Ettore Muti Ettore Muti ( May 2 , 1902 — August 24 , 1943 ) was an Italian aviator and Fascist politician . He was Party Secretary of the National Fascist Party ( " Partito Nazionale Fascista " , or PNF ) from October 1939 until shortly after the entry of Italy into World War II on June 10 , 1940 . World War I and Fiume . Born in Ravenna , Romagna , Muti was banned from any school in the country at age 13 , after punching one of his teachers . The next year , he ran away from home in order to fight in World War I , but was recovered and returned by the " Carabinieri " . At 15 , a new attempt was successful , and Muti joined the famed " Arditi " . On the front , Muti distinguished himself through feats of audacity . His detachment of 800 men was ordered to establish a bridgehead under enemy fire : it managed to do so , but was only left with 23 members at the end of the day . Gabriele D ' Annunzio benefitted from Muti ' s services during his seizing of Fiume in September 1919 - January 1921 ; he gave Muti the lasting moniker " Gim dagli occhi verdi " ( " Green - Eyed Jim " ) . In fact , Muti was rarely involved in fighting over Fiume , being more likely to engage in flamboyant stunts . On this , D ' Annunzio has told Muti : " " You are the expression of Superhuman values , an impetus without weight , an offer without measure , a fistful of incense over ember , the scent of a pure soul " " . Between the World Wars . During this time , Muti met Benito Mussolini , for whom he developed a lasting fascination . A Fascist as soon as the Fiume episode came to an end , he was arrested on several occasions . On October 29 , 1922 , he was head of the squad that occupied Ravenna City Hall during the March on Rome . After the taking over of the state , Ettore Muti made a career in the Blackshirts , organized as the " Voluntary State Security Militia " ( " Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale " , MVSN ) . His life remained adventurous : a womanizer and entertaining host , Muti cruised in speeding cars or on his Harley Davidson . In 1926 he married the daughter of a banker , and , in 1929 , fathered his only child Diana . He escaped an assassination attempt carried out by a left - wing activist on September 13 , 1927 , but was shot twice in his abdomen and arm . His survival was uncertain for long , and he was left with a 20 cm scar . He joined the " Regia Aeronautica " ( Italian air force ) , developing a passion for aircraft - he accepted to be demoted to lieutenant , according to the practical requirements of the service . He flew during the Second Italo - Abyssinian War in 1935 - 1936 , where his skills as a pilot earned him a silver medal . In 1936 he returned to Italy , but left soon after as a volunteer on Francisco Franco ' s side in the Spanish Civil War , fighting under the pseudonym " Gim Valeri " . He led a squadron of bomber s over Republican ports , winning several silver medals , and , in 1938 , a gold one . He returned with the new moniker " Cid alato " ( " The Winged El Cid " ) and the prestigious Military Order of Savoy . Later in 1938 , he left for Italian - influenced Albania , staying on through its full occupation by Italians in 1939 ( and winning yet another medal ) . In World War II . Upon his return , Muti was awarded the PNF Party Secretary position replacing Achille Starace . He was awarded this position based on the intervention of his friend Galeazzo Ciano . However , Muti disliked this inactive duty , and profited from the outbreak of the war to return in the military . As a Lieutenant Colonel , Muti participated during the Italian invasion of France , during the long - range bombing of Haifa and Bahrein , and during the Battle of Britain . However , his hasty departure from his Party Secretary position made him lose the friendship of both Ciano and Mussolini . In 1943 , Muti joined the military intelligence service . On July 25 , the day of the pro - Allied coup d ' état in the Grand Council of Fascism , Muti was in Spain , trying to obtain the radar of a United States aircraft that had crashed on neutral territory . He returned to Rome on July 27 , and remained in his private villa . On the night of August 23 – 24 , a group of " Carabinieri " entered his residence and placed him under arrest . They all left through a pine forest surrounding the area , and the following moments are still mysterious . The official communiqué stated : Following an investigation into major irregularities in the administration of a state - associated entity , during which the implication of the ex - secretary of the dissolved fascist party , Ettore Muti , has become apparent , the " Carabinieri " military corps proceeded in Muti ' s arrest at Fregene , near Fiumicino ( then part of the " comune " of Rome ) , on the night of August 23 – 24 . As they led him to their barracks , the escort was shot at with several rounds from the forest . In the momentary disturbance , he attempted to run away , but , after being shot at and wounded by the " Carabinieri " , he died . The major irregularities mentioned were never clarified , nor were the identities of shooters in the forest . In the dramatic gunfight , Muti was the only one hit : his cap displayed two holes , one in the back of the head , the other in front . Other circumstances point as well towards a political execution , with Ettore Muti as the first victim in the violence that engulfed Italy for the next two years . Pietro Badoglio , the leader who had deposed Mussolini , defined Muti as " a menace " in a letter he had previously sent to the head of the local police : it is likely that Muti was informed about the role of Badoglio in the catastrophic Italian defeat of Caporetto , a role that Badoglio in the years after World War I had tried to hide . After his death , Muti became the main hero of Italian fascist regime ( revived in northern Italy with help from Nazi Germany , as the Italian Social Republic ) . His name was given to an autonomous Police Legion stationed in Milan and to one of the most feared Black Brigades units .