Riccardo Pentimalli

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Riccardo Pentimalli
151st Infantry Division Perugia

XIX Army Corps
Battles/wars
Awards

Riccardo Pentimalli (Palmi, 29 February 1884 – Venice, 23 May 1953) was an Italian general during World War II.

Biography

He was born in

Bra Artillery School.[1]

During the

5th Infantry Division Cosseria until March 1939. He was then attached to the Treviso Army Corps, becoming its artillery commander in April 1939; he later became commander of the artillery of the XIV Army Corps.[1]

On 1 February 1940 Pentimalli was given command of the

invasion of Yugoslavia, capturing Kotor, Dubrovnik and Split, and taking large numbers of Yugoslav prisoners. For this success he was awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor. Troops of the Marche Division also found a large part of the Yugoslav gold reserves, hidden in a cave; 1,120 crates containing about 56 tons of gold in bars and coins, which Pentimalli transferred by land, to Trieste, delivering them to the representatives of the Bank of Italy.[1][2][3][4][5]

On 26 June 1941 he returned to Italy, and on 13 August he assumed command of the newly formed

151st Infantry Division Perugia, initially stationed in the eponymous city. In December the Division was transferred to the Balkans, initially in Croatia and Montenegro and later in Albania, participating anti-partisan operations. In August 1943 Pentimalli was promoted to lieutenant general and left command of the division, returning to Italy.[1][6]

On 30 August 1943 he was given command of the

9th Infantry Division Pasubio, decimated by the losses sustained in Russia, of the 222nd Coastal Division and of the XXXII Coastal Brigade, the latter two being largely formed by poorly trained and equipped territorial troops.[7][1]

Following the proclamation of the armistice on 8 September, Pentimalli rejected German demands for the disarmament of his troops, but agreed to keep them confined in their barracks "if the Germans will abstain from acts of violence towards the civilian population". He took no action to prevent the German takeover in the area under the control of his troops, leaving his subordinates without orders, and eventually fled in civilian clothes along with General Ettore Deltetto and his chief of staff, only reappearing on 1 October, when the Allies entered Naples.[8][9][10][11][12]

Pentimalli and Del Tetto were later arrested and put under trial for

Court of Cassation on 27 December 1946, stating that "the basic elements that guarantee the proper conduct of a trial" had not been observed by the High Court. Pentimalli was thus released and reinstated into his rank, while Del Tetto had died in prison in April 1945.[13][14][15][16][17][1]

Pentimalli died from cancer in Venice on 23 May 1953.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Biography of Lieutenant-General Riccardo Pentimalli (1884 – 1953), Italy". generals.dk.
  2. ^ http://www.misteriditalia.it/loggiap2/inchieste/Lorodigelli(Panorama).pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ "Quando gli italiani beffarono i tedeschi". ilGiornale.it. January 18, 2013.
  4. ISBN 9781426946332
    – via Google Books.
  5. ^ https://www.museodellaguerra.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Annali-28_2020.pdf [dead link]
  6. ^ "Gli Eroi di Kuç". www.kuc.altervista.org.
  7. ^ "Regio Esercito – Le Armate – XIX Corpo d'Armata". www.regioesercito.it.
  8. ^ "Le quattro giornate di Napoli, episodio di Liberazione – Bunte Kuh". Buntekuh.it. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  9. ^ "30 settembre 1943". Sergiolepri.it. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  10. ISBN 9780521591997
    . Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  11. ISBN 9783486595604
    . Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  12. ^ LabMatrix Laboratorio di Storia, Sociologia e Scienza delle Istituzioni; Prospo, Mario De. "Resa tra i due fuochi. L'esercito italiano di fronte alla crisi dell'8 settembre 1943 nel Mezzogiorno continentale, alcune ipotesi interpretative" – via www.academia.edu. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. OCLC 32664535
    . Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  14. ISBN 9788880895220. Archived from the original
    on 2015-05-01. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  15. ^ "16 Dec 1944 – RIOT IN SICILY: TROOPS v MOB – Trove". Courier-Mail. Trove.nla.gov.au. 16 December 1944. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  16. JSTOR 25643747
    – via JSTOR.
  17. ^ Paolo Pavolini, 1943, la caduta del fascismo, p. 133
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