Biagio Avolio, a Neapolitan sergeant who died in the Second World War at the age of 23, was due to receive state honours in Poland on 16 October 2026, 84 years after his death in combat.
Avolio was born in Naples on 2 April 1919 and served in the II Compagnia of the 156th Battaglione Mitraglieri, Divisione Vicenza. He died on 4 October 1942. According to the report, his military convoy was attacked by Soviet troops on that day, after a journey of seven hours and twenty minutes toward Przemyśl.
For decades, his family searched for information about where he was buried and the circumstances of his death. His remains were recently found in a German military cemetery in Poland and officially identified through the procedure coordinated by the Commissariato Generale per le Onoranze ai Caduti in Guerra.
The remains were to be laid to rest at the Italian military cemetery of Bielany in Warsaw. State honours were scheduled for 16 October 2026 at the Bielany cemetery, with diplomatic representatives, Defence representatives and members of the family expected to attend.
