Giacomo Carboni (29 April 1889 – 2 December 1973) was an Italian general who was the commander of ''Corpo d'armata motocorazzato'' deployed around Rome in the early days of September 1943.

Life and career

Born in

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

he joined the Modena Military Academy where he was commissioned Sottotenente. Then he fought in the Libyan war. During World War I he was an officer of the

Alpini The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operatio ...

. In 1936–37 he was commander of the 81st infantry regiment during the

Second Italo-Abyssinian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...

, in 1939 he was Vice Commander of Cacciatori delle Alpi division. From September 1939 to June 1940 he was the chief of SIM. As chief of the Italian military secret service he wrote a series of reports to Mussolini wherein the Italian preparation to the war was described as inadequate. Carboni was dismissed from his post at SIM and was made commander of the Modena Military Academy. From December 1941 until November 1942, he was commander of the 20 Infantry Division Friuli and in the first half of 1943, he led the VII Army Corps during the Italian occupation of Corsica.

Role in 1943

In the eve of the 25 July coup General Ambrosio named Carboni as head of the ''Corpo d'armata motocorazzato'' in charge of the defense of Rome against the Germans and he cooperated in the overthrow of Mussolini. In the days between 2 July and 8 September he was also named head of the SIM again and he ordered the arrest of many fascists loyal to Mussolini. In the night of 7 September he hosted US general

Maxwell D. Taylor Maxwell Davenport Taylor (August 26, 1901 – April 19, 1987) was a senior United States Army officer and diplomat of the mid-20th century. He served with distinction in World War II, most notably as commander of the 101st Airborne Division, ni ...

and declared to the US counterpart his impossibility to defend Rome against the Germans due to the weakness of Italian forces. Despite the fact that the divisions in his command were the most modern and largely superior in numbers in the night of 8 September he did not attack the German forces and in the morning of the 9 September Carboni left his post as commander of the army corps and tried to reach the group around King Victor Emmanuel III and Pietro Badoglio. In the late hours of the 9 September he returned to Rome but his command was ineffective. After the liberation of Rome he was under investigation for his role in the failed defence of Rome but was acquitted.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carboni, Giacomo 1889 births 1973 deaths People from Reggio Emilia Italian Army generals Italian military personnel of World War I Italian military personnel of World War II