He was sent to Brindisi and brought before the Minister of the Navy , Admiral Raffaele de Courten ; on orders from king Victor Emanuel III , Galati was released and reinstated to active duty , with no consequences for his career . Shortly thereafter , he learned of the struggle by the 33rd Infantry Division " Acqui " against the Germans on the island of Kefalonia ; with the tacit approval of De Courten , Galati took the initiative to load ammunitions , medicines and other supplies on the torpedo boats '' Sirio '' and '' Clio '' and sailed towards Kefalonia to supply the Italian garrison , taking direct command of the expedition . When the Allied command learned of the unauthorized departure , however , fearing that the ships would escape to a neutral port or defect to the Germans , they ordered them to abort the mission and go back to port . No further attempts were made to help the " Acqui " Division ; a few days later the Kefalonia garrison was forced to surrender and massacred by the Germans
massacred by the Germans
Massacre of the Acqui Division
Giovanni Galati