 He joined the Italian Air Service and became the first Italian credited with destroying an enemy aircraft in the air when he shot one down over Verona.By the end of the war in November 1918 he had received credit for the destruction of four Austro-Hungarian aircraft with an additional one unconfirmed kill.De Bernardi later became an aircraft parts inspector and the director of the experimental airfields at Guidonia Montecelio, Furbara, and Vigna di Valle.