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Fascist Italy's Aerial Defenses in the Second World War
Fascist Italy's Aerial Defenses in the Second World War CLAUDIA BALDOLI ABSTRACT This article focuses on Fascist Italy's active air defenses during the Second World War. It analyzes a number of crucial factors: mass production of anti- aircraft weapons and fighters; detection of enemy aircraft by deploying radar; coordination between the Air Ministry and the other ministries involved, as well as between the Air Force and the other armed services. The relationship between the government and industrialists, as well as that between the regime and its German ally, are also crucial elements of the story. The article argues that the history of Italian air defenses reflected many of the failures of the Fascist regime itself. Mussolini's strategy forced Italy to assume military responsibilities and economic commitments which it could not hope to meet. Moreover, industrial self-interest and inter-service rivalry combined to inhibit even more the efforts of the regime to protect its population, maintain adequate armaments output, and compete in technical terms with the Allies. KEYWORDS air defenses; Air Ministry; anti-aircraft weapons; bombing; Fascist Italy; Germany; radar; Second World War ____________________________ Introduction The political and ideological role of Italian air power worked as a metaphor for the regime as a whole, as recent historiography has shown. The champions of aviation, including fighter pilots who pursued and shot down enemy planes, represented the anthropological revolution at the heart of the totalitarian experiment.1 As the Fascist regime had practiced terrorist bombing on the civilian populations of Ethiopian and Spanish towns and villages before the Second World War, the Italian political and military leadership, press, and industrialists were all aware of the potential role of air 1. -
The Gothic Line
Green is Bologna Discover the Gothic Line © Martino Viviani © Martino Viviani Walking along the paths of the Gothic Line means retracing the history and the events that involved the men and women who fought in what was the last German defensive outpost during the Italian Campaign. Between October 1944 and April 1945, the Bologna Apennines were the setting of large battles between the German army and the allied forces advancing from the south of the Italian peninsula. The historic itinerary unwinds from west to east: it starts at Lake Scaffaiolo in the Corno alle Scale Regional Park and arrives in Tossignano in the Park of the Vena del Gesso Romagnolo. Milan Venice Bologna Florence Rome How to find us Bologna is easy to reach using the main means of transport. Bologna Bologna G. Marconi Airport Bologna Central Station Motorways (A1-A14) Gothic Line Trekking Lake Scaffaiolo 1st Stage: Length: 15.8 km Difference in level:+600 -1,800 Duration: 6 h Rocca Corneta 2nd Stage: Length: 14 km Difference in level:+600 -1150 Duration: 5 h Abetaia 3rd Stage: Iola Length: 15,1 km Difference in level:+500 -490 Duration: 5 h Castel d’Aiano 4th Stage: MdSpè Length: 20 km Difference in level:+750 -1,300 Duration: 7 h Vergato 5th Stage: Monte Salvaro Length: 15,6 km Difference in level:+850 -660 Duration: 6 h Monte Sole 6th Stage: Vado Length: 21 km Difference in level:+1050 -1000 Duration: 7 h Brento Livergnano 7th Stage: Monte delle Formiche Length: 16,5 km Difference in level:+1100 -1200 Duration: 6 h Monterenzio 8th Stage: Monte Cerere Length: 21 km Difference in level:+700 -800 Duration: 7 h S. -
US Fifth Army History
FIFTH ARMY HISTORY 5 JUNE - 15 AUGUST 1944^ FIFTH ARMY HISTORY **.***•* **• ••*..•• PART VI "Pursuit to the ^rno ************* CONFIDENTIAL t , v-.. hi Lieutenant General MARK W. CLARK . commanding CONTENTS. page CHAPTER I. CROSSING THE TIBER RIVE R ......... i A. Rome Falls to Fifth Army i B. Terrain from Rome to the Arno Ri\ er . 3 C. The Enemy Situation 6 CHAPTER II. THE PURSUIT IS ORGANIZED 9 A. Allied Strategy in Italy 9 B. Fifth Army Orders 10 C. Regrouping of Fifth Army Units 12 D. Characteristics of the Pursuit Action 14 1. Tactics of the Army 14 2. The Italian Partisans .... .. 16 CHAPTER III. SECURING THE FIRST OBJECTIVES 19 A. VI Corps Begins the Pursuit, 5-11 June 20 1. Progress along the Coast 21 2. Battles on the Inland Route 22 3. Relief of VI Corps 24 B. II Corps North of Rome, 5-10 June 25 1. The 85th Division Advances 26 2. Action of the 88th Division 28 CHAPTER IV. TO THE OMBRONE - ORCIA VALLEY .... 31 A. IV Corps on the Left, 11-20 June 32 1. Action to the Ombrone River 33 2. Clearing the Grosseto Area 36 3. Right Flank Task Force 38 B. The FEC Drive, 10-20 June 4 1 1. Advance to Highway 74 4 2 2. Gains on the Left .. 43 3. Action on the Right / • • 45 C. The Capture of Elba • • • • 4^ VII page CHAPTER V. THE ADVANCE 70 HIGHWAY 68 49 A. IV Corps along the Coast, 21 June-2 July 51 1. Last Action of the 36th Division _^_ 5 1 2. -
The London Gazette of TUESDAY, 6Th JUNE, 1950
jRtttnb, 38937 2879 SUPPLEMENT TO The London Gazette OF TUESDAY, 6th JUNE, 1950 Registered as a newspaper MONDAY, 12 JUNE, 1950 The War Office, June, 1950. THE ALLIED ARMIES IN ITALY FROM SRD SEPTEMBER, 1943, TO DECEMBER; 1944. PREFACE BY THE WAR OFFICE. PART I. This Despatch was written by Field-Marshal PRELIMINARY PLANNING AND THE Lord Alexander in his capacity as former ASSAULT. Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies in Italy. It therefore concentrates primarily upon Strategic Basis of the Campaign. the development of the land campaign and the The invasion of Italy followed closely in time conduct of the land battles. The wider aspects on the conquest of Sicily and may be therefore of the Italian Campaign are dealt with in treated, both historically and strategically, as reports by the Supreme Allied Commander a sequel to it; but when regarded from the (Field-Marshal Lord Wilson) which have point of view of the Grand Strategy of the already been published. It was during this- war there is a great cleavage between the two period that the very close integration of the operations. The conquest of Sicily marks the Naval, Military and Air Forces of the Allied closing stage of that period of strategy which Nations, which had been built up during the began with the invasion of North Africa in North African Campaigns, was firmly con- November, 1942, or which might, on a longer solidated, so that the Italian Campaign was view, be considered as beginning when the first British armoured cars crossed the frontier wire essentially a combined operation. -
Un Anno in Tossignano: a Micro-History of the Santerno Valley 1944-45
Un Anno in Tossignano: A Micro-History of the Santerno Valley 1944-45 By Maria Etienne Submitted to Professor Alexander Kitroeff and Linda Gerstein In partial fulfillment of the requirements of History 400: Senior Thesis Seminar April 25th, 2014 Abstract During the last year of the Second World War in Italy, the Allied forces assaulted the Wehrmacht’s last great line of defense in Italy—the Gothic line. Un Anno in Tossignano examines the effects of that passing warfront on the people of Tossignano and the surrounding villages in the Santerno Valley—an area on the south-eastern edge of the Apennine Mountains in the middle of the Gothic Line. This thesis is a chronological micro-history that tells the story of this small but old mountain village and the valley below during the almost-year long Allied assault on the Gothic line of defense. The specific nature of this clash of foreign military forces changed the social and political structures of the inhabitants of Tossignano and the Santerno Valley. This thesis analyzes the way the war transformed local and national identities as the villagers’ relationships with their occupiers, Italians—both collaborator and partisans, and their liberators also changed. 2 Acknowledgments My sincere and everlasting gratitude goes to my Uncle Sergio Caroli. Without his invaluable help not only as a librarian but also as a translator and tour guide, this thesis wouldn’t exist. I’d like to thank Professor Kitroeff for putting up with my stubbornness all year and Professor Gerstein for her patience and clarifications. I’d like to thank my family for supporting me through this process, listening to rants about military tactics, and offering criticisms on those rants. -
Archaeology of Identity – Archäologie Der Identität Österreichische Akademie Der Wissenschaften Philosophisch-Historische Klasse Denkschriften, 406
WALTER POHL/MATHIAS MEHOFER (HG.) ARCHAEOLOGY OF IDENTITY – ARCHÄOLOGIE DER IDENTITÄT ÖSTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN PHILOSOPHISCH-HISTORISCHE KLASSE DENKSCHRIFTEN, 406. BAND FORSCHUNGEN ZUR GESCHICHTE DES MITTELALTERS BAND 17 HERAUSGEGEBEN VOM INSTITUT FÜR MITTELALTERFORSCHUNG ÖSTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN PHILOSOPHISCH-HISTORISCHE KLASSE DENKSCHRIFTEN, 406. BAND FORSCHUNGEN ZUR GESCHICHTE DES MITTELALTERS BAND 17 Archaeology of Identity – Archäologie der Identität HERAUSGEGEBEN VON WALTER POHL / MATHIAS MEHOFER Vorgelegt von w. M. WALTER POHL in der Sitzung am 20.Juni 2008 Gedruckt mit Unterstützung durch den Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung Umschlaggestaltung: Dagmar Giesriegl British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A Catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library Die verwendete Papiersorte ist aus chlorfrei gebleichtem Zellstoff hergestellt, frei von säurebildenden Bestandteilen und alterungsbeständig. Alle Rechte vorbehalten ISBN 978-3-7001-6502-6 Copyright © 2010 by Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Wien Satz und Layout: Gerald Reisenbauer, ÖAW Druck und Bindung: Ferdinand Berger & Söhne Ges.m.b.H., A-3580 Horn Printed and bound in the EU http://hw.oeaw.ac.at/6502-6 http://verlag.oeaw.ac.at C SANÁD BÁLINT A contribution to research on ethnicity: a view from and on the east THE STATE OF RESEARCH The results of modern research on ethnicity have not yet reached specialists of the early medieval Eurasian steppe in Eastern Europe (nor have the results of the latter reached the former). This has many reasons. First the most obvious: many of these publications remain unknown to Central and East European scholars either due to fi nancial reasons or the lack of connections or knowledge of languages. -
M3 0010.Frontespizio.Indd 1 03/04/13 15:37
M3_0010.frontespizio.indd 1 03/04/13 15:37 M3_0010.frontespizio.indd 2 03/04/13 15:37 M3_0010.frontespizio.indd 3 03/04/13 15:37 © 2013 RCS Libri S.p.A., Milan All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior consent of the publisher. Special Edition printed for Barilla G. e R. Fratelli S.p.A. Translation by Aaron Maines Images courtesy © Barilla Historical Archives The publisher has made every effort to locate and contact all the holders of copyright to material reproduced in this book. The publisher remains available to address any rights that have not been fully identified. M3_0020.copy_PS.indd 4 03/04/13 15:37 M3_0030.occhiello.indd 5 03/04/13 15:38 M3_0030.occhiello.indd 6 03/04/13 15:38 For my friend Pietro. Francesco Alberoni M3_0040.dedica.indd 7 03/04/13 15:38 M3_0040.dedica.indd 8 03/04/13 15:38 INTRODUction I first met Pietro Barilla in the 1970s, worked as his consultant throughout his life, and was with him during his final days. When his children Guido, Luca, Paolo and Emanuela asked me to write their father’s biography, I thought it over for a long time. A biog- raphy is usually the work of a historian, someone who tells the sto- ry of a famous person’s life by rebuilding it as precisely as possi- ble, making the subject seem as close as possible, present in such a way that whoever reads the biography feels like a participant in his or her life. -
Africa to the Alps the Army Air Forces in the Mediterranean Theater
The U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Africa to the Alps The Army Air Forces in the Mediterranean Theater Edward T. Russell and Robert M. Johnson AIR FORCE HISTORY AND MUSEUMS PROGRAM 1999 Africa to the Alps The Army Air Forces in the Mediterranean Theater By the time the United States declared war on Germany and Italy on December 11, 1941, most of Europe had fallen under the domination of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany’s Third Reich. In the west, only Great Britain, her armies expelled from the European continent, re- mained defiant; in the east, Hitler faced an implacable foe—the Sovi- et Union.While the Soviets tried to stave off a relentless German at- tack that had reached Moscow, Britain and her Commonwealth allies fought a series of crucial battles with Axis forces in North Africa. Initially, America’s entry into the war changed nothing. The Unit- ed States continued to supply the Allies with the tools of war, as it had since the passage of the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941. U.S. military forces, however, had to be expanded, trained, equipped, and deployed, all of which would take time. With the United States in the war, the Allies faced the question of where American forces could best be used. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston S. Churchill had al- ready agreed that defeating first Germany and then Japan would be their policy, but that decision raised further questions. Roosevelt wanted U.S. troops in combat against German troops as soon as possible. -
The Brazilian Participation in World War II
The Brazilian Participation in World War II A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE Military History by Carlos José Asumpção Penteado, LtCol, Cav, Brazilian Army Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 2006 ABSTRACT This thesis examines how Brazil participated in World War II shoulder to shoulder with the Allies and what this participation brought to the country. During the 1930s, when the relationship between Brazil and Germany was improving yearly, and when it was supposed Brazil would support Germany in case of war, Brazilian leaders could drive the country to support the Allies cause, mainly the United States of America, allowing this country to set aerial bases in Brazilian North East region, in order to facilitate a connection with North of Africa. Moreover, the option in sending a Brazilian Expeditionary Force (BEF) to fight for the Allied in Italy was one of the most important decisions in Brazilian history. It was the first time that Brazil would take part in a war away from South America. The BEF did its best to well represent Brazil, overcoming several difficulties since its preparation and eventually, showing the Brazilian soldiers could fight as equal as the best soldiers in that war. Brazilian participation is almost unknown by countries away from South America, even here in United States; however, this participation was responsible for several transformations in Brazilian's nation powers. After the war, Brazil became the most powerful and wealthy country in South America. -
Special Edition 2019
September 2019 September The Magazine of the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps - Italy EAGLE TOUR 19 Special Edition #WEARENATO / 1 NATO Rapid Deployable Corps - Italy Ubique Celere CONTENTS BATTLEFIELD TOUR/STAFF RIDE DIDACTIC VALUE: THE IMPORTANCE AND ROLE OF MILITARY HISTORY, BATTLEFIELD TOURS AND STAFF RIDES FOR MULTINATIONAL HEADQUARTERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY. /NRDCItaly Maj. Gen. (retd.) Scollo, Italian Army THE GOTHIC LINE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND @NRDCITA 1 Col. Cacciagrano, Italian Army JOINT FIRE PLAN NRDC ITA 2Col. Smith, British Army CONDUCT AN ARMORED ATTACK AGAINST A DEFENSIVE LINE NRDC-Italy 3Col. Cacciagrano, Italian Army MOUNTAIN WARFARE, TERRAIN EXPLOITATION AND LOGISTIC CONSTRAINTS 4Ltc. Sotlar, Slovenian Army, Ltc. Baessato, Italian Army Everywhere Rapidly is the authorized of- and Maj. Hoxhaj, Albanian Navy cial publication of the NATO Rapid De- ployable Corps, Italy. All editorial content EXPLOITATION OF SUCCESS AND RESERVE COMMITMENT of the Everywhere Rapidly is approved Maj. Snitko-Dottarelli, Lituanian Army by the NRDC-ITA Commander, at “ Ugo 5 Mara” barracks, via per Busto Arsizio, 20 - AIR AND NAVAL SUPPORT 21058 Solbiate Olona , Varese, Italy. TO OPERATIONS 6Col. Andreozzi, Italian Air Force Everywhere Rapidly is published by the Public Affairs Ofce. Contents of the and Commander Marzollo Italian Navy Everywhere Rapidly are not necessarily the ofcial views of, or endorsed by the HOW TO INTEGRATE COMBAT AND COMBAT SUPPORT UNITS North Atlantic Treaty Organization and IN DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENTS IN ORDER the Nations thereby represented. All 7 TO MAINTAIN TEMPO intellectual property rights, including Col. Cacciagrano, Italian Army copyright in the content displayed on the everywhere rapidly, belong to their INVOLVEMENT OF A NEUTRAL COUNTRY IN THE WAR respective owners. -
The Italian Campaign
HISTORICAL FACTSHEET 1 of 3 The Italian Campaign INTRODUCTION The Second World War began in 1939. Soon, most The Italian Campaign was an important military of Europe was under German control. In 1941, effort for Canada during the war. More than 93,000 Germany invaded the Soviet Union and vicious Canadians, along with their allies from Great fighting broke out on the Eastern Front. By 1943 Britain, France and the United States, played a the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, asked for help from vital role. As they pushed from the south to the the other Allied leaders to ease the pressure of this north of Italy over a 20-month period, Canadians attack. The Allies agreed to help and decided to faced difficult battles against some of the German use Italy (which was aligned with Germany) as a army’s best troops. They fought in the dust and platform to attack enemy territory in Europe and heat of summer, the snow and cold of winter, and help divert German resources from the Eastern the rain and mud of the spring and fall. Front. This effort became known as the Italian Campaign. HISTORICAL FACTSHEET 2 of 3 COMING ASHORE IN SICILY lose Italy and seized control. The fall of Sicily cleared the way for the Allies’ next step: landing in mainland Italy. The Italian Campaign began with the Allied landings on the island of Sicily in the south of Italy. Canadian LIBERATING MAINLAND ITALY soldiers from the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade had an active and important The Allies came ashore in mainland Italy on September role in this effort, codenamed “Operation Husky.” 3, 1943. -
War, Resistance, and Memorialization in Tuscany, 1943-1945
Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of Spring 2011 Heroes or Terrorists? War, Resistance, and Memorialization in Tuscany, 1943-1945 Lynda Lamarre Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Recommended Citation Lamarre, Lynda, "Heroes or Terrorists? War, Resistance, and Memorialization in Tuscany, 1943-1945" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 596. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/596 This thesis (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HEROES OR TERRORISTS? WAR, RESISTANCE, AND MEMORIALIZATION IN TUSCANY, 1943-1945 by LYNDA LAMARRE (Under the Direction of Charles S. Thomas) ABSTRACT This thesis will delve into the unfolding of the Italian Resistance, from an underground association to a militant organization, which aided and facilitated the Allied advance to northern Italy. Particular emphasis will be placed on the actions and consequences of the Resistance in rural Tuscany and their affect on the local population. It will examine the changing views of Italian society, from the immediate post-war era and the decades that followed, with a brief examination of the cinematographic influences on the social views. It will include the debate over who deserves a commemorative monument and the divided and changed memory regarding the Resistance. Finally, the author will examine the current debate over the most appropriate way to memorialize the complicated and tumultuous struggle to free Italy over sixty years ago.