The youngest general in the Regia Aeronautica, he is best known for leading the Italian Air Force in Russia, where he was killed during a rescue mission in late 1942, being posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor.

He was born in Collevecchio, province of Rieti, on 22 May 1897, from a family with long military traditions; his father Luigi was a general in the Royal Italian Army, and his brothers Pio (killed in action on the Karst Plateau during World War I) and Mario were both officers.

[1][2] His first deployment was in the pacification of Tripolitania, where he earned a War Merit Cross and a Silver Medal of Military Valor; after participating in numerous reconnaissance and strafing missions against the Senussi guerrillas, he was forced to land in Senussi-controlled territory by an engine breakdown and was captured, but persuaded his captors to release him and submit to Italy.

In June 1926 he was promoted to captain and given command of the 28th Squadron of the 62nd Air Reconnaissance Group, based at the Pisa San Giusto airport, obtaining on the following year the pilot license at the Cerveteri flight school, where he had been temporarily seconded.

He held this post until September 1936, when, after promotion to lieutenant colonel, he took part in operations in East Africa, as commander of the advanced base of Gura, Eritrea, being awarded another Silver Medal of military valor for his role in the conquest of Dembidolo, where he personally landed the first Italian troops in a makeshift airfield.