Gino Pavesi

Gino Pavesi (May 9, 1888 – February 3, 1960) was an Italian admiral during World War II.

Early life and career

Born in Pisa in 1888, Gino Pavesi entered the Naval Academy in Livorno in 1906, graduating as an ensign in 1909. In 1911-1912 Pavesi participated in the Italo-Turkish War with the rank of sub-lieutenant, on board the armored cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi. The fortification works, however, were not yet completed at the time of Italy's entry into the war, and during the following three years they had progressed at a slow pace; consequently, the island's defenses had several weaknesses: although the main ammunition depot was also located in a cave, ammunition had to be distributed to the batteries via exposed roads; three wells with electrically operated pumps were to ensure water autonomy of Pantelleria, but the power plant was not complete (therefore the island's resistance depended on water supplies sent from Italy), and only a few tank trucks were available for the distribution of water on the island; because of the high costs, the planned cave emplacements for the artillery had not yet been realized, so that all the batteries were in the open, and so were the phone lines, which were therefore highly vulnerable; there were neither underwater and permanent obstacles nor minefields. With the surrender of the Axis forces in Tunisia, in May 1943, Pantelleria found itself at the forefront; but the civilian population, which numbered more than 10,000, was not evacuated and found itself with no air-raid shelters (therefore having to use the same shelters as the garrison). At 3:55 on June 11 Pavesi asked Supermarina (the naval headquarters in Rome) for permission to surrender; the request was brought to Benito Mussolini, who - after a consultation with Supermarina and the Supreme Command - decided to authorize it, ordering that the signal of surrender was broadcast at noon of that day, and the yield was to be motivated with the lack of water. Admiral Pavesi, however, did not wait for the permission of Rome, and announced his surrender at 11:00.

Pavesi was interned in a POW camp in the United Kingdom, and was repatriated in November 1944. Meanwhile, in Italy, the admiral was the subject of harsh criticism - especially in the ranks of the fascist regime, and even more, later, in those of Republic of Salò - who accused him of not having opposed the necessary resistance to the Allies, "as the laws of duty and of honor compelled him", if not openly of treason. In May 1944 he was tried and sentenced to death in absentia by a Fascist court in Parma. Pavesi's decision was justified by many by the fact that a resistance to the bitter end would have only resulted in a massacre of the garrison and the civilian population of Pantelleria, without delaying the Allies' plans by more than a few days. More criticism concerned the decision not to order, before the surrender, the destruction of depots, hangars and other military installations on the island, so that they fell intact into enemy hands.

Pavesi resumed service in 1945, at the disposal of the Naval General Staff; in 1946-1947 he was general director of the Naval Crew Corps, then he was assigned to the General Staff for special assignments. He was placed in reserve in 1948 after reaching the age limit, and he was promoted to full admiral in the reserve in 1957. He died in Rome on February 3, 1960.