was relieved of his command via State Telegram 13181 (Telegramma di Stato 13181), which stated that with the capture of Mek'ele five weeks earlier, his mission had been accomplished. His place was taken by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, and De Bono was appointed Inspector of Overseas Troops. Second World War In 1940, De Bono commanded a southern defense corps headquartered in Sicily and was opposed to the Italian entry into the Second World War; he filed a scathing report about the condition of the troops in Sicily, pointing out that the "mobile battalions" were not mobile at all, and harshly criticizing both the Maritime Artillery Militia and the Anti-Aircraft Defense Militia. However, he kept a low profile and in 1942 was appointed Minister of State. On 24 and 25 July 1943, De Bono was one of the members of the Grand Council of Fascism who voted to oust Benito Mussolini when Dino Grandi, put a nonconfidence motion to the vote of the Grand Council of Fascism. That led the King to get rid of the dictator, ordering his arrest and imprisonment. Later in 1943, Mussolini was freed by Nazi Germany during the Gran Sasso raid and installed in Northern Italy as head of a new state, the Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana, RSI). Mussolini had De Bono and others who voted against him arrested and tried for treason at Verona in what became known as the "Verona trial". On 11 January 1944, the 77-year-old De Bono was executed by firing squad at Verona. He was shot along with Galeazzo Ciano, Luciano Gottardi, Giovanni Marinelli and Carlo Pareschi. Ciano was the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mussolini's son-in-law. Gottardi was the former president of the Fascist Confederation of Industrial workers. Marinelli was the former chief of the Fascist militia and Pareschi was the former Agriculture Minister. The only person on trial who escaped from capital punishment was Tullio Cianetti, the Minister of Corporations, who was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment by the RSI judges. De Bono and the other condemned, tied to chairs as it was in use in Italy, suffered the humiliation of being shot in the back as traitors. After hearing the sentence, De Bono reportedly remarked "You barely got me; I am seventy-eight", but later complained about being shot in the back, which he considered a stain to his honour as a soldier. Personal life Like his