Mario Caracciolo, Baron of Feroleto (

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, 26 February 1880 –

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, 21 December 1954) was an Italian general during

World War II 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

Caracciolo began his military career as an artillery Second Lieutenant in 1899, attending the War School of the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army () (RE) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfredo Fanti signed a decree c ...

and serving as a staff officer at the command of the General Staff Officer Corps, then at the command of the "Novara" Infantry Brigade and later at the command of the IX Corps. He participated in the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

with the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and later fought in 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 ...

as commander of a siege artillery group. After promotion to

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

he commanded the 13th Artillery Regiment for six years. After promotion to Major General, in 1934 he became commander of the 22nd Infantry Division Cacciatori delle Alpi and from 1935 to 1936 he commanded the 1st Cavalry Division Eugenio di Savoia. He was then appointed inspector of mobilization in

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and in 1938 he became commander of the XXI Army Corps in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. On 1 January 1940 he was appointed Superior Inspector of Technical Services. From 10 December 1940 to 15 April 1941 he commanded the Fourth Army in

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and

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, and from April until 5 September 1941 he commanded the Fifth Army in Libya. On 5 September the Fifth Army was dissolved, but it was reformed in Italy in April 1942, with Caracciolo again in command. The new Fifth Army had its headquarters in

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and later in

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, and was tasked with local and coastal defense in

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and

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. Caracciolo was still in command of the Fifth Army when 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 ...

was announced on 8 September 1943. He tried to organize a resistance against German attacks during

Operation Achse Operation Achse (), originally called Operation Alaric (), was the codename for the German operation to forcibly disarm the Italian armed forces after Italy's armistice with the Allies on 3 September 1943. Several German divisions had en ...

, but his army gradually disintegrated as several of his subordinates, such as the garrison commanders in Florence, Massa and

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, handed over their cities to the Germans without resistance. On 12 September Caracciolo, who had been personally involved in the fighting, formally dissolved his Army and then went into hiding in

, where he made contact with the Fronte Militare Clandestino, a Resistance network composed of former Army officers. The Germans placed a bounty of 20,000 lire on his head, and in January 1944 he was arrested by the Special Police Detachment of Pietro Koch, handed over to the SS, and imprisoned in

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and

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, where he was tried by 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 ...

’s Special Tribunal and sentenced to death. The sentence was however reduced to a fifteen-year prison term as Caracciolo was a war invalid. He was liberated by the partisans on 25 April 1945. After the war he published several books (''E poi? La tragedia dell’Esercito'', in 1945; ''Tradimento italiano o tedesco?'', in 1946; ''Le sette carceri di un generale'', in 1948; ''L'ultima vicenda della V Armata'', posthumous) and died in Rome in 1954.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caracciolo di Feroleto, Mario 1880 births 1954 deaths Italian Army generals Italian military personnel of World War I Italian military personnel of World War II House of Caracciolo