Carlo Rossi (general)

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Carlo Rossi
II Army Corps
XXV Army Corps
Battles/wars
Awards

Carlo Rossi (Celenza Valfortore, 29 December 1880 – Turin, 21 April 1967) was an Italian general during World War II.

Biography

Early years

Born in Celenza Valfortore in 1880, the son of Michelangelo Rossi and Agnese Maria Luigia Fantetti, he attended the Military Academy of Modena and was commissioned in Parma on 22 October 1905. From December 1909 he was a lieutenant in the 8th Alpini Regiment.[1][2]

On 29 September 1912 he sailed from

skirmish that took place on the night between 20 and 21 March 1913, and on 18 June of the same year he earned a second silver medal for his behavior in a clash near Wādī et-Tangī; in September he was awarded a Bronze Medal of Military Valor for his role in the capture of a Senussi camp in Tecniz in Cyrenaica. He then returned to Italy, landing in Genoa on November 30, 1913. He was appointed Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy for his performance during the Libyan campaign.[3][4][5]

World War I

He was promoted to

First World War. His unit was deployed on Monte Piana, in the Sexten Dolomites. On 20 July, while leading the assault on the Austro-Hungarian entrenchments on Monte Piana, Rossi was shot in the right shoulder with an explosive bullet. For the bravery shown in this action he was awarded his third silver medal of military valor.[6][7]

On 29 July 1916, following the conquest of the Castelletto in the

Asiago plateau; the latter was seized by the Austro-Hungarians, and Rossi directed its reconquest by launching a joint counterattack by the 52nd Battalion and other Italian and French units. This feat earned him another bronze medal.[8][9][10]

In October 1918 Rossi, by then a

6th Army and took the Austro-Hungarians in the rear at Monte Interrotto (Asiago), thus favoring the advance of British troops in the battle of Vittorio Veneto.[11][12]

Interwar years

After promotion to

37th Infantry Division Modena, which he held until June 1940.[13]

World War II and later years

In June 1940 Rossi was given command of the XVI Army Corps and then sent to the

II Army Corps.[14][15]

On 25 October 1940 he was sent to

Lieutenant General.[16][17][18][19][20]

At the end of July 1941 he returned to

6th Alpine Division Alpi Graie, tasked with defending the naval base and its hinterland.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]

After the proclamation of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943, Rossi's troops halted the German advance towards La Spezia long enough for the fleet to escape, after which they were overwhelmed, and Rossi was captured in the morning of September 9. He was then imprisoned in Oflag 64/Z in Schokken, Poland, refusing any offer to join the Italian Social Republic. In late January 1945 he was freed by the advancing Red Army, being then held as "guest" in the Soviet Union until the end of the hostilities, when he was finally allowed to return to Italy on 6 October 1945.[29][30][31][32][33]

In 1952 he was awarded the Solemn Commendation by the Ministry of Defense, as, although captured and interned in Schokken, he had chosen to "remain faithful to the laws of military honor and refused to join the Social Republic, preferring to repatriation, the harsh sacrifice of captivity, particularly painful for his impaired physical condition".

In 1955 he was awarded the

Maurician Medal
of Military Merit for fifty years of service.

He died in Turin in 1967.[34]

References

  1. ^ "Rossi Carlo".
  2. ISBN 9781071589229
    .
  3. ^ "Fortini Michele".
  4. ^ "Ass. Naz. Alpini sez. Conegliano -1965- Antonio Cantore".
  5. ISBN 9781071589229
    .
  6. ^ "Da Prà Scola Apollonio".
  7. ISBN 9781071589229
    .
  8. ^ "Fortini Michele".
  9. ^ "Rossi Carlo".
  10. ISBN 9781071589229
    .
  11. ISBN 9781071589229
    .
  12. ^ "Storia delle Fanterie Italiane Vol X".
  13. ^ "Biography of Lieutenant-General Carlo Rossi (1880 – 1967), Italy".
  14. ^ "Biography of Lieutenant-General Carlo Rossi (1880 – 1967), Italy".
  15. ^ "Regio Esercito - le Armate - Corpo d'Armata Alpino".
  16. ^ "Regio Esercito - le Armate - XXV Corpo d'Armata".
  17. ^ "Settant'anni fa l'attacco alla Grecia".
  18. ^ https://www.granatieridisardegna.it/albania/albania.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  19. ISBN 9781472842558
    .
  20. ISBN 9781473828308
    .
  21. ^ "Regio Esercito - le Armate - XVI Corpo d'Armata".
  22. ^ Harry Yeide, Fighting Patton: George S. Patton Jr. Through the Eyes of His Enemies, p. 71
  23. ^ "Biography of Lieutenant-General Carlo Rossi (1880 – 1967), Italy".
  24. ISBN 9788854601529
    .
  25. ISBN 9781526778000
    .
  26. ^ Playfair, Ian Stanley Ord (1954). "The Mediterranean and Middle East: The campaign in Sicily 1943, and the campaign in Italy, 3rd September 1943 to 31st March 1944".
  27. ISBN 9780252070396
    .
  28. ISBN 9781844685608
    .
  29. ^ "Regio Esercito - le Armate - XVI Corpo d'Armata".
  30. ^ "Biography of Lieutenant-General Carlo Rossi (1880 – 1967), Italy".
  31. ^ http://www.viagginellastoria.it/articoli/mattioli1885/fortezze_levante_ligure.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  32. ^ http://www.isrecsavona.it/pubblicazioni/le-forze-armate-nella-resistenza.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  33. ISBN 9788869340864
    .
  34. ^ "Rossi Carlo".
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