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Italian Military Records

© Eva Holmes

After 1865, every male Italian had to register for military service upon turning 18. However, quite a few people left Italy to escape serving, especially during WWI. If your ancestor came into the US around that time, or if he sailed from a French or non-Italian port, you might not be able to find Italian military records. However, our ancestors would have had to register with the US military upon arrival, even if they were foreign aliens!

From what I've heard, Italian military records can be harder to obtain than their American counterparts. They will be located in the provincial archives, not the town archives. These are larger than the town repositories, and therefore busier. However, the information contained in them can be very valuable if you still are not sure where your ancestor was born, since you only need to know the name of the province.

You can also expect to find the names of your ancestor's parents, his date and place of birth (which you'll need to know anyhow), his profession, education, and a physical description.

You'll want to visit the official National Archive site (in Italian, but with an English link at the bottom of the picture in the middle of the page-- it's very small and easy to miss!):

http://www.archivi.beniculturali.it/.

There you will be able to find addresses of the provincial archives, along with an email address and the name of the director. I have heard several success stories from people who used email to contact the archives. It's well worth a try! I have also heard that a phone call to the Italian Embassy or consulate can help speed up matters. The wait for requests made through snail mail can be interminably long, so I would suggest trying one of these two methods first.

While you are requesting the conscription records (registri di leva), try asking for copies of the registro dei fogli matricolari (register of service) and the foglio di ruolo (discharge papers). These last two records will only be available if your ancestor served in the military. In your request, include all information you know, including dates or areas your ancestor served in.

There is a catalog of the various records (not just military) available in each province at http://www.maas.ccr.it/guida/hl/listaPDF... You will need Adobe Acrobat to read these documents, as they are in .pdf form (and also in Italian with a lot of abbreviations).

Links: This is the diary of a soldier who served in the Italian Military from 1881 to 1883. It's not related to genealogy, per se, but makes for a good read! http://www.roangelo.net/journal/

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