Enea Navarini (1 April 1885 in

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

– 22 March 1977 in

Merano Merano (, ; ) or Meran () is a (municipality) in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Generally best known for its Spa town, spa resorts, it is located within a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to Height above mean sea ...

) was an Italian general who served 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 ...

Biography

From 1939 to 1941 Enea Navarini was the general officer commanding the 56th Infantry Division Casale. On 14 March 1941, the division boarded ship for Albania, to participate in the ongoing

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian campaign in Greece, Italian invasion of Greece, and War of '40 in Greece, took place between Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. This conflict began the Balk ...

. After the

German invasion of Greece The German invasion of Greece or Operation Marita (), were the attacks on Kingdom of Greece, Greece by Kingdom of Italy, Italy and Nazi Germany, Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usually known as the Gr ...

, Navarini was transferred to the North African front where he assumed command of the

XXI Army Corps 21 (twenty-one) is the natural number following 20 and preceding 22. The current century is the 21st century AD, under the Gregorian calendar. Mathematics Twenty-one is the fifth distinct semiprime, and the second of the form 3 \times q whe ...

. In Africa, Navarini became one of the most trusted assistants to

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (; 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (, ), was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of ...

and at some time also appointed as Chief of DELEASE (Detachment of the Italian Supreme Command in North Africa) until his repatriation on 14 October 1942. He returned to North Africa, at Rommel's direct request, for the

Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian Railway station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...

, once again commanding the XXI Corps. After the defeat of the

German-Italian Panzer Army The Panzer Army Africa ( German: ''Panzerarmee Afrika''; Italian: ''Gruppo Corazzato Africa'') was a joint German-Italian field army that fought in the North African campaign during World War II. It consisted of one German corps and three Itali ...

he remained in command of the surviving units until February 1943 when, following the inevitable loss of the North African front in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, he was evacuated to Italy. Posted as commanding general of the

XIX Army Corps The XIX Army Corps (German language, German: ''XIX. Armeekorps'') was an Panzer corps, armored corps of the Nazi Germany, German Wehrmacht between 1 July 1939 and 16 November 1940, when the unit was renamed Panzer Group 2 (German: ''Panzergrupp ...

in Campania, following 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 ...

Navarini managed to escape and reach Northern Italy, where he joined the forces of the newborn army of 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 ...

(RSI). Since 1944 he became Commander of the RSI Special Forces Training Unit. After the end of the war, in April 1945, he was subjected to an ''administrative'' process of political ''legal purge'' ("administrative trial") with the loss of his role and rank, but in the course of the same year such measures were revoked by ''legal decision'' of a superior Court of Justice ("judicial trial").

Sources

Bibliography

* ''The Trail of the Fox'' (1977), a biography of

, reissued 1999 in Wordsworth Military Library, * Greene, Jack & Massignani, Alessandro: ''Rommel's North Africa Campaign: September 1940 – November 1942'', Da Capo Press, 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navarini, Enea 1885 births 1977 deaths Italian Army generals Italian military personnel of the Italo-Turkish War Italian military personnel of World War I Italian military personnel of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War Italian military personnel of World War II People of the Italian Social Republic