Enea Navarini (

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. ...

1 April 1885 -

Merano Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and ''comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier ...

22 March 1977) was an Italian general who served during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

from 1940 to 1943.

Biography

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

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdoms of Italy and G ...

. After the

German invasion of Greece The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...

, Navarini was transferred to the North African front where he assumed command of the XXI Army Corps. In Africa, Navarini became one of the most trusted assistants to Erwin Rommel 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 halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented th ...

, once again commanding the XXI Corps. After the defeat of the German-Italian Panzer Army he remained in command of the surviving units until February 1943 when, following the inevitable loss of the North African front in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

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

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

in Campania, following the Armistice of Cassibile Navarini managed to escape and reach Northern Italy, where he joined the forces of the newborn army of the Italian Social Republic (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 Erwin Rommel , 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 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 Italian Social Republic