Memoirs of Lt. Camillo Viglino: Italian Air Force 1915-1916 (Paperback)

~ Lt. Camillo Viglino (Author), Camilla Hurwitz (Translator), Victor Viglino (Translator)
Key Phrases: Second License, Golden Eagles, Saint Elia (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In July of 1915, just two months after Italy joined the Allied Forces during World War I, Lieutenant Camillo Viglino, age 23, volunteered for flight training in the Italian Air Force. His account of the training provides the freshness and intimacy of an on-the-scene, firsthand report. It reveals an idealistic young man with an unbridled passion for flying and a patriotic zeal to fight for his country -- a young man daring to go up in the fragile flying machines of those early years of aviation, routinely placing himself at the mercy of the weather, cantankerous engines, and unreliable instruments. The discomforts of flying an open-cockpit 1914 Maurice Farman, the frequent crashes at the flight school, and the constant occurrences of pilots getting lost are all related with a nonchalant bravado befitting a 20-year-old. Viglino follows his diary-like accounts with a copy of a letter from a cousin at the front describing an air raid on Adelsberg, Austria.

This book was written in Italian and originally published in Italy in 1934. It was translated into English by his two children, Camilla Viglino Hurwitz and Victor Viglino.

About the Author

Camillo Viglino came from a very patriarchal, upper-class family that strongly opposed his decision to volunteer for flight training. Viglino\'s strong religious upbringing is evidenced by his allusion to divine intervention in the daily lives of the young student pilots contained in his memoirs. Unfortunately, his career as a military pilot was a very brief one, as the reader will discover on reading his memoirs. Viglino went on to obtain degrees in Law, Literature, and Philosophy, and became a professor at the Collegio Melleria Rosmini in Domodossola, where he had studied as a youth. He became a prolific writer, authoring numerous articles on religious subjects, personal experiences, and childrens\' school texts. Finally he became the Editor of the Rivista Rosminiana, a Catholic newspaper published in Intra. In 1930, he married Ida Ferraris. Their first child, Vittorio, was born in 1931. In 1934, Viglino appended his memoirs with a number of surprisingly intuitive reflections on the future of aviation, the automobile, space travel, and other inventions of the 20th century. They are included in the book and demonstrate his foresight, his idealism, and the tenor of the times. Sadly, after having survived his daredevil exploits in aviation, Viglino succumbed to pneumonia and died in 1935 at the early age of 43. His wife was carrying their second child, Camilla, at the time.

Product Details

• Paperback: 162 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (July 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552129330
• ISBN-13: 978-1552129333
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,474,186 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)