This is the story that I discovered and documented, in 2018, relating to the rare models that have a different medal on the side cover than the normal Alcedo production.
As can be seen from the image, a Kingfisher (Alcedo Atthis) "in flight" is embossed on the various medals.
I was able to make this post thanks to the invaluable collaboration of Mr. Riccardo Verrecchia, son of Giuseppe, the importer of the famous ALCEDO reels destined for the Anglo-Saxon market.
I must point out that in the field of reel collecting in Italy, these particular medals are better known and identified as "open wings"!
Giuseppe's family was originally from Filignano, a very small town in Molise (in province of Isernia / center Italy) near the sources of the Volturno river.
Giuseppe was born in October 1921 and subsequently emigrated to Scotland with his family.
With the arrival of the IIWW, as well as many Italians residing in the UK, Giuseppe also knew the confinement on the Isle of Mann in the channel between Ireland and England.
He was the youngest of the interned civilians and only fate did not want him on board the "Arandora Star", a cruise ship requisitioned by the British government for war reasons and which transported both Italians and Germans to Canada.
Just during one of the crossings to the North Atlantic, on 2 July 1940, just the day after leaving the port of Liverpool, the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine "U-Boot U-047" with the loss of 865 lives out of 1500 people on board!
Later, after remaining in Glasgow in Scotland, Giuseppe became the head of the River Lochy Association.
Anyone who wanted to go fishing in the prestigious reserves of the River Lochy, River Spean and River Garry, important waters of Scotland for salmon and salmon trout fishing, had to ask for his permission.
Already at that time, in the 1950s, the Association had the authorization to issue only three daily permits which were very expensive. Even today, asking for permission to fish in these waters is very expensive, it seems that it takes about 1000 pounds a day !
Riccardo explained to me that Giuseppe had met Engineer Rolandi, owner of the Alcedo company, at a trade fair in Milan at the beginning of the 1960s.
Subsequently he went to Turin, right in the Alcedo headquarters, probably to define the details of the future agreement that would be born.
We are not certain about who had decided to distinguish the production of models destined for the Anglo-Saxon market by changing the normal medal with the "open wings" one!
Furthermore, it would also seem that Alcedo shipped the reels and spare parts to Scotland but the final packaging was handled directly by Giuseppe!
Riccardo remembers that his father had a suitcase with all the samples of the Alcedo models as well as a large fixed spool model for sea fishing: it was probably an "Alcedo Atlantic or Oceanic"!
A curious note: Giuseppe Verrecchia seems to have had a legal dispute resolved in his favor with the most famous French brand regarding copyright for an internal mechanism of a reel!
With the death of Giuseppe, in 1979, any further news related to this singular parenthesis relating to the importation of the prestigious Alcedo with "open wings" was lost!
I renew my thanks on behalf of all the collectors and lovers of Alcedo reels to Riccardo Verrecchia and his family.
Sergio Di Marco
