Carlo Canella was born on 22 June 1914.

Canella was commissioned (in Servizio Permanente Effettivo) on 28 October 1938.

On 2 May 1940, he was promoted to Tenente.

He served with 412^a Squadriglia, equipped with Fiat CR.42s, in the East African campaign of 1940-41.

On 12 June 1940 he shot down a British Wellesley bomber over the Keren area. It seems probable that this was in fact Pilot Officer B.K.C. Fuge’s Wellesley (K7730) of 47 Squadron shot down the previous day, and not seen to crash at the time by the defenders. The British crew became prisoners.
AA also claimed this aircraft.

In the early hours of 16 October Flight Lieuteant Mitchell of 430 Flight, piloting a Vincent, attacked Tessenei airfield. He was followed back to Gedaref by a Ca.133, which bombed the landing ground without effect. But the Italians now knew where the aircraft, which had been operating around the Lake Tana region during recent weeks were based.
A strike was laid on at once. At 0525 an S.79 flown by Generale Piacentini himself led in six CR.42s of the 412^a Squadriglia flown by Capitano Antonio Raffi, Tenente Vinsintini, Tenente Carlo Canella, Sergente Maggiore Lugi Baron, Scarselli and Tenente De Pauli. Some sources claims that nine CR.42s were involved in this strike and the British identified the attackers incorrectly as one S.79, four CR.42s and three CR.32s.
The Savoia dropped its bombs without causing much damage, but the fighters then strafed and totally destroyed all eight Wellesleys of 47 Squadronss detachment (K7742, K7762, K7779, K7781, L2650, L2675, L2677 and L2688) and two of 430 Flight’s Vincents (K4657 and K4731). An attempt to telephone the fighter detachment at Azzoza was foiled, as the line between Gedaref and Azzoza was found to have been cut. Italian claims were very accurate, eleven aircraft being claimed destroyed, together with a munitions dump and a lorry.

Canella ended the war with 7 biplane victories.

During the war he was decorated with two Medaglie d’argento al Valore Militare and one Medaglia di bronzo al Valore Militare.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
?	12/06/40	1	Wellesley (a)	Destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Keren area	412a Squadriglia
	16/10/40	1/7	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Gedaref	412a Squadriglia
	16/10/40	1/7	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Gedaref	412a Squadriglia
	16/10/40	1/7	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Gedaref	412a Squadriglia
	16/10/40	1/7	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Gedaref	412a Squadriglia
	16/10/40	1/7	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Gedaref	412a Squadriglia
	16/10/40	1/7	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Gedaref	412a Squadriglia
	16/10/40	1/7	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Gedaref	412a Squadriglia
	16/10/40	1/7	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Gedaref	412a Squadriglia
	16/10/40	1/7	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Gedaref	412a Squadriglia
	16/10/40	1/7	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Gedaref	412a Squadriglia
	16/10/40	1/7	Enemy aircraft (b)	Shared destroyed on the ground	Fiat CR.42		Gedaref	412a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 7 destroyed, 11 shared destroyed on the ground.
TOTAL: 7 destroyed, 11 shared destroyed on the ground.
(a) Probably Wellesley (K7730) of 47 Squadron, flown by Pilot Officer B.K.C. Fuge, shot down previous day; the crew became POW’s.
(b) According to British sources eight Wellesleys of 47 Squadron and two Vincents of 430 Flight were destroyed against claims for eleven aircraft destroyed on the ground.

Sources:
Annuario Ufficiale Delle Forze Armate Del Regno D’Italia Anno 1943. Part III Regia Aeronautica – 1943 Istituto Poligrafico Dello Stato, Roma
Assi Italiani Della Caccia 1936-1945 - 1999 Aerofan no. 69 apr.-giu. 1999, kindly provided by Jean Michel Cala
Dust Clouds in the Middle East - Christopher Shores, 1996 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-898697-37-X
Italian Aces of World War 2 - Giovanni Massimello and Giorgio Apostolo, 2000 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 1-84176-078-1