General Italo Balbo Collection

July 13, 1933 was a truly historic day in the life of the resort town of Shediac. This was the day that Italian General Italo Balbo, Minister of Aviation in Benito Mussolini’s cabinet, and his armada of twenty four Savoia Manchetti S-55 flying boats alighted on Shediac Bay. This was the first massed flight of aircraft ever to cross the Atlantic.