Emilio De Bono Emilio De Bono ( March 19 , 1866 – January 11 , 1944 ) was an Italian General , fascist activist , Marshal , and member of the Fascist Grand Council ( " Gran Consiglio del Fascismo " ) . De Bono fought in the Italo - Turkish War , World War I , and the Second Italo - Abyssinian War . Early life . De Bono was born in Cassano d ' Adda . Son of Giovanni de Bono , descendant of the Counts of Barlassina , and Elisa Bazzi . His family " " aveva penato sotto il giogo austriaco " " ( De Bono , " Laguerra " , page 302 ) . He entered the Italian Royal Army ( " Regio Esercito " ) in 1884 as a Second Lieutenant and had worked his way up to General Staff by the start of the Italo - Turkish War of 1911 . De Bono would later to go on to fight in World War I , where he distinguished himself against the Austrians in Gorizia in 1916 and Monte Grappa in October 1918 . In 1920 , he was discharged with the rank of Major General . Fascist support . During the early 1920s , De Bono helped organize the National Fascist Party . In 1922 , as one of the four Quadrumvirs , he organized and staged the " March on Rome . " This event signalled the start of the Fascist regime in Italy . In the period following the march , De Bono served as Chief of Police and Commander of the Fascist Militia . In 1925 , De Bono was tried for his role in the 1924 death of the leftist politician Giacomo Matteotti . He refused to implicate his superiors and was unexpectedly acquitted in 1925 . Later that year , De Bono was appointed Governor of Tripolitania in Libya . In 1929 , De Bono was appointed Minister of Colonial Affairs ( also referred to as the Minister of Colonies ) . In 1932 , King Victor Emmanuel and De Bono visited Eritrea and found , they said , a peaceful , loyal , and contented colony . Abyssinia . In November 1932 , at Mussolini ' s request , De Bono wrote a plan for an invasion of Ethiopia . The plan outlined a traditional mode of penetration : a relatively small force would move gradually southward from Eritrea , establish strong bases and then advance against increasingly weak and disorganized opponents . The invasion De Bono envisioned would be cheap , easy , safe , - - and slow . Mussolini separately involved the Army in planning and , over the next two years , the Army developed its own massive campaign which would involve five to six times the number of troops required by De Bono . In 1934 , Mussolini pulled the uncoordinated plans together into one that emphasized the military ' s idea of full - scale war . In 1935 , De Bono became Supreme Commander of the Italian operation against Ethiopia during the Second Italo - Ethiopian War . De Bono was appointed because Mussolini wanted the victory in Ethiopia to be not just an Italian victory , but a Fascist one as well , hence the appointment of a well known Fascist general . In addition , he was Commander - in - Chief of the forces invading from Italian - held Eritrea , on what was known as the " northern front . " De Bono had , under his direct command , a force of nine Army divisions in three corps : The Italian I Corps , the Italian II Corps , and the Eritrean Corps . On October 3 , forces under De Bono ' s command crossed into Ethiopia from Eritrea . On October 6 , his forces took Adowa , officially avenging the humiliating 1896 Italian defeat . Soon thereafter , De Bono entered the historically significant city of Axum , riding a white horse . After these initial triumphs , however , De Bono ' s advance slowed . On November 8 , the I Corps and the Eritrean Corps captured Mek ' ele . This was to be the limit of Italian advances under De Bono . Increasing world pressure on Mussolini brought a need for fast , glittering victories ; he was not prepared to hear of obstacles or delays . On November 16 , De Bono was promoted to Marshal of Italy ( " Maresciallo d ' Italia " ) , but Mussolini grew ever more impatient with the invasion ' s slow progress and , on December 17 , De Bono was relieved of his command via State Telegram 13181 ( " Telegramma di Stato 13181 " ) , which stated that , with the capture of Mek ' ele five weeks before , his mission had been accomplished . His place was taken by Marshal Pietro Badoglio , and De Bono was appointed Inspector of Overseas Troops . World War II . In 1940 , De Bono commanded a southern defense corps headquartered in Sicily and was opposed to the Italian entry into World War II . But he kept a low profile and , in 1942 , he was appointed Minister of State . On July 24 and July 25 , 1943 , De Bono was one of the members of the Fascist Grand Council who voted to oust Benito Mussolini when Dino Grandi , in collaboration with Pietro Badoglio and King Victor Emmanuel III , put a no confidence motion to the vote of the Grand Council of Fascism . This led to the dictator ' s downfall , arrest , and imprisonment . Later in 1943 , Mussolini was rescued during the Gran Sasso raid and returned to power by Nazi Germany . He was set up in northern Italy by the Germans as the " Duce of the Nation " of a new Italian Social Republic ( " Repubblica Sociale Italiana " , or RSI ) . Upon his return to power , Mussolini had De Bono and others who voted against him arrested . He then had Alessandro Pavolini try them for treason at Verona in what became known as the " Verona trial . " De Bono was convicted in a trial where the outcome was known prior to its start . On January 11 , 1944 , the 77 - year old De Bono was executed by firing squad at Verona . He was shot along with Galeazzo Ciano , Luciano Gottardi , Giovanni Marinelli and Carlo Pareschi . Ciano was the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mussolini ' s son - in - law . Gottardi was the former president of the Fascist Confederation of Industrial workers . Marinelli was the former chief of the Fascist militia and Pareschi was the former Agriculture Minister . The only person on trial who escaped from capital punishment was Tullio Cianetti , the Minister of Corporations . Cianetti was sentenced to thirty years by the RSI judges . Nazi support . According to historians , De Bono , since 1940 , provided weapons for the Nazis , without the express permission of Mussolini . He transformed idle land into gigantic factories , and used airplanes to transport the completed goods . It is estimated that between 1935 and 1943 , Emilio exported arms to about 308 , 000 German soldiers . He also imported Tungsten from Portugal and sold it to the Nazis . Tungsten was vital to the manufacture of lethal weapons in concentration camps . Personal aspects . Religion : Likewise his maternal grandfather , Emilio was reportedly an atheist , as stated in his " Memoirs " in 1941 : " " Atheism is enlightened and rational , based on scientific principles . I , as a member of the military , admire reason , and for that I ' m an atheist " " . Family : He had the following siblings : Edmondo , Agostino , Constanza , Gerardo and Marella . He had no sons or daughters . Honours . " From the article in the Italian Wikipedia "