Aviation Pioneer and Prophet of Strategic Bombing July 3, 1886 - October 27, 1957 In most historical accounts of the early day in military aviation, our reverence for the activities of the American Expeditionary Force, its French and British companions-in-arms on the western front has led us to overlook the immense Italian contribution to the formation of airpower doctrine. Historians do recognize, of course, that the first aerial force projection occurred on November 1, 1911, when Lieutenant Giulio Gravotta, flying a German-built Eltrich Taube monoplane, dropped one bomb on Zard and another on Taciura (in Libya) during the Italian-Turkish War. This event occurred little more than a year after the first flight of an Italian-designed and built aircraft. At about the same time, Gianni Caproni, a young Italian engineer with a passion for innovation and a vast admiration for the Wright brothers, built his first flying machine. By the outbreak of the First World War, in August 1914, Caproni had produced about thirty different designs and had become Italy's leading aircraft designer and manufacturer. By May 23, 1915, the day Italy entered into the war, Caproni had designed and built a multi-engine bomber with range and bomb capacities to make it a potent offensive weapon. On August 20, 1915, two of these Caproni three-engine bombers attacked the Aisovizza aerodrome with explosive and incendiary bombs, a preview of the most sustained, effective air offensive of the First World War. By early 1916, regular raids against Austro-Hungarian targets were being conducted by seven squadrons of Caproni Ca 32 bombers, the first production type. By September 1916, capability had improved to the extent that a very successful 22-plane raid was staged against the arsenal and seaplane base at Trieste. By the year’s end some 540 bombing missions had been flown. Missions were on the increase, both in distance to targets and numbers of aircraft involved. http://www.johnpirelliosia.org/osia/History/gianni_caproni.htm
