Livio Bassi (8 October 1918 – 2 April 1941) was an Italian aviator, and a

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Early life

Bassi was born in

Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an impor ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, in 1918, was a cadet of the prestigious

Nunziatella military academy The Nunziatella Military School of Naples, Italy, founded November 18, 1787 under the name of ''Royal Military Academy'' (it.: ''Reale Accademia Militare''), is the oldest Italian institution of military education among those still operating. Its b ...

between 1932 and 1935, and entered the Italian '' Accademia Aeronautica'' (Air Force Academy) in 1936. In 1939 he was made ''Sottotenente'' (2nd Lieutenant) of

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of 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 mon ...

and was assigned to the 395th Squadron (160nd Fighter Wing).

Second World War

In 1940 he was promoted to full Lieutenant. In this unit, with Fiat G.50, he took part in his first military mission, on November 4, 1940, in Jannina (Greece). In December 1940 and January 1941 destroyed four enemy planes in combat. On 20 February 1941

Pat Pattle Marmaduke Thomas St John Pattle, (3 July 1914 – 20 April 1941), usually known as Pat Pattle, was a South African-born English Second World War fighter pilot and flying ace (an aviator credited with the destruction of five or more enem ...

, a

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, flying Hurricane Mk I V7724, was leading a group of six Hurricanes escorting 16 Blenheim light bombers — eight of No. 84 Squadron RAF, six of No. 211 Squadron and three of No. 30 Squadron RAF — to

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier. Berat is located i ...

. Fiat G.50bis from the 361^a and 395^a ''Squadriglia'', 154° ''Autonomo Gruppo'' were scrambled from Berat airfield, but they were attacked by the higher altitude Hurricanes. Pattle led his section straight towards four Fiat G.50s and selected the leading aircraft as his own target. It was the first time he had fired the eight guns of the Hurricane, and the G.50 exploded. The Fiat G.50 was from 154° ''Gruppo'' and it was the first Hurricane victory that Pattle would claim. The plane of Bassi was hit in this battle, after knocking down two British planes.Shores, Cull, Malizia 1987, p. 88. He could land even with the damaged plane, but the aircraft caught fire burning. Bassi died a few weeks after at the military hospital in Rome. A

Gold Medal of Military Valor The Gold Medal of Military Valour ( it, Medaglia d'oro al valor militare) is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers. The fa ...

awarded posthumously.

Memorials

The Airport Trapani-Chinisia was named in 1949 to Livio Bassi, and after named the military Trapani–Birgi Airport.

References

Bibliography

* Baker, E.C.R. ''Ace of Aces: The Story of Squadron Leader Pat Pattle, greatest fighter ace of the R.A.F''. London: William Kimber, 1965. * Shores, Christopher, Brian Cull and Maria Malizia. ''Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete: 1940–41''. London: Grub Street, 1992. . * Thomas, Andrew. ''Hurricane Aces 1941–45''. Oxford: Osprey, 2003. * Chris Dunning, ''Combat Units of the Regia Aeronautica. Italia Air Force 1940-1943'', Oxford University Press, 1988

Early life

Second World War

Memorials

References

Bibliography

See also