[Folgore1]

Hello all doe anyone here know how to go about and acquire military records from the Italian government. My grandfather served in Africa in WWII until his capture in July 1942. He was a POW aboard the HMS Laconia that was sunk by U156 on September 12th, 1942 and was rescued by a German Uboat (not sure if it was U156) and then later returned to Italy to assist in the defense of Italy prior to the Allied Invasion.

[arturolorioli]

Folgore1, on 18 January 2012 - 03:53 PM, said:

Hello all doe anyone here know how to go about and acquire military records from the Italian government. My grandfather served in Africa in WWII until his capture in July 1942. He was a POW aboard the HMS Laconia that was sunk by U156 on September 12th, 1942 and was rescued by a German Uboat (not sure if it was U156) and then later returned to Italy to assist in the defense of Italy prior to the Allied Invasion.

Military records about units, operations, logistics, HQs etc are not available unless you come to Roma, ask for a reserecher admittance to the Archives and start digging among the dusty folders.

If you are looking for your grandfather *personal* military records, you will have to follow this procedure :

If he was an NCO or private, send a request to the Army Documentation Center closer to his birthplace, providing the necessary informations (see below) and requesting for a copy of the "Foglio matricolare" (i.e. the personal document booklet that every italian soldier had, listing his status, service, medals, campaigns etc). You can find a list of the Italian Army Documentation Centers at http://www.esercito....ne/default.aspx

Enclosed please find a copy of the request translated in italian.

************************************

Centro Documentale di (CITY)
Esercito Italiano
(ADDRESS)

Egregi signori,
il sottoscritto (YOUR NAME), residente in (YOUR ADDRESS), richiede il rilascio di copia del foglio matricolare di mio nonno (GRANDFATHER'S NAME), nato a (GRANDFATHER'S BIRTHPLACE) provincia di (PROVINCE) in data (GRANDFATHER'S BIRTHDATE), che ha prestato servizio nell'Esercito Italiano durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale (inquadrato nel NAME OF YOUR GRANDFATER'S UNIT).

Cordiali Saluti
(YOUR NAME, ADDRESS AND SIGNATURE)

*****

English translation :
Dear sirs,
the requestant (YOUR NAME), living in (YOUR ADDRESS), requests a copy of the "foglio matricolare" of my grandfather (GRANDFATHER'NAME), born in (GRANDFATHER'S BIRTPLACE) district of (PROVINCE) in date (GRANDFATHER'S BIRTHDATE), that served in the Italian Army during WW2 (as part of NAME OF YOUR GRANDFATER'S UNIT).

********

The Italian Army, through its documental centers, usually tries to assist as much as possible in this sort of researches, even if in most cases it will take quite a lot of time.

A small cost should be charged (about 25 cents per page), but it is usually not requested to foreigners.

To go through the process, it is essential that you do know the exact name and birthplace of your grandfather, otherwise it will be a no-go from the beginning, as you will not be able to identify the Documental Center that have your grandfather's records.

If you do not have some of the other informations, just write "in data ignota" (unknown birthdate) or do not add the unit name (but both omissions will make the research noticeably longer and more difficult).

If he was an officer, you will have to follow a different procedure, in case just let me know and I will provide the necessary details.