23 December 1905 -

Armando François was born on 23 December 1905.

On 1 October 1927, he was commissioned (in Servizio Permanente Effettivo).

Armando François served as a volunteer during the Spanish Civil War where he first commanded the 24^a Squadriglia and later the XVI Gruppo.
During this conflict, he claimed six victories.

On 7 October 1938, Maggiore François took command over the 9^o Gruppo after Capitano Mario Bonzano.

On 1 November 1939, Maggiore François left the command of the 9^o Gruppo to Maggiore Ernesto Botto.

Later he served as Commander of the 6^o Gruppo Autonomo C.T.

In June 1940 this unit was based at Catania and equipped with 26 Macchi MC.200s divided between the 79^a, 81^a and 88^a Squadriglie.
On 11 June 1940 this unit took part in the first raid against Malta.

He served as Commander of the 4^o Stormo in 1942. The Stormo had been in North Africa (at Martuba 4) since 25 May and was at this time equipped with Macchi MC.202s.

In an attempt to oppose at RAF's night intruding missions that were hammering Italian airfields, on 25 August the 4^o Stormo borrowed four radio-equipped CR.42s, two by the 208^a and two by the 238^a Squadriglie of the 101^o Gruppo Bombardamento a Tuffo, based at Abar Nimeir. These were to be used as night interceptors.
That same night, at 20:20, Stormo Commander Tenente Colonnello François took off in a CR.42 (probably from the 238^a Squadriglia) and circled over Fuka at 500 m. He met and attacked an unidentified enemy twin-engined bomber, which fell on the sea 4 km off coast.
After the landing and refurbishing, at 22:45, Tenente Giulio Reiner took off in the same aircraft, and climbed to 2500 m, radio-guided to intercept another bomber. Once arrived, Reiner saw on the cloud overcast below him two shadows of aircraft; he waved his wings and realized that he was one of them, so he looked around and spotted a bomber above him, just in the same moment that the twin-gun tail turret of it started to shoot at him. He dived to gain speed, and then he pulled up vertically and shot at the belly of the bomber. Since the SAFAT machine guns had not flash hiders, he was dazzled by his guns' flashes, and to avoid a collision he turned over and dived again. During approach to landing, Reiner saw a big explosion followed by a fire, on the ground south-east of Fuka.
On the following morning, Reiner and Capitano Ranieri Piccolomini (CO of the 90^a Squadriglia, 10^o Gruppo) took off with an Italian Fiesler Storch and headed 10 km south-east of Fuka, where they found the burned wreck of a Wellington. The bombers bomb load had exploded and eight of the crew were dead.
Wellington DV514/U of 70 Squadron was lost during the night. The aircraft had taken off at 22:10-22:40 from LG 86 to seek out targets of opportunity over the battle area. The aircraft was shot down by a night-fighter, crashing in flames. However, all six of the crew managed to bale out successfully (Squadron Leader E. B. Panter wounded), but were all taken prisoners.

On 1 January 1942, Tenente Colonnello François took command over the 4^o Stormo.
He was to hold this command until the Italian surrender on 8 September 1943.

François was promoted to Colonnello on 11 February 1943.

In 1943, he served as Commandante of the 4^o Stormo.

François ended the war with 7 biplane victories.
During his career, he was decorated with one Medaglia d’argento al valor militare, one Medaglia di bronzo al valor militare, one Medaglia di bronzo al valore aeronautico, one Medaglia d'argento militare aeronautica di lugnga navagazione aerea, the Croce al merito di guerra, the Medaglia commemorativa della campagna di Spagna and the Medaglia di benemerenza per i volontari della guerra Spagna.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1942
7	25/08/42	20:20	1	Wellington (a)	Destroyed	CR.42		off Fuka	4o Stormo

Biplane victories: 7 destroyed.
TOTAL: 7 destroyed.
(a) Not verified with RAF records.

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 - Giovanni Massimello, 1999 Aerofan no. 69 apr.-giu. 1999, Giorgio Apostolo Editore, Milan
Royal Air Force Bomber Losses in the Middle East and Mediterranean, Volume 1: 1939-1942 - David Gunby and Pelham Temple, 2006 Midland Publishing, ISBN 1-85780-234-9
The Legion Condor - Karl Ries and Hans Ring, 1992 Schiffer Publishing, ISBN 0-88740-339-5
Additional information kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro and Ludovico Slongo.