to fascism, he found himself directing artillery in Gaeta during the Second World War. After the war, he returned to Rome and settled down with his family in Garbatella. He retired from his mechanic job in 1960 and his wife died in 1969. 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." In 2003, on the occasion of his 109th birthday, Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi made Orelli a Grand Officer in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. 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. At the time of his death, many sources incorrectly reported him as having been the last Italian World War I veteran. While this was incorrect, he was Italy's oldest survivor of the First World War, the last remaining trench infantryman, and the last survivor from when Italy first entered the war in 1915. See also List of last surviving World War I veterans by country References Further reading 1894 births 2005 deaths Italian military personnel of World War I Italian soldiers Italian supercentenarians People from Perugia Men supercentenarians