He was later promoted to lieutenant colonel; during the retreat that followed the battle of Caporetto in late October 1917 he gathered straggles and assumed command of units that had been cut off, leading them to the Italian lines, for which he was awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor.

[1][2] After serving at the General Staff, he was promoted to colonel on January 2, 1928, taking command of the 74th Infantry Regiment "Lombardia" in Pola in 1934-1935.

On 1 April 1939 he was promoted to major general and in May he was given command of the 54th Infantry Division Napoli, based in Ragusa, a post he was holding when the Kingdom of Italy entered World War II, on 10 June 1940.

During his period in command of the Fifth Corps Coturri strictly applied the racial laws of 1938, deporting back to the Independent State of Croatia the Jews who sought refuge in Italian-controlled territory.

[3][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] From 9 January 1943 he was made available to the Ministry of War for special assignments, and from the following 27 February he was placed in command of the Territorial Defense of Treviso.