From Young and Naive to Seasoned Pilot.

We catch up with our young Italian pilot Giulio Nicelli. A little more experienced, but still green, Giulio is no longer that naive youngster looking for excitement. he understands that he is in a live-or-die situation each time he gets to fly. He loves flying but fully understands that at any given moment he could join many of his friends who are dead... or worse, captured by the enemy.

October 5th, 1917 Line Patrol: Giulio finds himself being outflown by not 1 but 2 pilots. Giulio is excited to get back into the air, to smell the fresh breeze, and as he likes to say, to get his taste of the cold. He tried to explain to his non-flying friends, about the cold, but they could not understand, it is something that had to be experienced. Today's mission was a basic line patrol. As Mr. Nicelli approached No Mans land he encountered a Hansa Bburg 2 seater. Giulio starts advantaged and fires into the enemy. 2 good hits both hitting the port struts. Giulio does some good flying and now he tails his adversary. He lets go with a huge blast, knowing that this would do some damage, then out of the blue the enemy pulls off a great flying maneuver, avoiding all fire and now is coming face to face with his enemy. In a split second Giulio finds himself disadvantaged and looking for the Hansa, the 2 seater had made his getaway.

The C.I were military reconnaissance aircraft produced in Austria-Hungary during World War I.[

Giulio was frustrated that he was out-maneuvered by the Austria-Hungarian pilot. He decided to loiter over No mans land looking for another encounter. He looks to his port side to see another 2 seater, this time it is a lone Lohner CI. Our young pilot is amazed at the talent of these pilots, he gets in a couple of bursts but does very little damage. The Lohner pilot pulls off an evasive move and disengages without further incident.

Giulio is low on ammo so he decides to fly back to his base. It is a quiet flight back and he lnds without incident.

October was full of training after that first week's mission. November would be different as 3 missions are scheduled during the next 25 days. November 3, 1917 - Line Patrol All is quiet on the Italian front The skies were cloudy on this Thursday morning. Giulio was feeling anxious. After last month's mission where he felt that the two Austria Hungarian flyers taught him a few lessons in maneuvering, Giulio spent the rest of the month training as hard as he had ever trained. He was hoping that all of his hard work would pay off.

Unfortunately, he would have to wait for another day to test his new skills. This was a very routine mission. no encounters and back to base in quick time. The mission was a success but Giulio was hoping for a little more action... maybe next time

November 16, 1917 Lucky to be Alive! It did not take long for our young Italian to see some action on this mission. Just a few minutes from home, he encounters a Hansa Bburg. They start off head to head Giulio gets a couple of hits on the Hansa struts. The Hansa takes the damage but in doing so sets himself up to disengage. The encounter lasted less than 2 minutes, but now Giulio was paying full attention. Our pilot looks down as he crosses the dead barren ground below. He was now in no Man's Land. On the horizon, Giulio sees a fighter fast approaching head-to-head. The two combatants maneuvered and fired, both taking on damage. Giulio was flying well, but so was his adversary. Quick bursts from both pilots followed up by some great flying and the two pilots were putting on a deadly show for the troops in No Mans Land. At one time, Giulio thought he was going to have to land in No Man's Land as his landing gear was taking a beating, but his good luck charm was working and he would be able to avoid that fate. Both planes ran out of ammo and it was simultaneously that both flyers disengaged. Giulio struggled to land but made it to the ground safely. He was shaking and sweating, he knew he was a lucky man. All of the damage looked like he would have to land in No man's land. He avoided that death sentence and was fortunate to reach the ground safe and sound.

November 26, 1917 - Offensive Patrol A good day to become an ACE! Giulio was feeling good this morning, ready to fly the last mission of the month. The beginning of the mission was quiet, but our young Italian was approaching the same area where he had his "lucky" moment on his last mission. He did not have long to think about that as he encountered a Hansa Bburg. Giulio immediately pulled right and to his disbelief the Hansa made a huge mistake allowing Giulio to get on his tail. With a quick burst, he watched as the Hansa turned hard left and blew up. The fuel tank took a direct hit and just like that Mr. Nicelli was an ACE! That's right, Giulio had his 5th kill. The young Italian thrust his left arm in the air! The excitement overwhelmed him. He then realized that he was not out of danger and it would not be good to become an ACE and die on the same mission. Giulio encountered a 2 seater but he was not going to push his luck. He maneuvered quickly to disengage and head home. Nothing else occurred on this mission and the landing was one of his best. Giulio sat in the cockpit, realizing that in less than 10 days he had gone from almost having to land in No Man's land to becoming an Ace and achieving his 5th kill. The celebration would go late into the evening. The flight leader announced that Giulio would be getting upgraded to a faster and better handling Spad S XIII, Giulio was excited, but not happy that he would not be able to fly on a mission for December while getting familiar with his new steed. He was also awarded the Silver Medal for Military Valor, after gaining his 5th kill and becoming an ACE. Happy New Year: Jan 5, 1918 - Balloon Busting Mission Not the best way to start the year! Giulio takes off in his brand new Spad S XII. This would be Giulio's first Balloon Busting Mission. The off was uneventful, and that ended quickly when a Aviatik D.I came from the rear! Giulio went defensive, but took some damage, along with a light wound as a bullet grazed his shoulder. The young Italian made a great move to get the advantage, the enemy in his sights, he pulled the trigger.... nothing! His guns have jammed! After a few minutes of maneuvering the enemy now had the advantage and Giulio could not get his guns to work. The Aviatik fired from the lower right side and with precision hit the landing gear, along with the jammed guns, so now he can't fix them. Giulio then feels a sharp pain in his right arm. A bullet ripped into his skin, he almost passed out due to the pain.

Aviatik (Berg) D.I, was a single-engine, single-seater biplane fighter

Now in full defense mode, he flew as his life depended on it and in fact, it did. He managed to maneuver to get an advantage. Now was the time to disengage! He sighed in relief when he realized that he had lost his adversary. Giulio made it back to base, but now he would have to land. He was bleeding badly and the pain was unbearable. It was not pretty but he landed without a major incident. The ambulance came quickly and within minutes Giulio was being looked over. The doctor came and gave Giulio the bad news. He would miss the rest of the month due to his wounds. (He will miss 4 sorties) He was thankful to be alive. He was hoping for a better start to the New Year. Giulio fell asleep, safe and sound. His arm hurt but he would live to fly another day. * This narrative is based on the award-winning Western Front Ace by Compass games.