Pippo (airplane)
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Pippo was a mythical plane, unique to Northern Italy, that flew during World War II. An example of oral history, Pippo is not well documented even in Italy.
Pippo had a distinctive buzz, was never seen, was suspected of dropping bombs, and took flight mainly at night. If people were faithful to the Fascists, they considered it an Allied plane. If people were supporters of the Allies, the plane could be German. Or it could be German, but the Germans said it was Allied. Sometimes it was even considered to be Italian, flown perhaps by a friend of a cousin from a few towns away. No matter what their political allegiances, people personified it as a “he” – the plane and pilot as one. In retrospect, it is evident the Fascists used Pippo as a propaganda tool to turn ordinary civilians against the Allies, though there is no doubt the plane was real.
It is unclear how Pippo got its name. It may have been a play on the Italian moniker for Disney’s Goofy character or alternatively was based on the pip-pip sounds it apparently made.
Despite the slightly silly name, people mainly interpreted Pippo as something fearful. It was essential to block the lights in one’s house or Pippo might fire upon it. It might drop exploding pens, poisoned candy, or so-called butterfly bombs. It might strafe the fields with gunfire where people were working. And apparently mothers wouldn’t hesitate to tell a naughty child that Pippo was coming to get them.
Only decades later did historians surmise the likely origin of the plane. When the Allies gained a foothold in the north in the later years of the war, pilots began flying tactical night missions to survey and intervene in German troop movements. It never occurred to them that they were inadvertently terrorizing the countryside. In particular, the British Royal Air Force used a plane called the de Havilland Mosquito, famed for its characteristic drone.
References
References in literature
- Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
- Ciao Bella – Gina Buonaguro & Janice Kirk
See also
- Other uses of the term Pippo
- The Italian Wikipedia entry for Pippo