Carlo Vecchiarelli (10 January 1884 – 13 December 1948) was an Italian general. He was a veteran combatant of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Between the two world wars he held the positions of Military Attaché at the Italian Embassy in Prague, Honorary Field Assistant to King

Vittorio Emanuele III Victor Emmanuel III (; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albania ...

, Military Attaché at the Italian Embassy in Vienna, commander of the

7th Alpini Regiment The 7th Alpini Regiment () is a mountain warfare regiment of the Italian Army based in Belluno in Veneto. The regiment belongs to the Italian Army's Alpini infantry speciality and is assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Julia". On 1 August 1887, the R ...

, of the I Alpini Brigade, of the 47th Infantry Division "Bari", of the 132nd Armored Division "Ariete", and of the V Army Corps of Trieste. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was commander of the I and XX Army Corps, and of the 11th Army stationed in Greece, with headquarters in Athens. After the proclamation of the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile ( Italian: ''Armistizio di Cassibile'') was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 by Italy and the Allies, marking the end of hostilities between Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was made public ...

of 8 September 1943, after receiving ambiguous instructions from the Supreme Command, on the morning of 9 September 1943 he gave the order to surrender all heavy weapons to the Germans, in exchange for the latter's commitment to repatriate the Army. The Germans, however, soon betrayed the agreement and had the troops of the Eleventh Army sent to Germany as

Italian military internees "Italian Military Internees" (, , abbreviated as IMI) was the official name given by Germany to the Italian soldiers captured, rounded up and deported in the territories of Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe in Operation Achse in the days im ...

. Vecchiarelli himself was arrested and imprisoned in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

before being handed over to the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

, which sentenced him to ten years' imprisonment for "anti-German behaviour in Greece". He was released by the

partisans Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...

at the end of the war.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vecchiarelli, Carlo Italian Army generals Italian military personnel of World War I Italian military personnel of World War II Italian occupation of Greece during World War II 1884 births 1948 deaths People from Cingoli