# Raffaele Aversa > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Raffaele_Aversa > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Raffaele_Aversa.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffaele_Aversa > Source revision: 1352259387 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Italian officer and partisan}} {{Infobox military person | name = Raffaele Aversa | image = Raffaele Aversa.jpg | caption = | nickname = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1906|12|2|df=y}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|3|24|1906|12|2|df=y}} | birth_place = [Labico](/source/Labico), [Kingdom of Italy](/source/Kingdom_of_Italy) | death_place = [Rome](/source/Rome), [Italian Social Republic](/source/Italian_Social_Republic) | allegiance = {{flag|Kingdom of Italy}} | service_years = | branch = {{army|Kingdom of Italy}} | rank = [Captain](/source/Captain) | unit = | commands = | battles = * [Second Italo-Ethiopian War](/source/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War) * [World War II](/source/World_War_II) ** [Italian participation in the Eastern Front](/source/Italian_participation_in_the_Eastern_Front) | awards = * [Gold Medal of Military Valour](/source/Gold_Medal_of_Military_Valour) (posthumous) * [War Cross for Military Valor](/source/War_Cross_for_Military_Valor) | relations = | other_work = }} '''Raffaele Aversa''' (2 September 1906 – 24 March 1944) was an Italian soldier and [Resistance](/source/Italian_Resistance) member, most notable for having carried out the arrest of [Benito Mussolini](/source/Benito_Mussolini) after his dismissal as [Prime Minister of Italy](/source/Prime_Minister_of_Italy) on 25 July 1943. ==Biography== Aversa was born in Labico on 2 September 1906, the son of Alfonso Aversa, commander of the local [Carabinieri](/source/Carabinieri) station, and Mariolina Aquino. After attending the "Pietro Colletta" [Lyceum](/source/Lyceum) of [Avellino](/source/Avellino), in December 1924 he enlisted in the Carabinieri, attending the Carabinieri School of [Rome](/source/Rome), and then serving as a [non-commissioned officer](/source/non-commissioned_officer) in [Florence](/source/Florence). In October 1930 he enrolled in the Royal [Military Academy of Modena](/source/Military_Academy_of_Modena) to attend a special course, at the end of which he was commissioned with the rank of [second lieutenant](/source/second_lieutenant) of the Carabinieri, on 1 March 1932. He was later promoted to [lieutenant](/source/lieutenant) and in 1935 he was sent to East Africa, where he fought in the [Second Italo-Ethiopian War](/source/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War). Assigned to the 390th Mobilized Carabinieri Section, he remained in [Italian East Africa](/source/Italian_East_Africa) from 23 August 1935 to 29 May 1937.{{cite web|url=http://www.anpi.it/uomini/aversa_raffaele.htm |title=Donne e uomini della Resistenza |publisher=Anpi.it |date= |accessdate=2021-08-24}}{{cite web|author=mrcldo |url=http://www.combattentiliberazione.it/movm-regione-lazio/aversa-raffaele |title=AVERSA Raffaele - Associazione Nazionale Combattenti FF.AA. Regolari Guerra di Liberazione |publisher=Combattentiliberazione.it |date=1999-02-22 |accessdate=2021-08-24}} In 1941, during the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War), he was promoted to [captain](/source/captain). In March 1942 he was sent to the [Eastern Front](/source/Eastern_Front_(World_War_II)), attached to the [3rd Bersaglieri Regiment](/source/3rd_Bersaglieri_Regiment) which was part of the [3rd Cavalry Division Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta](/source/3rd_Cavalry_Division_Principe_Amedeo_Duca_d'Aosta) of the [CSIR](/source/Italian_Expeditionary_Corps_in_Russia); he was subsequently awarded a [War Cross of Military Valor](/source/War_Cross_of_Military_Valor). In March 1943 he returned to Italy to take command of the "Compagnia Tribunali" of the Carabinieri of Rome.Mario Ragionieri, Enrico Nistri, Marco Rossi, 25 luglio 1943: il suicidio inconsapevole di un regime, p. 393 After the [fall of the Fascist regime](/source/Fall_of_Fascism), on 25 July 1943, together with Captain Paolo Vigneri, Aversa arrested [Benito Mussolini](/source/Benito_Mussolini), acting on the orders of Lieutenant Colonel [Giovanni Frignani](/source/Giovanni_Frignani).{{cite web | url=http://www.carabinieri.it/Internet/Editoria/Carabiniere/2004/08-Agosto/Militaria/ | title=Approfondimenti }} Following the [Armistice of Cassibile](/source/Armistice_of_Cassibile) and the German occupation of Rome, while Vigneri went into hiding, Aversa remained at his post, lamenting to Major Romolo Guercio that "''they all fled: the troops who were defending Rome, the military leaders, the political authorities, etc. Only us carabinieri are left, [we are] the only ones who can still curb German excesses. Even if we have received specific orders, our duty is to protect the population. For this reason none of us must abandon his post. For me, if they think that what I have done is a crime, let them arrest and kill me, but I do not mean to hide, but rather I must and I want to operate openly and in full uniform, so that all my subordinates will only think of their duty, whatever is the cost''".Mario Ragionieri, Enrico Nistri, Marco Rossi, 25 luglio 1943: il suicidio inconsapevole di un regime, p. 396 On 7 October 1943, however, Aversa was forced to go into hiding after the new Fascist authorities attempted to have him arrested. He then devoted himself to organizing the Clandestine Resistance Front of the Carabinieri, under the leadership of General [Filippo Caruso](/source/Filippo_Caruso) and in liaison with Colonel [Giuseppe Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo](/source/Giuseppe_Cordero_Lanza_di_Montezemolo) of the [Clandestine Military Front](/source/Clandestine_Military_Front).Alessandro Portelli, L'ordine è già stato eseguito: Roma, le Fosse Ardeatine, la memoria, p. 117 On 23 January 1944 he was arrested by the German police, together with Lieutenant Colonel Frignani and Major Ugo de Carolis. Imprisoned in the [SS prison of Via Tasso](/source/Museum_of_the_Liberation_of_Rome), he was tortured for two months for information about the Resistance, but did not talk, and on 23 March 1944 he was shot in the [Fosse Ardeatine massacre](/source/Fosse_Ardeatine_massacre). He was posthumously awarded the [Gold Medal of Military Valour](/source/Gold_Medal_of_Military_Valour).{{cite web|url=http://www.carabinieri.it/arma/oggi/medagliere/decorazioni-individuali/medaglia-d'oro-al-valor-militare-alla-memoria/Aversa-Raffaele |title=Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare alla Memoria |publisher=Carabinieri.it |date= |accessdate=2021-08-24}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.quirinale.it/elementi/DettaglioOnorificenze.aspx?decorato=12310|title = Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana}} ==References== {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Aversa, Raffaele}} Category:1906 births Category:1944 deaths Category:Carabinieri personnel Category:Italian military personnel of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War Category:Royal Italian Army personnel killed in World War II Category:Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor Category:Fosse Ardeatine massacre victims Category:Italian torture victims --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Raffaele Aversa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffaele_Aversa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffaele_Aversa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.