Nicola Bellomo (2 February 1881 in

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

– 11 September 1945 in Island of

Nisida Nisida is a volcanic islet of the Flegrean Islands archipelago, in southern Italy. It lies at a very short distance from Cape Posillipo, just north of Naples; it is now connected to the mainland by a stone bridge. The islet is almost circular, wi ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy) was a general in the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

during

World War II 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 opposin ...

. He was tried for war crimes at a

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

for the murder of a British

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

. He was found guilty. He was one of the few Italian commissioned officers prosecuted for war crimes during World War II, and the only one to be executed by a British-controlled court.

Career

Military service

Bellomo was a career officer in the Italian Army from the regular class of the Italian

Military Academy of Modena The Military Academy of Modena ( it, Accademia militare di Modena) is a military university in Modena, northern Italy. Located in the Palazzo Ducale in the historic center of the city, it was the first such military institution to be created in ...

. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he held the rank of

Artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

Captain and during that war he was awarded his first Italian

Silver Medal of Military Valor The Silver Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia d'argento al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, ...

for gallantry in action. He gave up active duty in 1936, but was reactivated in 1941, when he was assigned as commander of the XII MVSN Zone, and Bari province.

Shooting of prisoners

On 30 November 1941 two British prisoners of war, Captain George Playne of the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the A ...

and Lieutenant Roy Cooke escaped from Torre Tresca POW detention camp but were recaptured a few hours later. According to the results of the Italian Army investigation board, Bellomo was already waiting for them when they arrived back at the camp. He wanted to personally investigate the course of events leading to their escape, and asked the two British officers to show him the location from which they had launched their plan. Again, the two British prisoners took their chances to escape, although this time Italian sentries opened fire, killing Captain Playne and wounding Lieutenant Cooke. The investigation into the incident revealed no misconduct on Bellomo's part.

1943 armistice

On 9 September 1943, a day after the

Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

, Bellomo formed a makeshift Italian force to counterattack German forces that tried to occupy the port of

. Bellomo was wounded, but the action was successful; the Italians forced the Germans to retreat, leaving the port facilities intact. This allowed the safe and undisturbed landing of British troops on 22 September 1943 under Italian Army protection. A British force quickly moved north to

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

, which they took on 27 September. By the end of the month, the entire

region and most of southern Italy had been secured by Allied forces.

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

said, "September was a handful month for allied armies." In the meantime, Bellomo kept his position as commander of the XII MVSN Zone in Bari. Shortly afterward, he was detained and arrested by the British military authority and charged with murder and attempted murder for his actions in the shooting of the two British POWs.

War crimes trial

On 28 January 1944 Bellomo was placed under arrest by the British Military Police and charged with "shooting or ordering to shoot two British officers, causing the death of one of them and the wounding of the other one." Lieutenant Cooke, the surviving prisoner, filed a report against Bellomo on 5 June 1945. In the following weeks, Bellomo was moved around several Allied POW camps, namely in Grumo Appula, Padula and Afragola. On 14 July 1945 Bellomo received formal communication of his trial. The

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

took place on 28 July 1945 and within an hour he was sentenced to death. Bellomo, who refused to ask for pardon, was executed by a firing squad on the Island of Nisida north of Naples on 11 September 1945. At that time, the island was occupied by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and used as a prison facility. His execution has been the cause of some controversy in Italy; some have claimed that Bellomo's court martial operated on insufficient evidence and contradictory statements, and therefore the sentence and the execution were unfair. Others believe that the British Court was influenced by "many Bellomo's Italian foes, e.g.: the Italian Army that almost everywhere collapsed, instead Bellomo successfully defended the Bari Harbour attacked by the German Forces, the Italian AntiFascist front marginalized by a general too close with the Crown and of course the nostalgics of fascism. At least these forces totally isolated the general during the trial."

Posthumous award

In 1951, the new Italian Government posthumously awarded Bellomo his second Italian

for his role in the defense of the seaport of Bari.

Honors and awards

References

* "Italy Betrayed", New York 1966, Peter Tompkins. * “Closing the ring” The second World War, vol.5. Winston Churchill {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellomo, Nicola 1881 births 1945 deaths People from Bari Italian military personnel of World War II 20th-century executions by the United Kingdom Italian generals Executed Italian people Italian military personnel of World War I Italian people convicted of war crimes People executed by the British military by firing squad People executed for war crimes People who were court-martialed