Rodolfo Torresan

Rodolfo Torresan (1 November 1887 – 22 November 1944) was an Italian general during World War II. He was head of the Services Office at the General Staff of the Royal Italian Army for most of the war.

Biography

He was born in Padua on 1 November 1887. After volunteering in the Royal Italian Army, he was assigned to the 14th Infantry Regiment and in 1907 he began to attend the Royal Military Academy of Infantry and Cavalry in Modena as officer cadet, graduating with the rank of infantry second lieutenant on 12 October 1908, assigned to the 57th Infantry Regiment "Abruzzi". After promotion to lieutenant, with the outbreak of the Italo-Turkish War in 1911 he left for Libya, fighting in Cyrenaica, where he distinguished himself in the battle of the Two Palms (3 March 1912), and then participating in the conquest of the Dodecanese, earning a Bronze Medal of Military Valor for his participation in the landing in Rhodes and in the action on Psithos (10 May 1912). He was repatriated in December 1912.

He participated in the First World War, reaching the rank of captain in 1915 and of major in 1917. He was wounded while leading a bayonet charge on Austro-Hungarian positions on the hill of Santa Lucia, near Tolmin, for which he was awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor. From 10 March to 31 December 1917 he was in command of the 3rd Battalion of the 253rd Infantry Regiment, receiving another Silver Medal of Military Valor for his behaviour at the head of his troops in the fighting near Gorizia.