Unatù Endisciau was an Ethiopian soldier who served in the

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was one of only two colonial subjects to be awarded the

Gold Medal of Military Valour The Gold Medal of Military Valor () is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers. The face of the medal displayed the profile o ...

, Italy's highest award for bravery. Unatù served as a Muntaz in the LXXII

Zaptié Zaptié was the designation given to locally raised gendarmerie units in the Italian colonies of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica (later Italian Libya), Eritrea and Somaliland between 1888 and 1943. Origins and duties The word "zaptié" is derived from th ...

Corps. Following the surrender of the

Debra Tabor Debre Tabor (, lit. "Mount Tabor") is a town and woreda in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, about 100 kilometers southeast of Gondar and 50 kilometers east of Lake Tana, this historic town has a lati ...

garrison, Endisciau and some other colonial soldiers refused to surrender their battalion's banner and instead attempted to reach Italian lines at Kulkaber 106 kilometres away; Endisciau led the group there. Along the way, they were harassed by local guerrillas supporting the Allies and Endisciau was briefly captured by a guerrilla leader but escaped. As they reached Kulkaber, Endisciau was wounded when attempting to cross an Italian minefield; he was taken to the infirmary after insisting that his comrades deliver the banner. He died shortly thereafter, declaring that he was glad to reach Italian lines and see his banner remain in Italian hands.

References

Year of birth missing 1941 deaths Italian military personnel killed in World War II Ethiopian military personnel killed in action Ethiopian collaborators with Fascist Italy Place of birth missing Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor {{Ethiopia-mil-bio-stub