The event was organised by the “Le streghe di Smirne” Association to support a children's cancer centre in Turkey
Specifically, the association—a women's group formed on the spontaneous initiative of the women accompanying our personnel serving at the base in Izmir (Turkey)—organised a charity event at the Historical Museum aimed at raising funds to support an important Turkish children's oncology centre called “The Children's Oasis”. Among the various activities scheduled for the occasion, special mention should be made of the lecture entitled: “Francesco Baracca and Fulco Ruffo di Calabria: heroes but also champions of virtue?”, conducted by Air Squad General Vincenzo Manca, a guided tour of the Museum and, specifically, the performance in the Badoni hangar by the Italian Air Force rhythmic gymnastics team. During the performance, the girls attempted one individual routine each with different apparatus and musical styles, and two team routines: “angels and demons” with hoops and ribbons, and “butterflies reloade” with hoops and balls. The athletes, all Olympic medallists—Leading Airwoman Elisa Santoni, Leading Airwoman Elisa Blanchi, Leading Airwoman Anzhelika Savrayuk and First Airwoman Romina Laurito—have achieved countless successes at an international level with the Italian National Team (100 medals) and received countless expressions of esteem.
During the previous year, the Witches of Smyrna also organised and inspired other important initiatives aimed at supporting the aforementioned hospital, among which the charity dinner on 5th January at the Casa dell'Aviatore and the AIMAS (Italian Association of Aerospace and Aviation Medicine) congress stand out. These and other significant results were also achieved thanks to the contribution of the Ferrara Country Club, the Bari branch of the Associazione Arma Aeronautica, the personnel of the Schools Command/3rd Air Region of Bari and the Air Operations Command of Poggio Renatico (FE).
