Capitano Guido Masiero was a World War I flying ace credited with five confirmed and ten unconfirmed aerial victories.
24 Facts About Guido Masiero
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Guido Masiero was a prewar lancer who used his civilian engineering expertise to wrangle a transfer to aviation duty.
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Guido Masiero was born into a middle-class family in Padova in the Kingdom of Italy on 24 August 1895.
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Guido Masiero studied engineering before joining the Italian Army's 5th "Novara" Lancers on 4 December 1913.
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Guido Masiero used his technical knowledge as grounds for a transfer to the Italian Army's air service.
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Guido Masiero completed pilot's training and was assigned as a sergente to 7a Squadriglia reaching the front on 15 October 1915.
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In December 1915 Masiero began to fly a Voisin for 26a Squadriglia.
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Guido Masiero flew 58 reconnaissance sorties over the Carso and sometimes returned with battle damage.
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At some point prior to February 1917, Guido Masiero was commissioned as a sottotenente.
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Guido Masiero then transferred to the Nieuport training unit at Malpensa on 14 May 1917.
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On 7 November 1917, Guido Masiero staked his first victory claim, but it went unconfirmed.
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Guido Masiero then joined with Mario Fucini, Razzi, and Antonio Chiri for his first official victory on 13 November 1917.
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Finally, on 26 December 1917, in two separate fights, Guido Masiero became an ace, sharing both victories with a number of other Allied pilots.
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Guido Masiero was promoted to tenente from sottotentente on 17 January 1918.
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Guido Masiero would go on to make six more victory claims during the first six months of 1918, to no avail.
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In December 1918, the month after World War I ended, Guido Masiero was assigned to the Experimental Directorate of the Italian Army's air service.
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Guido Masiero would spend a year there before his military discharge.
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Guido Masiero had built a reputation for both piloting and technical expertise that saw him part of his country's postwar aviation mission to France, as well as participating in the ELTA Aeronautical Exhibition in Amsterdam.
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Guido Masiero was the pilot of one of 11 Italian planes that took off on 14 February 1920 for the Rome-Tokyo Raid.
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On 16 July 1935, now-Capitano Guido Masiero was recalled from the Italian Air Force reserve to serve in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in the 20th Stormo.
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Guido Masiero flew both ground-attack and bombing missions in Romeo Ro.
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Guido Masiero served in Ethiopia until 18 November 1936, then returned to Italy.
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Guido Masiero received a Silver Medal for Military Valor for his service in the Ethiopian campaign.
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In 1937, Masiero volunteered to serve in Italy's Aviazione Legionaria in the Spanish Civil War under the nom de guerre "Guido Magoni".