Following
52 weeks to better genealogy, by
Ami Coffin, and hosted by
Geneabloggers, which is a series of blogging prompts to genealogy blogs around the globe, this week I'll search for Military stories.
Not records, helas, because in Italy where is no on-line Archive to look for.
To begin with, the men of the family that were alive for WW2 were:
my grandfather Alfonso, he was 47 when it began - he managed a factory which produced fruits and vegetables for the Italian army in Borghetto Santo Spirito (SV)
my grandfather Aldo, he was 42 - moved his family in Novi Ligure (AL), far from the bombs. I don't know what he did, probably working in the Naval Industry...
my father-in-law Ermanno was 17, but they said he went in the Navy as a volunteer
my husband's grandfather Ottavio, he was 41 and lived in Africa, where he worked as a truck driver.
The other one, Ugo was 58 and worked as a Town Clerk in Ferrara, managing an Office with 110 employees for the war supplies.
In WW1 informations are lacking even more:
my grandfather Alfonso, he was 22 when it began, so he probably served, getting maybe a Cross of Honor
my grandfather Aldo, he was 17 at the beginning... but I have still no stories to tell!
my husband's grandfather Ottavio, he was 16 at the beginning. He was 18 for the last year of war, so I don't know whether he joined or not.
the other one, Ugo was 33 and joined in April, 1915. As Ferrara was declared a war zone, he was assigned to control the documents of officiers on the express train, in the stretch from Ferrara to Marzabotto.
He went to the front twice, on a mission, when the cholera raged, but came back safe.
He commanded the Carabinieri station in Denore and later went to Comacchio until the end of the war.