italian grandfather last seen 15 august 1941

by **jcrye** » 23 Dec 2002, 20:00

Hello - I am searching for my information on my Italian grandfather. He was last seen 15 August 1941. His name was Santo De Santis. We are trying to find birth/death information on him. I have recieved some responses (which i included in this message) from some sources but they really don\'t know much. All i was told was that he was awarded a medal of honor by the Italian government in either WWI or WWII. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the only response so far (i can\'t really read italian too good): Gentile Signore, a scioglimento della riserva espressa in precedenza, Le partecipiamo che agli atti del nostro Ufficio Storico risulta che al carabiniere Sante DE SANTIS, fu Domenico (non meglio generalizzato), il quale puÃ² identificarsi nel Suo congiunto, con determinazione ministeriale del 9 dicembre 1933 e pubblicata sul Bollettino Ufficiale Carabinieri del 1934, dispensa 2^ pagina53, Ã¨ stata concessa la Croce al Merito di Guerra. Ulteriori informazioni sulla carriera militare dello stesso possono essere acquisite dal foglio matricolare che Ã¨ conservato Distretto Militare competente sul luogo di residenza eletta al momento del congedo ed al quale Lei potrÃ fare richiesta. Cordiali saluti. Ufficio Relazioni con il Pubblico dell\'Arma dei Carabinieri Comando Generale dell\'Arma dei Carabinieri Viale Romania, 45 - 00197 ROMA Tel. 06.8098.2935 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If anybody knows of ways to get more information please post or email me at <a href="mailto:jimcrye1@hotmail.com" target="_new">jimcrye1@hotmail.com</a>. There has to be military records somewhere or something.

by **ptimber** » 23 Dec 2002, 21:01

You can obtain all the records for your grandfather (including this letterof Merit ) from his military records which are in the military district in the province where he joined the army. anormally that would be the place where he was born and resided prior to inductiuon into the Italian army. If you happen to knoow where the town or province of origin is for your grandfather then you can write for his records which will have all his vital information. Obviously it was WWII in which he served. Peter

by **Maurizio** » 24 Dec 2002, 14:09

Hello to both of you. Peter\'s suggestions are very useful and correct. as usual. There\'s only one point where I can\'t agree with him: since the medal of honour was given to your grandfather in the year 1934, it\'s very difficult it could be related to his service in WWII (even if it obviously doesn\'t mean he couldn\'t have served also in WWII). I personally believe you should direct your search on WWI: on the website of the \"Carabinieri\" I found an historical abstract (I attached it al the bottom of this message) saying the Carabinieri who served in WWI came from Legion based in Firenze, Ancona, Palermo, Bari and Napoli. This may be helpful to refine your search of the birthplace of your ancestor (which is an essential clue to obtain genealogical infos on him): unfortunaly, De Santis is a common surname in Italy, spread all over the country, even if it\'s present especially in Lazio, Campania and Puglia. As for his Military career, the message you received says your grandfather\'s bios are kept in the archives of the Military District he elected when he left the army: and they also said you the location of the elected district was written on the \"foglio di congedo\" (certificate of discharge) he received at the end of his military career: but I guess you don\'t have this paper, isn\'t it? Hope this helps. Ciao e Buon Natale (Peter, don\'t eat too much panettone!!!) Maurizio Text taken from www.carabinieri.it \"Nel maggio del 1915 in vista dell\'imminente partecipazione italiana al conflitto, fu costituito il Reggimento Carabinieri su 9 Compagnie, fornite dalla Legione Allievi e dalle Legioni territoriali di Firenze, Ancona, Palermo, Bari e Napoli. Nel complesso: 65 ufficiali e 2.500 tra sottufficiali e carabinieri, 171 comando del colonnello Antonio Vannugli. A questo reparto si aggiunsero poi un Gruppo Squadroni a cavallo, 257 Plotoni autonomi e 168 Sezioni per un totale di 500 ufficiali e 19.816 sottufficiali e carabinieri. Il Reggimento ed il Gruppo Squadroni costituirono unitÃ operative e d\'impiego; Sezioni e Plotoni furono destinati al Comando Supremo, all\'Intendenza Generale, ai Comandi e alle Intendenze d\'Armata e infine ad ogni Comando di Divisione di fanteria e cavalleria, per servizi di polizia militare. I carabinieri erano presenti sia nelle retrovie che in prima linea, (71 Posti di medicazione, agli sbocchi dei camminamenti, nei passaggi obbligati, lungo le direttrici di marcia delle truppe. Tra i loro molteplici compiti: recapito di ordini, servizi di sicurezza in sosta e in marcia, polizia giudiziaria, vigilanza sanitaria, ordine nei centri abitati, sicurezza delle comunicazioni, prevenzione e repressione dello spionaggio. I militari dell\'Arma, comunque, parteciparono anche alle operazioni militari, distinguendosi in particolare nei combattimenti sulle pendici del Podgora. Furono inoltre tra i primi ad entrare a Gorizia e Trieste. Durante la guerra del 1915-18 caddero in tutto 1.400 carabinieri e ne furono feriti 5.000. Reparti e singoli militari, combattenti in Patria e all\'estero, furono decorati coni: 1 Croce dell\'Ordine Militare d\'Italia, 4 Medaglie d\'Oro, 304 d\'Argento, 331 di Bronzo e 801 Croci di Guerra al Valer Militare. Il 5 giugno 1920, quale premio per il contributo fornito dall\'Arma alla 1Âª Guerra mondiale, la Bandiera fu insignita di Medaglia d\'Oro al Valor Militare. Tale data venne da allora scelta per celebrare l\'anniversario dellâ€™Istituzione\".

by **ptimber** » 24 Dec 2002, 16:14

Buon Natale e Felice Capo d\'anno 2003!!! Merry chirstmas and Happy New Year to one and all. Speriamo che la Befana ci porta tante belle cose invece del carbone nelle scarpe.. Peter

by **Maurizio** » 24 Dec 2002, 16:29

Yes, Peter: let\'s hope so. Merry Christmas and a wonderful and happy new year to you too. Ciao, Maurizio

by **Raven** » 14 Feb 2003, 13:45

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD>Quote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE> 23-12-2002 at 13:00, jcrye wrote: </BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE> hello, I don\'t know how your search is going but another option is to look at the birth acts of one of his children on those, sometimes it will give the birthplace of mother or father. otherwise you might want to check birthplaces of his children and see if one of those is also his birthplace, or a place were he worked as carabiniere, and go from there. Further it might be an idea to see if your granparents married in your granma\'s city of birth as that used to be the tradition, and see if on their marriage act it states where he is born ( which should be inclused) good luck with your search