Riccardo Fedel
Encyclopedia
Riccardo (Richard) Fedel (23 August 1906 - 12 June 1944) was an Italian anti-Fascist, Communist political fighter, and war-time partisan leader (codenamed Libero)
Born into an aristocratic family on his mother’s side, he became a life-long anti-fascist from an early age. He enlisted in the volunteer Army in 1923 in Modena
, becoming a Sergeant. He was discharged in December 1925 following a failed anti-Fascist Action in Ravenna
His political actions brought him numerous prison sentences. He became the subject of regular government surveillance for over twenty years and earned a police dossier as being a subversive and dangerous communist. After the Italian Armistice in September 1943 he became commander of the Garibaldi Brigade Romagna, until his death in April 1944.
, north east Italy (at that time part of the Austria-Hungary
Austro-Hungarian Empire) on 23 August 1906 of an aristocratic family. His mother was Bedoli Augusta, daughter of a Venetian patriot. Her brother Charles Augusta was a mining engineer who had emigrated to South America. She married Biagio Fedel, a wine merchant from Istria
, with whom she had two children: Riccardo (born 1906) and Anna (born 1908). In 1912, his father Biagio died whilst journeying to Buenos Aires
attempting to reach his wife’s brother Charles in South America.
As a result the family's economic conditions worsened progressively, and a year later the family sold all their properties in Istria, Gorizia and moved to Milan. In 1915 during World War One, the family received the status of refugees being ethnic Italian of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and they stayed in Milan, where Riccardo completed elementary school, and attended the boys technical college in Tortona
.
During school holidays Riccardo visited Mestre
(at Lucerne), to the villa of Count Gustav Soranzo, (an ancient Venetian noble family) his great-uncle from his mother’s family the Bousquet’s. It was during one of these holidays that Riccardo, just thirteen; joined the Italian Fascists and remained a member until 1923. However, at seventeen he changed his political views becoming a communist, and in 1923 enlisted in the volunteer Army. He attended the military school in Modena becoming a Sergeant. He was discharged in December 1925 following a failed anti-Fascist Action in Ravenna, and became the subject of Police surveillance and earned a police dossier as being a subversive and dangerous communist.
harbour, for which he was sentenced to six months in prison. He was then arrested again in October 1926, under the recently introduced laws ‘fascistissime’ (capable of organizing attacks against the Duce), and sentenced to 3 years in prison. He was a political exile to Pantelleria from November 1926 to March 1927 and then to Ustica until October 1927, when he was conditionally released on grounds of his poor health, and extorted testimony against other fellow prisoners. After prison he returned to the Veneto, where the family lived and was recruited as an agent by the Blackshirts
Militia for National Security (MVSN) and sent into service in Gorizia
. After a short stay he felt unable to work with the organisation there and after denouncing the leaders of the MVSN he was ‘fired’ and sent back to Mestre. However he continued to pretend to be an agent of the Militia, whilst printing and distributing subversive leaflets in Pordenone
, calling for a strike of the textile and the Party communist. This action triggered a strong reaction by the Chief of Police – a Fascist Mouthpiece, and was again sent to prison for another three years. He was sent to the province of Potenza
from 1928 until 1930 and in 1931 to Lucca
after the islands volcanic tremors, to serve out his sentence. It was here he married by proxy, Anita Piovesan, the daughter of an anarchist union leader and author ('The Statute of the Bakers' Union') from Mestre, who was allowed to join him in prison until she became pregnant and returned to Venice to give birth. He tried to escape to reach his wife after the birth of the eldest son Luciano, but was caught and was sentenced to more than 14 months in prison which he served in Avellino
. During his detention, his son Luciano died just a few months old.
Back in Veneto once again he came under political surveillance which he tried to evade (serving another six months imprisonment in Brescia
for the falsification of documents). His wife by this stage persuaded him to give up his political activity for the family’s sake. A second son had been born in the meantime, named Luciano (after the eldest who had died) and in 1936 they had a third son George. He took a position with the publisher Edoardo Sonzogno of Milan which allowed him to maintain a family life. In 1939 he was called-up for service in the army, and returned with his family to the Veneto. In 1940, Italy entered the war against the Allies and he returned to political activity. However, now more experienced and mature he was able to facilitate group actives of anti-Fascist propaganda, in factories and barracks, between Mestre, Padua
and Treviso
. Despite being under surveillance, he was able to avoid arrest. In 1942 he was sent to Montenegro
with the 120th Regt. Infantry, Emilia Division. In Herceg Novi, in the Bay of Kotor, he met Arrigo Boldrini, with whom he was to resume political contact later.
with the task of bringing together small and isolated partisan groups in the area. Then Fedel (codenamed Libero) was ordered by the Military Committee of the Communist Party, to the west of Galeata
to organise a newly formed Brigade Garibaldi Adriatic, linking up with the ‘Savior’ partisan group headed by Salvatore Auria (codenamed Julius). Within a few months of his arrival, the partisan group increased from 40 to more than 1,000 men with Auria taking on the role of a political commissar.
On 1 December 1943 the Garibaldi Brigade Romagna 8 th Brigade Garibaldi " Romagna " was official established under the leadership of Libero and by February 1944, the first partisan Republic of Italy had been established known as the ‘Department of Dogwood’. During the winter of 1943/4 this partisan group helped dozens of allied prisoners to escape to the allied lines.
Amongst the many they helped were some senior ‘high-profile’ British Officers and an Air Marshall, that had been imprisoned in Castello di Vincigliata
PF 12 near Florence
. These included: Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame
, General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor, Lieutenant-Colonel John Frederick Boyce Combe
, Brigadier Edward Joseph Todhunter, Air Marshal Owen Tudor Boyd
, Major-General Michael Gambier-Parry
, Second Lieutenant, Lord (Dan) Ranfurly Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly, Brigadier Douglas Arnold Stirling, Brigadier Edward William Drummond Vaughan. All were successfully repatriated with the Allies between Christmas 1943 and May 1944.
At the end of March 1944, the Brigade became a division of three brigades: the Romagna Brigade Group, under the command of Hilary Tabarro (Pietro Mauri), with Libero Head of Staff. Then in early April the Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring
together with departments of CSR began a comprehensive round-up of partisan groups in which they suffered heavy casualties. It was during this period that Riccardo Fedel met his death. After his so called ‘disappearance’ Hilary Tabarro with the help of Guglielmo Marconi, commander of the Second Brigade, and Bruno Vailati an expert in sabotage, who had been dropped by the Allies, began the work of rebuilding the Brigade.
In May1944, Angelo Giovanetti (codenamed the Moor), in a paper to the Military Committee of the Province of Ravenna, indicates that ‘Libero is kept isolated in area of Cervia, soon to be subjected to an interrogation, compelling and hard…’. Giovannetti also noted that, ‘the police [Fascist] seeks him and, if he fell into their hands, it would be a serious threat to the organization…’[30]. According to oral testimony, Riccardo Fedel (Libero) was killed by a hail of gunfire in early June 1944. However, the date and place of the killing remains unknown, and his body was never recovered. Riccardo Fedel was officially reported missing, as a soldier.
Amongst the many other clandestine British secret services was a department known as MI9. It worked to train the armed forces in escape and evasion. Evasion lines were set up in occupied countries. Both services together with commando units such as Popski's Private Army
attached to the British Eighth Army
in Italy trained and supplied the various Italian partisan groups between 1943–45, working later with their American counterparts OSS and MIS-X (US Military Intelligence Service-X, modelled on the British MI9).
Late in 1943, SOE established a base at Bari
in Southern Italy, (in conjunction with the American OSS Office of Strategic Services
) from which they operated their intelligence networks and agents in the Balkans
. In the aftermath of the Italian collapse, SOE helped build a large resistance organisation in the cities of Northern Italy, and in the Alps. Italian partisans harassed German forces in Italy throughout the autumn and winter of 1944. 'When the German retreat beyond Rome began, instructions were given over SOE Wireless telegraphy (W/T) links and by BBC broadcast signals to the partisan groups in the Appennines to begin their attacks on 16 specified road and rail targets. Most of these assignments were accomplished successfully. One of the original partisan leaders, Arrigo Boldini (codenamed Bulow) who lead the XXVIIIth Garibaldi Brigade; was the partisan force which liberated Ravenna
, on December 4, 1944, with the approval of the Allied Forces. In the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy they captured Genoa and other cities unaided by Allied forces.
Born into an aristocratic family on his mother’s side, he became a life-long anti-fascist from an early age. He enlisted in the volunteer Army in 1923 in Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
, becoming a Sergeant. He was discharged in December 1925 following a failed anti-Fascist Action in Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
His political actions brought him numerous prison sentences. He became the subject of regular government surveillance for over twenty years and earned a police dossier as being a subversive and dangerous communist. After the Italian Armistice in September 1943 he became commander of the Garibaldi Brigade Romagna, until his death in April 1944.
Family and early life
Riccardo, John the Baptist Fedel was born in GoriziaGorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
, north east Italy (at that time part of the Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
Austro-Hungarian Empire) on 23 August 1906 of an aristocratic family. His mother was Bedoli Augusta, daughter of a Venetian patriot. Her brother Charles Augusta was a mining engineer who had emigrated to South America. She married Biagio Fedel, a wine merchant from Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
, with whom she had two children: Riccardo (born 1906) and Anna (born 1908). In 1912, his father Biagio died whilst journeying to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
attempting to reach his wife’s brother Charles in South America.
As a result the family's economic conditions worsened progressively, and a year later the family sold all their properties in Istria, Gorizia and moved to Milan. In 1915 during World War One, the family received the status of refugees being ethnic Italian of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and they stayed in Milan, where Riccardo completed elementary school, and attended the boys technical college in Tortona
Tortona
Tortona is a comune of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines.-History:...
.
During school holidays Riccardo visited Mestre
Mestre
Mestre is a city part of the comune of Venice, in Veneto, northern Italy.The city is connected to Venice by a large rail and road bridge, called Ponte della Libertà ....
(at Lucerne), to the villa of Count Gustav Soranzo, (an ancient Venetian noble family) his great-uncle from his mother’s family the Bousquet’s. It was during one of these holidays that Riccardo, just thirteen; joined the Italian Fascists and remained a member until 1923. However, at seventeen he changed his political views becoming a communist, and in 1923 enlisted in the volunteer Army. He attended the military school in Modena becoming a Sergeant. He was discharged in December 1925 following a failed anti-Fascist Action in Ravenna, and became the subject of Police surveillance and earned a police dossier as being a subversive and dangerous communist.
Political activity 1920’s -1930’s
He was later arrested by security police for allegedly being involved with handling illegal weapons in VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
harbour, for which he was sentenced to six months in prison. He was then arrested again in October 1926, under the recently introduced laws ‘fascistissime’ (capable of organizing attacks against the Duce), and sentenced to 3 years in prison. He was a political exile to Pantelleria from November 1926 to March 1927 and then to Ustica until October 1927, when he was conditionally released on grounds of his poor health, and extorted testimony against other fellow prisoners. After prison he returned to the Veneto, where the family lived and was recruited as an agent by the Blackshirts
Blackshirts
The Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...
Militia for National Security (MVSN) and sent into service in Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
. After a short stay he felt unable to work with the organisation there and after denouncing the leaders of the MVSN he was ‘fired’ and sent back to Mestre. However he continued to pretend to be an agent of the Militia, whilst printing and distributing subversive leaflets in Pordenone
Pordenone
Pordenone is a comune of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.The name comes from the Latin "Portus Naonis" meaning the port on the river Noncello - History :...
, calling for a strike of the textile and the Party communist. This action triggered a strong reaction by the Chief of Police – a Fascist Mouthpiece, and was again sent to prison for another three years. He was sent to the province of Potenza
Potenza
-Transportation:Potenza is a rail junction on the main line from Salerno to Taranto, managed by FS Trenitalia; it has also a connection to Altamura, served by the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane regional company...
from 1928 until 1930 and in 1931 to Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
after the islands volcanic tremors, to serve out his sentence. It was here he married by proxy, Anita Piovesan, the daughter of an anarchist union leader and author ('The Statute of the Bakers' Union') from Mestre, who was allowed to join him in prison until she became pregnant and returned to Venice to give birth. He tried to escape to reach his wife after the birth of the eldest son Luciano, but was caught and was sentenced to more than 14 months in prison which he served in Avellino
Avellino
Avellino is a town and comune, capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains 42 km north-east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento.-History:Before the Roman conquest, the...
. During his detention, his son Luciano died just a few months old.
Back in Veneto once again he came under political surveillance which he tried to evade (serving another six months imprisonment in Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
for the falsification of documents). His wife by this stage persuaded him to give up his political activity for the family’s sake. A second son had been born in the meantime, named Luciano (after the eldest who had died) and in 1936 they had a third son George. He took a position with the publisher Edoardo Sonzogno of Milan which allowed him to maintain a family life. In 1939 he was called-up for service in the army, and returned with his family to the Veneto. In 1940, Italy entered the war against the Allies and he returned to political activity. However, now more experienced and mature he was able to facilitate group actives of anti-Fascist propaganda, in factories and barracks, between Mestre, Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
and Treviso
Treviso
Treviso is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants : some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city...
. Despite being under surveillance, he was able to avoid arrest. In 1942 he was sent to Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
with the 120th Regt. Infantry, Emilia Division. In Herceg Novi, in the Bay of Kotor, he met Arrigo Boldrini, with whom he was to resume political contact later.
The Italian Armistice September 1943
Riccardo returned to Italy in 1943, resuming his propaganda campaign and with other like-minded Italian soldiers helped many to escape deportation. After the Armistice was declared on 8 September, he went to Ravenna to get reacquainted with Arrigo Boldini (codenamed Bulow). On 11 September he attended a meeting with other Communist leaders at the Romagna Hotel Mare Pineta di- Milano Marittima. The group included: Arrigo Boldrini Mario Gordini, Gino Gatta, Giuseppe D’Alema, Ennio Cervellati, John Fusconi, Agis Samaritans, Rodolfo Salvagiani and Virginio Zoffoli. It was agreed that Riccardo Fedel would have responsibility of setting up a partisan group in the Apennines. This was a time of great uncertainty in Italy with numerous political factions working against each. In addition the presence of the German army in retreat, seeking escaping allied prisoners of war and taking revenge on partisan and civilian groups.1943 - 1944: Resistance and the Garibaldi Brigade Romagna
Between September and October was a period of poor organisation. By November 1943 the group began moving the partisan activity into the Apennines around FaenzaFaenza
Faenza is an Italian city and comune, in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated 50 km southeast of Bologna.Faenza is noted for its manufacture of majolica ware glazed earthenware pottery, known from the name of the town as "faience"....
with the task of bringing together small and isolated partisan groups in the area. Then Fedel (codenamed Libero) was ordered by the Military Committee of the Communist Party, to the west of Galeata
Galeata
Galeata is a comune in the Province of Forlì-Cesena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 70 km southeast of Bologna and about 30 km southwest of Forlì....
to organise a newly formed Brigade Garibaldi Adriatic, linking up with the ‘Savior’ partisan group headed by Salvatore Auria (codenamed Julius). Within a few months of his arrival, the partisan group increased from 40 to more than 1,000 men with Auria taking on the role of a political commissar.
On 1 December 1943 the Garibaldi Brigade Romagna 8 th Brigade Garibaldi " Romagna " was official established under the leadership of Libero and by February 1944, the first partisan Republic of Italy had been established known as the ‘Department of Dogwood’. During the winter of 1943/4 this partisan group helped dozens of allied prisoners to escape to the allied lines.
Amongst the many they helped were some senior ‘high-profile’ British Officers and an Air Marshall, that had been imprisoned in Castello di Vincigliata
Vincigliata
Vincigliata Castle is a medieval castle which stands on a rocky hill to the east of Fiesole in the Italian region of Tuscany. In the mid-nineteenth century the building, which had fallen into a ruinous state, was acquired by the Englishman John Temple-Leader and entirely reconstructed in the...
PF 12 near Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. These included: Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame
Philip Neame
Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame VC, KBE, CB, DSO, KStJ was a British Army officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces...
, General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor, Lieutenant-Colonel John Frederick Boyce Combe
John Frederick Boyce Combe
Major-General John Frederick Boyce Combe CB DSO & Bar was a British Army officer before and during World War II. He was twice awarded the DSO for his service in the Western Desert Campaign before being captured in April 1941 and spending nearly two and a half years as a prisoner of war in Italy...
, Brigadier Edward Joseph Todhunter, Air Marshal Owen Tudor Boyd
Owen Tudor Boyd
Air Marshal Owen Tudor Boyd CB, OBE, MC, AFC was an officer in the British Royal Flying Corps during most of World War I...
, Major-General Michael Gambier-Parry
Michael Gambier-Parry
Major General Michael Denman Gambier-Parry MC DL was a British Army officer who commanded 2nd Armoured Division.- Early life and family :...
, Second Lieutenant, Lord (Dan) Ranfurly Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly, Brigadier Douglas Arnold Stirling, Brigadier Edward William Drummond Vaughan. All were successfully repatriated with the Allies between Christmas 1943 and May 1944.
At the end of March 1944, the Brigade became a division of three brigades: the Romagna Brigade Group, under the command of Hilary Tabarro (Pietro Mauri), with Libero Head of Staff. Then in early April the Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring
Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring
The Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1. Hermann Göring was an élite German Luftwaffe armoured division. The HG saw action in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and on the Eastern front...
together with departments of CSR began a comprehensive round-up of partisan groups in which they suffered heavy casualties. It was during this period that Riccardo Fedel met his death. After his so called ‘disappearance’ Hilary Tabarro with the help of Guglielmo Marconi, commander of the Second Brigade, and Bruno Vailati an expert in sabotage, who had been dropped by the Allies, began the work of rebuilding the Brigade.
Events leading to ‘Libero’s’ death
In January, the head of the Military Committee Romagna, Antonio Carini (codenamed Bears) went up into the mountains to check on the situation of the brigade, as the reports seemed inconsistent with the provisions of the FN (Fronte Nazionale). There appears to have been numerous petty disputes amongst themselves over political issues and so called Directives, for example, the arrangement that Libero had agreed to replace the ‘red star’ of the partisans’ caps with a ‘tricolour cockade’. This had to be balanced against giving the Brigade commanders a free-hand. There were also issues about contact with the allies and air-drops. This came to a head in early April, when an order was made for Libero to make contact with a Tuscany partisan group that was eager to form a new brigade. On the 3rd and 5 April there was air-drops by the Allies, previously agreed with Libero in selected areas of the Apennines. The drop it was claimed was to include one or two million pounds sterling. This is where the information becomes confused. The partisan group that was designated to retrieve the money was called back to base – with the effect that Libero was accused of embezzling the money illegally. It was said that to avoid argument he gave it to Guglielmo Marconi, but refused to report to codenamed ‘cloak’. There then appears to have been a German roundup, of some of the Romagna Brigade parisans whilst Libero seemed to have disappeared. A death sentence was handed-down by a partisan court (tried in absentia) against him for desertion and disobedience, attempted misappropriation, attempted insubordination, and illegal communications with the enemy. Judgement was performed by a detachment of the 29th GAP whose members were all subsequently killed by the Nazis. There is much controversy as well as conflicting versions about the circumstances and events surrounding the last few weeks before his death.In May1944, Angelo Giovanetti (codenamed the Moor), in a paper to the Military Committee of the Province of Ravenna, indicates that ‘Libero is kept isolated in area of Cervia, soon to be subjected to an interrogation, compelling and hard…’. Giovannetti also noted that, ‘the police [Fascist] seeks him and, if he fell into their hands, it would be a serious threat to the organization…’[30]. According to oral testimony, Riccardo Fedel (Libero) was killed by a hail of gunfire in early June 1944. However, the date and place of the killing remains unknown, and his body was never recovered. Riccardo Fedel was officially reported missing, as a soldier.
SOE Special Operations Executive & MI9 in Italy 1940-1946
During World War Two Italy was both an enemy country, and supposedly a monolithic fascist state with no organised opposition which SOE could use, and therefore made little effort in Italy before September 1943, when Mussolini's government collapsed and signed an Armistice with the Allies, who had by this time already occupied Sicily.Amongst the many other clandestine British secret services was a department known as MI9. It worked to train the armed forces in escape and evasion. Evasion lines were set up in occupied countries. Both services together with commando units such as Popski's Private Army
Popski's Private Army
Popski's Private Army, officially No. 1 Demolition Squadron, PPA, was a unit of British Special Forces founded in Cairo in 1942 by Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Peniakoff DSO MC. Popski's Private Army was one of several raiding units formed in the Western Desert during the Second World War...
attached to the British Eighth Army
Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....
in Italy trained and supplied the various Italian partisan groups between 1943–45, working later with their American counterparts OSS and MIS-X (US Military Intelligence Service-X, modelled on the British MI9).
Late in 1943, SOE established a base at Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
in Southern Italy, (in conjunction with the American OSS Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
) from which they operated their intelligence networks and agents in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. In the aftermath of the Italian collapse, SOE helped build a large resistance organisation in the cities of Northern Italy, and in the Alps. Italian partisans harassed German forces in Italy throughout the autumn and winter of 1944. 'When the German retreat beyond Rome began, instructions were given over SOE Wireless telegraphy (W/T) links and by BBC broadcast signals to the partisan groups in the Appennines to begin their attacks on 16 specified road and rail targets. Most of these assignments were accomplished successfully. One of the original partisan leaders, Arrigo Boldini (codenamed Bulow) who lead the XXVIIIth Garibaldi Brigade; was the partisan force which liberated Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
, on December 4, 1944, with the approval of the Allied Forces. In the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy they captured Genoa and other cities unaided by Allied forces.
Sources and further reading
- Playing with Strife, The Autobiography of a Soldier, Lt-Gen. Sir Philip Neame, V.C., K.B.E., C.B., D.S.O., George G Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1947, 353 pages, (written whilst a POW, in Castello di VincigliataVincigliataVincigliata Castle is a medieval castle which stands on a rocky hill to the east of Fiesole in the Italian region of Tuscany. In the mid-nineteenth century the building, which had fallen into a ruinous state, was acquired by the Englishman John Temple-Leader and entirely reconstructed in the...
Campo PG12, and his escape in 1943 with the help of Italian partisans and MI9 officers) - The Last Days of Mussolini, Ray Moseley, Sutton Publishing Ltd, (2006), ISBN 0750944498
- War, massacre, and recovery in Central Italy, 1943–1948, Victoria Belco, A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics, Paul Ginsborg,
- War in Italy 1943-1945', (1994), A Brutal Story, Richard Lamb, Saint Martin's Press, New York, 328 pages, ISBN 13 9780312110932
- Special Force: SOE and the Italian Resistance 1943 - 1945, Malcolm Tudor, Emilia Publishing, (2004) ISBN 0953896420
- Beyond the Wire: a true story of Allied POW’s in Italy 1943-1945, Malcolm Tudor,
- To War with Whitaker, 1994, The wartime diaries of The Countess of Ranfurly 1939 -1945, William Heinemann Ltd, London, 375 pages, ISBN 0-434-00224-0
- The War in Italy 1943-1945: true adventures in enemy territory, Malcolm Tudor,
- Prisoners and Partisans: Escape and Evasion in World War II Italy, Malcolm Tudor,
- Mission Accomplished: SOE and Italy 1943-1945, (2011) David Stafford, The Bodley Head, 415pp ISBN 978 1847920652
- MI9 Escape and Evasion 1939-1945, MRD Foot, & JM Langley, The Bodley Head, London, (1979),
- 200,000 Heroes: Italian Partisans & the American OSS in WWII, Leon Weckstein, L R Publishing, United States, (2011) ISBN 9781555716981
See also
- Brigata Garibaldi Romagnola
- Repubblica del Corniolo
- John Frederick Boyce CombeJohn Frederick Boyce CombeMajor-General John Frederick Boyce Combe CB DSO & Bar was a British Army officer before and during World War II. He was twice awarded the DSO for his service in the Western Desert Campaign before being captured in April 1941 and spending nearly two and a half years as a prisoner of war in Italy...
- 120º Reggimento fanteria "Emilia"
- Bulow
- 28ª Brigata Garibaldi "Mario Gordini"