Giovanni Zanghieri (24 December 1881 – 5 October 1959) was an Italian Lieutenant 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 ...

from 1940 to 1943.

Biography

Zanghieri was Commandant of the Central Artillery School between 1934 and 1937 and then Director of the Military Chemical Services.
Between 9 September 1937 and 18 September 1939, he was commander of the 22nd Infantry Division "Cacciatori delle Alpi"
On 1 November 1940, he took command of the II Army Corps, which was stationed in

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

. In June 1942, Zanghieri and his II Corps were sent to the Russian front as part of the 8th Italian Army. Between 20 and 24 August if fought on the

Don river The Don () is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its basin is betwee ...

. On 12 December 1942, Soviet forces began

Operation Little Saturn Operation Little Saturn () was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in Don and Chir rivers region in German-occupied Soviet Union territory in 16–30 December 1942. The success of Operation Uranus, lau ...

and after resisting for a week, the Corps was forced to withdraw to

Voroshilovgrad Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

through the frozen steppe and suffered horrendous losses.
In 1943, the Corps withdrew further in the direction of

Gomel Gomel (, ) or Homyel (, ) is a city in south-eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Gomel Region and Gomel District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it is the List of cities and largest ...

, pursued by Soviet Cavalry. On 15 February 1943, Zanghieri was relieved of command and returned to Italy.

Kurt von Tippelskirch Kurt Oskar Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm von Tippelskirch (9 October 1891 – 10 May 1957) was a German general during World War II who commanded several armies and Army Group Vistula. He surrendered to the United States Army on 2 May 1945. Tippelskir ...

, German liaison officer to the Italian 8th Army, didn't have a very high opinion of Zanghieri. He regarded him as "completely useless and insignificant".The Italian War on the Eastern Front, 1941–1943: Operations, Myths and Memories, page 221 by Bastian Matteo Scianna
/ref> He remained without command until 15 July 1943 when he became commander of the XVII Army Corps, which defended the coast of

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

.
His Corps was disarmed by the Germans in September 1943.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zanghieri, Giovanni 1881 births 1959 deaths Italian Army generals Italian military personnel of World War II