Gustavo Fara

Fara was born in Orta San Giulio on 18 September 1859; he was the son of Carlo Fara and Antonietta Bedone. As a young man, determined to undertake a military career, he attended the Military Academy of Modena from which he left in July 1879 with the rank of second lieutenant, being assigned to the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment with which he remained throughout his career. In 1881 he was promoted to lieutenant and then returned to the Modena academy in 1883 with the aim of teaching military history and art.

Reached the rank of captain in April 1888, Fara asked to be assigned as a volunteer for the Italian colonies in Africa and in October of that same year he left for Eritrea, where in January of the following year he was assigned as commander of the 3rd company of the Askari which was participating in the march on Asmara.

He fought in Agordat in 1890, which earned him the knight's cross of the Military Order of Savoy. In the action, Fara managed to surprise the enemies who were advancing towards the sea and threatened to occupy the Eritrean colony commanded by General Orero: the Fara sent two companies of Ascari to reinforce the ranks of Major Cortese with whom he headed to the attack by Dega, blocking the enemies at the Damatai gorge, precisely near Agordat where the clash took place where it was also possible to recover the loot looted in Beni Amer and free several prisoners.

Falling ill with malaria in 1891, he was forced to return to his homeland where, after recovering, he was assigned to the 18th Bersaglieri regiment and married on 30 August 1893 with Giulia Mazzoni. He was then promoted to major in 1899 , he obtained command of the XXXIV battalion of the 10th Bersaglieri regiment, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1905. In 1910 he was finally promoted to colonel and obtained command of the 11th Bersaglieri regiment.

Considering the experience he acquired with the war in Eritrea and the distinction acquired on the battlefield, Gustavo Fara took part following the Italo-Turkish War leading the 11th Bersaglieri Regiment in the Battle and massacre at Shar al-Shatt, where he led the resistance of the Henni fort preventing the defeat from turning into a rout.[1]

General Pecori Giraldi who had assumed command of the Ain Zara oasis on December 18 launched an operation against the oasis of Bir Tobraz (14 km south of ʿAin Zara). The Italian general had received the news that some chieftains of Arabs who had sworn allegiance to Italy had been taken prisoners by other hostile Arabs, therefore he decided to send a rescue expedition to the oasis of Bir Tobraz where he presumed they had been taken as prisoners.[2] Without informing General Caneva Pecori-giraldi he sent Colonel Fara's 11th Bersaglieri Regiment on a mission with about 3,000 men.[2] The expedition left during the night hoping to attack the enemy camp at dawn but the local guides who had been assigned did not find their target and the unit wandered for seven hours in the desert until it found the enemy camp. The Italians then decided to attack but went against the wrong side of the camp and soon found themselves caught between two fires. At this point Fara decided to disengage the department and assumed a square formation repelled the enemy attacks for the whole day until the approaching night the Arabs withdrew.[2] The Italian column began the fast retreat towards Ain Zara, abandoning all the useless material and also the bodies of the fallen. On the way back, Fara's column intercepted a rescue brigade that was also lost.[3] The report of the expedition attracted harsh criticism against General Pecori Giraldi who had wanted the action and following an investigation he was relieved of his post in February 1912.[3] The general reacted by attributing the blame to Fara. General Luigi Cadorna became aware of the accusations brought by Pecori Giraldi to his subordinate, accused him of incompetence and recommended promotion to general for Colonel Fara who he defined as "a real soldier".[3] Fara was later promoted to major general for war merits in 1911. It appears in some photographs taken by the French war correspondent Gaston Chérau, who also mentions the heroic behavior of Gustavo Fara in the letters exchanged with his wife.[4]

On March 31, 1912 he was initiated into Freemasonry in the Neapolitan lodge of the Grand Orient of Italy Sons of Garibaldi,[5] but he attended the lodge for just a few months.[6]

After the war in Libya , on March 26, 1913, the Fara was chosen to take command of the "Friuli" brigade, at the same time abandoning Freemasonry by resigning from the "Darwin" Lodge of Naples, in obedience to the Grand Orient of Italy, of which he was a member.[7][8]