Carlo Orelli (23 December 1894 – 22 January 2005) was, at age 110, the last surviving Italian World War I veteran who joined the army at the onset of the war. Born in Perugia, although he lived in Rome for most of his life, Orelli came from a military family whose members had served in various Italian conflicts since 1849. A mechanic by trade, Orelli joined the Italian Army in May 1915 and engaged in combat operations in Italy. His recollections were marked by particularly brutal experiences of trench warfare, including the violent deaths of many of his friends. After receiving injuries to his leg, he was pulled from active duty and returned home.
After recovering from a related infection, Orelli married and had a family of six children. During World War II, despite his aversion to Nazi Germany and fascism, he was forced to work as an artillery director in Italy. At war's end, he returned to work as a mechanic, retiring in 1960. In his later years, he was active in urging others not to forget the lessons learned after the first World War, and in 2003 he was made a Grand Officer in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. He died in January 2005, a month after having turned 110 and achieving supercentenarian status. At the time of his death, he was Italy's oldest survivor of the First World War, the last remaining trench infantryman and the last survivor from Italy's entry into the war.
Early life
Orelli was born in Perugia on 23 December 1894, although his family soon moved to Rome to be nearer to an aunt that operated a local tavern. Carlo came from a long history of military activity. His maternal grandfather, Thomas, helped defend Perugia against Austrian mercenaries in 1849, while Carlo's father served in the Italian Abyssinian campaign during the Scramble for Africa in the 1880s. His elder brother, Alfredo, fought in Libya during the Italo-Turkish War in 1911, while his younger brother, William, fought in World War II and was captured by the British in July 1943. He lived in the Garbatella district, one of the most secluded areas of Rome, on the fourth floor of a house without an elevator. Before joining the war, he trained to become a mechanic. Entrenched with the 320 Infantry Regiment, he served as a foot soldier within the Italian Army and engaged in combat activity in the trenches near Trieste, which was the main battleground in the east. In his autobiography, Orelli went into great detail about his experiences, including the large number of casualties that he witnessed during his time in the trenches and widespread illiteracy among the peasant soldiers. He referred to them as having "died in silence." While he remembers many soldiers turning to liquor to quell their fears, Orelli always refused it when offered. In his later years, he was active in telling tales of his experiences in the First World War, imploring those who listened to "not forget our sacrifice."
Towards the end of his life, Orelli was known as "The Last Infantryman," which later became the title of the wartime memoirs that he published in 2004.