World War II
In 1938 he joined the Italian Air Force, and served as a S.M. 79 torpedo bomber pilot during World War II, rising to the rank of captain and decorated for valour by the time he left to pursue his fashion career. During the war he became a confidant of Benito Mussolini's eldest daughter, Edda. Pucci played a key role in the plan to save her husband, Mussolini's former Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano who was on trial for his part in the removal of Mussolini from power in 1943. The plan involved delivering some of Ciano's papers to the Gestapo so that they could be bartered for Ciano's life. After Hitler vetoed the scheme, Pucci drove Edda to the Swiss border on 9 January 1944 and ensured her escape. Before escaping, Edda wrote last pleas to General Wilhelm Harster, SD commander in Italy, Hitler and Mussolini, and Pucci delivered these letters to an intermediary. Pucci then attempted to flee to Switzerland himself, but was arrested by the Germans. He was tortured by the Gestapo in order to extract from him information on the location of the portion of Ciano's papers that remained in Italy. Then the Germans sent Pucci to Swizterland to tell Edda that she would be killed if she published any part of the diaries. Pucci delivered the message to Edda and remained in Switzerland until the end of the war.
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