Ubaldo Soddu

Ubaldo Soddu (23 July 1883, Salerno – 25 July 1949, Rome) was an Italian Fascist general and politician who held the position of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army and Undersecretary of State for War during the initial phases of World War II. On 13 June 1940, immediately after the outbreak of hostilities with France and the United Kingdom, he assumed the position of deputy chief of the General Staff. Promoted to army general, he replaced general Sebastiano Visconti Prasca as commander of the Albanian Higher Troop Command during the Greco-Italian War on 8 November 1940. Because of the defeat Italian troops suffered between 22 and 23 November 1940, he was replaced after four weeks in command by the Italian Royal Army's chief of staff, General Ugo Cavallero.

Biography Early life Soddu was born in Salerno on 23 July 1883. His father was a Sardinian military officer.

Military career Early career Soddu attended the Royal Military Academy of Infantry and Cavalry in Modena, graduating in 1904 and entering service with the Royal Army with the rank of sottotenente ("sub-lieutenant"), assigned to the infantry arm. He took part in the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912.

World War I Soddu subsequently served in World War I, in which Italy took part from May 1915 to November 1918, He fought on the Italian front from 1915 to 1918, seeing action in the Battles of the Isonzo and the Second Battle of the Piave River. He was promoted to tenente colonnello ("lieutenant colonel") on 8 November 1917, with seniority dating to 7 October 1917. In November 1938, Generale ("General") Alberto Pariani assigned him to examine an operational plan drawn up by Governor-General of Libya Italo Balbo for an invasion of Egypt in the event of a war with France and the United Kingdom. It envisaged concentrating available Italian forces in the east of Libya and remaining strictly on the defensive in western Libya on the Tunisian border. In an official report, Soddu stated that there was no alternative to an offensive toward Egypt "because a defensive attitude on the eastern frontier would favor the concentration of English troops." In an accompanying personal note, however, he added that a serious offensive plan could only be implemented with the "immediate" availability in Libya of sufficient forces to carry it out. Soddu was appointed Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of War, the Servizio Informazioni Militare ("Military Information Service"), arranging that the branch that dealt with counterespionage and anti-sabotage would form a new service, Controspionaggio Militare e Servizi Speciali (CSMSS, "Military Counter-Espionage and Special Services"). Placed under the command of Colonel Santo Emanuele, this service was intended for counter-espionage and "special services" tasks such as sabotage, special attacks, terrorism, and the physical elimination of adversaries.

World War II

Italy entered World War II on the side of the Axis powers on 10 June 1940 with its invasion of France during the Battle of France by the Italian Royal Army′s Army Group West. On 13 June 1940, Soddu assumed additional duties as deputy chief of the Supreme General Staff Generale designato ("General-designate") Sebastiano Visconti Prasca as commander of Higher Forces Command Albania (XXVI Army Corps). November 1940, according to different sources. Soddu had orders to stop the Italian retreat and stabilize the front, then resume the offensive as soon as possible.

Once he arrived in Albania, Soddu′s first order was to halt the floundering Italian offensive and take a defensive stance while awaiting the arrival of substantial reinforcements. He decided to launch a final offensive to resolve the war in Italy′s favor only at a later time, when more troops were available. During an inspection carried out on 17 November 1940, Pricolo met with Soddu and in his diary noted that he found Soddu — who had no previous experience of commanding anything larger than a battalion, let alone a field army, in wartime — insecure and fearful about the situation, writing that "he showed concern and intermittent confidence." Visconti Prasca, who took command of the 11th Army in Albania after Soddu′s arrival, criticized Soddu′s defensive provisions; after only a few days in command of the 11th Army, Visconti Pracsa was recalled to Italy and replaced by General Carlo Geloso on either 11 or 16 November 1940, according to different sources. For his part, Soddu, who as a hobby and part-time job composed musical scores for film soundtracks for the Italian film studio Cinecittà, often retreated for hours at a time to seek solace in composing music, Geloso, commanding the 11th Army, proposed that the Epirus front, to avoid a possible encirclement, also retreat to the north of Sarandë and Gjirokastër. Soddu did not accept Geloso′s recommendation, and between 1 and 2 December 1940 the Greeks broke through the Italian front in the Përmet sector, Mussolini could have viewed the call as treasonous and grounds for ordering Soddu's execution, but Mussolini's lingering regard for Soddu led him instead to send General Ugo Cavallero — who, after Badoglio 's resignation on 28 November 1940, officially became Chief of the General Staff on 4 December 1940 — to Albania to help Soddu and evaluate his performance. and from then on Soddu served only nominally as commander while Cavallero directed the conduct of war operations through him.

Soddu was recalled to Italy, where he was attached to the Ministry of War. The Fascist politician Giovanni Preziosi attacked Soddu harshly between December 1944 and March 1945 in the journal La vita italiana, accusing him of being a Freemason and of having purposely sabotaged the military campaign in Greece in 1940–1941. Soddu protested to Mussolini, who played down Preziosi′s allegations, saying that it was not the time for investigations.

Soddu died in Rome on 25 July 1949. In addition to his hobby of composing music for films, he developed a reputation during his career for having a fondness for fine food and wine.

Publications

Perché Bonaparte nel 1797 inizia una nuova campagna contro l'Austria ("Why Bonaparte Began a New Campaign Against Austria in 1797"), 1914 (in Italian) Statuti libici personali e reali ("Personal and Royal Statutes of Libya"), Tip. degli Stab. militari di pena, 1924 (in Italian) Movimento e guerra celermente risolutiva ("Movement and War Quickly Resolved"), 1937 (in Italian)

Honors and awards Italian

"Having assumed command of a regiment in critical conditions, with energy and personal valor he kept his units alongside French ones in stubborn resistance for several days. Wounded, he continued to command them, giving a fine example of courage and contempt for danger, earning himself a summons to the order of the French Army. S. Imoges (Champagne), 16–23 July 1918."

"In two subsequent front line actions, hit both times by asphyxiating gas, he remained fearless at his command post; with a high spirit of sacrifice he refused to be treated, remaining in his place. And he managed to keep his battalion in position, where those affected by the gas were in considerable numbers. Canal lateral de l'Aisne-Sissonne, 27 September–27 October 1918."

Foreign