A date that will live in infamy

    June 28, 1940. The shooting-down of Italo Balbo's airplane. 

    by Alberto Alpozzi (Translated from Italian by L. Pavese)

    The Kingdom of Italy had entered Second World War just eighteen days ago.

    It was 5:30 pm on June 28, 1940. The Britons had just carried out an air attack near the Italian base of Tobruk. High columns of black smoke were rising in the sky.

    Two large airplanes, which for their shape looked like bombers, approached Tobruk airport at low altitude.

    In the harbor of Tobruk there were the Italian Royal Navy cruiser San Giorgio and the submersible boat Bragadin. They were providing anti-aircraft protection, in conjunction with ground-based artillery, and they opened fire to defend from a possible second wave of bombing.

A view of Tobruk harbor
taken from a British RAF aircraft during the WWII

    One of the two aircraft was hit and shot down by the deck gun of the submarine, which submerged and quickly disappeared. 

    The aircraft crashed, leaving no survivors. They were not British planes attempting a second attack, but two S.M. 79 trimotors from the Italian Regia Aeronautica flying in from Derna.

    At the controls of the shot down airplane there was Air Marshal Italo Balbo, Governor of Libya from 1934. The crew consisted of Major Ottavio Frailich, Captain Gino Cappannini and Warrant Officer Giuseppe Berti. On the aircraft there were also Major Claudio Brunelli, Lieutenants Cino Florio and Lino Balbo, the Consul of the Militia Enrico Caretti and Captain Nello Quilici (the father of Folco, who at the time was thirteen years old), a reporter, a friend of Italo Balbo and head of Balbo’s Press Office in Libya. 

The last picture of Italo Balbo's S.M. 79 over Tobruk

      

 

    To commemorate Italo Balbo’s death, the May–August issue of the illustrated magazine Libia was dedicated entirely to him, featuring 67 photographs and 25 articles by notable writers of the period, including Orio Vergani and Ardito Desio, as well as a previously unpublished article by Nello Quilici. (You can purchase a commemorative issue of the magazine here. T/N). 

    General Felice Porro was among those aboard the second aircraft, which survived. Some accounts say Balbo ordered the landing without notifying ground control; others suggest his radio was not working.

    Soon after the crash, rumors spread of a plot to eliminate the “Quadrumvir,” one of the four Fascist leaders who had helped bring the party to power. Although some party leaders resented Balbo’s personal success, the conspiracy theory was never proven.

    Balbo was known as independent, courageous, and strong-willed, and he was internationally famous for his transatlantic flights. He strongly opposed the 1938 racial laws and Italy’s decision to enter the war alongside Germany.

After the tragedy, Italy declared a period of national mourning. Balbo and his comrades were carried in funeral processions through Benghazi on July 1, 1940, and Tripoli on July 3, where Balbo was buried following a solemn ceremony.

Tripoli, Libya, JUly 3, 1940: the carriage bearing Italo Balbo's coffin

    Italo Balbo’s remains stayed in his Libya until 1970, when Muammar Gaddafi’s nationalist policies led to their transfer to Orbetello, Italy, where he still rests today.

    

Italo Balbo was born in 1896 in Quartesana, near Ferrara. An early supporter of Fascism, he became one of the Quadrumvirs who led the March on Rome, which brought Benito Mussolini to power. He commanded the MVSN national militia, served several terms in parliament, and later held posts as Undersecretary for the Economy, Minister of the Air Force, and Governor of Libya.

A decorated soldier, Balbo received two Silver Medals for Military Valor for his service with the Arditi assault troops during the First World War, as well as a Bronze Medal. The United States also awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross for his transatlantic flights.

After his death in 1940, Balbo was posthumously awarded Italy’s Gold Medal for Military Valor.




This article was taken from the Italian website L'Italia Coloniale.


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Thank you,


Leonardo Pavese