He was then again placed on leave and promoted to colonel on 1 January 1938; following Italy’s entry into the Second World War, on 12 June 1940 he was recalled into active service and assigned to the staff of Umberto of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont.

He remained in Sardinia until 24 March 1943, when he returned to Turin, where he was attached to the local territorial defense command for special assignments; he later became president of the military tribunal of Florence, where he was at the time of the Armistice of Cassibile.

[1][2][3] With the Red Army reaching the Vistula in mid-January 1945, the Nazis decided to evacuate the camp and transfer the prisoners to Luckenwalde, south of Berlin, with a forced march.

Along with other sixteen prisoners, Balbo Bertone stopped on the way in Kuźnica Żelichowska along with some companions, looking for food in a tavern, but they were noticed by a non-commissioned officer of the Luftwaffe and reported to the SS.

As the march resumed, the SS started shooting the prisoners who were unable to walk fast enough to keep pace with the main group; Balbo Bertone was the second to be killed, after General Carlo Spatocco.