Italian military service personnel list in Ethiopia

[chuchumak]

We are looking for information on our grandfather who served in the Italian military around 1935 - 1940 time frame in during the Italian war in Ethiopia.
We think we have an idea of the division he was part of when stationed in Ethiopia. We only know his last name and his rank and we are wondering if some list or record exists somewhere with the names of people that served in the Ethiopian region around that time frame. The list may endup being huge but we are willing to spend the time going thru it to narrow the search down to a smaller manageable number....
Any insight or information is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Chu.

[johnnyonthespot]

Do you know where he was born? If so, follow the instructions in this thread ( http://italiangenealogy.tardio.com/Foru ... c/t=15162/ ) to request copies of his military records from the appropriate state archives.

Let us know if you need help determining the correct address to write to.

[chuchumak]

That is just it... we only have very little information about him. The only information we have is about his name (believe it is last name) pronounced as Berni, Barni or Burney, and also his rank which we believe was a "Tenente". We do not have any other information other than these and time frame of when he had served back then (1935 ~ 1940).
We are hoping to get some sort of a list of names of service personnel who were stationed in the region where my mother was born and we can start by going thru the list.

Any kind of help will be greatly appreciated.

[PeterTimber]

It does not work that way! You have to know where he was born/residing at the time he was drafted. Then you write for his military records from the military archives in the capital of the province in which the town is located and you can write (in Italian with form letters we can assist you with provided you do not know italian.)

=Peter=

[chuchumak]

It sounds like we are in trouble here....
Any suggestions on what other course of action I should pursue with the limited information we have about our grandfather....
Who can help with this or what else can we do if anything at all...? Any lead, any bit of information, or any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

Please help.

Thanks Chuch...

[PeterTimber]

Just give us a shred of of information such as his full name, (we can estimate his age) and what province or part of Italy he came from. What was the patron saint of his town. Do you have any of his old letters from Italy or someother family members so we can examine the stamps cancellation in Italy, any family oral history, anecdotes, anything thatmight let us zero in on his town of origin by region, province. What were his favorite foods, beaches, ports,dialects spoken. This sort of thing which are leads that we can do something with. =Peter=

[chuchumak]

Unfortunately, the only information we have about him is what I posted earlier (see below). We do not have any other information about him other than where he served in Ethiopia, approximate time of service, and the name Burney, Berni or Barni (one of these three.. my mother spells her last name as Burney but we don't know if that was the right spelling). we do not know if Burney, Berni, or Barni is his first or last name but we are assuming it is his last name as my mother told us that people used to refer to him as "Tenente Burney or Berni".

Thanks

We are looking for information on our grandfather who served in the Italian military around 1935 - 1940 time frame in during the Italian war in Ethiopia.
We think we have an idea of the division he was part of when stationed in Ethiopia. We only know his last name and his rank and we are wondering if some list or record exists somewhere with the names of people that served in the Ethiopian region around that time frame. The list may endup being huge but we are willing to spend the time going thru it to narrow the search down to a smaller manageable number....
Any insight or information is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Chu.

[PeterTimber]

was he wounded or given a medal for valor or anything settinghim apart? =Peter=

[chuchumak]

Unfortunately, we do not have any informational about him other than what I posted already. He had left the country before my mother was born and she never had the chance to meet him; my mother had been told as a child that her father was taken to India as a prisoner of war with many other fellow Italians service men.
My mother was born in the town called "Dembi Dollo" which is in the province called Wellega (also spelled as welega, etc...)
I was told on this forum by Raffaella that in the "Dembi Dollo" area it was the italians under the command of Gen. Pietro Gazzera who himself was also taken to India as a prisoner of war and later freed.

Other than his only name of "Berni" may also be a "Tenente" for rank and the fact that we know he had served in the Dembi Dollo area during the war, not much more information.

Thanks

[Seraphina]

Hi,

What information does it state on your mother's birth certificate?

Or, what was her mother's name & surname and where did she originate from?

Can your mother remember if they were from northern Italy? (Berni - seems to be very widespread from Tuscany northwards). But it's a huge area.

Have you any other documents that hold any clues?

Seraphina