General Mario Carloni (27 December 1894 – 30 January 1962) was an Italian soldier who fought in

World War I 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 ...

and

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 ...

. He started his career in 1912 joining as a volunteer in the 5th Reg. of

Bersaglieri The Bersaglieri, singular Bersagliere, (, "sharpshooter") are a troop of marksmen in the Italian Army's infantry corps. They were originally created by General Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Ar ...

Senigallia Senigallia (or Sinigaglia in Old Italian; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and port town on Italy's Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast. It is situated in the province of Ancona, in the Italian region of Marche, and lies approximately 30 kilometres nor ...

. In 1940 he reached the rank of colonel. During the Second World War he fought in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and in the Italian Campaign. His son Bruno died on the Russian Front in 1942. Following the Italian Armistice in 1943, after a brief time imprisoned by the Germans, he joined

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his overthrow in 194 ...

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 ...

and was appointed as commander of the 4th "Monte Rosa" Alpine Division. In December 1944 he led the German and Italian RSI troops in the

battle of Garfagnana The Battle of Garfagnana (), known to the Germans as Operation Winter Storm (''Unternehmen Wintergewitter'') and nicknamed the "Christmas Offensive" (Italian: ''Offensiva di Natale''), was a successful Axis offensive against American forces on ...

defeating the 92nd US " Buffalo" Division. On 1 March 1945 he was promoted to the rank of general of division and assigned to the 1st Division "Italia". On 29 April he surrendered to the

Brazilian Expeditionary Force The Brazilian Expeditionary Force (, FEB), nicknamed (literally "the Smoking Snakes"), was a military division of the Brazilian Army and Air Force that fought as part of Allied forces in the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II. It numbere ...

after the battle of Collecchio. In 1946, Carloni was prosecuted by the U.S. Army for the murder of Lieutenant Alfred Lyth, an American pilot killed by Monte Rosa soldiers, after his capture. He was acquitted, but was held in Italian custody at Forte Boccea in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Carloni was released without any charges on 19 May 1951, but was demoted in rank to Colonel, and stripped of all his awards given to him by the

between 1943 and 1945.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carloni, Mario 1894 births 1962 deaths Italian Army generals Italian fascists Italian military personnel of World War I Royal Italian Army personnel of World War II People of the Italian Social Republic Italian prisoners of war in World War II Prisoners and detainees of Italy People indicted for war crimes People acquitted of international crimes World War II prisoners of war held by the United States