Guerra aerea

During the First World War there was a huge development of military aviation. The two opposing armies employed aircrafts to patrol enemy territory, but also for aerial combat and the bombing of troops and settlements.

After the aerial bombings of Recoaro, Valdagno, Schio, Malo, and Vicenza in 1916, the military commanders realized the need to protect the lines and the population from this new weapon. A new anti-aircraft artillery system with shrapnel shells was then put in place. In 1917 three airports where built near the Ortogonale 1 line, in the low Agno Valley and in the Onte Valley.

Here, on 28th June 1918, a Pomilio reconnaissance aircraft of the 135th squadron, based in Castelgomberto, crashed to the ground near the chapel of St John of Nepomuk on its way back from a mission. Both pilots died in the crash.