After embarking on a military career at the end of the nineteenth century, he participated in the clashes of the First World War, where from June 4, 1915, to October 29, 1915, he obtained command of the 1st Infantry Division as a general. In 1916 he obtained command of the 35th Division, taking possession of it at 3.30 pm on May 15 of that year near Malga Zolle, on the southern side of Monte Toraro, precisely on the occasion of the start of the Austrian offensive on the highlands. He was in command of the Italian expeditionary force in Macedonia from August 1916 to June 1917.
From 1918, he was promoted to general of the army corps, he obtained the command of the XXIII Corps with specifically divisions 28 and 61, which during the Second Battle of the Piave River operated on the right bank of the Piave from Croce di Piave to the sea. On November 2, 1918, he became governor of Trieste and Venezia Giulia, keeping the post until July 1919.
At the end of the First World War, he obtained the appointment as general commander of the Carabinieri on 25 August 1919, remaining in office until 29 October 1921 .
In politics an active exponent of the traditional liberal currents, he was a personality with a gruff trait, even haughty in the opinion of foreign observers (often prejudicedly hostile, or prejudiced, for their own interests) not accustomed to the "Piedmontese" character, but considered a good administrator and a skilled mediator, as proved in Macedonia and Venezia Giulia.[2]
Edoardo Schott, war correspondent in Thessaloniki called him "a haughty Italian of high Piedmontese nobility".[3]
In the battle of Misrata, on 8 July 1912, as commander of the right wing of the troops of the mixed Bragata (50 infantry and mountain battery), he was able to impart wise directives to the commanders of the dependent units, in order to be able to achieve the objective assigned to the regiment in the prescribed time, despite the fierce resistance opposed to him by the enemy, the difficulties of time and connection, and the losses suffered. Even in the fight in Gheran on 20 July 1912 he knew how to give wise dispositions and behaved like a brave one.
After having directed a calm and daring retreat, he held firm, with his valiant impulse, on the positions entrusted to him to resist to the bitter end, his troops although decimated by very violent bombardments and repelled the numerous and strong attacks of the enemy inflicting huge losses. Campomolon, May 18–19 - Novegno, June 1–10, 1916. ".
Commander of an Army Corps operating in a very delicate sector due to the particular nature of the terrain and the special defensive function due to him, he knew, with high competence, with tireless alacrity, with a fervent feeling of love for his country, to prepare him for supreme tests, in the battle of the Piave, after nine days of heroic resistance, lead it to victory, moving immediately afterwards to the reconquest of a large territory and thus returning to the homeland a strip of land trampled on by the enemy and widely expanding the defenses of Venice. Basso Piave, November 8, 1917 - July 6, 1918.
Commander of a group of corps from the Isonzo to the Piave I explain the maximum activity to overcome the very serious crisis. He personally and boldly threw himself into the fray at the head of our rearguards to hold back the enemy; admirable example of value to all dependent troops .. Isonzo-Piave, October–November 1917. Division commander in Macedonia, he showed excellent military qualities in personally taking care of the defensive situation of the sector entrusted to him, contemptuous of any danger, in numerous reconnaissance and inspections on the front lines, even during enemy bombings. Not slightly injured, he did not give up the command that had been entrusted to him, not taking care of himself, but only of the fulfillment of his duty. Monastir (Macedonia) November–December 1916.
^Raoul Pupo: Victory without peace , Editori Laterza, 2014
^Entrepreneur, journalist but above all political activist. Coming from a family of Jewish origins from Romania, he was in those years the main leader of the Giuliana "Dsi" (Social Democracy Irredent) of the Mazzinian area, in particular of the party's "left" current. Raoul Pupo: Victory without peace, Editori Laterza, 2014.
Kingdom of Italy
Royal Italian Army
