Commemorative Medal of the Decennial Air Cruise

The Commemorative Medal of the Decennial Air Cruise (Italian: Medaglia commemorativa della Crociera aerea del Decennale) was a decoration granted by the Kingdom of Italy to personnel who participated in or supported the Decennial Air Cruise in 1933.

The Italian Regia Aeronautica ("Royal Air Force") was established in 1923, and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its founding, the Regia Aeronautica organized the Decennial Air Cruise, a mass transatlantic flight from Orbetello, Italy, to the Century of Progress International Exposition at Chicago, Illinois, in the United States.

Consisting of 25 Savoia-Marchetti S.55X double-hulled flying boats under the command of General Italo Balbo, it was the first mass flight to cross the North Atlantic.

[1][2][3] The flight returned to Italy with stops in the Dominion of Newfoundland, the Azores, and Portugal before concluding at Rome on 12 August 1933.

The reverse bears the inscriptions Crociera aerea del Decennale ("Decennial Air Cruise") and Roma-Chicago-New York-Roma – luglio-agosto 1933–XI ("Rome-Chicago-New York-Rome – July–August 1933–XI"), the outline of a Savoia-Marchetti S.55X flying boat, and space to engrave the given name and surname of the recipient of the medal and the justification for the award.