Italy Merit Cross - 1936 - Wounded in East Africa - Original Document

[ralstona]

Just bought this. Includes an original document and the cross itself.

Here's what I've pieced together.

This award was made under the decree of July 2, 1936 (no. 1712). This decree dealt with:

"Decree of July 2, 1936 - XIX - no. 1712:

Applicable to the veterans of the war in Africa 1935-36, providing provisions for the awarding of honors to those soldiers wounded in battle. Specifically the Cross of Merit for the war in Africa"

The document is award to "Granatiere Andrea di Sebastiano".

His rank, Granatiere (Grenadier) narrows down his unit (which is not listed).

The 1st Battalion of the 3rd Grenadiers (of Savoy) took part in the attack on the Uarieu Pass on 27 Feb 1936 (this was also known as the 2nd Battle of Tembien).

Was Sebastiano wounded here? Seems likely but not definite. The unit sustained many casualties.

Any thoughts on research angles or other info would be appreciated.

The document is "signed" by Mussolini but I don't think it is a real signature (likely a stamp).

[ralstona]

Also, I am unable figure out what it says to the left of his name. It doesn't look like it is in the same hand as the other written parts. Any ideas?

Edited November 25, 2014 by ralstona

[paul wood]

Can you do a better image of just that area as it is not really sharp enough to be sure.

All the best,

Paul

[claudio2574]

The name of the grenadier is Andrea Claps, his father is Sebastiano. Claps is the family name, often written with larger characters.

For having a cross of such a type there were (and still are) several reasons. One is being wounded, another is being in battle field for 12 months. Can't identify the reason from the diploma only.

The signature of Mussolini is a stamp, as always.

[ralstona]

Why would the last name be written in a different hand??

Also, agreed that you can't tell from the document alone that it was a casualty award but several sources I have found confirm that all of the awards from Decree 1712 (of 1936) are for wounds from the war in Africa. So circumstantial evidence would seem to confirm.

[ralstona]

Claps might make sense. Seems to be a common Savoy name coming from nearby Les Claps mountains in Provence (France). I will put a close up of that section of the certificate later.

I have looked at the order of battle for the Ethiopia War and it seems like the 3rd Battalion of Grenadiers was the only possibility but I can't be sure. Were there "granatiere" in other units?

Art

[claudio2574]

About the family name: it is not a different hand, only different writing. Pls take a look to this one, World War 1. The name of this soldier is Giovanni STELLATO, of unknown father ("di N.N."). In this case the soldier was killed in action, so his family got another diploma too.

Edited November 25, 2014 by claudio2574

[ralstona]

Excellent! Thanks.

[claudio2574]

About the cross itself: it is the most common medal in Italy. It was defined in 1918 and there are at least 13 variants. The scarcest has the crowned Z (royal mint) and is really expensive. Among the others, you can see no letter on the front side, or the letters B, F, M, R, J, SJ, FML, H, A, P, FZ.

It was weared with the VE III side visible and the star on the back.

After the end of the kingdom, the letters RI (Repubblica Italiana) were set in the place of VE III (Vittorio Emanuele 3rd) and the front side become the one with the star.

There are some items with the RI over the VE III