with full military honours in Benghazi. Awards and honours For his gallantry in action Lt. Gen. Tellera was posthumously awarded the Medaglia d'oro al valor militare, the highest military decoration in the Italian Army. The award citation read as follow: “Chief of staff of the Armed Forces North Africa, with organized and active perception, especially in the period that led to the victory of our arms Sidi El Barrani. He took over, in a particularly critical situation, the command of an Army Corps, kept during the forced withdrawal from Cyrenaica Gebel, more serene calm, giving evidence of high-capacity light control and eminent personal worth. In the battle of South Bengasino when the enemy had made impossible the withdrawal of our troops on Agedabia, stopped in a two days fighting, the vehemence of the opponent, and inflict heavy losses, forcing it to desist from its push into Sirtica. Gather the troops remaining in extreme defense in a place of particular importance, he tried repeatedly, with great personal risk, to collect the last means to break through and break the enemy encirclement. In this supreme and heroic effort, fell gloriously on the field, properly sealing a life of dedication to the entire country”. Sidi El Barrani (AS), September 1940-Agedabia, February 6, 1941. References Macksey, Major Kenneth (1971). Beda Fomm: Classic Victory. Ballentine's Illustrated History of the Violent Century, Battle Book Number 22. New York: Ballantine Books. . Angelo Dal Boca, “La tragica fine della X armata e del suo comandante”. The tragic end of the tenth Army, and its comandant . Letter from Libya /Lettera dalla Libia del generale Tellera, in “I sentieri della ricerca. Rivista di storia contemporanea” 3 (2006), 73–90. 1941 deaths Italian military personnel of World War II Italian generals Italian military personnel killed in World War II 1882 births