FROM TO TRIESTE Following the 2nd NZ ’s Italian Campaign, 1943-45

Jennifer Mallinson FROM TARANTO TO TRIESTE

Published by Fraser Books, 53 Essex Street, Masterton First published October 2019 ©Jennifer Mallinson, 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a ret- rieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owners.

ISBN: 978-0-9941360-6-0

Editor: Diane Grant Design: Anne Taylor, BoulderBay Design Distribution: Nationwide Book Distributors, 351 Kiri Kiri Road, P O Box 65, Oxford, North Canterbury Printed by Printcraft, Masterton

Photographs – Historic photographs (all credited in captions) are from the National Library in Wellington, the World War Two official histories and the Wairarapa Archive; today’s colour photographs are from the author’s personal collection.

Cover photographs – Front: Taranto today, J. Mallinson. Inset: Street photographer in Taranto in 1943, with Kiwis on leave. George Kaye. (DA 04530F) Back: Top: New Zealand soldiers walking beneath the tower at Lucera Castle near in 1943. (DA-04560-F); Lucera Castle today, J. Mallinson. Middle: Po River near Felonica today, J. Mallinson; New Zealand artillery crossing the Po on folding boat bridge. (WH2-2ItaP040a) Bottom: 26 Battalion’s antitank section about to leave Trieste from an assembly point overlooking the waterfront, July 1945 (Jock Robinson Collection, Wairarapa Archive); Trieste panorama today from the elevated Castello San Guisto, J. Mallinson. CONTENTS

LIST OF MAPS v

PREFACE vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x

INTRODUCTION xi

PART ONE – FROM TARANTO TO THE SANGRO 1 (October 1943 - January 1944) 1. Taranto – gateway to a new land 3 2. – the supply port 14 3. The journey to the Sangro 18 4. Exploring the Sangro battlefield 31 5. From Ortona to the Maiella 42

PART TWO – FROM THE SANGRO TO CASSINO 49 (January - June 1944) 6. Why Anzio? 50 7. The journey to Cassino 55 8. The Cassino battlefield revisited 64 9. The mountains to the north 79

PART THREE – FROM CASSINO TO FLORENCE 91 (July - August 1944) 10. The journey to Lake Trasimene 93 11. In and around Arezzo 109 12. Chianti and the Arno battlefields 114 13. A glimpse of Florence 129 14. The and the central Apennines 133

PART FOUR – FROM FLORENCE TO FAENZA 141 (September 1944 - March 1945) 15. Back to the Adriatic 143 16. Creeping up to Rimini 156 17. Revisiting the battle zones of Emilia-Romagna 165 18. The haven in the Marches 185

PART FIVE – FROM FAENZA TO TRIESTE 195 (April - June 1945) 19. Across the rivers of Emilia-Romagna 197 20. North to the Po 209 21. The journey from the Po to Trieste 216 22. Trieste – the end of the road 232

POSTSCRIPT: ADDIO ITALIA – FAREWELL 251

REFERENCES 259

New Zealand war graves in Italy 261 Italian camps 265 End notes 274 The structure of the 2nd NZ Division 277 Bibliography 278 Index 280

iv LIST OF MAPS

The journey of the vi The Allied invasion of Italy xii

From Taranto to the Sangro 1 The town of Taranto in 1943 4 The Taranto area with the Division's locations 8 The centre of Bari 14 Exploring the Sangro 32 The Gustav Line and suppporting defence lines in southern Italy 43

From the Sangro to Cassino 49 The region of Cassino 64 Significant locations in Cassino 70 The mountainous area north of Cassino and the upper Liri valley 79

From Cassino to Florence 91 The probable route of the Division across central Rome 97 The area around Arezzo 109 The battlefields of Chianti before Florence 120 The Gothic Line and other main defence lines in northern Italy 133 The western Apennines 135

From Florence to Faenza 141 The Rivers of Emilia Romagna 168 The battlefields up to the Senio 170 The Division's rest area in the Esino valley in the Marches 186

From Faenza to Trieste 195 The trail across the rivers between Faenza and Bologna 201 Main locations in Trieste 233 The Division's area of operation around Trieste 247 The post-war administrative division of Trieste and its territory 249 The return route of the Division down the Italian peninsula 253

References Location of NZ War Graves in Italy 260 The distribution of Italian POW camps 267

v The New Zealand 2nd Division in Italy 1943 – 1945 PREFACE

In September 1939 New Zealand and other nations of the British Empire joined Britain and France in opposing the expansionist Nazi regime of Germany. In 1940, when France collapsed and the Fascist regime in Italy joined the aggressors, the situation for the western Allies became more difficult. The following year, Japan would also throw in its weight on the side of the Nazi-Fascists.

The years 1939-1942 were hard for the Allies. The (Germany, Italy and Japan) were dominant in Europe, North Africa, Western Pacific and South- East Asia, while Allied navies barely maintained the sea-lanes which allowed USA and the British Empire to supply and fight the war. In total, during World War Two the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) sent over 100,000 troops to serve with the British 8th Army as the 2nd NZ Division; another 40,000 served overseas with the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Navy. Many others served in New Zealand.

From 1940 New Zealand’s main army unit fought in the Mediterranean/North African theatre where the Axis forces were finally defeated at El Alamein in late 1942. By then, USA and Russia were also fighting the Axis. The next step was continental Europe; Italy, by then virtually a defeated military power, was the obvious starting point.

By October 1943, was liberated, and the Allies had begun the invasion of mainland Italy, the Americans striking up the west coast towards and the British towards the Adriatic. That month, between 14-15,000 men of the 2nd New Zealand Division, veterans and fresh reinforcements, arrived in Italy from Alexandria, in Egypt, at the ancient southern Italian port of Taranto. The rest of the Division, with the armour and transports, joined them via Bari, on the Adriatic coast.

After months in the desert and for the most part far from any kind of civilisation, the Division was coming back to Europe. Those who had served in the Greek Campaign must have felt a grim sense of satisfaction. For the new arrivals, it was their first taste of the old continent. Certainly, all were filled with curiosity about the new land, especially as Italy, since the Armistice of 8 September, was no longer formally an enemy. This, plus the knowledge of the Allied progress in Italy, gave them a false optimism. Morale was high.

As the ships came closer to shore, rows of shabby white houses came into view on the hills around the once proud harbour and naval base, now semi-derelict and full of Italian . The first arrivals had weeks in the area waiting for transport to arrive from Bari, but by the time the second contingent arrived

vii FROM TARANTO TO TRIESTE there was no longer cause to tarry. Few of the troops would have been aware of the town’s glorious past, obscured by the present-day scenario of shipwrecks in the harbour, shuttered shops, and a sorry populace reduced to poverty and hunger by three years of a disastrous war and then abandoned to their own devices. First impressions of Italy cannot have been very positive.

Taranto, however, was just the starting point of the Italian ‘adventure’.

The soldiers were anxious to get on and get the job done, and they had to catch up with the rest of the Allies already in Italy. In front of the New Zealanders all the way was the skilled and unyielding enemy, putting up at times a fanatical defence, who would exact (and pay) a heavy toll for every line ceded. For 'Jerry' or 'the Bosche' or 'Ted' (from the Italian word for Germans, ‘tedeschi’) was not fleeing in disarray but withdrawing in good order ahead of the Allies, to well reconnoitred ground and prepared defence positions.

It was to be an unexpectedly arduous campaign for the 2nd New Zealand Div- ision on a circuitous route from this southern Mediterranean port to the beautiful city of Trieste in the far north-east corner of Italy as part of Eighth Army. It would be a journey of 20 months and thousands of kilometres, that would take them over high mountain passes, through scores of unheard-of hilltop villages and famous ancient towns, and across endless swamps, rivers and streams. It would also take them through all the seasonal changes, including the blistering summer of 1944 and the appalling winters of 1943-44 and 1944-45.

On this long journey through a country rich in history and culture, the troops came into close contact with the population of Italy for a length of time and in a way that distinguished the Italian Campaign from others involving New Zealaners during World War Two. Most recognised affinities in the rugged landscape and the agricultural environment. Those from rural New Zealand observed Italian farming with interest. Many learnt the language. Others fell in love with the art, the architecture, the music. The Kiwis discovered opera and many learnt the arias and other popular Italian songs of the time. Some took home Italian brides.

The New Zealanders saw a country devastated by war, and a civilian population subjected to every kind of deprivation and misery, but they also saw unscathed areas which the front had passed by. They saw a country of uncommon natural and artistic beauty, from the awesome ravines of the south-western region of Puglia to the Dolomites of the north. They travelled a country studded with medieval castles and fortress towns, magnificent Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque cathedrals, Re- naissance palazzi, and archaeological wonders. Many of these places they saw fleetingly en route; others they would become familiar with during periods in reserve, or on leave from the front.

viii PREFACE This was the first time New Zealanders at home had heard so much about Italy. The New Zealand soldiers who fought in World War One had known other battle- fields. Before the 1940s, overseas travel was an experience for a privileged few. How many in New Zealand had even seen a postcard of Italy, let alone read a personal account of a visit to Pompei or Capri or Florence? How many had ever been to a live opera?

In those 20 months, over 2,000 New Zealanders lost their lives and some 8,500 were wounded. For those who returned home the experience in Italy was par- ticularly significant. Italy left an indelible impression in the hearts and minds of the soldiers. A strong bond was forged between the friendly and generous Kiwi soldiers and the liberated population, leading in some cases to lasting friend- ships. At a distance of over 70 years, these relationships have thinned but the places evoking that multitude of unforgettable sensations, perceptions and ex- periences are still there.

Apart from the Russian campaign, the Allies’ advance through Italy was the long- est single-country campaign of the war. During this period, the New Zealanders fought bitter battles, suffered unimaginable privations, and in many cases in- jury, sickness or death. Between their military engagements, they were moved around the country from one battlefield to another, compulsory observers of the land and its people, their ways and customs. Where they stayed any length of time, they interacted with the civilians, at times participating in the intimacy of family life. For all these reasons, the Italian Campaign was a unique experience.

This is the story of that journey.

Jennifer Mallinson Verona Italy

September 2019

ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I owe thanks principally to the many Italian friends and acquaintances who have enriched my knowledge of Fascist Italy and the calamity of war in their own country. Stories of the German occupation and the Italian resistance, of German and Allied air raids, of invasion by land and sea, and civilian suffering gave me a new perspective of the Italian Campaign and challenged me to clarify the role of the 2nd New Zealand Division in this vast and complex tapestry.

A project which began as a quest to complete my personal education became a mission. In my many journeys up and down Italy, I found endless local interest and support. Special thanks go to my friends, Stefano Fusi and Jill Gabriel (Tavarnelle Val di Pesa), who gave me continuous assistance, encouragement and hospitality, and who introduced me to local historians and witnesses. I also thank Roberto Molle (Roccasecca), Damiano Parravano (Cassino) and Alberto Fontana (Taranto) for their helpful information and guidance.

For my research on the 2nd New Zealand Division in Italy 1943-1945, the com- prehensive material – published and unpublished – held at Archives New Zealand, much of which is available online, was indispensable. Without these immense resources at my fingertips, the task for an expatriate writer would have been much more onerous. Other non-digital material was available at the Kippenberger Library in Waiouru and the National Library in Wellington.

I am indebted to former colleague Carlo Alberto Agnini, for producing the ex- cellent maps, which have given the book a new dimension. I thank Colin McKenzie, who started the ball rolling and whose tireless interest and support have helped me along the way and, above all, Mary Sinclair, whose unflagging support, pat- ience and guidance, have kept me on track in turning my years of research into book form. My warmest expression of thanks goes to the small hard-working team at Fraser Books whose professional expertise has made this book a reality.

I am also very grateful to the Army Literary Fund Trust for helping finance this book, to David McGregor for his advice on military matters, to Neil Frances for his meticulous editing of the military aspects, for making available to me unpublished material from the Wairarapa Archive, and for allowing me to peek at his father’s diary. My thanks also go to those who passed on personal stories, including Wallace Bain, for the delightful story about his father Athol, and the Italian witnesses in various parts of the country.

Lastly, I wish to thank my family and friends in Italy and New Zealand who have put up with my seven-year obsession. I hope this book lives up to the expectations I have created.

Jennifer Mallinson x INTRODUCTION: THE WAR REACHES ITALY

The decision to invade Italy The African campaign over, the Allied troops set their sights on the European mainland, with the aim of chasing the Germans back across the Alps. Italy would be returned to the Italians and a democratic government established, thus ensuring its place in Western Europe.

Conveniently close to Africa (from where the main body of troops was being moved), and in possession of a better communications system than any of the Balkan countries, Italy was the obvious starting point for the return to Europe. Italy was believed, not without reason, to be the weakest Axis partner. The costly Russian and African campaigns had virtually eliminated Italy’s military force. In addition, there was a growing Italian antipathy to Mussolini’s Fascist regime and the war, culminating on the eve of the Anglo-American invasion of the Italian mainland, with Italy’s Armistice with the Allied powers, announced on 8 September 1943. For the Allied landing troops, the news of the Italian surrender was encouraging, as it signalled that the local population, if not overtly friendly, would at least not be hostile. The Allied Invasion of Sicily Operation HUSKY, the code name for the invasion of Sicily, was launched on 10 July 1943 with the Americans ( Patton) landing on the south coast at Scoglitti, Gela and Licata, while the British (General Montgomery) landed at Pachino, with the Canadians on the nearby Costa dell’Ambra, on the south-east coast. They were to converge on , cutting off the escape route of the German defenders across the Messina Strait. The plan failed miserably.

The muddled advance of the British to was painfully slow, and the Americans under General Patton, in defiance of instructions to head north and cut the island in two, made it their first objective to liberate Palermo. The result was that by the time the Americans reached Messina on 17 August, the proverbial horse had bolted. The Germans managed to evacuate safely nearly 40,000 troops (four divisions), together with vehicles, armour, equipment and fuel. These troops would be waiting for the Allies further north, on the Italian mainland. Italy’s withdrawal from the conflict After the disastrous campaign in Russia, and the debacle in North Africa, Italy was out of the contest in a military sense and in total political disarray. On 25 July 1943, with the Allied invasion of Sicily already underway, Mussolini was deposed as leader of the government by his own Great Council. The King, who

xi FROM TARANTO TO TRIESTE

The Allied invasion of Italy

xii INTRODUCTION had finally come to his senses, accepted his resignation, revoked his political and military powers and had Mussolini arrested. He was immediately transferred to a mountain prison on the Gran Sasso, high in the Apennines of the Abruzzo Region. Unfortunately, neither the King nor his new Prime Minister, Marshall Badoglio, had the ability or, rather, the agility, to walk the political tightrope between an incensed Hitler (for the betrayal of Germany), and the intransigent demands of the Allied leaders (Churchill-Roosevelt-Stalin) for Italy’s total and unconditional surrender. Worse, for fear of their lives, they fled Rome to the safety of Brindisi on the south-east coast. The jubilation of the hungry and war-weary populace would be brief, and Italy would be a battlefield for almost two years.

The Armistice which Italy signed with the Allies signified the unilateral with-drawal of Italy from the conflict, but there was no plan for its implementation. Without clear directives, and with new ‘enemies’ on the one hand, and new ‘friends’ on the other, the Italians were confused to say the least. Mistrust and uncertainty reigned. Inevitably, the situation rapidly degenerated. The day after the Armistice was an- nounced mainland Italy was invaded from the south by the Allies. The invasion of the mainland of Italy The British Eighth Army crossed from Sicily to the mainland at Reggio di (Operation BAYTOWN) on 3 September 1943. Six days later another force landed at Taranto directly from North Africa (Operation SLAPSTICK). In the following weeks, Eighth Army moved north-east and captured the port of Bari, and the air- field of Foggia, both necessary to provide logistic support for future operations. After restocking and taking in replacements at Bari, Eighth Army, under General Montgomery, headed north up the Adriatic coast. It encountered little or no opposition until it reached the Sangro River in Abruzzo, on 16 November 1943. Its motley international forces by then included Indian, Canadian, Polish, the newly arrived 2nd New Zealand Division, and various other national units.

Meanwhile, the American Fifth Army landed on the west coast at on 9 September 1943 () in an operation that came close to dis- aster, and eventually went on to capture beleaguered Naples. The city had been liberated by popular insurrection in the four days 27-30 September 1943, so that when the Americans entered it on 1 October, they found an already free city but with enormous problems. What the Allies themselves had not destroyed in two massive air raids, was made unserviceable by the Germans before leaving. The port was wrecked, the sewers were blown, and there was no water. The populace was thirsty and starving. Thus began what was to become a painful and horrendously costly campaign to liberate Italy. The conquest of Italy by the Allies, in fact, was to be no ‘walk in the park’.

The relative ease of this first step up the ‘boot’ of Italy did not give rise to any illusions. The Allies knew that the main enemy forces had wisely withdrawn to more readily defensible positions, and the first important defence line, the

xiii FROM TARANTO TO TRIESTE Gustav Line, was just 20 km away, north of the Sangro River. This was to be the first real testing ground on the Italian mainland. The ragged ‘necklace’ of hilltops and mountain ridges overlooking deep valleys was to witness some of the worst battles of the Second World War, and some of the most brilliant and determined defence tactics in military history. The German occupation of Italy had no intention of relinquishing Italy and was quick to move into the vacuum created by the collapse of all authority in Italy. The ‘betrayal’ had been foreseen and Germany quickly invaded Italy from the north and occupied the main cities, requisitioning everything – livestock, equipment, food, machinery and labour – and assuming political control of the whole of northern and central Italy.

At the same time, across the Apennines north and south of Rome, they began building massive defence lines (the Gustav Line and the Gothic Line), largely using Italian forced labour, with the aim of stalling the enemy advance. The thin but efficient military forces available were moved south and juggled astutely to man these defences. A few soldiers in well-protected positions could hold out for days and do untold damage to large movements of troops over open and unfriendly terrain. The first real difficulties began when the Allies reached the Gustav Line, where they came up against unknown quantities of hidden German forces, with all the military advantages.

Meanwhile, the outcome of the campaign and its effect on millions of civilians had been seriously compromised by another event: the Germans’ response to the Italian betrayal of the Fascist cause. This was the prompt and spectacular ‘rescue’ of Mus- solini from his mountain prison on the Gran Sasso on 12 September 1943, and his reinstatement as the head of a puppet Fascist republic (the RSI or ‘Italian Socialist Republic’), with its headquarters in Salò, on the western shores of Lake Garda in the north. Mussolini, to all effects still a prisoner (as he was painfully aware), was useful to the Germans as a figurehead around which to rally the remaining Fascist supporters and raise new troops for the Nazi war effort.

With Mussolini theoretically again head of a Fascist government (now in opposition to the Royalist government), the Germans were able to justify the continued participation of Italy in the war, rounding up all able men and forcing them to work for the Nazi cause in Italy or in work camps in Germany. If the direct result of the fall of Mussolini and the Armistice had been a short-lived euphoria, when the Italians ingenuously believed that the end of the war was imminent, Mussolini’s rescue and the establishment of the Fascist Republic effectively divided Italy in two and ensured that the war would drag on for nearly two more years. The cost would be the destruction of large parts of the country and the loss of millions of lives.

Anti-Fascist groups of every breed, from Communist to Royalist, sprang up. Some were idealists, fighting for freedom from tyranny, others were far more political, under the illusion that they would be able to bargain with the Allies xiv INTRODUCTION for a role in post-war Italy. Whatever their motives, they helped undermine and weaken the enemy, harassing the Germans at their backs, destroying supply lines, blowing up military depots and often killing German troops.

As the Allies got closer, some resistance bands began to collaborate with the Allies who dropped them supplies of weapons and ammunition. The psychological and physical damage to the German occupying forces brought about by the many daring, and often foolhardy acts of sabotage was enormous – but so was the price, as the result was some of the most horrendous reprisals against the civilian population of the entire war.

The German act of propping up the Fascist regime thus prolonged the war and fanned the fires of a bloody civil war, which once started could not be snuffed out with the end of the international conflict. Not surprisingly, the Second World War has left deep scars in Italy. While the urban and rural landscapes have largely healed, popular memory has not.

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