Gold Medal: Augusto (Agostino) Piol
Born in 1924 in Limana (Belluno)
Alpino
Partisan fighter
Citation for the Gold Medal of Military Valour (posthumous):
“In command of a squad searching a built-up area, when attacked by surprise by an enemy platoon he did not hesitate to open fire on it with a light machine gun, engaging in an unequal fight at close range. Seeing three of his comrades fall and pressed by enemy elements, he leapt to his feet and charged alone, forcing the enemy to fall back; but in the final phase of the fight he was mortally wounded in the abdomen and, sadly, died a few days later. A magnificent figure of a patriot and of a most valiant fighter for Freedom. – Rivalta (Turin), 5 October 1944”.
Biographical notes:
A mechanic at the “Giustina” works in Turin, he was called up in May 1943, not yet twenty. Assigned to the “Exilles” battalion of the 3rd Alpini Regiment, he served at the depot and was there when the armistice was announced. Escaping capture by the Germans, he took to the mountains and, joining the partisan struggle with enthusiasm, became part of the 43rd Autonomous Division “Sergio De Vitis”. Later attached to the “Ferruccio Gallo” Brigade as a battalion commissar, he was appointed sergeant from 1 October 1943 and lieutenant from 1 January 1944. Seriously wounded on 5 October of that year, he died four days later in hospital at Giaveno. Two of his brothers, also partisans, fell in later actions.
Who were the Piol family
The Piol family, originally from Belluno but emigrated to Piedmont, paid an extremely high price to the war and the Resistance: the father and four sons died, leaving Brigida Piol in the deepest grief until her own death in 2000.
Agostino, the name under which he is also recorded, joined the first partisan groups after the armistice and, as a sergeant and then a lieutenant, led a battalion of the “Ferruccio Gallo” Brigade in many actions. Ambushed by the Germans at Rivalta on 5 October 1944, he died four days later in hospital at Giaveno, where his comrades had managed to carry him. He was awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour.
The Piols – the sacrifice of a whole family
Related article (in Italian): 80 anni dopo, Belluno ricorda i suoi Martiri.
