At the outbreak of World War II, the regiment was kept in reserved on the western front, and in March 1941, it left for the Greek front, where it fought under Gherzi's command until May of the same year. Later in 1941, he assumed the position of Chief of Staff of the 26th Infantry Division "Assietta", and in 1942 he was transferred to the Territorial Defense Command of Florence, with responsibility for coastal defence. On 1 July 1942, he was promoted to Brigadier General and on 21 July he assumed the command of the infantry of the 154th Infantry Division "Murge", stationed in Yugoslavia. In February 1943, while he was acting commander of the Division, he suffered a serious defeat in Herzegovina at the hand of the partisans, which destroyed the 259th Infantry Regiment, and was therefore replaced by General Bartolomeo Pedrotti and subjected to an investigation. On 7 June 1943, he assumed command of the divisional infantry of the 33rd Infantry Division "Acqui", with headquarters on the island of Kefalonia.[5][6][7][8]
At the time of the signing of the armistice of Cassibile, on 8 September 1943, he was at his command in Argostoli, where the divisional command was also located. With the worsening of relations with the Germans the divisional commander, General Antonio Gandin, decided to separate the two commands, transferring them to two distinct locations, for security reasons. Gandin moved to the village of Razata, while Gherzi moved to Kokkolata, near Kerameies. During the subsequent fighting between the Italian and German troops, on 22 September 1943 his command was attacked with mortars and surrounded by German soldiers who broke inside it; Lieutenant Colonel Sebastiano Sebastiani, who had tried to draw his service pistol, was shot dead on the doorstep, while General Gherzi, his adjutant Lieutenant Guido Dal Monte, and four other officers were captured. They were taken out of the building and shot in the back on the edge of the nearby anti-tank ditch, together with second lieutenants Alberto Drago and Alfredo Porcelli. Eyewitnesses reported that at the moment of the execution Gherzi turned and uncovered his chest, shouting "Long live Italy, long live the King". He was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor, and his remains, exhumed in 1944, were reburied in Novara.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
Referencesedit
^Il Gen. Gherzi di Lu, trucidato dai tedeschi a Cefalonia
^Charles D. Pettibone, The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II Volume VI Italy and France Including the Neutral Countries of San Marino, Vatican City (Holy See), Andorra, and Monaco, pp. 38-121-125-126
^Il Gen. Gherzi di Lu, trucidato dai tedeschi a Cefalonia
^Charles D. Pettibone, The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II Volume VI Italy and France Including the Neutral Countries of San Marino, Vatican City (Holy See), Andorra, and Monaco, pp. 38-121-125-126
^Alfio Colacchi, Cefalonia 1943: la strage degli italiani, p. 44
luigi, gherzi, luigi, edoardo, alfredo, gherzi, september, 1889, september, 1943, italian, general, during, world, born, 1889, september, 1889lu, monferrato, kingdom, italydied22, september, 1943, 1943, aged, kefalonia, greeceallegiance, kingdom, italyservice,. Luigi Edoardo Alfredo Gherzi 27 September 1889 22 September 1943 was an Italian general during World War II Luigi GherziBorn 1889 09 27 27 September 1889Lu Monferrato Kingdom of ItalyDied22 September 1943 1943 09 22 aged 53 Kefalonia GreeceAllegiance Kingdom of ItalyService wbr branch Royal Italian ArmyRankBrigadier GeneralCommands held68th Infantry Regiment Legnano Battles warsItalo Turkish War World War I World War II Greco Italian War Yugoslav Front Battle of KefaloniaAwardsGold Medal of Military Valor posthumous Biography editHe was born in Lu Monferrato province of Alessandria on 27 September 1889 the son of farmer Alberto Gherzi and Savina Borghino After graduating as an accountant he enlisted in the Royal Italian Army taking part in the Italo Turkish War and then in the First World War In the late 1930s with the rank of colonel he assumed command of the 68th Infantry Regiment Palermo stationed in Novara which in 1939 was renamed 68th Infantry Regiment Legnano part of the 58th Infantry Division Legnano and transferred to Legnano 1 2 3 4 At the outbreak of World War II the regiment was kept in reserved on the western front and in March 1941 it left for the Greek front where it fought under Gherzi s command until May of the same year Later in 1941 he assumed the position of Chief of Staff of the 26th Infantry Division Assietta and in 1942 he was transferred to the Territorial Defense Command of Florence with responsibility for coastal defence On 1 July 1942 he was promoted to Brigadier General and on 21 July he assumed the command of the infantry of the 154th Infantry Division Murge stationed in Yugoslavia In February 1943 while he was acting commander of the Division he suffered a serious defeat in Herzegovina at the hand of the partisans which destroyed the 259th Infantry Regiment and was therefore replaced by General Bartolomeo Pedrotti and subjected to an investigation On 7 June 1943 he assumed command of the divisional infantry of the 33rd Infantry Division Acqui with headquarters on the island of Kefalonia 5 6 7 8 At the time of the signing of the armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 he was at his command in Argostoli where the divisional command was also located With the worsening of relations with the Germans the divisional commander General Antonio Gandin decided to separate the two commands transferring them to two distinct locations for security reasons Gandin moved to the village of Razata while Gherzi moved to Kokkolata near Kerameies During the subsequent fighting between the Italian and German troops on 22 September 1943 his command was attacked with mortars and surrounded by German soldiers who broke inside it Lieutenant Colonel Sebastiano Sebastiani who had tried to draw his service pistol was shot dead on the doorstep while General Gherzi his adjutant Lieutenant Guido Dal Monte and four other officers were captured They were taken out of the building and shot in the back on the edge of the nearby anti tank ditch together with second lieutenants Alberto Drago and Alfredo Porcelli Eyewitnesses reported that at the moment of the execution Gherzi turned and uncovered his chest shouting Long live Italy long live the King He was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor and his remains exhumed in 1944 were reburied in Novara 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 References edit Il Gen Gherzi di Lu trucidato dai tedeschi a Cefalonia Charles D Pettibone The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II Volume VI Italy and France Including the Neutral Countries of San Marino Vatican City Holy See Andorra and Monaco pp 38 121 125 126 Generals dk 68 Rgt Legnano Il Gen Gherzi di Lu trucidato dai tedeschi a Cefalonia Charles D Pettibone The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II Volume VI Italy and France Including the Neutral Countries of San Marino Vatican City Holy See Andorra and Monaco pp 38 121 125 126 Alfio Colacchi Cefalonia 1943 la strage degli italiani p 44 Generals dk Il Gen Gherzi di Lu trucidato dai tedeschi a Cefalonia Associazione Acqui Alfio Colacchi Cefalonia 1943 la strage degli italiani p 44 Romualdo Formato L eccidio di Cefalonia pp 75 79 Hermann Frank Meyer Il massacro di Cefalonia p 304 Generals dk Medaglia d Oro al Valor Militare Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Luigi Gherzi amp oldid 1223549520, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
