Quick Facts
Biography
Umberto Utili was an Italian general known as commander of Primo Raggruppamento Motorizzato of the Regio Esercito.
Biography
He took part in the Greco-Italian War and in the Russian Campaign. At the time of the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces (8 September 1943) he was in Apulia just as Allied troops started their advance towards North. In late January 1944 he was appointed command of the Primo Raggruppamento Motorizzato (the early Italian Co-Belligerent Army) which, under his leadership was widened in size and became the Corpo Italiano di Liberazione, attached to the British 8th Army.
After the battles sustained in early 1944, Lieutenant General Utili proposed an upgrade of Italian forces. The Allies accepted and the strength of Italian units (by then called Gruppi di Combattimento) was brought up to 25,000 men. Immediately after the war he commanded the 3 Army Corps in Milan.
He died in 1952 and was buried in the Mignano Monte Lungo Military Cemetery, where 975 Italian soldiers, who were killed fighting on the Allied side, also lie.
Honors and awards
Knight of the Military Order of Italy
4 August 1942.
Officer of the Military Order of Italy
26 October 1945.
Legion of Merit rank commander
Acknowledgements
Bergamo dedicated a plaque to him in the Rocca (city castle).