Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia ( 22 September 1915 – 24 August 1944 ) was an Italian aviator , and one of the most famous Italian pilots of World War II . Buscaglia was born in Novara , Piedmont , in 1915 and entered the Italian " Accademia Aeronautica " ( Air Force Academy ) in October 1934 . In 1937 he was made " Sottotenente " ( 2nd Lieutenant ) . On July 1 , 1937 Buscaglia was assigned to the 50th Squadron ( 32nd Bomber Wing ) , then equipped with the obsolete Savoia - Marchetti S . M . 81 , but later replaced with the more efficient SM . 79 . In 1939 he was promoted to full Lieutenant . The following February he was transferred to the 252nd Squadron ( 46th Bomber Wing ) , and with this unit he took part to his first military mission , on June 21 , 1940 . On 25 July he volunteered to join the " Reparto Speciale Aerosiluranti " ( " Special Torpedo - Bomber Detachment " ) of the Regia Aeronautica , later renamed the 240th Torpedo - Bomber Squadron , based in Libya . In the night of 17 September 1940 , Buscaglia obtained his first success with a torpedo - armed SM . 79 , heavily damaging the cruiser HMS " Kent " . In early December he also successfully attacked the cruiser HMS " Glasgow " . In January 1941 Buscaglia ' s unit was transferred to Catania , from where he took part in the action with some German Ju 87 s in which the carrier was badly damaged . Promoted to Captain , Buscaglia was made commander of a new torpedo unit , the 281st Squadron , based at the Grottaglie airport in Apulia . From there he took part to the Battle of Cape Matapan . By 1942 Buscaglia had already obtained the Silver Medal of Military Valor five times , and the German Iron Cross second class . In April he was selected to command the new 132nd Torpedo Group , subsequently sinking several ships in the Mediterranean . On 12 August of that year , together with the German ace Hans - Joachim Marseille , he was received in Rome by Benito Mussolini , who promoted him to Major . On 12 November 1942 , during an action against the Allied invasion of North Africa , Buscaglia ' s plane was shot down by a British Spitfire . He was declared " killed in action " and a Gold Medal of Military Valor awarded posthumously . However , although wounded and badly burned , Buscaglia had survived , having been captured by Allied troops and transferred to a prisoner - of - war camp in the United States at Fort Meade . After the armistice of 8 September 1943 , Buscaglia was asked to fight alongside the Allies , as a member of the newly formed Aeronautica Cobelligerante del Sud . In the meantime , in the northern part of Italy still occupied by Germany , a wing of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana ( the Air Force of the puppet Italian Social Republic ) , the " 1° Gruppo Aerosiluranti " , had also been named after him . On 15 July 1944 Buscaglia assumed command of the 28th Bomber Wing , equipped with Martin Baltimore s and based on Campo Vesuvio airport , near Naples . On 23 August , while attempting to fly one of the new planes without an instructor , Buscaglia crashed on take - off . He died the following day in a hospital in Naples . The 3rd Wing of the current " Aeronautica Militare Italiana " , based at Villafranca di Verona , was named after him .