Dr John Peaty will examine the Italian air force under the leadership of Italo Balbo. This lecture will be hosted and live-streamed from the Royal Aeronautical Society.

This free lecture, is part of the RAF Museum's Research Lecture Programme. If you'd like to support the RAF Museum, you can make a donation at: https://support.rafmuseum.org/Donate-Now

This presentation will examine the Regia Aeronautica (Italy’s Royal Air Force) under the leadership of Italo Balbo in the years from 1926 to 1933.

It was during these years that Balbo’s inspiring, dynamic and energetic leadership developed the fledgling Italian air force and made it famous throughout the world. Later events were to over-shadow this period but these years were the golden age of the Italian air force. It is a sad fact that the remarkable achievements of Italian designers, pilots, manufacturers, theorists etc. in those years – which were admired around the world (not least in the US and UK) – have been mostly forgotten.

Particular subjects touched on will include: Balbo's audacious mass formation long-distance flights across the Atlantic (“Balbo” becoming a common term for a mass formation of aircraft); the record-breaking successes of Italian pilots and aircraft (not least in the Schneider Trophy contests); the great technical achievements of Italy's aircraft designers and manufacturers (most notably Caproni heavy bombers, Savoia-Marchetti flying boats and Macchi racers).

The presentation is derived from research undertaken both in the UK and in Italy.

Dr John Peaty is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Royal Historical Society. He holds a PhD and MA in War Studies from King’s College London, where he also attended the intelligence studies programme.

John served for many years on the Committee of the British Commission for Military History in the post of International Secretary. He is a founder member of the Royal Air Force Historical Society, the Chair of the Templer Medal book prize and a Council member of the Society for Army Historical Research, the Convenor of the Historical Military Mapping Group and a Council member of the British Cartographic Society, a Committee member of the Royal Engineers Historical Society, a member of the National Army Museum’s Research and Collections Advisory Panel and a life member of the University of London’s Institute of Historical Research.

John has lectured widely to both specialist and non-specialist audiences, both in the UK and overseas. He has published articles, chapters and essays. He worked at the Ministry of Defence for many years, including at the Army Historical Branch, the Defence Evaluation & Research Agency and Defence Intelligence. He was closely involved with the British Army’s commemoration of the centenary of the First World War. He has guided both military and civilian groups around battlefields across the globe.

Italo Balbo and the Regia Aeronautica