Mussolini’s Last Active Soldier
Tags: History, Italy, War, Mussolini, Civil War

Mussolini’s Last Active Soldier

Italian East Africa Askaris by militar.org.ua

The world of history always presents us with multiple unusual tales that sound rather odd. One such story is the tale of the Somali askari called Scire. He was an old withered man who was the last active member of what was Mussolini’s fascist army.

During the colonial scramble for Africa, many nations were cut into pieces and divided between the world’s powers. Italy did not command as much power as the French and British empires and was late to the partition. Thus, they got a minimal share of colonial territories. A piece of Somalia was one of these few territories.

Italy was ambitious, though. To the west of Somalia was the uncolonized Ethiopian empire known as Abyssinia. Thus, the Italians expanded into Ethiopia in one of the 20th century’s most ruthless conquest campaigns and locals were recruited into the army.

The vast majority of troops came from Eritrea and Somalia. Judging from what we know about askari Scire, he probably featured in the Italian campaign against the Ethiopians.

Fast forward to the 1990s, and the Somali nation is starting to feel the pain of failed military incursions to its neighbors and internal politics amidst a collapsing economy. The mix of these things led to the ravaging civil war that still plagues the country today.

The civil war

The Americans, under Bill Clinton, went to Somalia to mitigate the crisis. The Italians followed with the second largest peace-keeping force in the nation. All the racket caught the eye of one individual. They caught the eye of the askari Scire.

It is 1993, and the Somali civil war is raging in full motion. One morning in the Italian Embassy, the guard hears a voice say:

“I knew that Italians are back. Resume service; fight with you, as in the past!”

Italians are back? Fight with you? This could not have made any sense unless it came from someone old enough to have fought with the colonial army. And this was confirmed when the guard turned to see an elderly individual clad in the old uniform of the Italian military. In his hand was his gun, a Moschetto 91/38, and he stood attentively.

In front of them was an 80-year-old man ready for duty.

The Askari Scire in colonial uniform by Italicolonialie.com

Word quickly spread of this soldier who desired to fight to restore peace. He had sworn an oath. It was an oath to the Duce, the King, and Italy. Thus he was honoring this oath by showing up to fight for Italy.

The general within the vicinity was General Loi. He was kind enough not to disrespect the old soldier, and thus he had him do a dumbed-down examination and physical test.

He further promoted the soldier to corporal's rank and had him built a hut within the compound. Scire was not exempt from inspection, and thus every morning, he underwent it, still showing that he had his skills.

Askari Scire always made it known that he would be forever loyal to fascist Italy. Most undoubtedly, he often proclaimed, “Long live the Duce, Long live the King, Long live Italy.”

Askari Scire in the new uniform. Source Italicolonialie.com

People always tried to explain to him that Fascist Italy is long gone. Scire held on to his beliefs as they meant something to him. Once the independence movement entered full throttle, the things that followed did not appeal to the man. War and famine were no signs of order. For this reason, he still reminisced the days when the nation could at least make progress.