Biplane fighter aces

Italy

Tenente Antonio Bizio

Decorations
Date Decoration Note
??/??/43 Medaglia d’argento al valor militare 1940-43
??/??/41 Medaglia di bronzo al valor militare (1st) 1940-43
??/??/42 Medaglia di bronzo al valor militare (2nd) 1940-43

Antonio Bizio was from Firenze.

On 2 June 1941, five Blenheims from Malta were out at midday after a convoy of six ships that had been sighted by a Sunderland. Two CR.42s and a Z.501 were seen over the convoy, but the Blenheims kept their distance until the Italian aircraft appeared to leave the area. Probably they ships’ crews assumed that the Blenheims were friendly since daylight attack by RAF had not yet become common.
At 14:45 the Blenheims attacked, but one went into the sea during the run-in. It seems this may have fallen to a pair of CR.42 pilots of the 70a Squadriglia, 23o Gruppo CT. Tenente Marco Marinone and Tenente Bizio reported seeing a lone Blenheim to the north-west of Lampedusa while they were escorting a convoy off the Italian coast, and they claimed this shot down between them. The attack by the other four Blenheims was successful. The steamer Montello, which was carrying ammunition, blew up and sank, whilst the Beatrice Costa, carrying a cargo of petrol in drums, caught fire. Her crew abandoned her, and her escort sent her to the bottom.

Bizio ended the war with 1 shared biplane victory.

Claims:
Kill no. Date Time Number Type Result Plane type Serial no. Locality Unit
  1941                
  02/06/41 14:45 1/2 Blenheim (a) Shared destroyed Fiat CR.42   NW Lampedusa 70a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 1 shared destroyed.
TOTAL: 1 shared destroyed.
(a) This claim can’t be verified with RAF records.

Sources:
Elenco Nominativo dei Militari dell’ A. M. Decorati al V. M. Durante it Periodo 1929 - 1945 1 Volume A - L
Malta: The Hurricane Years 1940-41 - Christopher Shores, Brian Cull and Nicola Malizia, 1987 Grub Street, London




Last modified 03 July 2024