Mario Arillo

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Mario Arillo
Marina Nazionale Repubblicana
Years of service1927–1945
Commands held
Battles/wars
Awards

Mario Arillo (25 March 1912 – 27 September 2000) was an Italian naval officer during World War II.

Biography

Arillo was born in La Spezia on 25 March 1912, the son of Gaetano, a non-commissioned officer in the Italian Navy, and Silvia Piran.[1][2] In October 1927 he entered the Italian Naval Academy in Livorno, attending a course of five years.[3][2] In July 1932 he graduated as ensign and was assigned to the heavy cruiser Trieste; between April and May 1933 he was executive officer on the torpedo boat Francesco Stocco.[2] In July 1933 he was promoted to sub-lieutenant and embarked again on Trieste, and in September he was transferred to the destroyer Giovanni da Verrazzano, where he remained until October 1934.[2]

In July 1935 he was assigned to the destroyer Dardo, and from April to November 1936 he was executive officer on the submarine H 2, based in La Spezia.[2] In July 1937 he was promoted to lieutenant, and from November 1936 until July 1938 he served on the heavy cruisers Trento and Trieste.[2] He was then assigned on the light cruiser Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi, where he was for six months the flag adjutant of Admiral Barzaghi, commander of the 3rd Naval Division.[2]

From July 1938 to September 1940 he served at the Naval Academy, and then, after the beginning of World War II, he was assigned to the submarine Ettore Fieramosca for submarine command training.[2] On 19 January 1941 he was given command of the submarine Ambra.[2] At 03:07 on 31 March 1941, while on patrol on the route between

Sollum (Egypt) the light cruiser HMS Bonaventure.[4] The cruiser sank very quickly in position 33°20' N, 26°35' E, after being hit by two torpedoes on the starboard side, with the loss of 148 crewmen, while the 310 survivors were rescued by the destroyer Hereward.[5]

In July 1941, after the failed attack on the port of

manned torpedoes
. In May 1942 he carried SLCs to
frogmen that carried out a successful raid on Algiers, sinking two merchant ships and disabling two more. For this raid, Arillo received the Gold Medal of Military Valor.[2]

In June 1943, Arillo (who had been meanwhile promoted to

Type VII U-boat transferred to the Regia Marina.[6] The boat was formally handed over to the Italian Navy on 31 July, and Arillo was its commander until the proclamation of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943.[7][2]
On the evening of that day, he was in Danzig for a dinner with the Italian consul, and was temporarily holding command of Submarine Group "S", when the Group Command was informed of the armistice by an
interned in a prisoner-of-war camp.[8] Of the approximately five hundred Italians present, about sixty refused to continue fighting, and were interned in Germany.[8]

Together with about four hundred seamen, Arillo was repatriated to Northern Italy, and joined the

Marina Nazionale Repubblicana where he became one of Borghese's right hand men.[10][11] He was appointed head of the Tyrrhenian Command, with headquarters in Genoa and jurisdiction from San Remo to the southern front.[12]

In April 1945, a few hours before the end of the war in Italy, Arillo had a significant role in saving the port of Genoa, which the retreating Germans planned to blow up.[11] He deployed his men and weapons inside the harbour,[11] preventing anyone from entering or approaching. He was then taken prisoner by British forces and initially imprisoned in Afragola, from where he was sent to a POW camp in Algeria, then repatriated to Italy in January 1946 and sent to POW camp "S" near Taranto, from where he escaped in April of that year.[13]

Immediately after the war, he participated in the operations of mine clearing of the Italian ports,[11] but he was subjected to an 'epuration' process and had to leave the military, demoted to the rank of lieutenant.[13] He was subsequently reinstated in his former rank following a decision of a commission chaired by Admiral Vladimiro Pini.

After leaving the Navy, Arillo graduated in engineering, but remained in the Naval Reserve, where he was promoted to the rank of commander and later captain.[11] He died in La Spezia on 27 September 2000.

References

  1. ^ Franco Martinelli, ”Breve sogno". Gli ultimi della Decima MAS. Storie di vita, 1943-1945, p. 23.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mario Arillo on the website of the Italian Navy.
  3. ^ Franco Martinelli, ”Breve sogno". Gli ultimi della Decima MAS. Storie di vita, 1943-1945, p. 24.
  4. ^ a b Franco Martinelli, ”Breve sogno". Gli ultimi della Decima MAS. Storie di vita, 1943-1945, p. 27.
  5. ^ Bollettino d'archivio della Marina Militare, June 2001, p.169-170.
  6. ^ Mario Rossetto, I sommergibili classe “S”, in Storia Militare, nº 11, p. 28.
  7. ^ a b Mario Rossetto, I sommergibili classe “S”, in Storia Militare, nº 11, p. 31.
  8. ^ a b c Mario Rossetto, I sommergibili classe “S”, in Storia Militare, nº 11, p. 32.
  9. ^ Franco Martinelli, ”Breve sogno". Gli ultimi della Decima MAS. Storie di vita, 1943-1945, p. 28.
  10. ^ Franco Martinelli, ”Breve sogno". Gli ultimi della Decima MAS. Storie di vita, 1943-1945, p. 5.
  11. ^ a b c d e Antonio Pannullo, Mario Arillo, il sommergibilista della Decima che salvò il porto di Genova.
  12. ^ Giuseppe Rocco, L'organizzazione militare della RSI: sul finire della seconda guerra mondiale, p. 78.
  13. ^ a b Franco Martinelli, ”Breve sogno". Gli ultimi della Decima MAS. Storie di vita, 1943-1945, p. 53.
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