May 9, 1888 - June 19, 1918
Overview:
Francesco Baracca was a war hero for the Italian contingent of World War 1. Echoes of his war efforts continue on today in the line of Ferrari sports cars, using the emblem from his fighter plane, a prancing black stallion, on their cars.
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Francesco Baracca
This man is one of Italy's greatest heroes.
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Country:
Italy
Type
of hero: Trailblazer
Attributes:
Courage
Biography:
Baracca entered the Military School at Modena in October of 1907. In less than a year's time, he was an officer in the Royal Piedmont Cavalry. In April 1912, Baracca was ordered to Reims, France for flight training. When the Kingdom of Italy declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on May 24, 1915, Baracca was already an experienced pilot and instructor.
He was assigned to fly Nieuport two-seater fighter planes along the Udine Front. During this time his initial attempts to shoot down hostile aircraft were frustrated by frequent machine gun jams. Flying in a Nieuport 11, he was the first to bring victory to Italy. On April 7, 1916 he forced down an Austrian Aviatik. His final victory of the war was on June 16, 1918. This was against an Austrian Albatros D.III, the victory came just three days before his death.
Shot down and killed while strafing enemy lines, his body was recovered a few days later near the burnt out wreckage of his SPAD S.VII. Baracca was found holding a pistol in his hand and had a bullet hole in his forehead. Whether he was shot down by ground fire, chose suicide over a fiery death in the cockpit or was killed attempting to resist capture will never be known.
On the ground and in the air, the distinctive prancing black horse painted on the fuselage made it easy to recognise Baracca’s aircraft. In 1923, Baracca's mother, Countess Paolina, suggested that Enzo Ferrari use her son's emblem on his now famous line of automobiles.
Citations
& References:
Links:
http://www.wwiaviation.com/aces/ace_Francesco_Baracca.html
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