Other than the fact that a family member has been registered for the draft in Italy, what would be the benefit of having that record? Would there be other information to learn from it?

I have been considering writing for such a record but not sure of the value of it.

If they were registerd how would I know if they actually served. Would I ask for a different record other than the registro di leva?

lilbees

The best thing about the draft records I got, was that it is the only physical description I have of my great grandfather. We have no pictures, but the record gave his height, chest measurements, distingushing marks, hair and eye color. The record will tell you if he served. I have two of them and neither one served. Both have a notation for why the didn't serve. One of them was too short. I got a good laugh out of that.

Here is a good link with an explanation of the foglio di matriculare (forgive my spelling) and the lista di leva

www.rootsweb.ancestry...._recds.htm

Thanks Poipue.

I read the page you referenced. Certainly would be an informative document to have.The years I was looking for were 1820-1867. Since the registration did not start until 1865 I may be out of luck with some of the older people. My great grandfather was abt. 18 or 19 in 1865 so there is a chance he may have some kind of record. I would think it would be worthwhile to write for a search.

I still need to confirm his actual birth date or can we write with an approximate birth date?

lilbees

I only wrote for it after I had the actual birth date. The actual year of birth and the town of birth are the two vital pieces of information you need. The other thing to be aware of is some of the archives charge you for this info. and some do not. So make sure to ask about the cost and method of payment.

Good to know. Thank you again.

lilbees

If it will help below are links to my grandfather's lista di leva. It is a 2 page document.
www.mofrad.net/Montalt...20card.jpg

www.mofrad.net/Montalt...-page2.jpg

Thank you Cathy. Definitely something I would like to have.

lilbees

I also have a copy of my Great Uncle's draft Registration Cards...

Page 1

Page 2

And my Grandfathers:

Page 1

Page 2

And his Foglio Matricolare.

Nuccia,

I gather that the Foglio Matricolare is his actual service record.

What a treasure to have. The whole story is very interesting. I have been trying to go to the various family websites to read about the familes. It has been a great experience each time in reading these. There are so many it does take time.

And of course, I always look for any of my family names on these sites as well. Who knows???

lilbees

The foglio matricolare is one of my favorite documents. My mom always told me stories about her grandfather serving in WWI during the battle of Vittorio Veneto. Seeing his service written down, detail for detail, was amazing.

i highly recommend sending away for that document. I emailed my request to the archive in Barletta and received a response within 3 weeks!

I agree with you Mauro..I absolutely love this document. It tells me so much. In one part of the document it says he was drafted again for WW2 for a week or so. I asked my Dad about that and he says he remembers when that happened. But because of my grandfathers age at the time, he was released. Unfortunately, my Great Uncle Enrico died during the First World War, leaving a wife and daughter (which my Grandfather married) and they had six children together.

If you need a list of Italian Archive Addresses, you can check here:

>Italian State Archive Addresses<.