1974

October 15, Robbiano
Felice Maritano, 55 years old, Major Marshal of the Carabinieri

Felice Maritano participated in the Balkan War in the ranks of the Army where he was awarded various honors, including promotion in the field to Appointed and a War Cross for military valor. After September 8th, he was interned in Germany until the end of the Second World War. Having reached the end of his long career in the ranks of the Benemerita, instead of retiring, he chooses to remain in service to work in the Investigative Unit created by General Carlo Alberto from the Church for the fight against terrorism. Maritano provided a decisive contribution in the first successes of the Nucleus itself, which led to the arrest of the terrorists Carnelutti and Sabatino (and the defeat of the Lodi column of the Red Brigades), then to the identification of the hideout in which Renato Curcio and Alberto Franceschini were hiding ( and their arrest), and finally to the operation against the Red Brigade base in Robbiano di Mediglia, near Milan (15 October 1974)”. (…) “At the time of launching the operation in Robbiano, the Special Unit already had a respectable balance sheet under its belt for its short operational existence: 34 arrests; 43 complaints; 193 house searches; 160 bank checks; 93 inspections; 456 photographic surveys; 1,050 pieces of information requested. A sign of the dynamism of General Dalla Chiesa and the commitment of his men. When the Carabinieri arrived in Robbiano, the hideout was empty. Some soldiers hid inside the apartment. (…) In the apartment, investigative material of considerable interest was found (including machine guns and pistols useful for identifying the terrorists implicated in the kidnapping of Judge Sossi), explosives and ammunition. An agenda of Sossi was also found, a Br document signed by Sossi. In the hideout a Sten, two machine guns, a musket, a revolver, a carbine, three German hand grenades, numerous silencers, dozens of meters of fuse and many false documents (passports, identity cards, etc.). The three members of the Red Brigades arrived one at a time. At 1pm and 9.30pm two of them, armed with a pistol with a round in the chamber (7.65 mm calibre), were arrested.
Having not participated in the capture of the first brigadier, Pietro Bassi, Marshal Maritano obtained participation in the subsequent picketing shifts and insisted on staying because he did not want to leave his younger colleagues alone in the most risky moments. Given his experience, the request was accepted. At 9.30 pm he took part in the capture of Piero Bertolazzi, who attempted to extract a 7.65, but was blocked by the soldiers. At 3.20, after a short rest in the cot in the hideout, a shuffling sound on the stairwell alerted the carabinieri (brigadiers Calapai and Furno were on duty with Maritano). The one who was later identified as Red Brigade member Roberto Ognibene found himself a few meters away from them. Maritano ordered “Stop, Carabinieri!”, but Ognibene fled down the stairwell, chased by the three soldiers. The silence of the night was torn by the shots of the terrorist’s Smith & Wesson 38 caliber special. The shots reached the marshal, but he did not give up. He moved Calapai aside to shoot at the Red Brigades member, launching himself in pursuit of him. He continued to shoot with his hand stained with blood, leaning against the wall, until four shots neutralized the Red Brigades member. The two arrived on the ground floor. Ognibene fell to the ground and Maritano collapsed next to him, as if he wanted to control him. Almost lifeless, he still urged the two non-commissioned officers to capture the brigadier. He died while being transported to the hospital.”