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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 September 1943. Later, he was an elected representative in the Italian Senate. He is considered by many to have been the best Italian general of the war.
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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 September 1943. Later, he was an elected representative in the Italian Senate. He is considered by many to have been the best Italian general of the war.
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== Early life and career == Messe was born in Mesagne, in the Province of Brindisi in the Apulia region of Italy on 10 December 1883. Giovanni Messe pursued a military career in 1901. He saw action in the Italian conquest of Libya and in the First World War. During this conflict, he gave an important contribution to the creation and training of the "Arditi", elite infantry units, and with the rank of maggiore was the commander of the IX Nono Reparto Arditi that fought in the zone of Monte Grappa. Emerging considerably decorated from these conflicts, he became aide-de-camp to King Victor Emmanuel III, holding this post from 1923 to 1927. From this date until 1935, Messe commanded a unit of Bersaglieri and held the rank of colonel.
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He was sent to Libya as part of the Italo-Turkish War, he took part in several battles in the Tripoli area, where he earned his first decorations on the field, but was repatriated in September 1912 for health reasons. After recovering and being promoted to Lieutenant, in 1913 he was assigned to the III Battalion of the 84th Infantry Regiment stationed in Libya. Promoted to Captain on 17 November 1915, Messe was repatriated at the end of 1916 to participate in the First World War on the Italian front. During the First World War, Messe fought in the 57th Infantry Regiment and with several Arditi units, including the IX Assault Unit, which he commanded on Monte Grappa, distinguishing himself in the conquest of Col Moschin and being wounded twice. He was nominated for the Gold Medal for Military Valor, later commuted to the third Silver Medal for Military Valor for the feats of arms on Monte Asolone, and obtained two promotions (to Major and Lieutenant Colonel) for "war merit".
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After the war, on 3 June 1919 he was initiated into Freemasonry in the Michelangiolo Lodge in Florence in 1919, and was assigned to the Padua depot which he left to participate in the operations in Albania in 1920, when this nation tried to gain independence from the Italian Protectorate of Albania. Returning to Italy in 1923, he was appointed effective Aide-de-Camp to the sovereign Victor Emmanuel III after four years he was promoted to Colonel and appointed honorary Aide-de-Camp. Messe was given command of the 9th Bersaglieri Regiment, which he held until September 16, 1935, when he was given designated command of the 3rd Celere Brigade in Verona. After being promoted to Brigadier General, he obtained effective command of the Celere Brigade and was subsequently appointed Deputy Commander of the Cosseria Division, with which he participated in the final stages of the campaign in East Africa during the conquest of Ethiopia. He returned to Italy on September 28, 1936, and after briefly serving as inspector of the Celere troops, he was promoted to Division General and commander of the 3rd Celere Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" (the previous Celere Brigade, which had since been reorganized as a Division). In September 1935, Messe assumed command of a motorised brigade in Verona, with the rank of brigadier general. Following a successful period of service with this unit in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, Messe was promoted to rank of major general and he became commander of the 3rd Cavalry Division. In March 1939 Messe was appointed Deputy Commander of the Expeditionary Force in Albania and participated, in this capacity, in the operations for the conquest of the country, leading the column that landed in Durazzo, in the period immediately preceding the outbreak of the Second World War.
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From 15 November 1940, Messe commanded the Special Army Corps during the Greco-Italian War of late 1940 and early 1941 and achieved some success against Greek forces commanded by Alexandros Papagos. Before winter had even set in however, the Italian forces were forced onto the defensive, as Greek forces launched a counterattack and moved into parts of Italian controlled Albania. On April 4, Hitler told Mussolini that defending Albania was crucial for Operation Marita. In early April, Papagos launched new attacks toward Elbasan, Berat, and Valona, but despite some initial gains, the Greek advance slowed as Italian defences strengthened. Giovanni Messe launched an counterattack from South Albania occupying the Western coast of Greece, with the help of the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht), the Battle of Greece, ended in an Axis victory.
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Having returned to Italy in June, on 14 July 1941 Messe obtained command of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia, replacing the designated Commander in Vienna who had fallen ill, General Francesco Zingales , with whom he undertook the advance into Russia between the Dnieper and Don rivers. This Army Corps had approximately 62,000 men in three Divisions ("Celere", "Pasubio" and "Torino", the last ones on foot despite their qualification as "motor transportable") and the 63rd CC.NN. Assault Legion "Tagliamento", approximately 2,000 men under the command of the consul Niccolò Nicchiarelli. Overall, Messe could count on 17 Rifle Battalions (12 Infantry, 3 Motorcyclist Bersaglieti, 2 Blackshirts), 7 Battalions of accompanying weapons, a Battalion of Sappers, 14 Independent Companies, 10 Cavalry Squadrons (Regiments "Savoia Cavalleria" and "Lancieri di Novara"), 4 Regiments of almost useless CV33 pompously defined by the regime as tanks, in reality the equivalent of the British Bren carriers, 24 Artillery Groups, 10 Engineer Battalions, a Chemical Battalion and 12 Carabinieri Sections ; a contingent of the Royal Air Force was also deployed (51 fighters, 22 reconnaissance aircraft and 10 Savoia-Marchetti SM81 transport trimotors, the latter often representing a means of quickly supplying the troops at the front by parachute dropping materials). The overall strength was therefore approximately between 50,000 and 60,000 troops, 2,900 officers, 4,600 quadrupeds, 220 artillery pieces and 5,500 vehicles, many of which were requisitioned from public transport companies. The insufficiency of the equipment and means of the Italian Royal Army was immediately evident, the personal armament consisted of the dated but robust Carcano Mod. 91 rifle, the Breda Mod. 37 heavy machine gun and the Mortaio da 81 Model 35 ; On the other hand, the Breda Mod. 30 and Breda Mod. 5C machine guns were mediocre and easily jammed, the Brixia Model 35 45 mm mortars fired bombs that were too light, and the hand grenades with fuses that were ineffective in snow and mud. Individual automatic weapons comparable to the PPŠ-41 or the MP 40 were completely lacking. The Infantry lacked real anti-tank guns and the 47/32 Model 1935, an improvised flanking gun in the anti-tank role, was useless against Soviet T-34s. The Army Corps' winter equipments, as Messe complained, was insufficient and, if during the first winter of the war the CSIR was supplied in time with adequate woolen clothing which, although made of recycled wool of lower quality than new, was in such quantity as to equal the CSIR's winter clothing coverage to that of the Germans, the ARMIR instead had to face the second winter without the practical padded coats used by allies and enemies, without white overalls suitable for camouflaging with the environment (they were distributed only to the "Monte Cervino" Alpine Ski Battalion ) and without adequate footwear: the nailed boots, unsuitable for mud and snow, could not be padded with additional socks and the nails encouraged the formation of ice. During the first winter, cases of frostbite were relatively few because the infantrymen spent the nights in huts or bunkers. However, Messe immediately wrote that the troops needed footwear similar to valenki , that is, high, sturdy felt boots of easy construction. But the lack of flexibility of the commands and, probably, the interests of the suppliers, meant that the production of such footwear was not even taken into consideration and Rome only authorised the purchase of Russian pieces locally.
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The troops led by Messe immediately demonstrated their value, but also their insufficient supply of materials. Called to operate together with the German forces intent on cutting off the road to the Soviet retreat, on 10 August the vanguard of the "Pasubio" , under the command of Colonel Epifanio Chiaramonti, advanced on Voznesensk and then towards Pokrovka, despite the bad weather that blocked the rest of the Division. Marching along the right bank of the Bug in a south-east direction to cut off the Russians' retreat towards the strategic city of Nikolaev , the "Chiaramonti Column" on 11 August came into contact with the enemy at the height of Yasnaja Poljana, where it had a heavy firefight with the Soviets who ultimately retreated.The battle between the Dniester and Bug river was still ongoing when, on 14 August, the command of Army Group South decided to assign the Italian troops directly to von Kleist's Panzer Group to replace the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" at Chigirin and other garrisons along the Dnieper in the following days (subsequently participating in the brief struggle for the Dnepropetrovsk bridgehead). This decision had significant consequences for the CSIR, the Panzer Army was the spearhead of Army Group South and so the Italian Expeditionary Force found itself very close to the heart of the fighting. This demonstrated that the Germans did not have sufficient Fast Infantry Units and, therefore, were forced to request Italian support: Messe was proud to be able to take part in the main battles, but on the other hand he became aware that from now on there would be the concrete risk of participating in missions beyond his forces. He nevertheless joined a meeting with General von Kleist, whose objective was to join up with General Heinz Guderian's 2nd Panzer Army beyond the Dnepr and thus complete the encirclement of the Russian lines near Kiev. The lack of motorized vehicles did not allow the Italians to advance compactly and quickly, so at the beginning only the "Pasubio" advanced towards the Dnepr together with the III Army Corps of the German 17th Army , covering its left flank and leaving the Allied units free to advance further towards the east. The command of the Expeditionary Corps tried in every way to lead the " Celere " and the " Torino " up to the Dnepr, given that the German command urgently required these forces; moreover, the desire to show off the potential of the Royal Army was important for the Italian officers, but the two Divisions followed the "Pasubio" only with great difficulty. On August 29 Mussolini reached Uman' by plane, where he reviewed the Italian units. On this occasion Messe had a meeting with the Duce where he reported on the good behaviour of the troops and requested the sending of further vehicles, complaining about the shortage of means and materials for the winter. The Duce promised that he would push the Germans to respect the agreements: in fact an agreement had been stipulated according to which the Wehrmacht committed to supply the CSIR with its logistical needs, all the fuel requirements and part of the medical equipment, food and material for war reinforcement. Up until the "battle of the two rivers" everything had gone according to the agreements, but during the transfer towards the Dnepr the fuel supply had been halved. Mindful of the thousands of cases of frostbite among troops in Albania and Greece that Messe had witnessed, and probably rightly expecting little help from his German allies for his men against the Russian winter, he hired Romanian "traffickers", activated experienced NCOs from the Subsistence Department and purchased horses, carts, sleds, furs and a few motor vehicles on the black market in Kingdom of Romania. On 6 September, General Mario Marazzani's 3rd Celere Division finally reached the "Pasubio" in front of the Dnepr and the "Torino" arrived the following week, after having marched uninterruptedly for 1,300 kilometres. Finally reunited, the CSIR took up positions along the Front, on a stretch of about 100 kilometres from the confluence of the Vorskla to the Dnepropetrovsk bridgehead, which was later extended by another 50 kilometres south of the city. The Italian Commands' fears of having to participate in out-of-range actions materialised on 15 September when the CSIR, with all three Divisions deployed on the Dnepr, was assigned to the Rear Command of Army Group South to defend a broad front on the western bank of the river. But only five days later the CSIR returned under the command of the von Kleist armoured group and, between 28 and 30 September, had the opportunity to carry out its first autonomous war operation, which went down in history as the "Petrikovka manoeuvre". After crossing the Dnieper , the German armoured corps had the task of reaching the coast of the Sea of Azov from the south, and then advancing eastwards and conquering Rostov-on-Don and the Donbass, an important centre for the Soviet war industry. Also in this situation the CSIR was charged with covering the left flank of the large unit, but at the same time it was foreseen that the Italian units and the units of the German XLIX Mountain Corps would actively participate in the offensive in the Donbass. The units were strongly hampered by heavy rains and by the ground transformed into muddy swamps (a phenomenon known as rasputiza), which slowed down the march of the infantry and the motorised supply columns. Furthermore, the progressive displacement of the logistical bases, combined with the difficulties created by a weak railway network with a gauge different from the European. Since the Germans had given the Italians the order to advance towards the important railway centre of Stalino, on 4 October the "Celere" and the "Pasubio" were the first to move, preceded in the vanguard by the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment and the "Lancieri di Novara" Regiment. The "Torino" closed the formation, always marching. On the 9th, having eliminated the Uljanovka bridgehead, the CSIR reached the Volčja river as the first snow fell and the following day the Bersaglieri and the men of the 63rd "Tagliamento" Legion, together with German units, suppressed the Pavlograd bridgehead. On 20 October the Bersaglieri then occupied the steel centre of Stalino and at the same time, descending from the north, the "Pasubio" opened its way towards the city fighting against aggressive Soviet motorised troops. The operation ended on 29 October, but in the first half of November the Italians were again engaged in the occupation of Rikovo, Gorlovka and Nikitovka, industrial centres fiercely defended by the Soviets. Giovanni Messe led all these actions in coordination with the German allies.
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In February 1943, Messe was appointed as the new commander of the Italo-German Tank Army (Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee) formerly commanded by Erwin Rommel. The name was changed to 1st Italian Army in recognition of the fact that the army consisted of one German and three Italian corps. Rommel was promoted to the command of the new Army Group Africa (Heeresgruppe Afrika). Messe fought a defensive campaign against the advancing British and allied forces, and was defeated at the Mareth Line. The lack of resources available to the general Messe could not prevent the inevitable defeat of the Axis in North Africa. On 12 May 1943 Messe was promoted to the rank of marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d'Italia). The following day, the 5th German Tank Army collapsed with the fall of Tunis and the 1st Italian Army was surrounded, still holding the line at Enfidaville. Messe along with Kurt Freiherr von Liebenstein formally surrendered to British and New Zealand forces under General Bernard Freyberg.
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=== Post-armistice === As a loyal supporter of the Royalist cause, like many Italian officers Messe soon found himself re-employed, when after the Italian armistice in September 1943, he was made chief of staff of the Italian Co-Belligerent Army (Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano), consisting of those units loyal to King Victor Emmanuel, many of which were reconstituted from Italian POWs and armed by the Allies. He served in this post with distinction until the war's end and then retired from the military in 1947 after 46 years of distinguished service.
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After the war, Messe was one of the founders of "Armata Italiana della Libertà" (Italian Army of Liberty), an anti-Communist paramilitary that was joined by some fifty generals and admirals. Messe wrote a book about his experiences, titled Come finì la guerra in Africa. La mia armata in Tunisia (How the war in Africa ended. My army in Tunisia). His military popularity remained with him in civilian life and from 1953 to 1955, Messe was a democratically elected representative in the Italian Senate. He was also president of the Italian Veterans Association, a post which he held until his death. His life was profiled in a biography written by Luigi Argentieri titled Messe—soggetto di un'altra storia (Messe—subject of another history) published in 1997. Giovanni Messe died on 18 December 1968, at the age of eighty-five.
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== Further reading == Crociani, Piero (2009). "MESSE, Giovanni". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 73: Meda–Messadaglia. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-88-12-00032-6. Schlemmer, Thomas (2008). "Giovanni Messe: Ein italienischer General zwischen Koalitions- und Befreiungskrieg". Von Feldherren und Gefreiten (in German). pp. 33–44. doi:10.1524/9783486708264.33. ISBN 9783486581447. OCLC 191658382.