The Italian Ministry of Defense is the official authority to be addressed with any inquiry about a relative who fought in the Great War
(The First World War 1914-1918).

You can use the attached form (.PDF format) to be filled - with all the information you may already have about your ancestor (e.g.: First and Last Name, Date of Birth, Military Rank, etc.) - then submitted it to the address below. You may expect a comprehensive answer, along with a copy of official military records, within a month or so. If you need help in translating the fields in the form, click here.

Please send the form to:

Ministero della Difesa
Commissariato Generale Onoranze Caduti in Guerra
Via XX Settembre, 123/a
00187 – ROMA - ITALY

Please Note: you do not have to fill all the fields in the form – simply enter, at the very least, first and last name of the relative you are inquirying about.

PLEASE NOTE: unfortunately, we cannot contact the Italian Ministry of Defense on your behalf any more, as we used to do in the past. Only the actual relatives of a soldier can do so. Once you've got the "Foglio Matricolare", you can email it to us for the actual, further historical research.

Alternatively, you should contact the Municipality of the hometown of your ancestor, if known. You should ask for the “Foglio Matricolare” of your relative (Military Record), but in order to receive it you must know the full name of your ancestor, his date of birth and his last known address.
Once obtained, the “Foglio Matricolare” should contain, at least, the following information:

Warzones where he fought
A brief timeline of the mayor war events related to those warzones
Rank and Corp where your relative has been enrolled
Hospitalization records
Medals and awards received in combat

Should you not be able to obtain a “Foglio Matricolare”, the Municipality of the hometown of your ancestor may still be able to help you, by providing public archives information.

For a complete list of Italy’s Municipalities, click the following links:

http://www.comuni.it/

http://www.comuni-italiani.it/