Bridgadier Robert William Michael De Winton

Birth: Sep. 16, 1908, England Death: Feb. 10, 1947 Pula Istarska, Croatia

Brigadier Robert William Michael de Winton CBE DSO (General StaffCdg. 13th Inf. Bde. and Gordon Highlanders) He was the son of William Edward de Winton and Hon. Sibyl Laura Edwardes. He married Augusta Anne Gregory, daughter of Major William Robert Gregory and Lily Margaret Parry, on 9 August 1945. He was assasinated by Maria Pasquinelli over the Trieste agreement.

Brigadier Robert de Winton left his lodgings to carry out the ceremonial handing-over of Pola to the Yugoslav authorities, beginning with a review of the British garrison outside its headquarters. It was raining, and the ceremony attracted only a small gaggle of onlookers. As de Winton got out of his car and advanced towards the unit, a young woman in a red coat, later identified as Maria Pasquinelli, came out from the onlookers, pulled a pistol from her purse and shot him three times in the back. The bullets struck him in the heart, killing him instantly. Having carried out the crime, she allowed herself to be restrained and led away. Two months later Maria Pasquinelli was found guilty of murder by an Allied military tribunal and sentenced to death, prompting protests in many Italian cities. The sentence was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment, which the new Italian republican government promised to carry out in its penal system. In 1964, however, in response to public pressure, the Italian President Antonio Segni granted a pardon and the prisoner was released. His wife's father Major William Robert Gregory was killed in Italy in 1918

Family links:

Parents:

 William Edward De Winton (1857 - 1922)

 Sybil Laura Edwardes De Winton (1871 - 1955)

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Burial: Udine War Cemetery Udine Provincia di Udine Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy Plot: I. F. 11.

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Maintained by: wertypop Originally Created by: International Wargraves ... Record added: Sep 17, 2007 Find A Grave Memorial# 21622858