29 October 1913 - 3 October 1955

Jacopo Frigerio, in front of a Fiat CR.32, pre-war.

Jacopo Frigerio was born on 29 October 1913 in Milan.

He joined the Regia Aeronautica on 29 April 1936 as "Allievo Ufficiale Pilota di Complemento" and started in the flight school on 1 September 1936.
He gained the pilot license on 10 January 1937 on the Ca.100, he then passed to the fighter school of Castiglione del Lago and then Foligno, gaining his military wings on 26 August 1937.

Promoted to Sottotenente pilota on 2 December (with retroactive effect from 26 August), he joined the 4^o Stormo at the end of 1937.
Although not a permanent officer he remained on active service until June 1938 when on 25 June 1938 he was sent in a "Missione Speciale Oltremare" (i.e. the Aviazione Legionaria in Spain).
During his service in Spain, he gained one Medaglia di bronzo al valore militare and the croce di guerra al valor militare, for his overall activity, together with a Spanish war cross.

Back in Italy in April 1939, again in the 4^o Stormo, he received six additional months of commission, but in January 1940 he was hold on active service (the war was impending).

In November 1940, Sottotenente Jacopo Frigerio served in the 97^a Squadriglia of the 9^o Gruppo C.T., which was equipped with CR.42s.

Jacopo Frigerio, in front of a Fiat CR.42 while serving in the 4^o Stormo.

On 20 November, 208 Squadron despatched two Lysanders to reconnoitre an area bounded by Sollum, Sofali and Buq-Buq. They were L4724 piloted by Flight Lieutenant Burnard and L4728 piloted by Pilot Officer Waymark that took off from Qasaba at 14:20 and 14:15 landing back at 16:35 and 16:20 respectively (another Lysander, possibly L6874, an attached 6 Squadron aircraft piloted by Flying Officer T. H. Davison, was out in the same area). 33 Squadron provided nine Hurricanes (including Flying Officer Vernon Woodward (N2498), Flight Lieutenant Ernest Dean (P 3818), Flying Officer John Mackie (P3724), Squadron Leader Charles Ryley (P3970), Flight Sergeant Harry Goodchild (N2640), Flying Officer Frank Holman (P3724) and Pilot Officer Charles Dyson (N2640)) as escort. It is possible that the unaccounted pilots were one or two pilots from 274 Squadron since a quartet of Hurricanes from this Squadron, piloted by Flight Lieutenant R. V. Evers-Swindell, Pilot Officer Ernest Mason, Pilot Officer Thomas Patterson and Second Lieutenant Frederick Johannes Joubert, together with Pilot Officer Strange and Second Lieutenant Bester (who followed with the ground party) were detached on attachment to 33 Squadron on 14 November. On 21 November, Evers-Swindell, flew back from Fuka to have repairs on his fighter, reportedly damaged in a running fight with CR.42s. It seems almost sure that the “running fight” was the below described action, so it is possible that R. V. Evers-Swindell was present.
The escort took off from Fuka Satellite airfield at 14:15, with one section of three protecting each Lysander while a third section provided top cover. At the same time, a formation of six Gladiators from 112 Squadron would sweep the same general area.
East of Sidi Barrani, 18 CR.42s intercepted them and one Fiat half-rolled and dived away after being fired on by a Hurricane. It is possible that this aircraft later was credited as a destroyed to Flying Officer Mackie, who in a letter sent home to Canada on 4 December recalled:

“Just before I went on leave we had one of two bits of fun up here. On one occasion, you may have heard about it on the radio, fifteen of us got mixed up with sixty wop fighters. We lost none, and got at least eight of them. I got one of these, although not in a very convincing way from my point of view, as I didn’t see it go in. Another pilot saw the start and the finish of it. Anyhow, it sure was a mix-up. I have never seen so many machines milling around in such a small amount of sky.”

“The Lysanders were to be ‘covered’ against enemy air attacks by six Gladiators from my squadron… three flying at 12,000 feet, and three, led by myself, at 15,000 feet. ‘Top cover’ was to be provided by six Hurricanes, flying at 20,000 feet. The Hurricanes had strict orders to beat a hasty retreat if they met with enemy aircraft in large numbers, as it was thought at that time that they would be ‘easy meat’ for the move manoeuvrable C.R. 42’s, the single-seater Italian opposite number of the Gladiator.
We had been patrolling for about 10 minutes, when I reported forty CR 42s, in eight sections of five, flying from the direction of Libya, at approximately 25,000 feet, 5,000 feet higher that the Hurricane ‘top-cover’. To my dismay, the Hurricanes were soon speeding home, with a CR 42 sitting neatly on each tail. Our six Gladiators were left to finish the fight, for the Lysanders, their task completed, were heading for home, too.
There was not a friendly cloud in the sky, and the powerful desert sun made the enemy aircraft very difficult to see. Forthwith, they carried out the German tactics of remaining aloft, and sending down their more experienced men to finish us off one by one….but it was not to be!
With the first attacks, we broke formation, and it was every man for himself. I soon found myself very much alone, until unfriendly tracer bullets from behind, passed through the space between my right wings. I immediately steep-turned to the left, and caught sight of my attacker as he completed his dive and prepared to re-join his pals up higher, by means of a roll off the top of a loop.
Seizing my chance, I opened full throttle and followed him to the top of his loop, half rolled in formation with him, and was just about to open fire, when my aircraft stalled and flicked into a spin….not enough speed! I decided my best means of survival was to continue the spin, in the hope that he would think I had been badly hit. This was a fighter tactic from World War I, and it worked! Whilst I was spinning, I looked upwards and caught a glimpse of my adversary circling at his original height, waiting for me to crash into the desert. I came out of the spin at about 8,000 feet, no doubt much to his surprise, and didn’t have to wait long for him to dive down to finish me off.
So started a long tail-chasing session. At first, my mouth became rather dry, but after a second or two, my mind became crystal clear, and I was determined to turn the tables on him. Slowly I began to gain ground, and soon part of his tail was in my sights, but I realized it would not have been great enough. When his engine came into my sights, I pressed the firing button, and was immediately cheered to see pieces of fabric or metal ripping off his fuselage, just behind the cockpit.
The Italian pilot turned so quickly in his mad effort to escape, that he pulled his aircraft into a spin, following a ‘high-speed stall’. I followed him down, and fired at him as he tried to recover, and he promptly went into another one. On recovering from his second spin, he must have pulled an emergency boost control to give him extra speed, for he left my Gladiator ‘standing’.
However, my opponent was not easily scared, and turned about a mile away to come back at me like a bull at a gate. We both opened fire, and when it seemed that a head-on collision was inevitable, he pulled out to my left in a climbing turn. For a second, I was able to fire at his exposed fuselage, and then, with throttle fully open, I climbed into the sun, into an advantageous position. To my horror, my engine stalled near the top of the climb, and I had to carry out the usual drill of closing the throttle and opening it again, slowly. Full power came back, and looking down, I could see my opponent looking for me. This time, I had the advantage of height, and I was nicely lining him up in my sights when he saw me, and tried to turn in underneath me.
Slowly twisting, and with the right deflection, I raked him with bullets from nose to tail, at almost point-blank range. I pulled out of my dive, to regain height, and saw him commence another spin from which he did not recover. I felt immensely relieved, somewhat shaken, and eventually joined up with two stray Gladiators, and returned to Mersa Matruh. I was pleased to learn later that seven aircraft had been shot down in the engagement, and that all the Gladiator pilots had survived the fight, although two had made forced landings.
I shall never forget that day. It was my first one-against-one air battle, and the longest time I had engaged a single enemy aircraft...”

“This day [strangely enough he recorded it as on 1 November but this is for certain an error] I lost the dearest of all my wingmen [Carlo Agnelli]. We were up with all the Gruppo and the three Squadriglie were stepped at different heights. The lowest escorting a reconnaissance plane, mine (96^a Squadriglia) at 3000 metres while the third stay higher. The highest group had already engaged the enemy when I saw one of our planes diving almost vertically followed by a Gloster. I made a violent overturning that my wingmen were unable to follow [again without radio equipment the Italian formation was broken at the beginning of the combat and whatever numerical advantage was impossible to put into full use] when I reach a distance suitable to open fire I had to wait because there was the risk of hitting my comrade [with the same burst aimed at the fighter that was following him] I had to concentrate only on the aim [the wingmen were far away] so I couldn’t look around and was attacked by two Glosters. With the first burst of fire they shot away my propeller, so without propulsion I could only manoeuvre to avoid further damage. All the height lost I force-landed and the English pilots that had already stopped firing while I was gliding down for my final approach flew past me waving their hands.
[Gon, tried to burn his plane without success and succeeded to reach an Italian outpost the day after]
Back at base, I discovered that information about the missing pilots (we were three) were lacking.
A sergeant [Sergente Francesco Putzu] was seen to jump with parachute and another of our planes was seen to crash after a hard fight, all believed it was mine because the other missing pilot (my dear wingman) was too “green” to be able to fight against three enemies as the pilot of the crashed plane did.
The encounter with Botto was tragicomically. I went to his room and he was waiting for me near the door and as just as he saw me he threw himself right into my arms through the three steps that divided us. But I was too weak and was unable to sustain him so we fell embraced on the ground.”

At 11:25 on 11 December, Capitano Antonio Larsimont Pergameni together with Sottotenente Frigerio and Sergente Maggiore Raffaele Novelli (all from the 97^a Squadriglia) took off from El Adem as part of a Gruppo formation, which possibly also included fighters from the 10^o Gruppo. They attacked British armoured cars claiming two destroyed in flames and four damaged. They returned at 13:45.
It is also known that Capitano Roberto Fassi of the 96^a Squadriglia, with eight CR.42s made a successful strafing attack on armoured vehicles in the Der el Hamra area (along the escaping route of the Cirene Division).
The efforts of the 9^o Gruppo were successful. According to the British Historian, Barrie Pitt:

“Cirene soldiers were harried during the early part of their flight by a Squadron of 11th Hussars, but the Hussars themselves were caught about noon by two excellently led and conducted flights of 5th Squadra fighters. The second flight was using armour-piercing explosive bullets which effectively put the Hussars out of action for the time being and allowed Sofafi garrison the rest of the day to continue a virtually uninterrupted retreat”.

The 9^o Gruppo returned from the desert and was re-equipped with Macchi MC.200s.

On 11 April 1941, he was promoted to Tenente with retroactive effect since 31 December 1940.

In July, the unit re-equipped again with MC.202s and they were sent to Sicily.
On 30 June, Sottotenente Frigerio flew Macchi MC.202 MM7712/’97-2’ for the first time when he ferried the fighter from Lonate Pozzolo to Gorizia.

On 20 September 1941, he received a permanent commission (in Servizion Permanente Effettivo) because of his performance in war (per meriti di guerra) but for this reason, the mature Tenente Frigerio returned back to the rank of Sottotenente (with retroactive effect from 20 December 1940).

On 29 September, the 9^o Gruppo moved from Gorizia to Comiso, Sicily, to take part in the attacks on Malta.

In the afternoon on 30 September, five of 185 Squadron’s fighter-bomber Hurricanes attacked Comiso, escorted by six more of the unit’s aircraft. The Hurribombers were each carrying six 40-lb bombs and two 25-lb incendiaries. Three MC.202s from the 97^a Squadriglia scrambled led by Sottotenente Frigerio. These intercepted the Hurricanes after their strike and Frigerio (MM7712/’97-2’) shot down 27-year-old Pilot Officer Donald William Lintern (RAF no. 60079), who was seen baling out of Z5265/GL-B just north of Gozo.
Lintern was unfortunately never found and reported lost.

In the morning of 12 November 1941, four Hurricanes from 249 Squadron strafed Gela airfield on Sicily. This raid was soon followed by eleven bomb-carrying Hurricanes out for the same airfield. Six of the Hurricanes were drawn from 249 Squadron, the other five from 126 Squadron, while an additional four and six respectively provided escort. As the twenty-one Hurricanes approached they were met by three MC.202s of the 9^o Gruppo, which had been scrambled from Comiso during the previous raid. Tenente Frigerio attacked one Hurricane without result, but this was then attacked by Sottotenente Giovanni Deanna and Sergente Massimo Salvatore who shot it down into the sea near the coast. This was one of the Hurribombers (Z3158/HA-K), flown by Australian Sergeant Peter Simpson of 126 Squadron.
Sottotenente Virgilio Vanzan of the 90^a Squadriglia, 10^o Gruppo took off in a CR.42 to search for the downed pilot, who he spotted, and who was then picked up by a launch and taken prisoner.
During the raid, one MC.202 was claimed shot down by Flight Lieutenant J. M. V. Carpenter, but no Italian loss was recorded.

At 07:15 on 21 November 1941, five MC.200s of 54^o Stormo and ten 9^o Gruppo MC.202s strafed Hal Far, presumably attracted by the presence of 242 and 605 Squadron’s Hurricanes based there. Seven Hurricanes from 185 Squadron led by Squadron Leader Pike were scrambled to intercept. They attacked five Macchis initially (probably the MC.200s), five more then jumping the British fighters (probably some of the MC.202s). No firm claims were made by the Hurricane pilots, but it was believed that three of the Italian fighters had been damaged. Sergeant Bill Nurse’s Hurricane was badly hit in return.
The Italians reported fighting twelve Hurricanes and ‘Spitfires’, and claimed two ‘Spitfires’ shot down, one by Sottotenente Frigerio, Sergente Raffaello Novelli and Sergente Angelo Golino, and one by Sottotenente Giovanni Barcaro and Sergente Massimo Salvatore (all of them from the 97^a Squadriglia), while two more were claimed as probables. Four were claimed destroyed on the ground plus a Blenheim, damage to the latter being credited to Maresciallo Rinaldo Damiani. Two Macchis returned damaged.

In the afternoon on 21 November, eighteen MC.202 from the 9^o Gruppo were out to strafe Hal Far. On their way, they met four Hurricanes from 185 Squadron, which were engaged in a convoy patrol. The Italians reported meeting twelve Hurricanes and claimed five of these shot down into the sea, one each by Maggiore Antonio Larsimont, Sergente Raffaello Novelli, Maresciallo Rinaldo Damiani, Sottotenente Alvaro Querci and Sergente Maggiore Pasquale Rossi, plus two probables by Sottotenente Pietro Bonfatti and Tenente Frigerio. They then carried on completing their strafe, returning without loss.
One Hurricane was in fact lost, 20-year-old Flight Sergeant Richard Cousens (RAF no. 970365) being killed in Hurricane Z2813 “GL-L”.

On 23 November 1941, Sottotenente Frigerio took command of the 97^a Squadriglia after Capitano Antonio Larsimont Pergameni.

In the winter of 1941-42 the 9^o Gruppo enjoyed a brief rest from fighting, before returning to operations over Malta in the spring and early summer of 1942.

On 19 January 1942, Capitano Roberto Dagasso took command of the 97^a Squadriglia after Sottotenente Frigerio.

On 23 April 1942 the 9^o Gruppo was back on Sicily and based at Sciacca, for a third tour against Malta.

On 10 May 1942, Sottotenente Frigerio again took command of the 97^a Squadriglia after Capitano Roberto Dagasso.
Frigerio was relieved as CO of the 97^a Squadriglia by Tenente Fernando Malvezzi on 1 June.

At 09:15 on 15 May 1942, three S.84bis of 4^o Gruppo BT, escorted by 30 MC.202s of 4^o Stormo CT, were out to attack barracks at St Paul’s Bay, Malta (probably Fort Cambell). A dozen Spitfires from 249 and 603 Squadron were scrambled and engaged the formation shortly after it had bombed. Flight Lieutenant N. W. Lee and from 249 Squadron each claimed damaged to one of the Savoias. The Italians reported that five Spitfires attacked over the target and Capitano Franco Lucchini claimed one shot down and one damaged. Other Spitfires then came in over Gozo, and three of these were claimed by Tenente Frigerio, Tenente Ferruccio Zarini and Sergente Maggiore Mario Guerci; the latter and Sottotenente Alvaro Querci also each claimed one probably destroyed. The two pilots from the 73^a Squadriglia reported that they fired on two Spitfires, which dived towards the sea, leaving smoke trails. The two pilots were engaged in the battle, and they couldn’t follow the Spitfires until the end, so these were considered probably destroyed. None of the Spitfires were however seriously hit. Pilot Officer Lawrie Verrall of 249 Squadron shot down one MC.202, killing the 91^a Squadriglia commander Capitano Alberto Argento (MM7813).

On 20 May, the 9^o Gruppo, with twenty-eight MC.202s, took off for a third tour of duty in North Africa. After a call in Pantelleria, they reached Castel Benito.
The following day, after intermediate landings at Tamet and Benghasi K3, they reached their new base at Martuba 4.

Following the Axis advance, the 9^o Gruppo transferred to El Adem on 23 June, then to Sidi el Barrani two days later and finally to Fuka on 1 July 1942.

He gained back the rank of Tenente (in S. P. E.) on 27 June 1942 while he was in North Africa.

Jacopo Frigerio in North Africa.
Picture kindly provided by Gustavo Frigerio.

The high number of aircraft flying in the area during these days caused such confusion that the German Freya radar personnel had troubles to identify friend or foe aircraft. So, many times the alarm was delayed, and Axis fighters scrambled late.
This happened on 20 October when at 10:55, 14 MC.202s of the 4^o Stormo hurriedly scrambled to intercept 24 Bostons and Hudsons above Fuka, escorted by 30 P-40s and 20 Spitfires. The bombers were still releasing their cargo over the airfield when the 73^a Squadriglia (Tenente Giuseppe Oblach, Tenente Vittorio Squarcia, Sergente Armando Angelini and Sergente Leonardo Rinaldi), 84^a Squadriglia (Capitano Franco Lucchini, Tenente Alessandro Mettimano and Sergente Maggiore Piero Buttazzi), 91^a Squadriglia (Capitano Carlo Maurizio Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa, Sergente Maggiore Leonardo Ferrulli and Sergente Maggiore Alessandro Bladelli), and 97^a Squadriglia (Tenente Frigerio, Sottotenente Giovanni Barcaro, Sottotenente Leo Boselli and Maresciallo Giovanni Bianchelli), attacked them. The escort intercepted the Italian fighters and a number of claims were made. Ruspoli, Oblach and Ferrulli claimed two P-40s each, Bladelli, Frigerio, Barcaro and Boselli claimed one P-40 each while Bianchelli claimed one Spitfire. Another Spitfire was claimed as a probable by Bladelli. Mettimano, in his first combat mission, damaged four Hudsons and a P-40 while Angelini, Rinaldi and Squarcia jointly claimed four damaged P-40s. Buttazzi claimed three damaged P-40s and Lucchini claimed a Hudson as a damaged. Lucchini’s MC.202 was hit when a 20mm shell tore off the aircraft’s spinner and he was forced to make an emergency landing.
Totally the 4^o Stormo claimed 24 enemy aircraft shot down during the day, but of the 57 fighters (43 of which were combat-ready) on charge in the morning, only eleven were serviceable in the evening.

In 1943, he still served in the 4^o Stormo.

In June 1943 he apparently left active service (perhaps for some sort of illness).

During the September 1943-April 1945 period, he was apparently in Northern Italy but didn't join the A. N. R.

Frigerio ended the war with 3 shared biplane victories and a total of 5.
During the war, Frigerio was decorated with three Medaglie d’argento al valore militare, one Medaglia di bronzo al valore militare (in Spain) and the croce di guerra al valor militare (in Spain). He was also decorated with the German Iron cross second class.

In July 1945 he returned to the Italian Air Force and was promoted Capitano in May 1946.

From June 1946 to January 1949 he commanded the 90^a Squadriglia C.T.

In October 1955, he was in the United States, Nellis airbase in Nevada, to train on the North American F-86D.
During a shooting training session on 3 October (alternatively on 30 October), at high height and very far from the base, the engine of his fighter stopped and he tried to bring it back to base without jumping with parachute. During the last stages of the force-landing the commands of the plane apparently ceased to work and the plane crashed, killing him.
For this act of valor he was decorated with a posthumous Medaglia d’oro al valor aeronautico.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
	20/11/40	14:40-16:30	1/12	Gladiator (a)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Sidi Barrani area	97a Squadriglia
	20/11/40	14:40-16:30	1/12	Hurricane (a)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Sidi Barrani area	97a Squadriglia
	20/11/40	14:40-16:30	1/12	Hurricane (a)	Shared destroyed	Fiat CR.42		Sidi Barrani area	97a Squadriglia
	20/11/40	14:40-16:30	1/12	Enemy fighter (a)	Shared damaged	Fiat CR.42		Sidi Barrani area	97a Squadriglia
	20/11/40	14:40-16:30	1/12	Enemy fighter (a)	Shared damaged	Fiat CR.42		Sidi Barrani area	97a Squadriglia
	20/11/40	14:40-16:30	1/12	Enemy fighter (a)	Shared damaged	Fiat CR.42		Sidi Barrani area	97a Squadriglia
	20/11/40	14:40-16:30	1/12	Enemy fighter (a)	Shared damaged	Fiat CR.42		Sidi Barrani area	97a Squadriglia
	1941
1	30/09/41	p.m.	1	Hurricane (b)	Destroyed	MC.202	MM7712/’97-2’	N Gozo	97a Squadriglia
	21/11/41	07:15-	1/3	Spitfire (c)	Shared destroyed	MC.202		Hal Far area	97a Squadriglia
	21/11/41	p.m.	1	Hurricane (d)	Probably	MC.202		off Malta	97a Squadriglia
	1942
?	15/05/42	09:15-	1	Spitfire (e)	Destroyed	MC.202		Gozo area	97a Squadriglia
?	20/10/42	10:55-	1	P-40	Destroyed	MC.202		Fuka area	97a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 3 shared destroyed, 4 shared damaged.
TOTAL: 5 and 4 shared destroyed, 1 probably destroyed, 4 shared damaged.
(a) Claimed in combat with Hurricanes from 33 and 274 Squadrons and Gladiators from 112 Squadron. 9^o Gruppo claimed seven victories and two probables while losing three CR.42s, getting four more damaged and losing two pilots KIA. 112 Squadron claimed eight victories for no losses, 274 Squadron possibly suffered one damaged Hurricane while 33 Squadron possibly claimed a CR.42 without losses.
(b) Pilot Officer Donald William Lintern (Hurricane Z5265/GL-B) of 185 Squadron KIA.
(c) Claimed in combat with Hurricanes from 185 Squadron. The 97^a Squadriglia claimed two ‘Spitfires’ and two probables while two Macchis were damaged. 185 Squadron claimed three damaged Macchis while Sergeant Bill Nurse’s Hurricane was badly hit in return.
(d) Claimed in combat with four Hurricanes from 185 Squadron. 9^o Gruppo claimed five Hurricanes and two probable without losses. 185 Squadron lost one Hurricane (Flight Sergeant Cousens killed) but didn’t claim any opponents.
(e) 4^o Stormo claimed four Spitfires, 2 probables and one damaged. RAF didn’t suffer any losses in this combat.

Sources:
33 Squadron Operations Record Book
Ace of Aces: M T StJ Pattle - E C R Baker, 1992 Crécy Books, Somerton, ISBN 0-947554-36-X
Aces High - Christopher Shores and Clive Williams, 1994 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-898697-00-0
Aces High Volume 2 - Christopher Shores, 1999 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-03-9
Annuario Ufficiale Delle Forze Armate Del Regno D’Italia Anno 1943. Part III Regia Aeronautica – 1943 Istituto Poligrafico Dello Stato, Roma
Diario Storico 73^a Squadriglia kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Diario Storico 97^a Squadriglia kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Fighters over the Desert - Christopher Shores and Hans Ring, 1969 Neville Spearman Limited, London
Gloster Gladiator - Alex Crawford, 2002 Mushroom Model Publications, ISBN 83-916327-0-9
GORIZIA ed il QUARTO STORMO
Hurricanes over Malta - Brian Cull and Frederick Galea, 2001 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-91-8
Hurricanes over the sands: Part One - Michel Lavigne and James F. Edwards, 2003 Lavigne Aviation Publications, Victoriaville, ISBN 2-9806879-2-8
Hurricanes over Tobruk - Brian Cull with Don Minterne, 1999 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-11-X
Italian Aces of World War 2 - Giovanni Massimello and Giorgio Apostolo, 2000 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 1-84176-078-1
La Regia Aeronautica - volume I: Dalla non belligeranza all'intervento – Nino Arena, 1981 USSMA, Rome kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Malta: The Hurricane Years 1940-41 - Christopher Shores and Brian Cull with Nicola Malizia, 1987 Grub Street, London, ISBN 0-89747-207-1
Malta: The Spitfire Year 1942 - Christopher Shores and Brian Cull with Nicola Malizia, 1991 Grub Street, London, ISBN 0-948817-16-X
Quelli del Cavallino Rampante - Antonio Duma, 1981 Editore Dell'Ateneo, Roma, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Stormi d'Italia - Giulio Lazzati, 1975 Mursia, Milan kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Desert Air War 1939 – 1945 – Richard Townshend Bickers, 1991 Leo Cooper, London, kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo
Woody - A Fighter Pilot's Album - Hugh A. Halliday, 1987 Canav Books, Toronto, ISBN 0-9690703-8-1
Additional information kindly provided by Ian Acworth, Stefano Lazzaro and Ludovico Slongo