Italian War of Liberation

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Campaign in Italy 1943 - 1945

The Italian war of liberation was the complex of military operations and actions of guerrilla warfare conducted at the side of the Allies , involved in the Italian Campaign , by military units of the Italian Royal Army and partisan forces (acting in the course of resistance ) to liberate ' Italian occupation Nazi from September 1943 until the end of the Second World War . The allied military operations, direct invasion of Italy with the aim to cause the defeat and exit from ' axis , were planned as early as January 1943 ( Casablanca Conference ), and began in July of the same year, with the landing in Sicily , while the organization of the partisan brigades and the contribution of the departments of the Army in the liberation of the country took place only after the announcement of the ' Cassibile armistice on 8 September 1943 and the German invasion of the country. From the formal point of view, the Kingdom (limited to the regions occupied by the Allies) declared war on Germany October 13, 1943 [1] , but since the evening of September 8, while the Royal Army effective without orders from the Supreme Command is disintegrated and surrendered their weapons under the German attack - albeit with some significant incidents of armed resistance - leaders of the anti-fascist parties had formed the first political-military organizations to resist the occupier, beginning the partisan resistance, busy - especially in the early months - in large part by Italian soldiers escaped capture by the Germans. After nearly two years of fighting both on the front lines in the regions occupied and administered by the Germans, with the help of the new fascist state consists of Mussolini after release from prison on the Gran Sasso , hostilities formally ceased April 29 1945with the surrender unconditional German army . After this date, there were still some fighting on the Italian territory and violence and reprisals against fascist units and politicians or military collaborators. On April 25, 1945, the day of the start of the uprising Resistance forces in the north , is celebrated in Italy as a symbolic date of the liberation of the whole country from dictatorship and occupation.
Index
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1 Background

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1.1 The crisis of the regime 1.2 Organization of the anti-fascist front

2 From the Allied landings armistice

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2.1 Start of the Italian Campaign 2.2 The dismissal of Mussolini 2.3 The announcement of the armistice

3 The German occupation and the beginning of the Resistance

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3.1 The CLN and the first partisan 3.2 CSR 3.3 The Southern Kingdom

4 The co-belligerency: the reorganization of the Army

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4.1 In the war against Germany 4.2 The operations of the Royal Navy 4.3 Reconstitution of the Regia Aeronautica 4.4 The Italian Army Cobelligerante: First Grouping Powered by the Fighting Groups

5 Moves face up to the "long winter" of '44

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5.1 The Gustav Line 5.2 The advance from the Montecassino Gothic 5.3 The proclamation Alexander

6 The final offensive and Liberation 7 Consequences 8 Notes 9 Bibliography 10 See also 11 External links

Background [ edit | edit source ]

Main article: History of Fascist Italy and Military history of Italy during World War II .

The crisis of the regime [ edit | edit source ]

At the end of 1942 the financial situation, social and military of ' fascist Italy was disastrous. The strong deficit for the financial year 1942-43 was added the increase in inflation and the substantial increase in public debt. He witnessed the worsening conditions of the working classes: the decline of wages and shortages of basic necessities caused widespread malnutrition. To this is added, since autumn '42, the intensification of Allied bombing [2] .

On 23 January 1943 , at 5 am, the entrance to Tripoli, the British Eighth Army under General Montgomery ended the Italian occupation of Libya [3] . On February 2, the fascist regime capitulated even on the Eastern Front , with the disastrous retreat from Russia . L ' ARMIR suffered 84 830 casualties among the fallen and dispersed [4] . On March 5, the strike of Turin (Mirafiori factory started and characterized by anti-fascist political protest) was extended in Milan and in many northern factories, involving about 100,000 workers; arrests within two months fiaccarono the anti-fascist movement, which began to mobilize only in August, after the overthrow of Mussolini [5] . On May 13, Italian troops surrendered in Tunisia .

Organization of the anti-fascist front [ edit | edit source ]

From the political point of view, despite the efforts of repression, since the beginning of 1943 intensified contacts between exponents of, in view of a crisis of the regime. There were many initiatives elements of various anti-fascist parties and contacts were undertaken by King Vittorio Emanuele III, with members of the old "liberal democracy" towards the end of 1942 [6] . Among these spokesmen were Vittorio Emanuele Orlando , Ivanoe Bonomi (both former chairmen of the board) and Carlo Sforza , a former foreign minister [6] . The first leaders of political parties were contacted Catholics Alcide De Gasperi and his deputy Spataro, which were added soon Luigi Einaudi , Soleri, Belotti and Marshal Enrico Caviglia , monarchist and anti-fascist, who began to gather at the home of Bonomi, to oversee the tranquility was prefect Carmine Senise , then head of the police, who on disposal of Vittorio Emanuele III did not inform the authorities of fascist meetings [6] . Other contacts with the Communists, initially designated according to Bonomi in the person of Professor Concetto Marchesi , were initiated by Alessandro Casati , and with the leaders of the Justice and Freedom , Ugo La Malfa and Adolfo Tino , who would found the future Action Party and were Proponents of the armed uprising against fascism as soon as possible [6] . Secret contacts were also undertaken by members of the royal household and by Marshal Pietro Badoglio with representatives from the UK, to explore the possibility of a separate peace [7] .

From the Allied landings armistice [ edit | edit source ]

Top of the Italian Campaign [ edit | edit source ]
Main article: Italian Campaign (1943-1945) .

The attack on Italy was decided during the Casablanca Conference of January 14, 1943 under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower .

The Italian Campaign began on 11 June 1943 the attack of the Allies island of Pantelleria [8] , known to the Allies under the code name of Operation Corkscrew . On July 10, began landing in Sicily (the ' Operation Husky ) of the Seventh American army commanded by General George Patton , in the Gulf of Gela , and the Eighth British Army of Bernard Law Montgomery , in Syracuse , for a total of more than 150,000 men , carried by about 3000 landing craft [9] . The conquest of Sicily cost the Allies about 22,000 men [ given to verify ] .On July 19, followed the massive bombing of Rome , which led to two thousand victims [9] . The scheme, already in trouble, suffered the final blow.

The removal of Mussolini [ edit | edit source ]

For more, see Agenda Large .

Mussolini agreed to summon the Grand Council of July 24, 1943, ostensibly to examine the conduct of military conflict. The Great Council approved the ' Big agenda , which restored the command of the Armed Forces to the King the next day Victor Emmanuel III ordered the arrest of Mussolini, informing the substitution of the Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio. At 22.45 the same day the radio spread the news. Officially Italy remained in the field of ' axis and the war continued on the side of the Germans. On the order of Badoglio, endorsed by the king, was proclaimed martial law , and any gathering of more than three people had to be dissolved by force, in addition to the soldiers was given orders to shoot directly at eye level, without warning shots in the air . Even towards the anti-fascist parties after July 25 there had been no official opening, so that Badoglio declared "I will not be Kerenskji, I will not get carried away by the parties" [10] . On August 17, the Anglo-Americans completed the conquest of Sicily [11] . During the same month witnessed the bombing of Terni , Rome , Turin , Milan [ figure to be specified ] . Meanwhile, Hitler organized a massive sending German troops, who were added to the forces already stationed in Italy in the previous month. Between July 26 and September 8, entered a total of 18 German divisions in Italy [12] . Now the confidence of Hitler nell'alleato Italian had been reduced to a minimum, as witnessed increasingly menacing tones of the German representatives in the meetings between the military top brass of the two armies, held in Rome (July 31), Tarvisio (August 6) and Finally, Bologna (August 15) [13] . The military command on the Italian territory was taken over by Erwin Rommel .

The announcement of the armistice [ edit | edit source ]

For more, see Armistice Cassibile and Badoglio Proclamation on 8 September 1943 .

Immediately after the collapse of the Fascist regime, the Italian government began secret negotiations with the Allies. On September 3, was signed the ' armistice Cassibile , which was announced on the radio on September 8. The Italian army was left without orders and

swerved, but some units of the army and navy contrasted the Germans with guns, as inRome , Bari, at the shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia, Sardinia and Cephalonia, succeeded in a few but relevant cases to prevail. For the announcement of the Italian army had disastrous consequences: more than 600,000 men were deported to labor camps in Poland and Germany by Nazi troops [14] , among the survivors, many fled to the house, gave birth to many other partisan bands that enliven then the Resistance. The same evening of September 8, Badoglio announced after the armistice, the Allies ended the preparations for the landing of Salerno , which was carried out at 3:30 am the next morning.

The German occupation and the beginning of the Resistance [ edit | edit
source ]

A Panzer IV Waffen SS Division"Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" presides over the Piazza Duomo in Milan, shortly after the German occupation followed the armistice proclaimed September 8, 1943

At the same time the Allied landings on the continent, was the plan of occupation of the peninsula by the Wehrmacht ( Operation Achse ) already set up earlier in the case of a defection from the war. The Italian soldiers who were under German control were disarmed and translated into German as Italian military internees , while departments that resisted the attempts of disarmament, despite the attempts of the defense of the positions assigned to them, they were overwhelmed. Only ships of the Royal Navy , with the exception of thebattleship Roma sunk by the Germans, they managed to escape the mire and the German surrender to the Allies on the island of Malta . During the night between 8 and 9 September was fought for control of Rome ( Failure defense of Rome ). On the 10th the German action became more violent. Porta San Paolo became the center of the last fierce resistance. Also participated in the fighting on civilians to whom the commanders of the divisions had distributed weapons. But at the end of the day the Germans obtained the surrender of the Italian contingents placed in defense of Rome and accepted the capitulation limited disarmament of the military. On the morning of September 9, the major road and rail, as well as border areas, were now firmly in German hands. German troops, already infiltrated in Italy in accordance with the directives of ' Operation Alaric , swept the country in a few days dealing with all the peninsula, from the Alps to Naples , not yet in Allied hands. During the following days the Italian occupied territory was declared a "war zone." Only in Sardinia , Corsica , Calabria and in the provinces

of Bari , Taranto , Brindisi and Lecce Italian troops remained under arms until the arrival of the Allied forces and subsequently would have worked during the co-belligerence , particularly in Sardinia Italian forces forced the Germans to embark, first for Corsica and then to mainland Italy, under the instructions that they wanted to conduct deterrence and non-aggressive, just after boarding, the commanding general of the island was criticized for not having stuck to the bottom of the Germans. In the days of the armistice took an episode of civil war, in which Lieutenant Colonel Alberto Bechi Luserna was killed by troops of thedivision paratroopers Nimbus who had decided not to comply with the armistice and wanted to fight alongside the Germans. Specifically, the twelfth battalion (commanded by Major Mario Rizzatti), along with a battery of 184 Artillery, he decided to join the Germans in the90th Division Panzergrenadieren , who were retreating towards Corsica . The general Ercole Ronco , the division commander, tried to draw attention to the department, but to no avail, and indeed, according to the Official Report, was temporarily seized [15] . In a final attempt to induce the battalion, retreating on the road Carlo Felice, to withdraw from the choice made, the colonel Bechi managed to reach [15] in the area of Castigadu, near Macon. He was finally stopped by a roadblock set up by the road department mutinied at the junction of Boroughbridge . In an attempt to force it, Bechi clashed in violent altercation with the captain Corrado Alvino, who, in accordance with orders received, refused him passage. The dramatic altercation ended with a burst of submachine gun in defense of the block, shot by Cosimo paratrooper, Bechi while he was still on the Fiat 1100 service. The same blast also killed a policeman in the Commons, while the second policeman was wounded, and later he joined the Battalion XII as a Scriptural. Just another battalion of the division will line up with the Germans, in Calabria near Soveria Marinelli , while elements of the III and XI Battalion Nimbus (the 183 th Regiment) always by the parties Soveria Marinelli, gathered around Captain Charles Francis Gay and subsequently joined the Allies coming up the Calabria [16]

September 9, 1943, the port of Bari soon after the clashes between the German sappers and the Italian soldiers

The only case of successful defense of a position took place in Bari where General Nicola Bellomo , at the head of only 60 soldiers, sailors and airmen, plus a civilian volunteer, he managed to dislodge the Germans manning the 200 port with an assault on ' weapon[17] . On September 9, 1943 in Bari , General Bellomo was in fact accidentally heard the news that the German general Sikenius had sent sappers to destroy key infrastructure port city of Puglia . Bellomo picked up some nuclei of Italian soldiers at the barracks of the Voluntary Militia for National Security and the Guardia di Finanza . [18] These were joined by the engineers of the 9th Regiment led by Lieutenant Michael beans . [19] With these small nuclei attacked the German sappers who had already taken a position in the focal points of the

large structure. Forced on the defensive, the Germans were forced to retreat by two attacks carried out by General Nicola Bellomo and finally to surrender. Bellomo was also wounded during these clashes. [20] retired, the Germans, the British were able to subsequently landed in Bari in complete safety, taking advantage of port infrastructure fully efficient. In the Ionian islands and the Dodecanese resistance against the Germans dragged on for a few weeks but in the end the outcome was unfortunate, however, was the gruesome ' massacre of Kefalonia . On September 9, Pietro Badoglio , King Vittorio Emanuele III and his son Umberto had abandoned the capital . On 10 September, by order of the Fhrer , were established the two "areas of operation" which in fact annettevano the Third Reich part of the occupied territories, removing Italian sovereignty: the provinces of Bolzano , Trento and Belluno went on to form the area of 'operations foothills of the Alps (German Operationszone Alpenvorland or OZAV ), and those of Udine , Gorizia , Trieste , Pula , Rijeka and Ljubljana the Adriatic Coast Operations Zone ( Operationszone Adriatisches Kstenland , OZAK ). On September 12, a department of German paratroopers, commanded by Major Otto-Harald Mors , with the participation of the officer of the Waffen-SS Otto Skorzeny (which was given by the German propaganda all the credit transaction), freed Mussolini , who was been confined to the Gran Sasso , and led him to Germany. With the German occupation of Italy was organized in the planning of the ' Holocaust , with the arrest and deportation of Jews and the establishment of concentration camps. Were converted for this purpose the prison camp Fossoli , some military buildings ( Concentration camp Borgo San Dalmas , Bolzano transit camp ) and civil ( Risiera ). In this work is devoted to German occupation troops but later also the police and the militia of the unborn Italian Social Republic .

The CLN and the first partisan [ edit | edit source ]

For more, see the Italian Resistance and the National Liberation Committee .

Just a few hours after the armistice radio communication, in Rome , representatives of the Committee of the Opposition that they went to the Interior Ministry to seek an interview with Badoglio as head of the government felt that the same answer would be unavailable for an indefinite period because it was the party with the king
[21]

and in the same afternoon of

the 9th, Ivanoe Bonomi , Alessandro Casati , Alcide De Gasperi , Mauro Scoccimarro , Pietro Nenni and Ugo La Malfa , members of the anti-fascist parties emerged from hiding after the collapse of the regime , came together and formed the first Committee of National Liberation [21] [22] .

In the following days multiplied the local CLN to organize the armed struggle in the regions occupied by the Germans in Italy , in Genoa , in Padua , under the direction of Concetto Marchesi , Silvio Trentin , and Egidio Meneghetti , in Florence with Calamandrei Piero , Giorgio La Pira and Adone Zoli . By 11 September, the structure of the CLN was formed committees and passed quickly to the armed struggle, and September 15 to Arona the first heads of organized partisan groups in the mountains ( Ettore Tibaldi , Vincenzo Moscatelli ) and representatives of CLN (Mario and Corrado Bonfantini Aldo Denini, the lawyer Menotti) met to discuss organizational details and command structures [23] . The partisans adopted noms de guerre with which guaranteed anonymity protecting their families from possible retaliation by the fascists and the Germans, and these names were taking an official character being known more than the real ones. The partisan movement was organized mainly in the Committee of National Liberation led by Bonomi, divided into CLNAI (High Italian Committee of National Liberation), with headquarters in Milan occupied, and the CLNC (Central Committee of National Liberation). The CLNAI, chaired by 1943 to 1945 by Alfredo Pizzoni , coordinated the armed struggle in occupied Italy, led by formations called brigades and divisions , such as the Garibaldi Brigades , formed on the initiative of the Communist Party , the Matteotti Brigades , linked to the Socialist Party; Brigades Justice and Freedom , related to the Action Party and the Autonomous Brigades (also referred to as " badogliani "or blue from the color of their handkerchiefs) lack of political representation, and sometimes sympathetic to the monarchy , such as those led by Enrico Martini (" Mauri ") and Piero Balbo , the Group "Five Days" of Colonel Charles Cross ol ' Franks organization founded by Edgardo Sogno . Outside of the CLN , but in contact with it, worked some anarchist partisan as the Brigades Bruzzi Malatesta , other groups such as the Red Flag Rome , the most numerous partisan of the capital, the libertarian formations that operated in northern Tuscany as the Battalion Lucetti and Elio Lunense and several autonomous formations SAP to address the libertarian Liguria . Completely outside of the CLN operating the self-Mauri 's 1st Alpine Group Divisions , and the Zone XI Patriots led by Commander Manrico Ducceschi "Foo", set in an avowedly apolitical with the only common denominator of the struggle to the bitter end against the fascists . The former rebel groups, however, were spontaneous, with minimum connections with the underground structures civic policies because of the general confusion followed the 8th of September, the lack of connections and disarray of the Royal Army . Some departments, however, the Italian military had retained a certain compactness, despite the absence of any coherent order by the Supreme Command , was circulated in fact it was the memory op.44 , a secret disposition of which were set apart only a few officers can high (army commanders and the large independent units), but in fact did not contain specific instructions and that the

recipients were called to destroy by fire after reading [17] . The "military resistance" was noted, however, that by itself because it was carried out by members of the Armed Forces, recognizable as uniformed personnel "subject to military jurisdiction,"[24] while the partisans were engaged in asymmetric warfare . There were many soldiers of the Royal Army, escaped capture by the Germans, who participated in and led the partisan groups. The first groups were formed in the foothills of the Alps and in Preappennino, and were organized and controlled at first by young junior officers and non-commissioned officers of the army in dissolution. These early groups, consisting of a few tens of elements, were soon reinforced by the early political leaders who went into the mountains to take part and organize the struggle [25] . Over time, however, there will be a gradual politicization of many junior officers of the army and the militarization of political leaders and communists shareholders, more and more focused on the technical and efficiency of the partisan war against the fascists [26] . In mid-September, the nuclei of the strongest partisans were in Northern Italy, about 1,000 men, including 500 in Piedmont , while in central Italy were about 500 fighters, 300 of which are grouped in the mountainous areas of Marche and Abruzzo [27 ] . In Piedmont formations were formed in the Alpine valleys: Val Pesio arose the autonomous formations of Captain What, in Val Casotto ( Langhe and Monferrato ) began to organize the efficient autonomous formations guided by the higher of the Alpine Enrico Martini "Mauri" in the hills of Boves climbed the giellisti of Duccio Galimberti , Dante Livio Bianco andBenedict Dalmastro . Other autonomous formations were formed in the Val d'Ossola under the guidance of Alfredo and Antonio Di God , brothers and actual officers, Val Strona withFilippo Beltrami , Val Toce with Eugenio Cefis and John Marcora and Chisone, led by Sergeant Alpine Maggiorino Marcellin "Bluter" [28] . Gielliste and communist formations were organized at Frise (unit gielliste with Louis Ventre, Renzo Minetto, Giorgio Bocca, all officers of the Alpini) in Centallo (autonomous and giellisti organized by three other officers including alpine Nuto Revelli), in the Po Valley, where, under the leadership of Pompey Colajanni "Barbato," Communist cavalry officer, he organized a strong training Garibaldi with Giancarlo Pajetta , Antonio Giolitti , Guastavo Comollo , in Val Pellice (giellisti), Biella (nuclei with old communist anti-fascists as Guido Sola, Santhi Baptist and Francis Moranino "Gemisto"), especially in the Sesia Valley where he formed the joint training Garibaldi led by fighters prestigious as Vincenzo Moscatelli"Cino", Eraldo Gastone "Cyrus" and Peter Secchia , an important leader of the PCI [29] . The action of the Italian Resistance war as patriotic liberation from German occupation, also meant the armed struggle against the Italian forces that supported the occupiers.

CSR [ edit | edit source ]

For more, see the Italian Social Republic .

The liberation of Mussolini from prison on the Gran Sasso was the prelude to the creation, in northern Italy, a puppet state controlled by the German Reich: thus was born, September 23, 1943, the Italian Social Republic, by the express will of Adolf Hitler . The Italian Social Republic was recognized by the Third Reich , which will exert on it aprotectorate de facto , from ' Empire of Japan and the majority of the other components of the states' axis [30] : the Slovak Republic , the Kingdom of Hungary , the Croatia , theKingdom of Bulgaria and the Manchukuo [31] . Instead they did not recognize the new state Republican Fascist nor Finland (next to Germany in combat on the Eastern Front) or formally neutral nations, including Spain Franco . The armed forces of CSR were primarily engaged in resistance against the action of mopping and control of the territory, and in several cases with bloody reprisals against civilians for the help given to the partisans themselves.

the Southern Kingdom [ edit | edit source ]

For more, see the Southern Kingdom .

In ' Southern Italy the government led by Marshal Pietro Badoglio remained instead the constitutional structure of the Kingdom of Italy, with its capital first at Brindisi and then toSalerno . He organized the resistance in the capital through official as Joseph Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo , Philip Caruso and Ugo Luca who led the Clandestine Front Military andClandestine Front of Resistance of Police . In the case of the Four Days of Naples (27 to 30 September 1943 ) the military loyal to the so-called Kingdom of the South , along with the civilian population, managed to liberate the city of Naples from the occupation of the German armed forces, supported by a group of fascists Italians. The event, which earned the city of Naples conferring gold medal for military valor , enabled Allied forces to find upon their arrival, on 1 October 1943 , a city already free from occupation Nazi , thanks to the courage and all 'heroism of its inhabitants, and its last legs by now exasperated by the long years of war. Naples was the first among the major European cities, to rebel successfully against the Nazi occupation [32] . This kingdom, which territorially controlled southern Italy, liberated by the Allies lasted until June 4, 1944, the date of the liberation of Rome , when he returned to the Kingdom of Italy.

The co-belligerency: the reorganization of the Army [ edit | edit source ]

For more, see Cobelligerante Italian Air Force , Army Cobelligerante Italian and Italian Navy Cobelligerante .

The first moments of participation in the fight against the Germans were very difficult, with Italians divided between siding with the Government of Southern representing the legal continuity and tiling to the Allies, and the continuation of the war on the side of the Germans.

In the war against Germany [ change | change source ]

Italian infantry assault on the slopes of Montelungo, Caserta, December 1943

On 13 October 1943, Italy officially declares war on Nazi Germany and became cobelligerent on the Allied side, the declaration is "delivered" in a somewhat irregular, the work was initially assigned to the Italian ambassador in Madrid, James Paolucci of Calboli, who unsuccessfully tried to get a meeting with the German Ambassador, in his absence, a secretary of the embassy gave the task to deliver the letter, and they gave it into the hands of the first member of the German legation who opened the door, running away , soon realized the contents of the paper, the German ran after the Italian street and forced him to take back the note, at which point the Italian ambassador concluded that if the Germans felt they had to reject our note, it means that the 'have read and according to international law is enough for the declaration of war has to be believed occurred [33] . The issue of the declaration of war was not only formal, since this notification was tied a substantial change of the members of the Italian armed forces who were opposed in the future in weapons to the Germans, who were previously considered snipers , it was equally important to the Italian military internees in Germany, 600,000 in number at this point would have to become prisoners of war [33] . In fact the prisoners this status was not recognized, after you have the choice whether to join the Italian Social Republic or not, those who refused changed status becoming "military internees" (not to recognize their guarantees of the Geneva Convention), and finally, autumn of 1944 to the end of the war, "civilian workers" in order to be subjected to heavy work without enjoying the protections of the Red Cross which they are entitled. The Allies were not initially in favor of the use of Italian troops so that the September 21 general Mac Farlane communicated to billeted "for higher-order Italian troops were not supposed to participate in more fights until further order" [34] . The protests of the royal government and the insistence of the Italian command (in conjunction with the creation in northern CSR) [35] meant that the Allies should review this decision.

Given the precarious conditions from the point of view of military equipment available, the armed forces sided with the Allies always had limited possibilities. It was certainly not the number of troops that was missing, or rather the camps in the area controlled by the Allies and bureaucratically administered by the Southern Kingdom were full of misfits, but trucks, light and heavy weapons, accoutrements, ammunition, to ensure that the operation departments made were collected in every possible place. The royal armed forces, painstakingly reconstructed to take part in the war on the Allied side to adjust the South were always facing serious difficulties that undermined efficiency, and reduced the concrete role in the operations [ citation needed ] . The causes, according to the historian Claudio Pavone , were due to depression of spirit and poor moral combativeness of the largely young people, demoralized by dissolution followed September 8th and little interested in participating in the war: the influx of volunteers was modest, desertions among the departments were high, the fighting spirit proved not very high, spread the evasion [36] . The "re-presentation to the arms of the military service obligation with the classes from 1914 to 1924," prepared by the Bonomi government in its circular of 23 September 1944 gave disastrous results: spread a refusal of obedience with mass riots and violent demonstrations in Sicily against enlistment in Puglia, Sardinia, Calabria, Lazio, Campania and Umbria. The absent and the stragglers ranged between 80,000 men in November 1944 and January 1945 200,000 [37] . According to assessments made by others such as Charles and Raymond Vallauri Luraghi in Italy, by Richard Lamb in Britain and Charles O'Reilly in the United States and collected by John Di Capua [38] , the forces of the Army were more numerous and decisive than not recognized by previous studies: April 25, 1945 had 99,000 soldiers belonging to the Fighting Groups and deployed on the front line, 160,000 members of the Divisions auxiliary (classified as workers, but also baggage, engineers engaged in the rehabilitation of road and railway works often behind the front lines and then the target of the German artillery), 66,000 staff traffic control and security of port facilities and infrastructure in the rear.To these must be added 100,000 airmen and sailors and 65,000 military units dissolved abroad who had joined the local partisans (the Balkans and France) for a total of 490,000 effective
[38]

Even Winston Churchill recognized preferable to the use of Italian forces in all operations behind the lines and also in control of the territory, since the alternative would have been to commit Allied forces in large quantities, and his opinion on the work of the Italian armed forces was expressed in these terms [39] :
" Since then [after the armistice] these Italian forces cooperate with us in the best possible way, and about a hundred Italian warships are making considerable service in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Italian anti-fascist troops, although they suffered heavy losses, fighting alongside our own. In a much more substantial Italian troops provide essential services to the allied troops in the rear. The Italian airmen are also fighting on our side. The battle in Italy will be hard and long, the rest I do not think you could make now in Italy any government capable of obtaining the same obedience from the armed forces. If we win the current battle, and we entered into Rome, as I trust and believe that you will do, we would be free to reconsider the entire Italian political situation, and we could do this in a better position today. "

Churchill considered the lack of authority in elective political parties met in Bari [39] , although it should be borne in mind that it was the same Vittorio Emanuele III to seek and foster contacts with their representatives immediately after July 25, 1943, in each case he still believed that "It is doubtful that they would have some authority on the Italian armed forces currently fighting with us" and these considerations influivano on Italy in the hands of the fascists who represented him on propaganda posters and snarling like a bulldog with a smoking gun in his hand [39] . On the domestic side, the collaboration between the forces of reconstituting Italian Army and the partisan was not always easy. As noted by Peacock, despite the propaganda efforts of the royal authorities and also of the anti-fascist parties of the CLN, never took place a true "moral cohesion" among the partisan fighters in the north and the new regular army units advancing from the south to the next allies, regarded by the men of the Resistance modest remains of an institution now discredited by past failures [40] . However, actions aimed at coordination between the partisan warfare and the military actions of the regular army were initiated at least since the end of 1943. The December 10 Giovanni Messe , Chief of the General Staff of the Army, sent out a circular n 333/0P, direct commanders of formationsstrength, often guided by officers, in which he outlined the objectives of the clandestine organization of the "bands" , similar to the army corps operating behind enemy lines, and you define the tasks and the types of transactions to be carried out against the occupying army and against the military CSR [ known fact, but check ] .

Transactions of the Royal Navy [ edit | edit source ]

For more, see Royal Navy and delivery of the Italian fleet to the Allies .

The only force capable of conducting armed forces in organic operations was the Royal Navy but was used only in the light units in operations of convoy escort and anti-submarine warfare (destroyers, torpedo boats and corvettes), and the cruisers in bombing missions against coasts of occupied, as well as cruises in the Atlantic as an exercise of supervision.Was very active instead Mariassalto , who picked up the legacy of the X MAS Flotilla , carrying out various acts of sabotage, including the sinking of the aircraft carrier Aquila (the night of April 19, 1945 by a raiding party, including the lieutenant Nicola Conte [41] and the deputy Evelino Marcolini , in the port of Genoa [42] ) and the cruiser Bolzano (operation called "QWZ" on the night of June 21, 1944 in the harbor of La Spezia [43] ) and number of landings saboteurs, Italian, British and U.S. behind the lines. Note that the first department to come to Venice, preventing certain acts of sabotage German, it was a department Swimmers Paratroopers of Mariassalto [44] . In addition, the men of the regiment "San Marco" became part of the battle group "Thunderbolt", and with this unit participated in the ground operations of the campaign in Italy during 1945.

Various units were engaged immediately after September 8 to repatriate Italians from Dalmatia, Albania and Greece. The operations were repatriated 25,000 men (however small figure compared to the number of inmates) and were lost three torpedo boats ( Sirtori , Cosenz and Stocco ) engaged in escort services, along with the steamers Diocletian andProbitas [45] , and even submarines and landing craft were extensively engaged in landing and recovery of saboteurs, informers and stragglers (in the Balkans), as well as hydrographic surveys with a view to subsequent landings at Salerno, and for the supply of the patriots of the partisan groups.
[45]

, the total number of operations

was made of 21,359, for a total of 2,635,658 miles traveled [46] A significant clandestine radio network was put in place by the Navy as part of the rebuilding of the intelligence services, and worked effectively until the end of the war by providing a constant flow of information to the United South and commands the Allies. [46] Regarding the battleships Littorio class and class Caio Duilio , were interned in the bitter Lakes , in Egypt , until 1947 and did not give any contribution to the war effort. Although for the first it had been suggested to use in the war in the Far East, the idea was scrapped because the British Admiralty reduced autonomy of the battleships Littorio class [47] was a strong limitation to their use in operational a theater of that vastness. For the Navy, the activities of escorting convoys were not the only ones. Of what had been until September 8 training of rangers called the X MAS Flotilla , a part, including the Captain Ernesto Force , remained loyal to the Kingdom of Italy , forming the special unit called Mariassalto . To these are joined Luigi Durand De La Penne once repatriated in 1944, after his imprisonment in India following the capture of the action took place on the night of Alexandria. This unit took part in activities alongside the allied units corresponding in particular to keep open the port of La Spezia , along with corresponding English units, against the attempt of the Germans to sink the ships at its entrance. In particular, two operations were significant. The first, called QWZ [48] , on the night of 21 June 1944 in the port of La Spezia led to the sinking of the ' cruiser heavy Bolzano , the last survivor of his class and further damage to the cruiser Gorizia , already in reparation for the damage suffered in a bombing. The raid, launched from the destroyer Grecale and backed by a torpedo boat 74 MTSM, was directed by Captain Force with two operators range, ensigns BERLINGIERI Francesco and Andrea De Angelis, a pilot from SLC, the deputy chief helmsman and Gianni Corrado the lieutenant of the Royal Navy Causer, penetrated into the harbor with the chariot , the corresponding English SLC, attacking two cruisers [43] . This action will be awarded three silver medals for military valor, three bronze and a Military Cross of Merit.

The aircraft carrier Aquila after theSecond World War pending demolition

The second, called Toast , was carried out on the night of April 19, 1945 by a raiding party, including the lieutenant Nicola Conte [49] and the deputy Evelino Marcolini , and had as its objective the sinking in the port of Genoa that which was to become the first aircraft carrierItalian [50] , l ' Aquila , to prevent it from being sunk by the Germans blocking the entrance to the harbor. For the sinking of the ' Eagle and the deputy Lieutenant Count Marcolini were decorated with the Gold Medal of Valor [51] . As mentioned in the grounds of the contribution of the medals, the raiders made use of the material of dubious effectiveness, remnant of the previous operations, since there was no possibility of replacement given that the places dedicated to the research, development and production were all in the hands of the Germans. Among the most representative figure of this unit Lieutenant Angelo Garrone . This officer led many expeditions behind the German lines, such as that on 20 July 1944 when he landed the MAS 61 at Ortona , blew up a stretch of road to stop the traffic on the SS 16 Adriatica[52] ; still November 18, 1944 another sabotage starting from half the U.S., which ended with the discovery of the German group and a quick escape, in December 1944 two missions were carried out: the first on the night between 4 and 5 December with the U.S. Patrol Torpedo Boat Rebel , for supplying the partisans and some informants, and Montanino Maletto, the head of NP 12 was the Italian leader Vittorio Fanchin 3rd class, subject to the orders of the officer Crislow U.S.
[53] [54]

.Another mission in November,

near Ancona , when a group of 15 NP under the command of Lieutenant Ambrosi, transported to the MAS 31, with the aim of blowing up bridges (two road bridges and one rail) fails the goal [52] .

Reconstitution of the Royal Air Force [ edit | edit source ]

For more, see Cobelligerante Italian Air Force .

Giulio Cesare Graziani and other riders of the Baltimore Flock of ' Italian Air Force Cobelligerante

With regard to the situation of aeronautics, the Royal Air Force was replaced by ' Cobelligerante Italian Air Force (in English : Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force , ICBAF ), which is the name conventionally used to identify ricostituitesi air forces in the Southern Kingdom ( territory of southern Italy liberated by the Allies where they had taken refuge King Vittorio Emanuele III ) with a crew of Italian origin and means both Allied and German national production, after the proclamation Badoglio 8 September 1943 on ' armistice Cassibile . Most departments were in northern and central Italy (territory controlled by the Germans and members of what later became the Italian Social Republic ), went instead to be October 27, 1943 the ' National Aeronautics Republican (ANR), which continued to operate alongside theLuftwaffe performing tasks of air defense of large industrial centers of northern Italy. At the end of 1943 the terms of the armistice required that each aircraft under the control of the Italian Regia Aeronautica was transferred to the Allied bases. Despite the difficulties such as lack of fuel, the presence of German troops and the distance of the bases in the Aegean, in Albania or Greece coupled with the limited autonomy of airplanes Italian, 203 Italian aircraft (39 fighters, 117 bombers and 47 seaplanes or transport )
[55]

Allies landed at

airports, but most of them were not able to continue to fight for a long time. Together with a hundred other devices that were already in the area ally formed a basis of 250 working aircraft. Many of these aircraft were obsolete, however, for 1943, the Royal Air Force had already planned to replace them. In addition, all aircraft factories were located in the North, in German hands. The members of the Royal Air Force, however, continued to honor the oath to the King and respect the agreements made by the Italian government with the Allies, actively participating in the War of Liberation. At the beginning and then the real stars of the revival of the Italian Air were the mechanics who, thanks to the patient work of finding and fitting of spare parts sought to call in flight condition as much as possible planes. Their crews were also trained to fly with allied air operations and employees in transport, escort, reconnaissance, rescue and tactical operations limited to a total of 11,000 missions carried out between 1943 and 1945 .

The reorganization of the Royal Air Force began immediately after September 8, when 24 hours in the 4th Squadron realizes the change in the face with the first actions in defense by the Germans and then with the first offensive action against the new enemy. For about a month, the Royal Air Force operated its own initiative, on the instructions of the Supreme Command, with no operational control of the Allies and without the limitations armistice, until the official recognition of the status of co-belligerent. This was possible for the authoritative presence of the King and of the vertices of the Armed Forces immediately settled in Brindisi. Decisive for the realization of the new targets was the meeting of September 15, 1943 between the Chief of Staff of the Air Force , Major General Renato Sandalli, and ' Air Commodore Foster, chief of the division of the Air Force Allied Control Commission . On September 21, were changed the insignia of the Royal Air Force in the tricolor cockade placed in the typical locations: in the fuselage , tail and wings . The new rules became operational on October 15, 1943, when the Royal Air Force had 281 units of which 165 operational. [55] The Italian government had declared war on Germany on October 13. In that first period, the Regia Aeronautica not ever worked on the Italian territory: his theater of operations was limited to the Balkans ( Yugoslavia and Albania ), framed in theBalkan Air Force , and this also to avoid clashes between Italian aircraft crews. In the entire history of the Royal Air Force, such a situation never occurred. While transport planes and bombing operated outside the Italian territory, the reconstituted departments hunting instead will be assigned first part of the Desert Air Force and then to the Mediterranean Allied Air Force [56] .

The Italian Army Cobelligerante: Powered by Prime Grouping Groups of Combat [ edit | edit source ]
For more, see Cobelligerante Italian Army , First Motorized Pool , Italian Liberation Corps and Fighting Groups .

Among the units that participated in the Italian Campaign in Italy there was the First Grouping Motorized created in San Pietro Vernotico ( LE ) September 26 1943 [57] . The grouping was commanded initially by General Vincenzo Dapino , who was succeeded by General Umberto Gains under which it was enlarged and transformed into the Italian Liberation Corps . It was the first major unit of the Royal Army to take part in the operations of the Italian Campaign alongside the allied forces after the events followed all ' armistice proclaimed September 8, 1943 [58] , and was engaged for the first time in Mignano Monte Lungo in the Battle of Montelungo , where the department had a baptism of fire, with bloody losses and especially a large number of dispersed [59] . The commitment of the Italian armed forces in the campaign for national liberation was inevitably limited by the precarious conditions in which they poured the material deposits in

areas controlled by the Southern Kingdom , and the fact that all the major factories of war material were in the area controlled by the Germans and the Italian Social Republic. The First Motorized Pool was used in the battle of Montelungo with a heavy toll in terms of loss, especially in view of the results obtained. The episode was marginal from the point of view of the Italian Campaign, but it was the first opportunity for the Italian troops to be allowed to fight with the Germans organic units alongside the Allied forces. At the beginning of 1944, the overall gains assumed command, and as well to prevent the splitting of the unit and use as laborers in the rear of the combat personnel, reorganized the department, was made the rotation of the 67th Infantry Regiment with the 68 , reclassified the two battalions of the 4th Regiment of riflemen who had been aggregated and included a battalion of paratroopers (three companies) of the division Nimbus , a department of the Alps and one of the raiders, who brought the numerical strength of the Grouping in 9500 men
[ 60]

. On

February 5, the grouping is aggregated to the French Expeditionary Corps in the part of Abruzzo near Mount Brown , and March 4 rejected a German attack [60] . On March 26, the French body is withdrawn from the front line and places Italians employed by the Polish II Corps under General Anders , and March 31, some departments, such as the Alpine Battalion "Piedmont" and paratroopers are engaged in the battle of Monte Brown but could undermine the German units from the peak [60] . On April 15, even the Poles are replaced, and the grouping is to join the British, continuing the trend that he wanted to avoid the establishment of Italian unity too strong in terms of workforce, and increasingly employed by large allied units [60] . At that point the Grouping absorbed other two battalions of paratroopers and other departments garnering about 14,000 effective [60] , and became the initial core of the Italian Liberation Corps (CIL), always commanded by General Gains, with the name of the official exchange announced April 17, 1944 and with effect from the official March 22 [61] . The formation, 22,000 men strong now, thanks to the continuous influx of volunteers necessitated the formation of additional units. The CIL was then organized into two new divisions: the "Nimbus" and "Retained earnings". The "Nimbus" was composed by ' namesake Airborne Division of the Army. The "Useful" was formed from what was initially the First Grouping Motorized and other departments, and took its name from its commander, General Umberto gains [62] . The Italian contribution grew to about 30,000 effective at the end of 1944, although the CIL had already been reorganized into the new structure of the Fighting Groups . These, created July 23 1944 on the authorization by the General Staff of the armed forces allied , were made up mostly of soldiers from various Divisions of the ' Royal Army (but also by supporters and volunteers) equipped, armed and trained by 'British Army [63] .

Initially formed by the Divisions "Cremona" and "Friuli" - each of which consisted of about 10,000 men ordered two regiments of infantry, one of artillery and smaller units - after a few weeks joined the groups "Thunderbolt", "Piceno" "Legnano" and "Mantua"
[64]

. The structure

of these military units so it was that of binary division (two regiments of infantry and one artillery more command), with more streamlined structure to the previous divisions of the Army with its 13,500 men [65] , primarily due to the lack legion Blackshirts who was part of the previous standard table, and then also to the lower number of men destined to services. According to some estimates of 2003, the losses of the Italian military sided with the Allies amounted to about 20,000 dead, 11,000 wounded and 19,000 missing [14] Giorgio Rochat computes to 3,000 killed in action between departments involved in the Italian Campaign in Italy , the author also calculates to 20,000 fallen in combat after September 8, the 53,000 deaths among the prisoners of the Germans, 5,000-10,000 deaths in allied fields [66] .

Movements of the face up to the "long winter" of '44 [ edit | edit source ]
The Gustav Line [ edit | edit source ]
For more, see the Gustav Line .

The battle for the conquest of Mignano Monte Lungo , which took place in December of 1943 , was the test case to test the participation of Italian military units on the Allied side.The German forces were forced to retreat, but gained enough time in order to prepare a defense fortified along a line that cut across Italy from ' Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian Sea at the narrowest point of the peninsula: the Gustav Line . The reason for this choice was determined by the dominance of Montecassino , convenient place on the only access road from the south to the north to Rome : the state Casilina .The Germans, well posted in their fortifications in the mountains, they managed to thwart the advance of Allied forces. The tragedy of September 10 Cassinate began in 1943 , two days after the proclamation of the ' armistice , with a frightening Anglo-American bombing, which caught unprepared for the population of the town of Cassino. The first signs of the war there had been as early as July 19 with repeated bombing of the nearby airport of Aquinas. There was fierce fighting for the conquest of positions to be Mignano Monte Lungo in San Pietro Infine , in San Vittore, in Cervaro , protagonists who saw the troops of the First Motorised Grouping of the reconstituted Italian army. The decisive battle of December 8 allowed the Allied forces to occupy the first outposts of Gustav Line along the rivers Rapidoand Gari .

On the Adriatic coast line passing along the Sangro River, and along it was fought the bloody battle of Ortona defined as "the Stalingrad of Italy".
[67]

The advance from the Montecassino Gothic [ edit | edit source ]

For more, see the Battle of Monte Cassino and the Gothic Line .

The episode, which marked the breakthrough of the fortified line was the battle of Monte Cassino , actually a series of four battles in which Italian troops were not deployed, deployed on the Adriatic coast, as after the battle of Mount Brown, the newly formed CIL was past in the employ of the British V Corps, on the Adriatic coast, near Lancaster , namely between Treglio , Arielli and Castelfrentano , meeting at the rates of division Nimbus and the battalion of Marines Bafile the San Marco Regiment [61] . The line gave Gustav May 18 1944 , and the Germans had to attest on the Hitler Line , located just to the north, where they held until May 24. The Allies then had to deal with a heavily fortified defense line established by Field Marshal German Albert Kesselring , the Gothic Line , which was intended to continue the tactic of "retreat fought," already implemented by the Germans from the first Allied landings in Sicily, to inflict on the enemy the greatest number of losses, so as to slow down and even stop the advance of the Anglo-American north, defending the Po Valley and then access if central Europe through the Brenner [68] . Great Allied offensive contribution was given by the Italian co-belligerent forces and partisan groups are very active in northern Italy after 8 September to reorganize the army went more or less autonomously, in part declaring loyal to the government of the south , partly entering in the ranks of the newly formed Italian Social Republic , and partly going to reinforce the resistance movement in northern Italy. The British 8th Army was supplemented by fighters of the First Grouping Motorized who later became the Italian Liberation Corps (CIL) (finally reorganized in Fighting Groups ), stronger than 24,000 men who fought hard alongside the Allies on Gustav and then the Gothic . Another 20,000 men instead, performed important duties auxiliaries, such as ensuring supplies into the quagmire of Gothic Apennine winter of 1944/1945 [69] , organized in socalled departments Briti (British English Troops) and "USITI" (United States English Troops) effects in workers militarized. For the Italian troops deployed from June 17 with the Polish II Corps, began the advance towards the river Pescara reached on 8 June, which was followed by the release of Orsogna among other things, Ari, Chieti, Bucchianico Guardiagrele and [61] . It is estimated that after the summer of 1944, there were approximately 7080.000 partisans active in the resistance movements in the mountains of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, divided into teams that took part in the fighting on the Gothic. In the field of the 8th Army the Maiella Brigade , the 5th Division Pesaro , the 29th Brigade GAP "Gastone

Sozzi" , l '8th Brigade Garibaldi "Romagna" , the 28th Garibaldi Brigade "Mario Gordini" supported the British army, while the 5th Army was aided by the 36th Garibaldi Brigade "Alexander Bianconcini" , from the 62nd Garibaldi Brigade "Red Shirts-Pampurio" , by Partisan Brigade Red Star , from Modena Division-Armando , the battalion Patriots XI Zone and finally by the Division Lunense , then "Apuania" [69] .

The Fortress of Monte Battaglia in the war

On 24 September 1944 , a partisan battalion of the 36th Garibaldi Brigade "Alexander Bianconcini" with 250 men and divided into 6 companies, which operated in the Apennines Imola-Faenza, began a movement of infiltration that led him to occupy Monte Battaglia in the morning of 27 [70] . That same morning, a group of committed partisans German units defending the summit of Mount Carnival while on the other side of the mountain, without the knowledge of the partisans were operating the soldiers of the 350 th Regiment of the U.S. 88th Infantry Division ( the Blue Devils ), involved in the break- of the Gothic Line , from south to north along the watershed between the Senio and Santerno [70] . After the meeting, on the afternoon of 27 Americans are guided on Monte Battaglia. The Monte had already hosted the winter of 1943, a group of partisans and draft dodgers, but was not considered a cause for concern by the fascists [70] . This time, thanks to its proximity to the front line, arrived on the mountain, the partisans had to stand in the rain an attack of 290 Regiment Grenadier German , part of the 98th division [71] and with elements of the 44 th and 715 th Division , that were rejected even with the assistance of three companies of the Blue Devils who were attested on the mountain and on the slopes inframezzandosi the partisans [70] . During the night the German forces shelled the top and the next morning they launched a new attack, coming up just a few meters from the summit, but again had to fall back under fire from the U.S. Army and joined the partisans. Throughout the day, between the rain and the gusts of fog, continued fighting in and around the fortress, alternating with the fire of the artillery and mortars. In the evening, after repeated German assaults, the stronghold was still in the hands of U.S. soldiers and partisans. The latter, however, were forced to retreat behind the Allied lines [70] .

Fighting continued for another five days, but the Germans, despite the reinforcements retrieved from the Adriatic front and also got help from the forces of the Republic of Salo were again repulsed with heavy losses.

The proclamation Alexander [ edit | edit source ]

For more, see Alexander Proclamation .

A very important episode in the history of guerrilla operations was the so-called Alexander proclaims , in the late afternoon of 13 November 1944 , the Issuer "Italy fights" (the radio station through which the Anglo-American command maintained contacts with the formations of the CLN ), was announced the following proclamation on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Allied army in Italy [72] :
" Patriots! The summer campaign, which began on 11 May and conducted without interruption until after the breaching of the Gothic Line, it's over: now begins the winter campaign. In connection with the Allied advance, in the current period, we required a concomitant action of patriots now the rains and mud can not fail to slow the Allied advance, and patriots must cease their activities earlier to prepare for the new phase of struggle and face a new enemy, winter. ... In view of the foregoing, General Alexander ordered the instructions to the patriots as follows: 1. cease operations organized on a large scale; 2. conserve ammunition and materials and be ready for new orders; ... 8. General Alexander please the leaders of formations lead his men his congratulations and the assurance of its highest consideration for the cooperation offered to the troops he commanded during the campaign last summer [73] . "

This document was interpreted by some as an invitation to the list of partisan, and also favored interpretations on the will of the Allies in helping the partisan movement. In any case, the command of the Volunteer Corps of freedom avoided inadvertent dismantling of the partisan movement that indeed, he continued, saving themselves from the action of violent repression that the Germans intensified in parallel with the period of inactivity AngloAmerican [74] . The CVL invited all the regional commands to interpret the Alexander proclaims in the opening direction of the winter campaign, not demobilize but switch to a new strategy in the light of changing conditions of war and climatic conditions
[72]

The proclamation issued in one of the most crucial moments of the war of liberation was found [73] , most of the forces of resistance, a serious blow political, organizational and military spread without considering the psychological impact, which would have been much stronger [75 ] . The American point of view prevailed and the Italian became a "forgotten front". The leaders of the Resistance learned of this decision by the radio, as well as learned the fascists whose reaction was swift [75] . The Germans relying on interruption of operations intensified the actions of the Allied raid to gain control over the entire territory of the north [75] . Although hit hard in the mountains and hills, partly because of the superiority of the means of the Wehrmacht , the partisans nevertheless managed to survive the repressive dispersed in the Po Valley near urban centers [75] .

The months of November and December were very dramatic for the Resistance in Bologna Forl and Ravenna, although late, were freed because the device insurgency was not destroyed, but greatly weakened by the Allied decisions, causing a slowdown in operations in the peninsula and the continued the conflict in Italy [73] . The replacement of English with the American Alexander Clark was rather soothing to the relationship between CLN and the Allies, and saw an intensification of the air-drops aid to allies with strong in arms, ammunition and food. In February 1945 it was deployed in line, the new Group Combat Thunderbolt formed through the dissolution of the Airborne Division Nimbus , which began operations between the rivers Serio and SANTERNO , with a series of attacks that began on 1 April and continued until 16 in competition with the battalion degree of marines was busy Tossignano in the morning of the 13th, then rejecting the occupying German counterattacks and finally the mountain Beautiful [76] . On April 19, more paratroopers of the Nimbus sloggiavano a battalion of German paratroopers of the 4th Regiment of the 1st Division "Gruene Teufels" (Green Devils) by Case Grizzano with 33 dead, including 3 officers, and 52 wounded, including 6 officers, and were awarded two Gold Medal and a Distinguished Service Cross British [76] . Another important milestone was the battle of Filottrano , which saw units of the Polish II Corps and the Combat Group Nimbus opposed to 71. , and 278. infanterie-division German part of the 10. Armee, with the country of Filottrano hinge point between the two German divisions and order to "keep Ancona as long as possible without getting hit in destructive form ..."
[77]

. Prologue to the battle was the

shooting by the German ten citizens of Filottrano in response to an unspecified attack on gunshot fire to a German truck June 30 [61] . The day after the 15 th Regiment of Uhlans Poznan, the Polish avant-garde of the 5th division Kresowa, attacked the village of St. Blaise reaction, forcing the Germans, but their attack July 2 ran aground in front of the Allied troops and later the tank drivers Polish and Italian paratroopers of the Nimbus backed by sappers continued their attempt to break through in the direction of Ancona [61] . In the following days and up to 7 July, the town and surrounding areas were fiercely contested by both sides with fierce counterattacks infantry and armored forces, but lost Castelfidardo and Osimo the Germans were forced to withdraw from the area leaving Filottrano in the hands of the Italians, who entered XIV battalion in the city with paratroopers; losses were 56 killed and 231 wounded, 59 missing [61] .

The final offensive and the Liberation [ edit | edit source ]

For more, see the Spring Offensive of 1945 on the Italian front , Fall of the Italian Social Republic , Death of Benito Mussolini and Yield of Caserta .

April 21, 1945: Bologna is released and allied tanks parade through the streets of the city.

In the early days of April the allied forces gave rise to the offensive end to break through the Gothic Line and then spread from the Po Valley of northern Italy to the whole. In the first week diversionary maneuvers on the sides of the front of the line German forces averted the impending major attack. In the operating framework was part of the ' Operation Roast , an assault led by the 2nd British Commando Brigade supported by the partisans of the 28th Garibaldi Brigade "Mario Gordini" to capture the isthmus betweenComacchio and Porto Garibaldi and liberate the north side of the valleys of Comacchio . At the same time the ' Operation Bowler hit the transport infrastructure and river port of Venice , which is now the Axis forces were forced to rely on the uselessness of railways and roads. On April 6, 1945 bombing of a heavy ' artillery struck the German defenses on the Senio . On April 9, 825 bombers, heavy, followed by fighter-bombers , launched cluster bombs in the rear of the Senio. The 8th Indian Division, the 2nd New Zealand Division and the 3rd Carpathian Division (on the front of the Polish II Corps along the Via Emilia ) attacked at dusk on April 11, and reached the riverSanterno in the early hours of the morning. The 5th and 6th Company of the 87th Friuli launched their attack at dawn on 10 April, surpassing the Senio and reaching the homes of Cuffiano . The New Zealanders, however, had already reached the SANTERNO the night of April 10 crossing at dawn, 11. The Poles came SANTERNO on the night of April 11. In the late morning of 12 April, after a night of continuous assaults, the 8th Indian Division was established on the opposite bank of the SANTERNO and the British 78th Division began to cross it to assaulting Argenta . Meanwhile, the 24th British Brigade of Guards, part of the 56th Division (London) British infantry had launched an amphibious assault across the water and mud of the lagoons at Argenta. Even if they managed to reach the opposite shore, the night of April 14, were stranded on the position of the Fossa Marina .The British 78th Division stopped the same night on the Rhine at Bastia. The V U.S. Army began its assault on April 14, after the bombing of 2,000 heavy bombers and about 2,000 artillery pieces, with the attacks of the IV Corps (American Expeditionary

Force Brazilian , 10th Mountain Division and 1st Armored Division American ) on the left. This was followed on the night of April 15, the II Corps offensive that struck with the 6th South African Armoured Division and the 88th Infantry Division. They advanced toward Bologna between the SS 64 and SS 65 . [78] The progress against the tough resistance of the Germans were slow but in the end the superior firepower of the Allies and the lack of reserves of the Germans meant that on April 20, both U.S. Army Corps break through the defenses on the Apennines and would reach the Po Valley . The 10th Mountain Division was redirected to circumvent Bologna and leave it on his right hand while pressing towards the north. The U.S. II Corps would be left to take care of Bologna together with the British Eighth Army advancing from their right.
[79]

By April 19 the block at Argenta was forced and the British 6th Armored Division paraded through the left wing dell'avanzante British 78th Division to run towards the north west along the Rhine to Bondeno there and meet with the American Fifth Army, so to complete the encirclement of Bologna and trap the Germans who defended it. In the afternoon of April 20 Italians of the "Friuli" is attested sull'Idice, the last defense of Bologna. Across the front in defense of the Germans was desperate but still determined, but despite this the morning of April 21, the I Battalion of the 87th "Friuli" entered in Bologna advancing along the Via Emilia (SS 9), led by the Commander of the regiment together with the 3rd Carpathian Division (Polish II Corps), followed after a couple of hours from the U.S. II Corps which came from the south. The American IV Corps continued its advance towards the north and reached the Po at San Benedetto Po, April 22. The river was crossed and the next day the advance continued north to Verona which was released on April 26. To the right of the Fifth Army (British Eighth Army on the left), the British XIII Corps crossed the Po at Ficarolo April 22. The British V Corps crossed the Po April 25 heading quickly towards the last line of German resistance ( Venetian Line ) built along the ' Adige .

Partisans party in Milan

The German troops were retreating everywhere: as soon as the Allied forces began to press and to cross the Po, the Brazilian contingent and the 34th Infantry Division and the 1st Armored Division of the IV Corps, positioned on the left flank of the line, it catapulted to the

west along the SS 9 (Via Emilia); crossed Piacenza and the Po to cut the escape route to the Nazi troops across the Po valley towards Switzerland and ' Austria through the Lake Garda and the Brenner Pass . On 27 April, the 1st Armored Division went to Milan , freed by partisans on April 25. The commander of the IV Corps, Crittenberge, entered the city on 30 April.On April 28, south of Milan on the Brazilian contingent bottled 148 Grenadier (grenadiers) and an entire division of the Germanriflemen Italian, the Italian Bersaglieri 1st Division , capturing a total of 13,500 prisoners. On the far right of the Allied British V Corps, encountering little resistance, crossed the symbolic Line Venetian , and in the early hours of April 29, came to Padua where the partisans had already captured a German garrison of 5,000 soldiers. As we approach the end of hostilities, military and supporters worked to save as much as possible of the Italian factories and infrastructure from destruction. The NP (Swimmers Paratroopers, commandos of the Navy) were the first Allied unit to enter Venice April 30, 1945, where there were some German units that had not complied with the order to surrender. At 17 pm on April 27, following an offensive partisan units began on 22, NP landed on the island of Bacucco (now calledIsolaverde ), located at the mouth of the Po river , and shares the same bag from the sea [80] . Made contact with a group of Germans, NP engage them in combat, capturing 14, after the Germans fled. Let the prisoners under surveillance, the group commanded by Lieutenant Garrone pursued the fugitives and they caught 12 in conjunction with a motor boat, weapons, a ton of food and 5 horses
[44]

. The

next day he showed up at the outposts of the raiders of the Ukrainians recruited by the Germans to discuss the surrender of their department in the hands of regular training and non-partisan. Accepted the surrender, with the condition that the prisoners would not be returned to the Russians, at 8:00 am on April 28, the raiders landed in Chioggia acclaimed by the population; 30 department arrives in Venice [44] . One of the latest operations undertaken by the Italian forces was the ' operation Herring , a roll of 226 paratroopers Italians belonging to the divisions Thunderbolt and Nimbus , born from the 183 Parachute Regiment "Nimbus" [81] . The teams were composed of half of the squadron F "recce" ( Recce Squadron F ) [16] and half of Nimbus and 1 sergeant British destroyer in small groups of 6-8 people (exceptionally 12-16) in an area between Ferrara , Mirandola , Poggio Rusco , Modena and the river Po , in order to infiltrate the German lines, sabotage phones, bridges, ammunition dumps and other sensitive targets to wreak havoc along with departments of partisans. The action, which was the last airdrop operation accomplished during the Second World War, would have to last for 36 hours, starting from the night of 19 April, whereas the nights of April 23, 1945 20-21-22 and were carried out various actions guerrilla and sabotage behind the German army in the fortified Gothic Line [82] . What was supposed to be guerrilla turned instead into a tough battle that led

to the conquest of 3 bridges, the destruction of a powder, 44 armored vehicles, armored or protected, the cutting of 77 telephone lines, with the addition (along with the partisans) l 'killing of 481 Germans and some elements of the militia, and the capture of at least 1083 prisoners, who were handed over to the British 6th Armored Division [82] . The Italian losses (excluding partisans) were 30 dead and 12 wounded (plus a dead British). The Italian troops were then joined by allied units (and more partisan) promoting the forcing of the Po, apart from the support of a few tens of partisans had to fight alone until the late evening of April 20, under conditions of very clear outnumbered. Among the Italians was the victim of a clash the lieutenant Franco Bagna , whose bravery earned him after the death of a gold medal for military valor [83] . As part of this war, there were also incidents of clashes between Italian, which continued even after the surrender of Caserta of the Axis forces in Italy that actually entered into force on 2 May 1945 . Among them, the ' Massacre of Porzs , which highlighted the contrasts (however limited compared to the number of men engaged) between the partisan forces, reflecting the different political views of the parties that are part of the CLN. After this, the survivors of Brigade Osoppo did not deliver all the weapons at the time of the Liberation, laying the foundations of a secret organization called Organization Or the name of its commander, Colonel Luigi Olivieri, anti-purposes, which will last until 1956 and then fill in theGladio organization [84] .

Consequences [ edit | edit source ]

The liberation of the country had a high cost of military and civilian casualties, quantifiable in over 200,000 deaths Italians. The estimates shared by most historians indicate a number of casualties of about 40,000 partisans and about 3000 soldiers of the 'co-belligerent army engaged in the campaign of Italy [85] , in addition to those killed in the fighting that immediately followed the armistice, the military Italian partisans killed as in the Balkans, the soldiers who died as prisoners of the Germans, civilians killed in the Nazi reprisals, the prisoners in the camps, the victims of the Anglo-American bombing and the members of the CSR killed in action or executed in April '45 ( between 12 and 15,000 [86] ). The war effort in Italian territory cost the Allies more than 120,000 killed (among dead in battle, missing and injured died later), while the German soldiers killed in Italy were about 260,000 [87] . On April 29th, 1945 at Piazzale Loreto in Milan, in the place of a previous massacre of partisans, were exposed corpses of Benito Mussolini , Claretta Petacci and other members of the Social Republic . The episode (along with the yield of Caserta signed on the same day) marked, in its rawness, the end of the war, the Nazi occupation and decades of

dictatorship. Italy then started to rebuild its democratic representation, questioning the same trim monarchical state. The governorship of Umberto II of Savoy lasted until May 9, 1946 , until the abdication of King Vittorio Emanuele III in favor of his son, Umberto however he held the royal title for a little over a month: June 2, 1946 the referendum institutional (the results of which were announced seven days after) marked the birth of the Italian Republic , which will be proclaimed the 18th of the same month. In the first political consultations on universal suffrage, both male and female in the history of Italy , in addition to ruling on the choice between monarchy or republic were elected members of the ' Constituent Assembly charged with writing the new Constitution of the Republic which replaced the Albertine Statuteuntil then in force.

Notes [ edit | edit source ]

1. ^ The Southern Kingdom (1943-1944) . Retrieved August 25, 2011 . 2. ^ Candeloro 1984 op. cit. , p. 112-114 3. ^ Del Boca 2007 op. cit. , chap. XIII 4. ^ Petacco 1998 op. cit. , p. 162 5. ^ Candeloro 1984 op. cit. , p.115 6. ^
abcd

Pavolini 1973 op. cit. , p. 72-77

7. ^ Candeloro 1984 op. cit. , p. 168-170 8. ^ Salmaggi, Pallavisini, 1981, op. cit. , p. 381 9. ^
ab

Fiorani 2000 op. cit. , Vol 2, p. 182

10. ^ Petacco 1995 op. cit. , p. 147 11. ^ General Alexander telegraphed to Churchill: "At 10 am this morning, August 17, 1943, the last German soldier was expelled from Sicily and the whole island is now in our hands", cf. Aldo De Jaco, 1943. Resistance to witness history in the South , Argo, 2000 ,ISBN 88-8234-029-5 . 12. ^ Roggero 2006 op. cit. , p.224 13. ^ Roggero 2006 op. cit. , p.131 14. ^ 15. ^
ab ab

Di Capua 2005 op. cit. , p. 87 Walter Alberghini , Tragic fate , in Patria Independent , September 29, 2002, and in military

tradition , No.8, October 2002 16. ^ 17. ^

ab ab

Squadronef Pavolini 1973 op. cit. , p. 89

18. ^ Ivan Palermo, The case Bellomo , Illustrated History of No. 157, December 1970 p.77: "... we stopped at the barracks of the Guardia di Finanza and the former Militia where he picked up a handful of valiant armed to the least worst"

19. ^ Ivan Palermo, The case Bellomo , Illustrated History of No. 157, December 1970 p.77-78: "Soon after he was joined by a detachment of artillery with a machine gun mounted on a truck, commanded by Lieutenant beans ..." 20. ^ Ivan Palermo, "The case Bellomo," on Illustrated History No. 157, December 1970 p.78: "The same Bellomo was wounded in several places in his hands and in his right arm from a grenade ..." 21. ^
ab

Petacco 1995 , p. 212

22. ^ G. Mouth, partisan History of Italy , p. 16. The Liberation Committees have their origin in part from the transformation of the "Committees of opposition interpartitici" arose within 45 days of the Badoglio government. 23. ^ G. Mouth, partisan History of Italy , p. 16-17. 24. ^ Royal Decree dated from Florence December 13, 1871 and still in force. 25. ^ E. Biagi, World War II , vol. V, p. From 1658 to 1660. 26. ^ C. Peacock, A Civil War , p. 126-128. 27. ^ G. Mouth, partisan History of Italy , p. 32. 28. ^ E. Biagi, World War II , vol. V, p. 1664. 29. ^ G. Mouth, partisan History of Italy , p. 26-28. 30. ^ Arrigo Petacco, "The Second World War" , publisher Curcio. 31. ^ The ambassador Manchus came to the Lake Garda on 1 June 1944 , when he presented his credentials to the Duce. Taken from the work of Petacco above. 32. ^ ( PDF ) Senato.it - Summary of the meeting of 7 March 1946 pag.336 33. ^
ab

Petacco 1995 , p. 211

34. ^ Fabrizio Braccini The reorganization of the Army - the "Report Cadorna", in The Second Renaissance. Reorganization and the contribution of the Italian Armed Forces Regular - The cobelligerence , Proceedings of the Conference of Bari, 28, 29, 30 April 1994 Centre for Studies and Historical Research on the War of Liberation, p. 110 35. ^ Braccini, cit. p. 111 36. ^ C.Pavone, A Civil War , p. 115-116. 37. ^ S.Peli, The Resistance in Italy , p. 229-230. 38. ^ 39. ^
ab

Di Capua 2005 op. cit. , p. 87.88 Anthony Spinosa, Churchill, the enemy of the Italians , Milan, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore,

abc

2001. ISBN 9771124883008. pages. 246.247 40. ^ C.Pavone, A Civil War , p. 115-123. 41. ^ The sinking of the Eagle on the site of the Navy in marina.difesa.it . Retrieved December 15, 2010 . 42. ^ Biography of Marcolini on the site of the Navy in marina.difesa.it . Retrieved December 15, 2010 . 43. ^ 44. ^
ab

Anaim.it Summary of the activity of Mariassalto in anaim.it . Retrieved December 15, 2010 . Life and death of the Italian soldier in the war with no luck - Vol. XIII - "One country, two marinas,"

abc

p. 51

45. ^ 46. ^

ab ab

Di Capua 2005 op. cit. , p. 79 Di Capua 2005 op. cit. , p. 80

47. ^ http://digilander.libero.it/planciacomando/unita/litto.htm Technical characteristics of the Littorio class 48. ^ Anaim.it Summary of the activity of Mariassalto . 49. ^ The sinking of the Eagle on the site of the Navy . 50. ^ Biography of Marcolini on the site of the Navy . 51. ^ Reasons for the Gold Medal Count at the site of the Navy . 52. ^
ab

The Life and Death of the Italian soldier in the war with no luck - Vol. XIII - "One country, two

marinas," p. 49 53. ^ Decima MAS Network - The NP in the north and the NP in the south . 54. ^ Zarotti, NP SWIMMERS PARACADUTISTI , Auriga Milan. p. 194 55. ^
ab

Ferdinando D'Amico and Gabriele Valentini, Royal Air Force Vol 2 - Pictorial History of the

Republican National Aeronautics and the Italian Co-Belligerant Air Force from 1943 to 1945 , Carrollton, Texas: Squadron / Signal Publications, 1986, ISBN 87 - 981206-7-0 . 56. ^ http://www.eaf51.org/newweb/Documenti/Storia/ODB_ICAF.pdf Co-Belligerent Air Force - (ICEF CoBelliegrant Italian Air Force) - Order of Battle 1943-45 - access November 4, 2011 57. ^ Order of Protocol no. 761 Command LI Army Corps. See Riccardo Scarpa, Old and new in the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Italy in The rescue of the Army. The First Motorized Pool - Monte Lungo , proceedings of the conference of the Centre for Studies and Historical Research on the War of Liberation 58. ^ Henry Boscardi, Monte Lungo: insights and considerations in the rescue of the Army.The First Motorized Pool - Monte Lungo , proceedings of the conference of the Centre for Studies and Historical Research on the War of Liberation, p. 204 59. ^ 1 RGPT. Motorsports - The Battle of Monte Lungo at the site of the Italian Army .Retrieved April 26, 2008 . 60. ^ 61. ^
a b c d and

Roggero 2006 op. cit. , p. 309-312 CIL 8th September at the Battle of Macerata . Retrieved September 6, 2011.

a b c d and f

62. ^ Italian Liberation Corps . Retrieved November 11, 2011 . 63. ^ Italian Army - Fighting Groups 64. ^ Resistenzialismo Resistance versus p. 85 Since December 5, 2008 65. ^ Royal Army - Infantry Weapon . Retrieved September 3, 2011 . 66. ^ G.Rochat, Italian Wars 1935-1943 , p. 443. 67. ^ The forgotten battle 68. ^ Ronchetti 2009 op. cit. , p. 13 69. ^ 70. ^
ab

Ronchetti 2009 op. cit. , p. 19 Monte Battaglia . Retrieved November 11, 2011 .

a b c d and

71. ^ Lexicon der Wehrmacht . Retrieved November 11, 2011 .

72. ^ 73. ^

ab

stories of resistance on the Gothic Line . Retrieved June 15, 2011 . Alexander Proclamation . Retrieved June 15, 2011 .

abc

74. ^ Ronchetti 2009 op. cit. , p. 40 75. ^ 76. ^

abcd ab

Gianni Oliva - Strength: September 8, 1943-25 April 1945 , google.libri.Retrieved June 15, 2011 .

The Parachute Regiment "NEMBO" in transactions with the Combat Group "Folgore" . Retrieved

September 17, 2011 .

77. ^ The Battle of Filottrano - Site sponsored by the City of Filottrano - The Battle .Retrieved October 26, 2011 . 78. ^ Popa, p 10-12. 79. ^ Popa, p 15. 80. ^ Photo of lighthouse Bacuddo from Panoramio.com . 81. ^ http://www.operazioneherring.com/OPERAZIONE.html 82. ^
ab

FERRARA 2008 - Operation Herring . Retrieved September 6, 2011 .

83. ^ Bagna Franco - Gold medal for military valor in quirinale.it . Retrieved October 12, 2010. 84. ^ Petacco 1995 op. cit. , p. 273 85. ^ Giorgio Rochat, Research impossible. The Italian losses in World War II , in "Contemporary Italy," 1995, no. 201 86. ^ Candeloro 1984 op. cit. , p. 341 87. ^ Charles T. O'Reilly, Forgotten battles: Italy's war of liberation, 1943-1945 , Lexington Books, 2001. p. 323

References [ edit | edit source ]

George Candeloro, History of modern Italy. Vol 10: The Second World War. The collapse of fascism. The Resistance , Feltrinelli, 1984. ISBN 8807808056 . Angelo Del Boca, just a step from the gallows: atrocities and abominations of the Italian occupation of Libya in the memories of the patriot Mohamed Fekini , Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007. ISBN 8860730384 .

John Di Capua, Resistenzialit versus resistance , Rubettino, 2005. ISBN 88,498,119,777. Flavio Fiorani, Illustrated History of World War II , Giunti, 2000. ISBN 8809014952 . Paul Pavolini, Badoglio & C strategists of defeat - in 1943, the fall of fascism, 1 , Milano, Fratelli Fabbri publishers, 1973. Arrigo Petacco, Army disappeared. The adventure of Italians in Russia , Mondadori, 1998. ISBN 8804420308 . Arrigo Petacco, Our War 1940-1945 , Mondadori, 1995. Roberto Roggero, charges and honors the truth and military policies of the liberation war in Italy , Greek & Greek, 2006. ISBN 8879804170 , 9788879804172.

Gabriele Ronchetti, The Gothic Line, points the last war front in Italy , Parma, Mattioli, 1885, 2009. ISBN 88-62-61072-8 . Caesar Salmaggi, Alfredo Pallavisini, Continents in flames - 2194 days of war, history of the Second World War , Mondadori, 1981. (ISBN not available) .

External links [ edit | edit source ]

Italian Air Force Cobelligerante Armistice Cassibile Armistice long Battle of Montelungo Battle of Monte Cassino Bombing of Foggia 1943 Fall of the Italian Social Republic Italian Campaign (1943-1945) Police in the Resistance and in the War of Liberation Committee of National Liberation Italian Liberation Corps Delivery of the Italian fleet to the Allies Corps Volunteers of Liberty EIAR Italian Army Cobelligerante Front clandestine resistance of the police Fighting Groups Civil War in Italy (1943-1945) Gothic Line Gustav Line Failure to defend Rome Italian Navy Cobelligerante Death of Benito Mussolini Proclamation Alexander Badoglio Proclamation September 8, 1943 Italian Resistance Southern Kingdom Italian Social Republic Offensive of the spring of 1945 on the Italian front Operation Corkscrew

Operation Husky Operation Avalanche Operation Baytown Operation Slapstick Operation Alarich Operation Achse Operation Eiche Agenda Large First Motorized Pool Badoglio Proclamation September 8, 1943 Southern Kingdom Navy Italian Social Republic Yield of Caserta Italian Resistance History of Fascist Italy Military history of Italy during World War II X MAS Flotilla (Kingdom of Italy)

External links [ edit | edit source ]

The Armistice and the War of Liberation - The Italian Air Force in the War of Liberation (on the site of the Air
Force)

The Italian Liberation Corps - The Cobelligerante Italian Army in the War of Liberation (on the site of the Italian Army) The contribution of the military to the War of Liberation in Italy (at the site of the PNA - Rome) The Fighting Groups (on the site of the Italian Army)