves in 1923. By the end of 1940, he had risen to capitano, being promoted on 31 December. His role in World War II is unknown. On 19 January 1975, Antonio Reali died in

Fano Fano () is a city and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by pop ...

, Italy.

Sources of information

References

* Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell; Alegi, Gregory. ''Above the War Fronts: The British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces, 1914–1918: Volume 4 of Fighting Airmen of WWI Series: Volume 4 of Air Aces of WWI''. Grub Street, 1997. , . * Franks, Norman. ''Nieuport Aces of World War 1.'' Osprey Publishing, 2000. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Reali, Antonio 1891 births 1975 deaths Italian World War I flying aces Italian aviators Italian military personnel of World War I Italian Air Force personnel Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor