On the afternoon of May 4, 1949, the weather in Turin was miserable: clouds almost touching the ground, showers, strong southwest wind gusts, and very poor horizontal visibility. In these conditions, a three-engined Fiat G.212 of Avio Linee Italiane (Italian Airlines) crashed into the retaining wall at the back of the Basilica of Superga, which stands on a hill on the outskirts of Turin. The impact caused the instantaneous death of all the 31 people on board.
In the plane was Grande Torino, the historic team of Torino Football Club in the 1940s, which conquered five consecutive championships of Italy, equaling the record previously set by Juventus of the Quinquennio d'oro. The players of Grande Torino were also the backbone of the national team. The team was returning from Portugal, from Lisbon, where he had played a friendly against Benfica. All the victims (players, staff, journalists and crew) were Italian with the exception of the team’s coach, Leslie Lievesley from England. The basilica wall was never rebuilt or restored.
About the stamp
The stamp is part of a series of GPS stamp, about which I wrote here.
References
Grande Torino - Wikipedia
Superga air disaster - Wikipedia
Superga air disaster - Jaquo online magazine
Son of English coach remembers 'Grande Torino' on 70th anniversary of Superga disaster - AFP
Sender: Marius Vasilescu
Sent from Turin (Piedmont / Italy), on 05.01.2020
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