Lorenzo "Renzo" Dalmazzo was an Italian

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 th ...

and

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

and

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

commander 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Military career

On 3 June 1918, he received the Knight's Military Order of Italy (5th Class). He served in the colony of

Italian Somaliland Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centu ...

in 1925–1926 and in

Italian East Africa Italian East Africa ( it, Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the S ...

in 1936, where he led the

Italian 2nd Eritrean Division The Italian 2nd Eritrean Division, also known as the Second Eritrean Division or II Division Indigini (Native), was an Italian Infantry division used in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in 1935. It was formed from the Eritrean Ascari of the Bat ...

during the

Second Italo-Ethiopian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy and Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethio ...

. On 24 May 1937, he received the Officer's Military Order of Italy (4th Class). He returned to Italy and became commander of the 2nd Cavalry Division "Emanuele Filiberto Testa di Ferro". After the outbreak of

he commanded the XXI Corps in the Western Desert Campaign in 1939–1940. He commanded the VI Corps in occupied Yugoslavia in 1940–1942, where he was instrumental in negotiating collaboration agreements with the

Chetniks The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royali ...

. On 24 December 1942, he received the Commander's Military Order of Italy (3rd Class). He then served in Albania in 1943 as commander of the 9th Army. In March 1943 he negotiated an agreement with Ali Këlcyra of the

Balli Kombëtar The Balli Kombëtar (literally ''National Front''), known as Balli, was an Albanian nationalist, collaborationist and anti-communist resistance movement during the Second World War. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and by Midhat Frashëri. The move ...

for their assistance in suppressing the communist resistance. The Dalmazzo–Këlcyra Agreement has been controversial in Albanian historiography. He was taken prisoner of war by the Germans in 1943 when Italy capitulated to the Allies. He died in 1959.

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References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalmazzo, Lorenzo 1886 births 1959 deaths Military personnel from Turin Italian generals Italian fascists Italian military personnel of World War II Italian prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Recipients of the Military Order of Italy