Giovanni Ancillotto " Lieutenant " Giovanni ' Giannini ' Ancillotto ( 1896 – 1924 ) was an Italian World War I flying ace credited with 11 confirmed aerial victories . Rather unusually , he served solely with aviation while he was in the military , beginning in the lowest rank . Among his aerial victories as a fighter pilot were three over enemy observation balloon s right after the Battle of Caporetto . As an example of the hazards of balloon busting , on 5 December 1917 Ancillotto returned to base with singed swatches of the third balloon ' s fabric adhering to his damaged fighter plane . Having survived the war as a " Tenente " with a Gold and three Silver awards of the Medal for Military Valor , Ancillotto flew a civil aircraft nonstop from Rome to Warsaw on 11 September 1919 . In May 1921 , he transited the Andes Mountains in Peru . Giovanni Ancillotto died in an auto accident at Caravaggio , Lombardy on 18 October 1924 . Early life . Ancillotto was born in San Dona di Piave on 15 November 1896 . He was studying engineering at Polytechnic University of Turin when World War I began . World War I . Ancillotto volunteered for pilot ' s training . He was accepted on 4 November 1915 , with the rank of " Soldato " . After undergoing basic training at Mirafiori , he was posted to Gaberdini Flying School at Cameri on 5 December . In March 1916 , he graduated near the top of his class of 80 . In May , he trained at Busto Arsizio and Malpensa . He received his first active posting on 25 June 1916 , to " 114a Squadriglia " . On 31 August 1916 , he was promoted to " Caporal " . On 1 October , he transferred to " 27a Squadriglia " , remaining with them until 20 December 1916 . On 7 January 1917 , Giovanni Ancillotto was accepted as an " Aspirante " . His next posting was to " 30a Squadriglia " , on 18 February 1917 . He would remain with them until 13 April 1917 . His reconnaissance work to this point earned him a Silver award of the Medal for Military Valor . Ancillotto was selected for conversion training on Nieuport fighters , and took gunnery school at Pisa . On 14 June 1917 , he was posted to a fighter squadron , " 80a Squadriglia " ; the squadron was flying operations over the Battles of the Isonzo . Ancillotto scored his first four aerial victories with this squadron in late October and early November 1917 , sharing his first with Alvaro Leonardi . On 10 November , he moved to another fighter unit , " 77a Squadriglia " , where he would win a second Silver Medal for Military Valor . In the wake of the Battle of Caporetto , Ancillotto waged a campaign against Austro - Hungarian observation balloon s . On both 30 November and 3 December 1917 , Ancillotto destroyed an enemy balloon . On 5 December , he so aggressively pressed home his attack on a third balloon that he returned to base with swathes of its envelope basted to his severely damaged aircraft . During this week , he also forced down many other balloons without destroying them . His dashing courage with the balloons earned him a rare Gold award of the Medal for Military Valor , granted in March 1918 . Meanwhile , during February , Ancillotto , Michele Allasia , and another pilot experimented with flying night patrols . On 22 July 1918 , he shot down an Austro - Hungarian Hansa - Brandenburg C . I an hour past midnight , at 0105 hours . Two days later , he downed another one at about the same time , at 0055 hours . These pioneering night fighter victories resulted in Ancillotti ' s third Silver Medal for Military Valor . On 6 September 1918 , he was withdrawn from combat to serve with the " Commissariato Generale Aeronautica " ( General Commissariat of Aeronautics ) . He remained in the rear area until 27 October 1918 , when he managed to wangle his way back into combat for the war ' s final offensive , the Battle of Vittorio Veneto . He scored his final aerial victory on 27 October 1918 , when he shot down an opposing Pfalz D . III right over its own airfield . The Austro - Hungarians surrendered on 3 November 1918 . " Giannino " Ancillotto ended World War I as a " Tenente " honored with a Gold and three Silver awards of the Medal for Military Valor . Post World War I . On 1 February 1919 , the Bongiovanni commission approved all 11 of Ancillotti ' s aerial victory claims . By 11 September 1919 , he was flying a nonstop civil flight from Rome to Warsaw . In May 1921 , he managed to fly across the Andes Mountains in Peru . On 18 October 1924 , Giovanni Ancillotto was killed in an automobile accident in Caravaggio , Lombardy .