1909 – 22 July 1938

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

Enrico Degli Incerti was born in 1909.

He joined the Regia Aeronautica as a Cadet in 1931, being promoted to Sottotenente in October 1932.

He volunteered for the Spanish Civil War as part of the Aviacion Legonaria and landed in Sevilla in January 1937.
During the Spanish Civil War, he used the nom de guerre ”Valentine Tocci”.

He was given command of the 1^a Squadriglia of the XXIII Gruppo.

On 7 February, he flew his first sortie but didn’t encounter any enemy aircraft.

Returning from an escort mission on 13 February in the Arganda area, his formation was jumped by enemy fighters. In the ensuing combat, he damaged two I-16s, and then suddenly found himself surrounded by three hostile fighters, which hit his CR.32. One 1-16 got behind him and every effort from Degli Incerti to shake him off failed. He managed to dodge the bullets until he saw a chance to escape. Suddenly he pulled the stick back into his stomach and the Fiat shot upward. Out of imminent danger, he looked around and noticed a damaged Fiat limping homeward. He flew alongside until the crippled fighter landed on the airfield, then he returned to the combat area but the sky was empty.

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 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 Silvio 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 Degli Incerti while Sergente Maggiore Silvio 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.

During the offensive on Guadalajara, the CR.32s of the 1^a and 3^a Squadriglie moved from Torrijos to Soria, where the S.81s of the Gruppo Marelli and the Ro.37bis were already concentrated. The first to come in to land on 14 March was Tenente Degli Incerti in CR.32 “3-1”. During the landing, he turned over the aircraft due to the muddy airfield. Degli Incerti was unharmed and the aircraft was later recovered.

Due to uselessness of Soria airfield, the fighters moved to Burgo de Osma and three weeks later to Sevilla.

They didn’t stay long at Sevilla. Salamanca was their next stop then, almost immediately, Alfamen emergency airstrip in the Zaragoza-Terual sector.
The escort sorties continued, sometimes three missions a day, but no aerial opposition was encountered.
Soon they were on the move again. From Torrijos they flew patrols over the Madrid-Toledo front without meeting the enemy in the air.

On 22 April, the 1^a Squadriglia was renamed to the 19^a Squadriglia when the XXIII Gruppo Caccia Aviazione Legionaria was reformed, under the command of Maggiore Andrea Zotti. It was named ”Asso di Bastoni” (“Ace of Clubs”) after its badge. The three Squadriglie were the 18^a Squadriglia (Capitano Guido Nobili “Notabili”), the 19^a Squadriglia (Capitano Degli Incerti “Tocci”) and the 20^a Squadriglia (Capitano Antonio Larsimont Pergameni “Laimo”).
In July, the Gruppo was based at Torrido.

At the end of May, the Squadriglia was rushed to Olmedo, were a Republican offensive was in progress. Joined by another Squadriglia, several escort and strafing missions were flown between 30 May and 15 June.

On 1 July, Degli Incerti was promoted to Capitano.

During the battle of Brunete on 7 July, eight CR.32s from the 19^a Squadriglia ran into 15 I-16s escorting I-15s in the evening and shot down five of them within minutes. Capitano Degli Incerti glued his Fiat on the tail of an I-16, but the enemy pilot was an exceptionally skilful pilot. He used every trick in the book, yet the Italian stubbornly followed his prospective prey, firing burst after burst into the fighter. Suddenly, however, Degli Incerti sensed danger. Indeed, there were three enemy fighters racing toward him from the right. As he pulled the stick back to avoid them, he saw his victim descending rapidly and trailing thick smoke. Giuseppe Ruzzin (CR.32 “3-12” no. 435) claimed an I-15 (”Curtiss”) but was then attacked by an I-16. He was saved by his leader Capitano Degli Incerti, who damaged the Rata, which quickly broke off.

On 26 August, the CR.32s escorted 19 bombers to Villamajor. Close to the bombers was the 20^a Squadriglia, while the 18^a and 19^a Squadriglie stayed above them. The weather was far from ideal and soon a layer of cloud separated the two higher flying Squadriglie from the rest. The minutes slowly ticked away as the formation moved toward the target area. Suddenly the clouds broke and Degli Incerti noticed a swarm of enemy aircraft below. Followed by his wingmen, he dived through the tattered clouds and found himself in perfect position behind an I-15. Five short bursts and the fighter began to fall. Degli Incerti followed his victim and saw it crashing into the Ebro River.
In order to gain altitude he pulled the stick back – only to discover five I-15s at 3,000 feet, coming straight for him. His wingmen were nowhere in sight. The Republican leader, as he soon found out, was a very able pilot. He attacked the Italian at once, and while he engaged his adversary, the four other I-15s flew around them and sent bursts toward the CR.32 at close range. Bullets smashed the windscreen, tore into the parachute pack and holed the fuselage, but Degli Incerti’s luck held. He threw the Fiat into a steep dive, but his foe clung to him. Bullets broke instruments on the panel and one bullet tore the belt off his waist without wounding him. Degli Incerti didn’t even try to aim anymore. He just shot wildly in the direction where a winged shadow appeared. Only three minutes went by, yet they seemed an eternity. Using all the tricks he had ever learned or heard of, he somehow managed to evade the fire of his adversaries. Then suddenly, the Republican leader’s tail came into sight. His fighter instinct made him aim and fire, but at the same second, another I-15 sent a burst into the Fiat. There was no pain, but the warmth of blood rolling down his leg made him realize that he was wounded. In desperation, he opened the throttle full, but the crippled machine didn’t respond. Glancing back, he saw a thin streak of smoke trailing him. The engine’s revolutions dropped from 2900 to 1000 and it seemed a miracle that the CR.32 was still airborne. The I-15s attacked with renewed fury and the Fiat descended more rapidly while the Republican leader closed in for the coup de grace. A hail of bullets hit the aircraft but it continued to fly. Degli Incerti noted with some relief that he had just crossed into Nationalist territory. But the attacks of his pursuers became more determined as they tried to finish him off. The I-15s opened up again and he put the Fiat’s nose down. Somehow he managed to pull the machine out and found himself alone. He smelled smoke then felt the rapidly increasing heat of the burning fuselage. To add to his troubles, the engine suddenly stopped. Luckily, however, the ground was only a few meters below, so he switched the fuel off and landed the fighter. The burning Fiat’s tail rose into the air and then luckily fell back to the ground. Paralyzing pain knifed into his wounded leg as he tried to get out of the cockpit. However, the will for survival made his muscles move and set his body into motion out of the burning aircraft.

After twelve days in hospital, he returned to his unit, which, in the meantime, had transferred to Torrijos.

Then it was once more sent back to the Zaragoza sector.

On 28 September, XXIII Gruppo transferred to Almaluèz, near Belchite.

On 12 October, the Republican Air Force intervened heavily to support International battalions and tanks in an attempt to break through the enemy lines at Fuentes del Ebro.
During the day, the VI Gruppo lost a good part of numerical, considering that part of the 31^a Squadriglia had previously been detached to Cordoba. Therefore, immediately the same morning, the Comando dell’Aviazione Legionaria ordered the XXIII Gruppo to transfer to Sanjurio (Zaragoza).
At 10.30, 29 CR.32s led by Maggiore Andrea Zotti, took off from Almaluèz and arrived over Sanjurio around noon. However, before landing, Maggiore Zotti decided to lead his pilots to explore the area between Villafranca and Fuentes del Ebro. Here they spotted four Polikarpov RZ “Natachas” escorted by nine I-16s “Ratas” (above them) and 15 I-15 “Curtiss” (below them). The Italian fighters attacked the Republican aircraft and at the end of the dogfight, that lasted about fifteen minutes, the Italians claimed seven (eleven according to other sources) fighters destroyed for no losses, although several CR.32s were hit and damaged. Combat was very hard for the Italians because their fighters were weighted by pilots’ personal luggage. Pilots that scored, either individually or jointly, were Sergente Giuseppe Mottet (20^a Squadriglia) (1 I-16), Sottotenente Giampiero Del Prete, Capitano Antonio Larsimont Pergameni (CO of the 20^a Squadriglia), Sergente Francesco Penna, Sottotenente Aldo Felici, Capitano Degli Incerti (1 I-16), Sottotenente Pio Tomaselli (19^a Squadriglia), Franco Lucchini (19^a Squadriglia), Capitano Guido Nobili (CO of the 18^a Squadriglia), Sergente Maggiore Giovanni Carmello (18^a Squadriglia), Sergente Carlo Dentis, Sottotenente Giuseppe Enrico Zuffi, Sergente Federico Tassinari (19^a Squadriglia), Sergente Maggiore Alfonso Mattei and Sottotenente Bruno Trevisan. It seems that Lucchini’s, Tassinari’s and Mattei’s claims was a shared between these three pilots.

In the afternoon on the same day, Degli Incerti claimed an additional I-16.

In November, he left the Squadriglia, which he had commanded since January.
For his service in Spain, he was decorated with the Medaglia d’argento al Valor Militare three times.

After his return to Italy, he wrote a book about his experiences under the pseudonym ”Valentine Tocci” (his nom de guerre during the Spanish Civil War).

He was appointed to command the 151^a Squadriglia, 6^o Stormo C.T. in December 1937.

On 22 July 1938, while doing aerobatics with a formation of Fiat CR.32s at 1,000 feet over Rimini, the propeller of his aircraft developed a defect. Coming down for an emergency landing, the Fiat suddenly rolled right and crashed into the side of a building. Degli Incerti was instantly killed.
He was posthumously decorated with the Medaglia d’Oro al Valor Aeronautico.

At the time of his death, Degli Incerti was credited with 5 biplane victories.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1937
	13/02/37		1	I-16	Damaged	Fiat CR.32		Arganda area	1a Squadriglia
	13/02/37		1	I-16	Damaged	Fiat CR.32		Arganda area	1a Squadriglia
1	16/02/37		1	I-15	Destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Arganda area	1a Squadriglia
2	18/02/37	morning	1	I-16 (a)	Destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Jarama area	1a Squadriglia
	18/02/37	morning	1	I-15 (a)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Jarama area	1a Squadriglia
	18/02/37	morning	1	I-15 (a)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Jarama area	1a Squadriglia
	07/07/37	evening	1	I-16	Damaged	Fiat CR.32		Brunete area	19a Squadriglia
	07/07/37	evening	1	I-16	Damaged	Fiat CR.32		Brunete area	19a Squadriglia
3	26/08/37	morning	1	I-15	Destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Villamajor area	19a Squadriglia
4	12/10/37	10:30-	1	I-16	Destroyed	Fiat CR.32		Villafranca-Fuentes del Ebro	19a Squadriglia
5	12/10/37	afternoon	1	I-16	Destroyed	Fiat CR.32			19a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 5 and 2 shared destroyed, 4 damaged.
TOTAL: 5 and 2 shared destroyed, 4 damaged.
(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
Ali d'Aquila - Flaminio Pagani, 1999 Genoa kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Ali in Spagna - Giuseppe Federico Ghergo and Angelo Emiliani, kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Ali nella tragedia - Giulio Lazzati, 1970 Mursia, Milan, ISBN 88-425-2132-9, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Assi Italiani Della Caccia 1936-1945 - 1999 Aerofan no. 69 apr.-giu. 1999
Aviatori Italiani - Franco Pagliano, 1964 Longanesi Milano, kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Aviobrigada X - Alfredo Lagoluso, 2001 no. 97, 98 and 99 of Storia Militare (October-December 2001), kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Guerra di Spagna e Aviazione Italiana - Ferdinando Pedriali, 1992 USSMA, Rome, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Il 23^o Gruppo Caccia - Nicola Malizia, 1974 Bizzarri, Roma, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Le giovani aquile – Antonio Trizzino, 1972 Longanesi Milano, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Quelli del Cavallino Rampante - Antonio Duma, 1981 Editore Dell'Ateneo, Roma, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Legionaire Ace – Julius R. Gaal, 1972, Aero Album Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 1972
Några leva än - F. G. Tinker, 1939 T. V. Scheutz Bokförlag AB, Stockholm
Wings Over Spain - Emiliani Ghergo, 1997 Giorgio Apostolo Editore, Milano
Additional information kindly provided by Eugenio Costigliolo and Stefano Lazzaro.