My father: an italian pilot in WWII

[Fabio]

closer

Let's focus on the white summer helmet
Here is it for you!

[Fabio]

Live on screen

Let's focus our attention on the white summer helmet.
You wanna see it.
Here's for you.

[Fabio]

one side

right side

[Fabio]

an other one

left side

[Fabio]

back

the back part of it

[Fabio]

the lower part

Last zoom on the helmet

[Fabio]

The patch

I think that the Red Devil cloth patch is one or the rarest items of all my not small Father collection.
I also bet that none of you has ever seen a cloth color design with different degreee of the same color.
Please let me know your opinions on this first one ...

[Fabio]

Some history

Before keep viewing I want you to stop and read the brief story of this Squadron.
The Sixth squadron was born in 1936 in the airport of Campoformido, near Udine, in northern Italy with pilots taken from the first older 5 squadrons of the italian military air hunting.
Was divided in 2 groups: the 2nd Group with 150 st, 151 st and 152nd flights and the 3th with the 153th, 154th and 155th flight.
My father always operated in the 3th Group, in the 154nd and in the 155nd flights.
The stylized Red Devil, symbol of the Squadron, was created by the artist Nino Za in 1936.
The Red Devils had a very important acrobatic patrol that took part in all the most important international meetings, like Budapest and Zurich, many Day of the Wing in Italy and Hitler visit in Italy in 1938.
One of the acrobatic pilots of this period, the 2nd lieutenant Bruno Alessandrini, will become my father Group chief during war time.
The Squadron took part in the spanish civil war and the awards list includes 1war bravery medal in gold (kia), 17 in silver, 6 in bronze, 2 war merit crosses.
In june 1940, when Italy declared war to the France, the 3 group is in Monserrato, a town in the island of Sardinia.
The Group (and my father) will be:
from july 1941 to may 1942 in Northern Africa fightning against the English;
then in Sicily 'till july 1943 desperately trying to defend the Fatherland from the Allied attacks
finally in Northern Italy untill the shameful armistice of the 8 september 1943.
The group flew on Fiat Cr 32, Fiat Cr 42, Macchi Mc 200 and in the last four months they started receiving from the German allied the Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6.
After the armistice some pilots refused to keep fightning waiting for the end of the war, some joined the King in southern Italy and some others joined Mussolini in the Repubblica Sociale Italiana, foundin a new Red Devils Squadron, one of the 2 squadron of the RSI, flying on Macchi MC 205 Greyhound.

[Fabio]

Another cloth patch

Another similar devil patch with a big difference: on this one my dad wrote down with black ink the squadron motto.
The motto, that you can read along the external perymeter of the patch, was the follwing: GHIGNANDO, SULLA PREDA MI SCAGLIO = SNEERING, I HURL MYSELF AT THE QUARRY
Here's for you the motto patch

[Fabio]

Italian style

Another typical scene of worldwide militay life is when the soldiers stand on attention waiting for some imporant person.
Well this pic explains more than anything else why the italo german alliance was very difficult: the german stood on attention like perfect and disciplinated teutonic knights; here's dad and his friend stood on attention like John Belushi and the other buddies of the National Lampoon's Animal House.
Check it yourselves

[Fabio]

First vip

The first VIP visting the airport is a real war hero, the lieutenant colonel pilot of the 4th Squadron (aka the Rampant Horse), Ernesto Botto, called Gamba di Ferro (Iron Leg) because he lost a leg durin a fight and kept flying and fightning with an artificial leg. He will be the first Supreme Chief of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR), the RSI military aviation, but he will be throw out because the germans don't like him. He worked for Homeland but the germans wanted him to work for them.
Look at the young and excited 2nd lieutenant Fabbrini holdin the war hero hand

[Fabio]

The other VIP

That day was a special day, because Gualberto also met and hold the hand of the General of Air Division Ottorino Vespignani, chief of the Air Zone where the sixth squadron stood.
Here you got the General and the brand new 2nd lieutenant

[Fabio]

enameled squadron pin

This is my dad Diavoli Rossi pin.
A masterpiece of pin, IMO.
Imagine how difficult it was for the maker to make it: look at the perymeter ...

[Fabio]

back side

The other side with the maker mark: Pacchiani Firenze.
Don't worry the white Blob is just soft glue.
Most of this stuff was in a showcase up on my house wall; I had to opened to post it and share with you ....
I will clean it very carefully as soon as I got time ...

[Fabio]

Goal!

Finally, after 3 yaers of intensive tranining, the 2nd lieutenat Gualberto Fabbrini got the military's pilot licence and become 100% a Regia Aeronautica fighter pilot.
Here you can see his official paper licence