Virgo Fidelis - Faithful Virgin
As with every year, the Carabinieri Corps at SHAPE celebrated their patron saint, the Virgo Fidelis or Faithful Virgin. On 21 November 2007 they held a mass in the East Chapel to honour their patronsaint, followed by a reception in the SHAPE Events Centre. On this special occasion, the Carabinbieri also commemorated the Battle of Culqualber and remembered their orphans.
Fidelity is the word that embodies the spirit of the Carabinieri Corps in virtue of their humble and silent dedication to daily duties, carried out for over 190 years, always, anywhere and anyhow, as policemen and soldiers.
And it is in the title of Virgo Fidelis (Faithful Virgin), that those peculiar meanings to the Carabinieri are represented in their motto “Faithful Throughout The Centuries’’.
In ancient Rome, patron was meant as a “dominus” (the master), who, through his authority (manumission), renounced all powers he held over a slave who then became a “libertus”, a free man. It also established between the two a relationship of patronage consisting of rights and duties on both sides.
The patron was obliged to intervene to protect this free man from abuses and bullish events, and moreover, help him in satisfying his needs, for example, the way a solicitor looks after the needs of his clients.
In the catholic sense, the patron is a saint who is highly venerated in a particular state, city or other community as an intercessor and protector between his community and God.
On 8 December 1949, on officially proclaiming Mary, Virgo Fidelis, Patron Saint of the Carabinieri Corps, Pope Pio XII marked the celebration day, 21 November, as the remembrance day of the supreme consecration of the Virgin Mary at the temple and of that glorious Battalion of Carabinieri
who, during the Second World War, carried out their duties faithfully and honourably, sacrificing their lives on the sun-scorched cliffs of Culqualber, Africa, deservedly winning for our War Flag the second Golden Medal for Military Valour.
In fact, on 18 May 1941, in Amba Alagi, the heroic resistance of the Viceroy (Duca Amedeo di Savoia Aosta), ended. There remained, however, four armed garrisons in Gondar where the Italian flag was still flying: among them was Culqualber, in the South-East, where there was the only useable pass on steep hairpin curves from Addis-Ababa leading to Gondar. It was considered to be a key strategic post consisting of more than 2,000 men. A handful of desperate men were ordered to keep the enemy from passing the road and to resist until the “last man standing”.
During those long and harsh four months, when the only food for the combatants was “bargutta” (cereals and chic peas mixed with water), there were casualties and men who had fallen severely ill (85% of the Unit died). They suffered hunger, and later on, after the rainy season ended, thirst and bitterly cold nights. Under constant attack from air and ground the infantry continued to construct desperately needed trenches and defending posts.
The British troops, which were thought to have concentrated their forces in Tripolitania, after having repeatedly offered the surrender with the honour of the arms, finally sent into Addis Ababa in mid-October a modern mechanized brigade and tried, by deploying part of the forces, to take the “enemy” by surprise and surround the stronghold from the rearguard. On 13 November 1941, a harsh attack was launched but the battle was won and thus recorded in Rome’s war bulleting. The attacks went on for another nine days until more reinforcements joined the enemy.
On 21 November they were overwhelmed and only then did the Carabinieri surrender with the honour of arms to the allied forces. Finally, at the end of these fierce battles, the allied forces searched for the several “Regiments” they had presumed had garrisoned the stronghold; instead they only found the remains of the Carabinieri Battalion.
Alone and helpless, the Carabinieri of Culqualber had faithfully believed in their country and, while everything around them was falling, sublimated the significance of the words “ Fidelity and Honour”.
Those fallen have become part of the long list of Carabinieri, who, in peace and wartime, have carried out their duties to the ultimate sacrifice, in order to remain faithful to their sworn oath. To all of them and to their families, on this special day, we do render them honour.
Maj. G. De Magistris addressed to the Carabinieri of SHAPE and ended his speech with these words: “The title “Virgo Fidelis” evokes in each one of us our oath of fidelity to the Italian Republic in defending our country and for the safekeeping of the constitution. It is always the Virgo Fidelis who invites us to be men of character and faith, to accept and be more than ourselves, adapting with fairness and generosity to what life demands, carrying out our duties even at the cost of the ultimate sacrifice. Only in this way, in the dynamics of our life and duties, can we really achieve what we pray for to the Virgo Fidelis: the enthusiasm to testify, with faithfulness until death, our love to God and to our Italian brothers”.