Alberto Briganti

Alberto Briganti (22 December 1896 – 2 July 1997) was an Italian military pilot who served as a general in the Regia Aeronautica during World War II, and in the Aeronautica Militare after the war.

Biography Briganti's career began as an ensign in the (Aeronautical Service) of Italy’s Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in 1916, serving in the seaplane bases at Venice, Ancona and Porto Corsini; in this capacity he carried out several bombing missions with Macchi M.3 and FBA seaplanes and was awarded two Bronze Medals of Military Valour. In the autumn of 1917 he was assigned to the , based on the island of Sant'Andrea (Venice) and on 16 November he was transferred to the . On 1 June 1918 Sub-Lieutenant Briganti was assigned to the at Ancona, equipped with FBA flying boats. On June 3, two Austro-Hungarian seamen of Italian origin decided to desert and stole a Lohner L seaplane, which they flew across the Adriatic Sea, landing near Fano, where they were captured; Briganti, along with lieutenant Aldo Pellegrini, was sent from Ancona with the task of recovering the aircraft.

After the end of the war, Briganti joined the forces of poet Gabriele D'Annunzio during their occupation of Fiume, as a seaplane pilot, from February 4 to September 12, 1920. After returning to service within the Navy, he served as lieutenant on the battleship Vittorio Emanuele, during the early stages of the pacification of Libya. In 1923, with the establishment of the Regia Aeronautica, he was among the officers who chose to leave the Navy to join the new armed force, with the rank of captain.

From 1938 to May 1940 Briganti commanded the air force of Libya, serving once again under Balbo, then he was given command of the 1st Territorial Air Zone till 1941, after which he briefly served as temporary commander of the 1st Air Fleet. From 1 January 1942 he commanded the , and in March 1943 he was given command of the air forces of the Dodecanese (Aereomil Egeo), with headquarters in Rhodes.

After the war the new Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, General Mario Ajmone Cat, appointed Briganti adjunct Chief of Staff of the Air Force, a post he held from 3 August 1946 to 1 January 1947, after which he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force and from November 1947 Secretary General of the Air Force. In 1949 he became president of the High Council of the Air Force, and in early 1952 he was appointed president of the High Council of the Armed Forces. He retired from the Air Force in February 1952, after which he was general director of Civil Aviation and Air Traffic for a year.

Briganti published his memoirs, Oltre le nubi il sereno, in the 1980s, and died in Rome on 2 July 1997, at age 100.