Rodolfo Torresan ( Padua, 1 November 1887 – Wöllstein, 22 November 1944) was an Italian general during World War II. He was head of the Services Office at the General Staff of the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...

for most of the war.

Biography

He was born in Padua on November 1, 1887. After volunteering in the

, he was assigned to the 14th Infantry Regiment and in 1907 he began to attend the Royal Military Academy of Infantry and Cavalry in

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

as officer cadet, graduating with the rank of infantry

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

on 12 October 1908, assigned to the 57th Infantry Regiment "Abruzzi". After promotion to lieutenant, with the outbreak of the Italo-Turkish War in 1911 he left for Libya, fighting in Cyrenaica, where he distinguished himself in the battle of the Two Palms (March 3, 1912), and then participating in the conquest of the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...

, earning a Bronze Medal of Military Valor for his participation in the landing in Rhodes and in the action on Psithos (10 May 1912). He was repatriated in December 1912. He participated in the First World War, reaching the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in 1915 and of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 1917. He was wounded while leading a

bayonet charge A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustra ...

on Austro-Hungarian positions on the hill of Santa Lucia, near Tolmin, for which he was awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor. From 10 March to 31 December 1917 he was in command of the 3rd Battalion of the 253rd Infantry Regiment, receiving another Silver Medal of Military Valor for his behaviour at the head of his troops in the fighting near Gorizia. After the end of the war, in 1919, he was sent again to Libya, remaining there until 1920. He was then made commander of the 2nd Battalion to the 313rd Infantry Regiment (from 1 April 1922 to 15 October 1923) and then assigned to the 55th Infantry Regiment. After promotion to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

on 14 August 1926, he attended a staff officer course at the Army School of War from 1926 to 1929. After a period at the staff of the Verona Army Corps, he became

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of the 9th Infantry Division Pasubio, stationed in Verona, and from 1 January 1933 was assigned to the command of the Staff Officer corps at the Ministry of War in Rome. In 1935 he became Chief of Staff of the

21st Infantry Division Granatieri di Sardegna First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

, remaining there until the following 16 September. After promotion to colonel on 1 January 1936, he commanded the 231st Infantry Regiment "Avellino" until 15 October 1937, when he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army Corps of Bolzano, with headquarters in Meran, contribution to the organization and mobilization of the units of the

Corpo Truppe Volontarie The Corps of Volunteer Troops ( it, Corpo Truppe Volontarie, CTV) was a Fascist Italian expeditionary force of military volunteers, which was sent to Spain to support the Nationalist forces under General Francisco Franco against the Spanish R ...

that would fight in the Spanish Civil War. For this, on 31 July 1939 he was awarded the honor of Knight of the Military Order of Savoy. In 1939 he became head of the Services Office at the Army General Staff, a post he held for nearly four years, after Italy's entry into World War II (10 June 1940) and promotion to brigadier general (January 1, 1941) and major general (November 5, 1942). From 15 May 1943 he replaced General Adolfo Naldi at the command of the

29th Infantry Division Piemonte 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

stationed in

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, in occupied Greece. Following the

Armistice of Cassibile 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 Brig ...

, he was captured by the Germans at his headquarters in Patras on 9 September 1943; he was reportedly arrested in his bathroom, feeling sick after a

banquet A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...

that had been attended by Italian and German officers on the previous evening. He was sent to Oflag 64/Z in

Schokken Skoki (german: Schokken) is a town in Poland, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Wągrowiec County, with 3,779 inhabitants (December 2004). It is located about 40 km north of Poznań. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called G ...

, Poland, where he arrived on October 1. During his captivity he repeatedly refused proposals to join the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...

; his health quickly deteriorated and on 16 October he was hospitalized in the infirmary of Wöllstein, where his illness kept worsening until he died on the night of 22 November 1944. He was buried in the Salka cemetery, near a small church and the woods adjacent to the camp itself, after a solemn

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

ceremony. For having kept to his oath and refusing to collaborate with the Nazis and Fascists, at the cost of his life, he was posthumously awarded a third silver medal of military valor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torresan, Rodolfo 1887 births 1944 deaths Italian military personnel of World War I Italian military personnel killed in World War II Italian generals Italian military personnel of the Italo-Turkish War Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor Italian prisoners of war in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany