Alvaro Leonardi

Alvaro Leonardi was born in Terni, Kingdom of Italy, on 16 November 1895. In September 1915, just after Italy entered World War I, Leonardi served in the Technical Services Department of the Italian military. He was then posted to the 6th Railroad Engineers' Regiment before transferring to aviation.^[2]

He attended aviation training at Mirafiori, and was awarded his wings for the Caudron G.3 on 29 April 1916. In May, he went to aerial observers training at Centocelle Airport. He was then sent to a unit flying two-seater reconnaissance craft, 41a Squadriglia. On 31 July, he was promoted to Caporal; on 31 October to Sergente. He was then packed off for training as a fighter pilot, arriving at Cascina Costa on 3 November 1916. He trained on Nieuports, and was assigned to the Malpensa defense flight on 25 January 1917. The following month, he rejoined 80a Squadriglia. On 2 May 1917, he was officially rated as a Nieuport pilot. On 24 May, he scored his first aerial victory. He continued to score throughout 1917 and 1918, posting his eleventh claim on 20 August 1918; though most of his claims were singular, he did share one each with Giovanni Ancillotto and Cosimo Rizzotto.^[2]

On 25 October 1918, Leonardi was transferred out of combat, being assigned to 122a Squadriglia. When the war ended, Alvaro Leonardi had flown 140 fighter escort missions in 700 hours flight time, and engaged in 21 combats to stake his 11 victory claims. He had earned two awards of the Silver Medal for Military Valor.^[2]