{"id":1811,"date":"2026-06-05T23:41:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T23:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/?page_id=1811"},"modified":"2026-06-10T18:21:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:21:54","slug":"balbos-flight","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/balbos-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Balbo\u2019s Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1811\" class=\"elementor elementor-1811\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5f02ddf e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5f02ddf\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0502d81 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0502d81\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-03d202b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"03d202b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Balbo\u2019s Flight<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ce23579 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ce23579\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-89a7aec e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"89a7aec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a01f0dc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"a01f0dc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Balbo\u2019s Flight to Shoal Harbour<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c43b3dd elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"c43b3dd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ccd8d4c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ccd8d4c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>On July 26, 1933, the largest armada of aircraft to make a transatlantic flight landed in Random Sound. This accomplishment put Shoal Harbour in the international spotlight.<\/p><p>Pioneering aviator General Italo Balbo and his fleet of twenty-four seaplanes landed at Shoal Harbour to complete the last leg of their spectacular flight from Orbetello, Italy to the Chicago Century of Progress Exhibition.<\/p><p>Balbo Drive and the former Balbo Elementary School (now Riverside Elementary) were named in honour of this occasion.<\/p><p><strong>Who was Balbo?<\/strong><br \/>Italo Balbo (born June 6, 1896, near Ferrara, Italy\u2014died June 28, 1940, Tobruk, Libya) was an Italian airman and Fascist leader who played a decisive role in developing Benito Mussolini\u2019s air force.<\/p><p>Upgrading military as well as commercial aviation, Balbo became famous for his promotion of mass international flights to demonstrate Italy\u2019s air power.<\/p><p>His rising popularity among Italians may have caused Mussolini to remove him from the limelight by appointing him governor of Libya. Balbo was killed on June 28, 1940 when his plane reportedly failed to give correct recognition signals and was shot down by Italian guns in Tobruk harbour.<\/p><p>See more: <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/PR4mZN6XKVA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/PR4mZN6XKVA<\/a><\/p><p>Sources:<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/discover-clarenville\/our-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Town of Clarenville &#8220;Our History&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Italo-Balbo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">brittanica.com<\/a><\/li><li>Additional Photos:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarenvilleheritage.ca\/gallery.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Clarenville Heritage Society, Jim Locke<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e8e4600 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"e8e4600\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6060d91 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"6060d91\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1648\" height=\"1008\" src=\"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3591.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-1849\" alt=\"img 3591\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3591.jpg 1648w, https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3591-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3591-1024x626.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3591-768x470.jpg 768w, https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3591-1536x939.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1648px) 100vw, 1648px\"  title=\"Balbo\u2019s Flight\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dff556d elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"dff556d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-250bcc0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"250bcc0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3590.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-1848\" alt=\"img 3590\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3590.jpg 354w, https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3590-236x300.jpg 236w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\"  title=\"Balbo\u2019s Flight\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e971adf elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"e971adf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ef9cef9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"ef9cef9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1648\" height=\"1040\" src=\"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3592.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-1850\" alt=\"img 3592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3592.jpg 1648w, https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3592-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3592-1024x646.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3592-768x485.jpg 768w, https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3592-1536x969.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1648px) 100vw, 1648px\"  title=\"Balbo\u2019s Flight\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Balbo\u2019s Flight Balbo\u2019s Flight to Shoal Harbour On July 26, 1933, the largest armada of aircraft to make a transatlantic flight landed in Random Sound. This accomplishment put Shoal Harbour in the international spotlight. Pioneering aviator General Italo Balbo and his fleet of twenty-four seaplanes landed at Shoal Harbour to complete the last leg of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"unboxed","site-sidebar-style":"unboxed","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"enabled","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1811","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1811"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1920,"href":"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1811\/revisions\/1920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarenville.ca\/75th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}