Carlo Vecchiarelli

Carlo Vecchiarelli (January 10, 1884 - December 13, 1948) was an Italian general. He was a veteran combatant of the First World War. Between the two world wars he held the positions of Military Attaché at the Italian Embassy in Prague, Honorary Field Assistant to King Vittorio Emanuele III, Military Attaché at the Italian Embassy in Vienna, commander of the 7th Alpini Regiment, of the 1st Alpini Brigade, of the 47th "Bari" Infantry Division, of the 132nd "Ariete" Armored Division, and of the V Army Corps of Trieste . During the Second World War he was commander of the I and XX Corps, and of the 11th Army stationed in Greece, and having its headquarters in Athens. After the proclamation of the Italian armistice of 8 September 1943, also on the basis of ambiguous instructions received from the Supreme Command, on the morning of 9 September 1943 he gave the order to surrender heavy weapons to the Germans with the latter's commitment to repatriate the Army, thus managing to avoid the massacre of his soldiers. The order was carried out by almost all the units of the Army, but not by the 33rd "Acqui" Infantry Division stationed in Kefalonia, under the command of General Antonio Gandin, which gave rise to a series of events that led to the extermination of thousands of officers and soldiers of the Division.[1]