Italian military records document the service of Italian citizens at home and abroad. These records reflect, and provide valuable insights into, the complex and turbulent history of Italy over the last 200 years. This period saw major political and social upheaval, importantly including the birth of the modern Italian nation itself in 1865. The records also facilitate an understanding of the society in which these individuals lived and hence what shaped them.
Today, the Italian Armed Forces consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Carabinieri (military police). The Guardia di Finanza (a specialist police force responsible for financial crime-fighting) operates along military lines but is not part of Italy's formal military structure.
Role of the military in Italian history and development
The military has been pivotal in shaping Italy's emergence as a modern nation-state. Its impact has been felt in many different ways[1].
- As a driving force towards unification and national identity: During the 19th century, Italy was a collection of fragmented states and regions. The military played a crucial role in unifying the country. In particular, the Risorgimento (Italian unification movement) saw military leaders like Giuseppe Garibaldi and Count Cavour leading campaigns to liberate and unify various Italian territories. Moreover, one key aim of Italy’s colonialist push into Africa, which only began in the late 19th century (much later than other European powers) was to strengthen the internal bonds of the then-still-young Italian nation-state.
- Historically, the Italian military served as a defensive force, to protect the nation’s borders and maintain internal security. At other times it has had an offensive role. In addition to its participation in the two World Wars of the 20th century, the Italian military was also actively involved in exercising Italy's control in its colonies in North Africa covering parts of Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, and Ethiopia. It also operated in territories annexed by Italy, such as the western regions of modern-day Slovenia (after WWI) and Albania (during WWII).
- The military was instrumental in spreading ideas of socio-cultural development and technological progress across Italy’s diverse population. Especially in the early decades after a united Italy emerged the needs of the military spurred communications and infrastructure development as well as promoting education.
- Literature, journalism, and art often reflected the military’s influence, evidenced in the outputs of major Italian authors, painters, composers, and other artists over the years.
Before you start
The article How to Research Military Records on the MyHeritage Wiki is a good starting point for family historians interested in exploring ancestors who served in Italy's military forces, or Italians who were otherwise impacted by major wars. The article provides general guidance on issues such as preparatory steps you can take to make your search for military records more productive as well as pointing to other potential sources of Italian military records beyond those made available by various national authorities.
As outlined in this article it is always desirable to assemble as much information as possible about the military history of the target person before diving into detailed research. This includes obvious details like name; birth date and place, down to the level of the comune (municipality); and then the branch of the military in which the person served; date and place of enlistment; their rank and unit; as well any campaigns in which it is known they served. Family or publicly available documents, enlistment or discharge papers, photographs and the recollections of other family members are all useful sources. Even fragmentary or incomplete information at least helps narrow the search.
A practical consideration is that Italian military records will typically be in Italian, so an understanding the language is extremely helpful. The variety and constantly improving quality of online translation tools is a boon for family historians researching military records. However these are of limited help when trying to decipher digitised copies of older, handwritten records. This is a situation where the assistance of an Italian-speaking friend or relative, or even a suitably qualified professional genealogist may be required.
Where to find Italian military records
Historical Italian military records available for genealogical research generally date from 1865 with Italy's unification. All males over 18 were required to register with the local draft board. As a result the resultant records are organised according to military districts. Most military districts lie within the geographical boundaries of a particular Italian province. A province might include several military districts. On the flip side very occasionally a military district may encompass two provinces.
Dual copies of these records were held at the archive of military district and at the archive of the tribunale (provincial court). After 70 years, this second copy is moved to the Archivio di Stato (main state archive) of each province[2]. The historical archive of the Italian Army General Staff is located separately in Rome[3].
What information can be found in Italian military records?
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The key military records[4] containing information of value to the family genealogist are:
- Liste di Leva or Registro di Leva (conscription list), created each year by local draft boards, and includes the male's name, date and place of birth, parents’ names, and literacy level.
- Liste d’Estrazione (draft record) was prepared when males turned 21 and were eligible for service. This document recorded the results of the male's physical examination conducted by the draft board to determine his fitness for service.
- The Registro dei Foglie Matricolari (military service record) is perhaps the most useful document. It contains details of the male's enlistment, promotions, assignments, and discharge.
- Foglio di Concedo Illimitato (discharge document), provided to the individual on completion of military service and containing biographical and personal information, sometimes including a detailed physical description (height, chest size, hair colour, condition of teeth, birthmarks, etc).
- Registro di Ruolo (service record) includes details of the man’s military service. Military records are progressively being made available online through the Portale degli Antenati (Ancestors’ Portal). This is an online tool that provides access to a wide range of documents preserved in the Italian State Archives. If the relevant record has not yet been digitized a site visit to the relevant Archivio di Stato may be required.
Restrictions on the availability of Italian military records & the cost of access
According to the Italian Law regulating the State Archives, documentation containing people’s sensitive personal data, including military records is publicly available if it was produced more than 70 years ago. This access is free provided is on a non-profit basis for study or research purposes[3]. Some archives may charge for photocopies or digital scans.
There are many gaps in the available military records due to the dispersed nature of the military districts, lost or damaged original documents, and incomplete or incorrect entries in those records. The researcher may also be hampered by inconsistent recording of names, reflecting regional dialects.
Italian military records held in the United States
Around 50,000 Italian Prisoners of War were shipped to the United States during WWII. They were held in the 21 camps in 18 states. The American authorities recognised that many were in fact sympathetic to the Allies cause. The Italian PoWs were generally well treated and often allowed a degree of freedom if they agreed to renounce their allegiance to fascist Italy[5].
The United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) holds various collections of Italian military records (noting however that these are not generally available online):
- Documents covering WWII through 1943 and some prewar material seized from Italian Armed Forces such as Italian Air Force and Army manuals, records of Italian combat units captured by U.S. Forces during campaigns in North Africa and Sicily in 1942 and 1943, and Italian Navy records.
- Records of Italian combat units captured by U.S. Forces during campaigns in North Africa and Sicily in 1942 and 1943, and Italian Navy records.
- Records of Italian PoWs captured during WWII. These are stored in several series[6].
Italian military cemeteries
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An Italian researcher, Roberto Zamboni, has been collecting data on Italian soldiers or civilians who were killed in action or as PoWs, and who are buried in Italian military cemeteries in Germany, Austria, and Poland. Mr. Zamboni has collated information from multiple sources including the Arolsen Archives, the Italian Ministry of Defence, the Vatican Information Office for Prisoners of War, and numerous private archives to assemble a list of around 16,000 names. The list (in Italian) is available to search at no cost, although Mr. Zamboni asks that you acknowledge the source.
WW2cemeteries provides a comprehensive list of war cemeteries located in Italy. You can also search online for war cemeteries in other countries where Italian soldiers served during the two World Wars, such as North Africa, to identify whether they contain their remains.
Explore more about Italian military records
MyHeritage includes 24 collections with over 12.5 million Italian records. In addition, MyHeritage's Knowledge Base and Legacy Family Tree Webinars include a wealth of articles and webinars that will assist you with researching relevant military records, including:
- Military Records: Search by Name on MyHeritage on the MyHeritage Knowledge Base
- Long Distance Italian Genealogy Research at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Researching Your Italian Ancestors at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Italian POWs in South Africa - Zonderwater project dashboard at Geni
To assist in narrowing down the choices of ancestral towns to focus a search for the appropriate Italian provincial archive you can use online tools such as Comuni.Italiani to narrow down the choices of ancestral towns. Search for towns beginning with or named after your ancestor’s place of origin.
The online tool, Surnames in Italy gives useful tips on how to ask for the military records you're looking for from provincial archives and includes a list of Italian archive addresses.
See also
References
- ↑ Italian_military_records#cite_note-1
- ↑ FamilySearch Wiki. (2023, October 17). Italy military records.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rules for consultation. Versione Italiana. (n.d.).
- ↑ Torella, R. (n.d.). Discovering la famiglia: Finding your ancestor’s italian military record. La Gazzetta Italiana.
- ↑ Vallone, E. (2020, December 29). Italian prisoners of war in the United States. L’Idea Magazine.
- ↑ US National Archives WW II POW records. (n.d.).