Pier Ruggero Piccio

Lieutenant General Count Pier Ruggero Piccio (27 September 1880 – 30 July 1965) was an Italian aviator and the founding Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force. With 24 victories during his career, he is one of the principal Italian air aces of World War I, behind only Count Francesco Baracca and Tenente Silvio Scaroni. Piccio rose to the rank of Lieutenant General and in later years, became a Roman senator under the Fascists before and during World War II.

Early life

Pier Ruggero Piccio was born in Rome on 27 September 1880, to Giacomo Piccio and Caterina Locatelli. He attended the Military Academy of Modena, enrolling on 229 October 1898. He graduated on 8 September 1900 as a sottotenente (second lieutenant) assigned to the 43rd Infantry Regiment. Piccio's duty station was with an artillery unit belonging to the 37th Infantry. During this service, while commanding a machine gun section, he was decorated with the Bronze Medal for Military Valor during February 1912.

Piccio accumulated successes until his double wins of 25 October 1917, at which time his tally was up to 17.

Piccio was shot down and captured on 27 October 1918. He was flying a ground attack mission into a storm of enemy ground fire, leading from the front as always, when he took a round in the engine and glided into captivity. He ended the war with 24 solidly confirmed victories.

Piccio later married again, to Matilde Veglia.

Before the latter maneuvers, in January 1923, Piccio began service under Benito Mussolini. Mussolini was the titular head of the Italian commissariat of aviation; his aim was to establish a Fascist base in Italian military service. Aldo Finzi was installed as the civilian Undersecretary of the Air Force, with Piccio as his military deputy. Piccio had the skills needed to establish one of the original independent air forces (Britain being the other). At this time, France was the only other continental nation building their air power. However, even as the Finzi/Piccio team purged the officers' ranks of deadwood, they succeeded in almost doubling the new air arm's 1923/1924 budget from 256 million lira to 450 million for the following year. They also began the practice of advertising for new aircraft designs. They established a corps of aeronautical engineers, as well as an air force academy, located in Livorno. Piccio was then promoted to air force Lieutenant General on 17 September 1932.

Piccio was named an honorary aide de camp of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III as of 1 March 1923. Piccio even listed an address in Paris on his senatorial records.

In 1940, while living in Geneva, Piccio met his former enemy and long-time friend, Belgian ace Willy Coppens. Coppens mentioned that they must be enemies again. Piccio showed him a cigarette case salvaged from the wreckage of an Austro-Hungarian plane, and remarked, "From 1915 to 1918 Italy was at war to eliminate the spiked helmets and now Mussolini has brought them back to us!" During World War II, Piccio continued to live in neutral Switzerland. He helped Italian soldiers who sought sanctuary after the mid-war armistice. He was also a liaison between the Italian and French resistance movements.

Post World War II, he seems to have temporarily forfeited the wealth he had made as a fascist; there is a decree of forfeiture dated 29 November 1945. It is followed by a revocation on 30 June 1946. Pier Piccio died in Rome, Italy on 31 July 1965.

Decorations and Honours

1911/1912: Commemorative Medal of the Italo-Turkish war 1911/1912: Bronze Medaglia al Valore Militare (Medal for Military Valor) May to August 1915: Bronze Medaglia al Valore Militare 18 October 1916: Silver Medaglia al Valore Militare: First award 5 May 1918: Gold Medaglia al Valore Militare June 1918: Silver Medaglia al Valore Militare: Second award 17 May 1919: Officer of the Military Order of Savoy (A.D. - Aeronautical; Knight: 28 February 1918) 20 November 1924: Commander of the Order of the S.S. Maurice and Lazarus (Knight: 11 June 1922) 29 September 1935: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Crown of Italy (Grand Officer: 28 January 1926; Commander: 5 September 1923; Officer: 17 May 1919; Knight: 31 December 1914) Knight of the French Legion d'Honneur Silver military long-distance air navigation award, second degree