23 June 1909 – October 1964

Image kindly provided by Fulvio Chianese at GORIZIA ed il QUARTO STORMO.

Silvio Costigliolo was born in Genoa on 23 June 1909.

He joined the Regia Aeronautica in 1929.

He was posted to the 96 ^a Squadriglia, IX Gruppo, 1^o Stormo at Aviano. In Ocotber, the unit moved to Campoformido in September 1931, the Gruppo was assigned to the newly formed 4^o Stormo at Gorizia.

Costigliolo together with an unidentified pilot, along with a Fiat CR.1 of the 96^a Squadriglia.
Image kindly provided by Fulvio Chianese at GORIZIA ed il QUARTO STORMO.

On 10 January 1932, Tenente Anotnio Colla and Costigliolo suffered an air-to-air collision during a training flight over Cormons. Costigliolo parachuted safely but Collo followed his aircraft into the ground and was killed.

In October 1936, he volunteered for the Spanish Civil War using the name Silvio Castiglini.

He was assigned to the Squadriglia ’Cucaracha’.

With the arrival of more pilots and aircraft, the Squadriglia ’Cucaracha’ was dissolved and Costigliolo was assigned to the 1^a Squadriglia (CO Capitano Enrico Degli Incerti) of the XXIII Gruppo (’Asso de Bastoni’) (CO Maggiore Tarcisio Fagnani).

On 12 November, he scrambled from Torrijos and claimed a shared SB (identified as a ‘Martin bomber’) over the base.

Pilots from 1^a Squadriglia, XXIII Gruppo, at Torrijos, Spain, December 1936.
From left: Sergente Sirio Salvadori (’Salvo’), Capitano Enrico Degli Incerti (’Tocci ’), Oreste Minuto (’Proietti ’), Sergente Giuseppe Ruzzin (’Grazzi ’)
Front row: Sergente Maggiore Costigliolo (’Castiglini ’) and Sergente Bruno Castellani (’Ribaudo ’).
Image kindly provided by Fulvio Chianese at GORIZIA ed il QUARTO STORMO.

On 16 February 1937, 24 CR.32s flew close escort to Ju 52/3ms out to bomb Arganda. Polikarpov I-15s intercepted them from behind and above. The Republican fighters didn’t attack the Nationalist aircraft but over the target three I-15s broke formation and raced towards the bombers. Banking sharply to the port, Tenente Enrico Degli Incerti intercepted the leader and opened fire. This prompt action caused the enemy pilot to discontinue the attack, but as he tried to evade Degli Incerti, he presented an excellent target. Degli Incerti saw his bullets disappearing in the I-15s fuselage and he remained behind it, sending burst after burst into it until it began to burn. He then followed it down until it hit the ground.
It seems that Sergente Maggiore Costigliolo claimed a I-16 during the same mission since he claimed one of Russian monoplanes (reported as a ‘Boeing’) south of Arganda, during an escort mission of Junkers Ju 5/3m2 and IMAM Ro.37 bombers.

In the early morning on 18 February, two Nationalist Ro.37s (flown by Spanish pilots) took off, followed by three Ju 52/3ms escorted by the Spanish Patrulla Azul and the Italian Fiat Group, which now had 24 aircraft. When they arrived over the front at el Jarama, the CR.32s turned so that they were patrolling parallel to the front, while the I-15s waited on the other side. The Ro.37s and Ju 52/3ms crossed into enemy territory and were attacked immediately. Joaquín García-Morato at once broke formation and, followed by Julio Salvador Díaz-Benjumea and Bermúdez de Castro, launched himself into the battle. The Italians hesitated until Capitano Nobili, who was leading a Squadriglia, also broke from formation and went to help his companions. Finally, the entire group took part in the battle, and was so successful that they destroyed eight Republican fighters for the loss of only one of their number (three according to some sources). One I-16 and two shared I-15s were claimed by Tenente Enrico Degli Incerti while Sergente Maggiore Costigliolo claimed an I-15 in the Arganda area. The Spaniards Morato and Salvador also claimed a victory each.
This battle was fought against the "Chatos" of the Escuadrilla de La Calle. The Republican pilots reported being engaged by 85 Heinkel He 51s over the front. Immediately the Escuadrilla went into a tight horizontal circle ("Lufbery circle"). The first enemy aircraft fired randomly at the I-15s as they dived past the Escuadrilla’s defensive pattern. Unwillingly to challenge the Republican fighters, the remainder of the Nationalist pilots followed suit, executing a single strafing pass, and then flying lazily below the I-15s in hopes of enticing a few green Republican pilots away of the defensive protection. Ben Leider took the bait and started down after one of the easy-looking targets, only to attract three enemy fighters on his tail. As Frank Tinker peered over his shoulder during the swirling melee of aircraft, he saw Leider’s I-15 to shudder as the CR.32s flashed past. Tinker’s heart sank as he noticed Leider veer toward friendly territory in a shallow dive. Twice, Leider tried to land his fighter in a small field before slamming into the side of a hill, killing him.
The Escuadrilla leader Andrés García La Calle’s version of Leider’s end differed markedly from Tinker’s perspective. As Leider dived, breaking away from the "Lufbery circle" to attack a “Heinkel" below, an enemy fighter locked on his tail. La Calle pulled behind Leider’s pursuer and frightened him away with his machineguns. Repeatedly La Calle then tried to herd Leider’s intended victim back away from Nationalist lines so that the American could down the enemy fighter. La Calle wanted Leider to destroy the enemy fighter as a morale boost for the Escuadrilla and to appease Leider’s Communist backers. When the Nationalist pilot made a third attempt to cross his lines, La Calle shot him down. Irritated by the turn of events and Leider’s seeming inability to shoot down his adversary, the Spanish Commander signalled Leider to head for home. During the flight back to base, Leider flew just behind the Escuadrille leader’s wing. Halfway home, La Calle glanced around only to discover that Leider was gone. Having landed he learned that no one knew of the American’s whereabouts: his comrades saw him rejoin their homebound group and never again. There was no other news until Leider’s "Chato" was located.
Evidence from the crash site gave Leider’s fellow pilots a clue as to his final seconds on earth. During the dogfight, three rounds penetrated his cockpit, one passing through his leg. Instinctively he loosened his seat belt and harness. As Leider prepared to bale out, he had second thoughts about giving up his I-15, so he decided to attempt to set down his aircraft. His loss of blood caused him to faint at the controls.
Jim Allison and Harold Dahl followed Leider down after the Nationalist fighters. Allison shot down his intended victim before three enemy fighters reached him. Allison’s I-15 gave a jerk, then it executed a perfect Immelmann and headed back to base but he was forced to make an emergency landing. Allison had received a serious leg wound during the combat. Dahl prepared to trip his guns on a careless adversary when he noticed the same three enemy fighters flash past. Almost simultaneously, he became aware that his machine was not answering the controls. A glance back revealed that the entire tail of his fighter had been shot away.
The remaining I-15s of the Escuadrilla de La Calle maintained the "Lufbery circle" when another Escuadrilla of I-15s appeared piloted by Russian volunteers. Fighting their way through the curtain of enemy fighters, the Soviets joined La Calle’s men in the wheel formation until the two Escuadrillas were rescued by a third Escuadrilla of I-16s. Totally, the Republican pilots claimed seven enemy fighters for the loss of five aircraft. Both Allison and Dahl rejoined their unit the next day.

Between 14:20 and 15:40 on 20 February, Costigliolo claimed an I-16 over Morata de Tajuna during an escort mission of Ju 52 bombers. Corrado Ricci of the 3^a Squadriglia claimed a shared victory (Curtiss?) together with eight other Italian pilots during the same mission,

On 22 April, the 1^a Squadriglia was renamed to the 19^a Squadriglia when the XXIII Gruppo Caccia Aviazione Legionaria was reformed.

Later he was transferred to the 31^a Squadriglia, VI Gruppo.

In June 1937, Costigliolo returned to Italy.

During his service in Spain he was credited with three victories and awarded with two Medaglie d’Argento al valor militare, one Medaglia di Bronzo al valor militare and the Medaglia commemorativa della campagna di Spagna.

By 1938, he was promoted Maresciallo for war merits.

In 1939, he and his friends Marescialli Giuseppe Avvico and Giuseppe Biron, decided to try the Accademia Aeronautica (Officers Academy) and all three were commissioned as Sottotenenti on 9 April 1941.

During the Second World War, he served in the 393^a Squadriglia, 160^o Gruppo, flying CR.42s and later Fiat G.50s.

After 15 months fighting in the North Africa campaign, he was promoted to Tenente on 13 November 1942 and awarded with the Croce al merito di guerra.

After two years in Africa, he joined the Scuola Pilotaggio in Gorizia.

After the Italian surrender in September 1943, he joined the A. N. R. (Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana).

Costigliolo ended the war with 3 biplane victories.

After the war, in 1947, he emigrated from Italy after being almost expelled from the Aeronautica Militare as an adherent to the A. N. R.

Costigliolo passed away in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October 1964

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1936
	12/11/36		1	SB	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Torrijos	1a Squadriglia
	1937
1	16/02/37		1	I-16	Destroyed	Fiat CR.32		S Arganda	1a Squadriglia
2	18/02/37	morning	1	I-15 (a)	Destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Arganda area	1a Squadriglia
3	20/02/37	14:20-15:40	1	I-15	Destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Morata de Tajuna	1a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 3 and 1 shared destroyed.
TOTAL: 3 and 1 shared destroyed.
(a) During the combat the Nationalist pilots claimed eight enemy aircraft for the loss of one CR32 while the Republican pilots claimed seven enemy aircraft for the loss of five aircraft.

Sources:
Airmen without a portfolio: U.S. mercenaries in civil war Spain - John Carver Edwards, 2003 Global Book Publisher, ISBN 1-59457-175-9
Air War over Spain - Jesus Salas Larrazabal, 1974 Ian Allan Ltd, Shepperton, Surrey, ISBN 0-7110-0521-4
GORIZIA ed il QUARTO STORMO
Additional information kindly provided by Eugenio Costigliolo.