In WWI, there were many aces whose victories were uncounted. Generally, the score of uncounted victories was usually lower than the counted ones. But there was an ace whose uncounted victories were double than the counted ones. Antonio Reali, born on March 31, 1891, in Ozegna, Italy, scored 11 confirmed victories in WWI, while his uncounted victories were 22. Initially serving as an engineer in the Italian military, he was transferred to the air service in 1916. After receiving advanced pilot training to fly Nieuport fighters in mid-1916, he joined the fighter squadron, 79a Squadriglia, on January 20, 1917. He submitted his first victory claim on June 3, 1917, but he did not get his first official victory until his fourth claim on January 14, 1918, when he shot down a German two-seater aircraft.
Ace Journey of Antonio Reali
On January 28, 1918, after claiming another unconfirmed victory on January 25, he shot down two German aircraft, followed by another on January 30. On February 1, he claimed his fifth victory to become an ace officially. Reali received a Silver Medal for Military Valor after becoming an ace, with a citation, “A bold and daring fighter pilot, he always demonstrated tenacious aggression and a conscious disregard for danger, completing numerous war flights and sustaining fierce combat. During the offensive action of January 1918 on the highlands, he boldly attacked patrols of enemy aircraft, and in just two days he shot down three of them, achieving his sixth aerial victory.” From February 4 to June 17, 1918, Antonio Reali had nine unconfirmed victories. After that, he received confirmation of consecutive wins on June 20 and 21, shooting down two aircraft on each of those days to reach an official score of 9. In June and July, he claimed four more aerial victories, all uncounted. His 10th official victory came on September 11, 1918. After two more unconfirmed victories in September, his last and 11th confirmed victory came on October 4, 1918. He claimed three more victories in the next two days, which were not confirmed either.
Legacy and Life after WWI
Among Antonio Reali’s 11 confirmed victories, seven were EA aircraft, two were two-seaters, and one each was a Scout and an Albatros D.III aircraft. The uncounted ones included 16 EA aircraft, four Scouts, and one each of a two-seater and an Albatros D.III. At the end of WWI, an Italian intelligence group, the Bongiovanni Commission, reviewed the aerial victories claimed by Italian pilots. The group published an official list on February 1, 1919, and Antonio Reali, who claimed 33 aerial victories, was credited with 11 official kills. However, it still placed him among 10 Italian pilots who officially shot down more than ten enemy aircraft during WWI. Reali left the service in 1919 but joined the reserve of the new Regia Aeronautica in 1923. By the end of 1940, he became an officer and reached the rank of captain by December 31. His activities during WWII are unknown. After WWII, Antonio Reali worked as a craftsman and died in Fano on January 19, 1975. In the Aces series, Antonio Reali stands as an example of self-motivation. Even after his major aerial victories were uncounted, he continued fighting with grace and valor. Read stories about other Aces HERE.
