Sergente Romolo Ticconi was a

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 six aerial victories.

Biography

Romolo Ticconi was born in

Acuto Acuto (local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about east of Rome and about northwest of Frosinone on a ridge of the Monti Ernici. Acuto borders the following municipal ...

, 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 ...

, on 25 March 1893. Ticconi was conscripted into military service on 21 August 1914, before Italy had entered World War I. On 16 December 1916, he was promoted to '' Caporal''. On 20 September 1917, he was reported at the Italian

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

replacement depot as a

Sergeant Pilot A sergeant pilot was a non-commissioned officer who had undergone flight training and was a qualified pilot in the air forces of several Commonwealth countries before, during and after World War II. It was also a term used in the United States Arm ...

.Franks 1997, p. 261. On 27 January 1918, Ticconi joined a

fighter squadron A squadron in an air force, or naval or army aviation service, is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, ...

, ''76a Squadriglia''. He scored his first aerial victory on 3 May 1918, when he helped shoot down an enemy two-seater craft. On 24 May, he suffered an inflight fire in his cockpit that burned his right leg; it was one of three flying accidents he would survive during the war. On 25 June 1918, Ticconi and his squadronmates Giulio Lega and

Silvio Scaroni Tenente Silvio Scaroni (12 May 1893 – 16 February 1977) was an Italian World War I fighter pilot credited with 26 victories. He was the second ranking Italian ace of the war. Early service Silvio Scaroni joined the 2nd Field Artillery Regim ...

vanquished two enemy fighters over Moreno di Pia

for Ticconi's second and third victories. On 7 July, Ticconi shared in one of Silvio Scaroni's victories, but was not credited with another other one. Also in July, he received the Silver

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 ...

to add to his ''

Croce di Guerra The War Cross for Military Valor () is an Italian order for military valor. Established in 1922, the cross may be awarded only in time of war. Appearance The medal is a Greek cross made of copper. Inscribed on the horizontal arms is ''Al Val ...

''; by this time, he had flown 111 hours on 74 combat

sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warf ...

s for the squadron. Ticconi would strike twice more. On 14 August 1918, backed by Giorgio Michetti, he downed his fifth foe and became an ace. The next day, he shot down another enemy plane, for his final victory. Ticconi would fight through war's end, continuing to fly despite illness. On 21 November 1918, in the wake of war's end, Ticconi transferred to ''

81a Squadriglia ''81a Squadriglia'' was an Italian fighter squadron raised in March 1917 that served through the end of World War I. One of its aces, Flavio Baracchini, would become the first awardee of the Gold Medal for Military Valor. The squadron would be cre ...

''. His perseverance in flying while ill helped him win a belated award of the Bronze Medal for Military Valor. On 26 August 1919, Romolo Ticconi was killed in a flying accident at

Montecelio Guidonia Montecelio (), commonly known as Guidonia, is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Lazio, central Italy. Geography The municipality of Guidonia Montecelio, formed by the main towns of Guidonia and Montecelio, l ...

Notes

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. , .

Biography

Notes

References

See also