Biplane fighter aces

Italy

Tenente Niso Provinciali

9 July 1915 – 9 January 1941

Decorations
Year Gazetted Decoration Note
1952 Medaglia d’argento al valor militare (Posthumous) 1940-43

Niso Provinciali was born on 9 July 1915 in Castel Del Rio.

In October 1940, Tenente Provinciali served in the 412a Squadriglia Autonoma Caccia in the Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana - AOI).

In response to the transfer of 1 SAAF Squadron, 237 Squadron, 430 Flight and a Flight from 47 Squadron to Khartoum, five CR.42s were detached to Góndar on 3 October with Tenente Fiorindo Rosmino, Sottotenente Mario Proserpio, Sergente Maggiore Ottavio Bracci, Tenente Provinciali (probably already detached with the 413a Squadriglia in the nearby Bahàr Dar and later transferred to the 412a Squadriglia) and, possibly, Capitano Antonio Raffi himself.
On the same day, Tenente Provinciali stalled during take-off, damaging the CR.42 MM4403, which was deemed "presumably repairable at the company", while the pilot himself was unharmed.

On 4 October, three Gladiators from 1 SAAF Squadron piloted by Captain Brian Boyle (N5852) led Lieutenants Servaas de Kock Viljoen and Andrew Duncan took off from ‘Azaza to carry out a surveillance cruise on the Gallabàt front.
Shortly after, at 06:55, three CR.42s from the 412a Squadriglia) took off on alert, piloted by Tenente Provinciali, Sottotente Mario Proserpio and Sergente Maggiore Ottavio Bracci, who, at 07:20, spotted the Gladiators approaching and prepared to attack them on the right wing. The South Africans, however, also noticed the CR.42s on their right, 150m higher, and quickly climbed to try to get behind them. Sergente Maggiore Bracci’s testimony is reported in the newspapers of the time by Leone Concato:

“I was right wingman; [we were on] twelve hundred meters. I see three Glosters passing us on the left, slightly higher, in wing formation. I notice that the flight leader has not seen them; I flap my wings to warn him. He sees them too and heads for them, but the three Brits slip into a cloud. And the patrol leader also in the cloud....”
During the chase through the clouds, Bracci spotted a Gladiator and fired long bursts (about 800 rounds) at it until his guns jammed. He then tried to disengage them but, in doing so, his fighter fell into a dive. While trying to regain control of the aircraft, he was surprised from behind by a Gladiator, which fired several volleys at him and cut the cables to the flight controls. The plane became uncontrollable and Bracci was forced to parachute, but in the process of jumping, he hit the tail-planes with his left shoulder, dislocating it. Unconscious from the blow, he landed heavily, injuring his leg, and remained immobilized for nine hours in the bush, covered in insects, until he was rescued by a team of Ascari, who had left Metémma in search of him, and took him to Father Zani's Catholic Mission, where he received initial treatment.
Lieutenant Viljoen claimed one CR.42 shot down in flames with the pilot bailing out (probably Bracci, who however didn’t report any fire), while Captain Boyle claimed a second seen falling, apparently out of control and leaving behind a long trail of smoke, but he was also hit, although not seriously, during the frontal crossing which, according to him, opened the combat. According to the South Africans, the ground forces subsequently sent in a report that the second aircraft also had crashed.
Bulletin No. 117 admits the loss of a CR.42 and a second one damaged “in combat” but “repairable at the squadron”. The latter was the MM5709 of Tenente Provinciali, who returned unharmed at 08:15. The same Bulletin officially declares the shooting down of a Gloster, even though, in the Operational Report n. 405 written by Provinciali (one of the, unfortunately, very few that have survived and that describe in detail the actions of Italian fighters in the A.O.I.), this aircraft was more prudently reported as a "probable" (“Enemy aircraft effectively hit by our aircraft fire”). In this fight, the Italians fired 60 12.7 mm and 194 7.7 mm rounds, in addition to those fired by Bracci.
The Gladiator 'officially shot down' should be attributable to Sottotenente Proserpio; in fact, from the motivation of the Medaglia d’argento al valor militare that was awarded to him for this action and in the future action of 4 November, it is clear that in these two actions the pilot would have claimed a shared and a probably destroyed. The South African documents do not record any losses and, in any case, the damage suffered by Boyle’s Gladiator was minor, given that the fighter returned to the air the following day.

Early in the morning on 4 November, three Gladiators from 1 SAAF Squadron flown by Captain Brian Boyle (Gladiator N5852), Lieutenant Leonard le Clues Theron and Lieutenant Andrew Duncan were in the air for an interdiction and surveillance cruise around Metémma, just as a formation of four CR.42s was patrolling the same area.
At 07:30, the Italians sighted the Gladiators and attacked them from higher altitude. A manoeuvred battle ensued, at the end of which the Italians claimed a Gladiator shot down as a shared between Sottotenente Mario Proserpio and Tenente Provinciali.
Allied documents do not confirm this victory and all Gladiators, in fact, return to base, although it appears that Lieutenant Theron did not participate in operations on the following days.
The South Africans, in their turn, claimed two CR.42s shot down. One was claimed by Lieutenant Theron, who reported seeing the enemy pilot descend by parachute, while the second was claimed by Captain Boyle. Lieutenant Duncan claimed a third CR.42 but this was unconfirmed. It seems that Lieutenant Theron’s claim was Sottotenente Proserpio who was hit in the left shoulder by a bullet that fractured his collarbone and lacerated his scalp at the nape of his neck, a blow that forced him to bale out, but he managed to land safely and then walk back to his lines.
Italian sources also state that all other CR.42s were damaged, but still manage to return to base.
Sottotenente Proserpio, who had just turned 19, was awarded the Medaglia d’argento al valor militare and was repatriated after convalescence.

On the 6 November, the British forces in Sudan launched an offensive to capture the Italian fort at Gallabat as well as occupy Metémma, which was just across the frontier. All that the RAF could provide in way of support was six Wellesleys, two Vincents, six Gauntlets, ten Gladiators (drawn from ‘K’ Flight and 1 SAAF Squadron) and four Hawker Hardys (from the Rhodesian Air Force). The Wellesleys were first into action bombing Gallabat, with the Gladiators requested to over fly the area in large formations. Three Gladiators of ‘K’ Flight arrived over the advancing troops at low level at 07:10, 8km east of Metémma. They were patrolling to the east of Metémma when a formation of an estimated six CR.42s from the 412a Squadriglia led by the unit commander Capitano Antonio Raffi attacked them from out of the sun. The Gladiator pilots were taken by surprise; 24-year-old Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Howard Savage (RAF no. 37483) (L7614) was shot down and killed while Pilot Officer H. B. Kirk (K7969) was forced to take to his parachute; neither pilot saw their attacker. Pilot Officer Kirk was wounded in the leg and became a PoW. Pilot Officer Jack Hamlyn evaded the initial onslaught but his aircraft (L7612) was badly damaged and he force-landed at 07:45, near the railway line at Ek Hawata, 97km south-west of Gedáref, less than four kilometres from his destination. The Gladiator broke apart on impact, but the pilot was unharmed and was able to return to 'Azaza first on foot and then by car. The action was so lightning fast that the official 203 Group report stated:

“The pilot stated that he did not see any enemy fighters, nor does he have any idea what happened to the rest of the formation.”
The same report later noted that:
"This was the first time K Flight had operated in an area where enemy fighters could be expected. Apparently, this patrol was observing the battle rather than looking at the sky, with the result that it was surprised by a formation believed to consist of 8 CR.42s.”
After their swift attack the Italian fighters again climbed for height and the three victories were claimed by Capitano Raffi, Tenente Provinciali and Sergente Pietro Morlotti.
A little later, the commander of 1 SAAF Squadron, Major Schalk van Schalkwyk (N5855), took off from 'Azaza and was seen flying over Heston and then heading towards the front. At about 08.30, Captain Brian Boyle received a call from the 10th Brigade, from which he learned that a Gladiator was desperately struggling over Metémma against several CR.42s. Despite the mud making Heston's runway almost impassable, two Gladiators tried to take off, but only Boyle succeeded, arriving just in time to see van Schalkwyk’s Gladiator going down in flames, the pilot struggled to get out of the cockpit and parachuted down with his suit on fire. Immediately afterwards, Boyle himself was targeted by three FIATs:
“The bullets passed over my shoulder and into the dash-board. The oil came all over me. I was wounded by the fragments of the explosive bullets and the cockpit was full of smoke. I tried to get them off me and jump out, but they kept firing, so I landed smashing through the lines.”
Boyle was forced to ground near Gallabàt, and his Gladiator N5852 was damaged on impact with the ground. Rescued, he was taken to the hospital at Wadi Seidne, where he spent several weeks recovering.
Major van Schalkwyk was also picked up by Indian troops and transported to the rear by ambulance, but he was so badly burned that he died the next morning.
These two victories were credited to Capitano Raffi and Sottotenente Fiorindo Rosmino.
Captain Boyle was subsequently awarded a DFC (1 SAAF Squadron’s first) on 7 January 1941 for his gallant action in going single-handed to van Schalkwyk’s assistance.

On 23 November, six CR.42s from the 412a Squadriglia (among them Capitano Antonio Raffi, Tenente Mario Visintini, Sottotenente Giovanni Levi and Sergente Maggiore Lugi Baron) returned to Gura, leaving at Gondar a section of another six fighters, commanded by Tenente Provinciali.

Early on 27 December, six CR.42s from the 412a Squadriglia made a strafing attack on Gedaref. The Italian formation is believed to have compromised Capitano Antonio Raffi, Sottotenenti Provinciali, Filippo Sola and Fiorindo Rosmino, and two other pilots. They saw two landing grounds, strafed a single aircraft on one and a detachment of Indian cavalry, which was exercising on the other.
Five Gladiators from 1 SAAF’s detachment at Azzoza were ordered to scramble, but only three got off, these being directed on to two more CR.42s, which were covering the strafing aircraft. Attacking these, the Gladiators cut off the rearmost aircraft, which attacked them head-on with great desperation. Captain Gerald Le Mesurier’s guns jammed as soon as he began firing and an explosive bullet from the Fiat struck the propeller of Lieutenant Thomas Condon’s aircraft (Gladiator N5789). Despite this, Condon shot down the Italian fighter in flames five miles east of Gedaref, the pilot, believed to be Sottotenente Sola, being killed.

Provinciali was killed on 9 January 1941 in Barentù (AOI).

At the time of his death, Provinciali was credited with 1 biplane victory.

Claims:
Kill no. Date Time Number Type Result Plane type Serial no. Locality Unit
  1940                
1 06/11/40 07:10- 1 Gladiator (a) Destroyed Fiat CR.42   E Metémma 412a Squadriglia

Biplane victories: 1 destroyed.
TOTAL: 1 destroyed.
(a) Claimed in combat with Gladiators from ‘K’ Flight, which lost 3 Gladiators (1 pilot KiA and 1 PoW) without claiming anything. The 412a Squadriglia claimed 3 Gladiators without loss.

Sources:
Luciano Cacciavillani's personal logbook courtesy of Cacciavillani family (Luciano jr and Alberto)
Giovanni Levi’s personal logbook, courtesy of Michele Palermo
Fiorindo Rosmino’s personal logbook, courtesy of Rossella Baron
Aroldo Soffritti’s personal logbook, courtesy of Ariella Soffritti
Various documents belonged to Luigi Baron, courtesy of Rossella Baron
Various documents belonged to Antonio Raffi, courtesy of Alide Comba
Collection of Comando Aeronautica AOI War Bulletins, USSMA, Rome, kindly provided by Michele Palermo
410a Squadriglia war diary (1940) kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro.
Comando Aeronautica Africa Orientale war diary (June 1940) kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro.
Dust Clouds in the Middle East - Christopher Shores, 1996 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-898697-37-X
Fiat CR.32 Aces of the Spanish Civil War – Alfredo Logoluso, 2010 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-84603-983-6
Guerra di Spagna e Aviazione Italiana – Ferdinando Pedriali, 2nd ed., 1992 Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore Aeronautica, Rome, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
I Cavalieri Erranti - Ludovico Slongo, Stefan Lazzaro, Eugenio Eusebi, Michele Palermo and Danilo Ventura, 2023, ISBN 978-88-87952-37-7
In cielo e in terra - F. Pagliano, 1969 editore Longanesi, Milan, kindly provided by Alfredo Logoluso.
Mario Visintini. Storia e Leggenda di un Asso Italiano – Gianni Bianchi, Associazione Culturale Sarasota, kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro
Le Vittorie Aeree di Mario Visintini in Africa Orientale – Eugenio Eusebi, Stefano Lazzaro, Ludovico Slongo, in: Storia Militare no. 246 (XXII), March 2014, Albertelli Edizioni Speciali, Parma, ISSN 1122-5289
Spanish Republican Aces – Rafael A. Permuy López, 2012 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-84908-668-4
Springbok Fighter Victory: East Africa Volume 1 1940 – 1941 – Michael Shoeman, 2002 African Aviation Series No. 11, Freeworld Publications CC, ISBN 0-958-4388-5-4
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Story of no. 1 Squadron SAAF – Vivian Voss, 1952 Mercantile Atlas (Pty.) Ltd., Cape Town, kindly provided by Ludovico Slongo.
Visintini, il Pilota Solitario - Silvio Platen, 1942 editore Rizzoli, Rome, kindly provided by Alfredo Logoluso.
Additional info kindly provided by Stefano Lazzaro, Alfredo Logoluso and Ludovico Slongo.




Last modified 06 May 2026