Nicolae Petala

Nicolae Petala was a Romanian general who was one of the generals of the Romanian Land Forces in the First World War. He served as commander of the 1st Army and several army corps and divisions in the campaigns of 1916, 1917, and 1918.

Military career

He was born in Vaslui in 1869 and attended high school in Iași from 1881 to 1887. After graduating in 1889 from the Bucharest military school of officers with the rank of second lieutenant, Petala advanced in rank to lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel. He held various positions in the artillery units or in the upper echelons of the army, the most important being those of commander of the 40th Infantry Regiment, chief of staff of the 2nd and 3rd Army Corps, and commander of the 15th Infantry Brigade. In 1913 he participated in the Second Balkan War.
In 1916, Petala advanced in rank to brigadier general. After Romania entered World War I on the side of the Allies in August 1916, he successively fulfilled the functions of: commander of the 15th Infantry Brigade ; commander of the 22nd Infantry Division ; commander of the 9th Infantry Division ; commander of the 1st Army Corps ; commander of the 1st Army. Subsequently, he was commander of the 1st Army Corps and commander of the 4th Army Corps. He was promoted to major general in 1918. In May 1919 he participated in the Romanian occupation of Pokuttia.
After the war, he headed the Command of the Western Troops from Cluj and the 6th Army Corps from Cluj. In 1925 he was appointed Inspector General of the Army and Military Education. Between 1921 and 1928 he was the director of the newspaper Cultura Poporului. He was a legal senator. Petala was married to Rosetta Pilat and had 2 children from the marriage, Elena-Alice and Vintilă.
Petala died in Bucharest in 1947.