Page 335 - The Secret War in the Italian front in WWI (1915-1918)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The sacco’ leave
On 17 November, the secretariat of Section R sent a request to the Territorial Command of the
General Staff Corps where it is read: “Please ensure the reassignment of Lt. Col. Luigi Sacco to
the Headquarters, 3 Group, Engineer Mobilisation Centres, Radiotelegraphic Services” .
rd
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Sacco’s transfer order was sent only 13 days after the armistice came into force. The abrupt
‘abandonent’ of the Cryptographic Unit by its undisputed Commander and founder may raise some
perplexities at first glance. To a closer look, however, there were some reasonable justifications as
the Head of the Intelligence Service explains, in recalling the work carried out by Sacco:

The Head of (Cryptographic N/A) Unit together with some other officers were almost
exhausted, eventually. Moreover, he - who also belonged to the Corps of Engineers - had to
follow his career path [...] and many times someone required this condition was fulfilled. […]
He still had to manage and develop the Central decrypting office, provide for new codes, and
keep them up to date, including inter-allied ones. He had to train the Officers assigned to the
mobilised and mobile cryptographic units, set up the units, monitor them, direct them, and
maintain contacts with similar branches within the allied forces […].
Of course, he was exhausted from such a hard work; so, he - besides his love for cryptography
and the beautiful Unit he had formed and raised as a creature of his own blood - wished to
return to the arms he belonged to where, while working hard as per his nature, he would rest .
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To meet this need, the plan to replace the Head of the Cryptographic Unit immediately after the end
of war, had been prepared since some time. Sacco’s possible substitute, Major Alessandro Romani,
had already been assigned to the unit on an ‘interim basis’ on 4 October 1918.
Sacco could have started a brilliant career as cryptographer within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
which intended to acquire the Army’s capabilities in that field, to address the critical issue of
peace negotiations. The General’s family recalled he often mentioned his choice not to leave the
Army, rejecting the Foreign Affairs ‘s offer, also given the position he was offered by the Army
about his never-neglected interests in the development of radio technologies. In fact, for Sacco,
the Headquarters, 3 Group, Engineer Mobilisation Centres was a provisional destination before
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to be appointed Director of the Radio, Telegraphic and Electro-technical Workshop in Rome, in
March 1919. The photo in picture 14.9 shows Sacco as the host of the visit the King of Italy and
General Diaz paid to the Workshop, together with Generals Cittadini and Nicoletti Altimondi,
Colonel Bardeloni, and Major Celloni .
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54 Section R Logs, 28 November 1918, AUSSME, Series B1, 101S, Vol.329d. Sacco had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
for special merits in April 1918.
55 O. Marchetti, Il Servizio Informazioni, op. cit. p. 213. After Sacco was promoted to Major and consistently with the
regulations, he should have reassigned to an Engineer Unit. On 6 July 1917, however, the Secretariat of Office R sent a
communication to the Personnel Office of the Supreme Headquarters about “the impossibility to release Major Luigi Sacco
for the Service cannot find a replacement”, Section R logs AUSSME, Series B1, 101S, Vol. 288d. However, Sacco - in
addition to his regular cryptographic work - had to attend to the tasks of Director and Teacher at the Army Radiotelegraphy
Operator Courses.
56 General Armando Diaz was the Chief of the Army Staff; General Arturo Cittadini was the First Aide-de-Camp to the
King; General Gustavo Nicoletti Altimondi was the Commander of the Corps of Engineers. Colonel Cesare Bardeloni was
mentioned earlier as one of the Officers at the STM Inspectorate; Major Achille Celloni co-authored with Sacco the book
Manuale di Radiotecnica (Radio technics Handbook).

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