Giovanni Messe Giovanni Messe ( 10 December 1883 – 18 December 1968 ) was an Italian general , politician , and Field Marshal ( " Maresciallo d ' Italia " ) . He is considered by many to have been the best Italian general of the Second World War . Early life and career . Giovanni was born in Mesagne , in the Province of Brindisi in the Apulia region of Italy on 10 December 1883 . Giovanni Messe pursued a military career in 1901 . He saw action in the Italian conquest of Libya and in the First World War . During this conflict , he gave an important contribution to the creation and training of the " Arditi " , elite infantry units , and with the rank of " Maggiore " was the commander of the " IX Nono Reparto Arditi " that fought in the zone of Monte Grappa . Emerging considerably decorated from these conflicts , he became aide - de - camp to King Victor Emmanuel III , holding this post from 1923 to 1927 . From this date until 1935 , Messe commanded a unit of Bersaglieri and held the rank of Colonel . Abyssinia . In September 1935 , Messe assumed command of a motorised brigade in Verona , with the rank of Brigadier General . Following a successful period of service with this unit in the Second Italo - Abyssinian War , Messe was promoted to rank of Major General and he became commander of an Italian armoured division . World War II . On April 1939 , following the Italian invasion of Albania , Messe was appointed to serve under Albania ' s governor , General Ubaldo Soddu . Greece . Messe commanded a corps during the Greco - Italian War of late 1940 and early 1941 and achieved some success against Greek forces commanded by Alexandros Papagos . Before winter had even set in however , the Italian forces were forced onto the defensive , as Greek forces launched a counterattack and moved into parts of Italian controlled Albania . In April 1941 , with the help of the German Armed Forces ( " Wehrmacht " ) , the Battle of Greece ended in an Axis victory . Russia . In other circumstances , the armoured warfare experience Messe possessed might have caused him to be given a command alongside Erwin Rommel in North Africa . But , instead , he was chosen to be the commander of the " Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia " ( " Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia " , or CSIR ) . The CSIR was a mobile infantry and cavalry unit of the Italian army that took part in Operation Barbarossa , the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union . Initially , the number of Italian troops in southern Russia numbered around 60 , 000 . Messe never thought that this force was properly outfitted or supplied for the extreme conditions of the " Russian Front . " By July 1942 , the far larger " Italian Army in Russia " ( " Armata Italiana in Russia " , or ARMIR ) replaced the CSIR and General Italo Gariboldi replaced Messe . On November 1 , 1942 , Messe left Russia . The number of Italian troops in Russia had grown to about 200 , 000 . Although the troops fought well , after the German defeat at Stalingrad the campaign in the Soviet Union turned against the Axis powers . Italian forces had been severely mauled during Operation Saturn on the flanks of Stalingrad while trying to hold back the Soviet forces . Tunisia . At the end of February 1943 , Messe was appointed as the new commander of the " Italo - German Tank Army " ( " Deutsch - Italienische Panzerarmee " ) formerly commanded by Erwin Rommel . The name was changed to 1st Italian Army in recognition of the fact that the army consisted of one German and three Italian corps . Rommel was promoted to the command of the new Army Group Africa ( " Heeresgruppe Afrika " ) . Messe fought a defensive campaign against the advancing American and British forces and achieved a defensive victory at the Mareth Line . But his continuous tactical delay of the Allied offensive could not prevent the inevitable defeat of the Axis in North Africa . On May 12 , 1943 , Messe was promoted to the rank of Marshal of Italy ( " Maresciallo d ' Italia " ) . On May 13 , after the collapse of the 5th German Tank Army , the fall of Tunis and the surrounding of the 1st Italian Army , still holding the line at Enfidaville , he formally surrendered to the Allies . Post armistice . As a loyal supporter of the Royalist cause , like many Italian officers Messe soon found himself re - employed , when after the Italian armistice in September 1943 , he was made Chief of Staff of the " Italian Co - Belligerent Army " ( " Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano " ) , consisting of those units loyal to King Victor Emmanuel , many of which were reconstituted from Italian POWs and armed by the Allies . He served in this post with distinction until the war ' s end and then retired from the military in 1947 after 46 years of distinguished service . Life after the army . His later life was not uneventful . Following the conclusion of the war , he wrote a book about his experiences , entitled " Come finì la guerra in Africa . La " Prima Armata " italiana in Tunisia " ( How the war in Africa ended . The " First Army " of Italy in Tunisia ) . His military popularity remained with him in civilian life and from 1953 to 1955 , Messe was a democratically elected representative in the Italian Senate . He was also President of the Italian Veterans Association , a post which he held until his death . His life was profiled in a biography written by Luigi Argentieri titled " Messe — soggetto di un ' altra storia " ( Messe — subject of another history ) published in 1997 . Giovanni Messe died on December 18 , 1968 , at the age of eighty - five .