Taddeo Orlando (

Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...

, 23 June 1885 –

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, 1 September 1950) was an Italian general who served in the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

Biography

Orlando was born in Gaeta on June 23, 1885. He attended the Military College of the Nunziatella in

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 ...

and then the Royal Military Academy of Artillery and Engineers in Turin. He graduated as Second Lieutenant in 1906 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1908, and took part in the

(1911–1912), where he distinguished himself and was decorated with a

Bronze Medal of Military Valour The Bronze Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia di bronzo al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. It was established by Charles Albert of Sardinia on 26 March 1833, along with the higher ranking Gold and Silver Medals for Military ...

. He then attended the Army School of War from 1912 to 1914 and later participated in

serving first in an artillery battery and later in the General Staff. In October 1918 he was promoted 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 ...

; during the war he was awarded a

Silver Medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

and a second Bronze Medal of Military Valour. In 1919 he was transferred to the General Staff of the Royal Army where he also held the post of division chief director. On November 20, 1930, he was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

, and in 1936 he was stationed in

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

as artillery commander. On 1 July 1937 he was promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

and briefly served at the Ministry of Italian Africa; in September of the same year he assumed command of the artillery of the XX Army Corps, stationed in Libya. Between June 1938 and November 1939 he was chief of staff of the Third Army, and then Deputy Chief of Staff for operations at the General Staff of the Royal Italian Army. On 1 January 1940 he was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and on 1 April he assumed the position of commander of the 21st Infantry Division Granatieri di Sardegna. Following the outbreak of 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 opposin ...

he participated in the

Axis invasion of Yugoslavia An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

and subsequently led the repression of partisan activity in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, for which he was later included in the CROWCASS list as a war criminal wanted by

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. He remained in command of the division until November 13, 1942, when he was repatriated and became commander of the XXXI Army Corps, with headquarters in

Catanzaro Catanzaro (, or ; scn, label= Catanzarese, Catanzaru ; , or , ''Katastaríoi Lokrói''; ; la, Catacium), also known as the "City of the two Seas", is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its p ...

. On February 8, 1943, Orlando was sent to Tunisia to take command of the XX Army Corps, part of the 1st Army of General

Giovanni Messe Giovanni Messe (10 December 1883 – 18 December 1968) was an Italian field marshal and politician. In the Second World War, he was captured in Tunisia, but made chief of staff of the Italian Co-belligerent Army after the armistice of Septemb ...

, and was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

for war merit on May 13 of the same year. After the surrender of the Axis forces in North Africa, he was transferred to England as a prisoner of war. In November 1943 Orlando, along with Messe and General Paolo Berardi, was released and repatriated at the request of the "

Kingdom of the South The Kingdom of the South (Italian: ''Regno del Sud'') is the term used in Italian historiography to identify that part of southern Italy controlled by the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories (AMGOT) in the latter part of World Wa ...

", now co-belligerent with the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, and on 16 November he was appointed Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of War in the first Badoglio Government, a position he held until February 12, 1944, when he was appointed Minister of War, which he continued toh old during the second Badoglio cabinet, until June 18, 1944. After the government fell, on July 20, 1944, he assumed the position of Commander General of the

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

Corps. He left that post on March 6, 1945, following the controversy that arose over the flight of General

Mario Roatta Mario Roatta (2 February 1887 – 7 January 1968) was an Italian general. After serving in World War I he rose to command the Corpo Truppe Volontarie which assisted Francisco Franco's force during the Spanish Civil War. He was the Deputy Chief of ...

, his former superior in Slovenia in 1942, and the request presented by the Yugoslav government for his extradition in relation to alleged war crimes committed by him in Slovenia.Amedeo Osti Guerrazzi, ''The Italian Army in Slovenia. Strategies of Antipartisan Repression, 1941-1943'', p. 151 He later held the position of Secretary General of the Ministry of Defense. In 1946 he published his memoirs, ''Vittoria di un popolo'', starting with the

Tunisian campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. The ...

, followed by captivity in Great Britain and later the reconstruction of the Italian army.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orlando, Taddeo 1885 births 1950 deaths Italian generals Italian military personnel of World War I Italian military personnel of World War II Italian Ministers of Defence Italian military personnel of the Italo-Turkish War Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Nunziatella Military School alumni