Post by John Keel on May 16, 2005 21:46:19 GMT -5
Contempt for the military prowess of the Italian armed forces in France, North Africa and elsewhere was nearly universal during World War II. Günther Resch, a veteran of battles in North Africa, described the Italian soldiers he fought alongside as useless. The majority of his fellow Afrika Korps members shared his opinion. Including Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who declared in a letter to his wife, "There is little reliance to be placed on the Italian troops."
This disdain for the Italian soldier's abilities was part of the reason for the ruthlessness of Operation Asche, the German plan to disarm its allies and occupy their country if they capitulated. Within hours of Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio's announcement on September 8, 1943, that he had asked General Dwight D. Eisenhower for an armistice, German forces moved swiftly against Italian military units.
While the operation proceeded smoothly for the most part, in several locations Italians chose to resist the Germans' high-handed tactics. Much of the Italian fleet was able to get away, and hundreds of pilots flew their planes across allied lines. In a handful of cities, small groups of soldiers and civilians resisted the Germans, with predictably bloody results.
In the Italian-controlled Balkans, there were even more dramatic incidents of resistance. The Taurinense and Venezia divisions refused to surrender their arms and would eventually form the Garibaldi Division, which fought under Italian leadership with partisan leader Josip Broz Tito's forces for the rest of the Balkan campaign.
Those Italians who made the decision to resist the Germans did so at great personal risk. Nowhere was the cost of opposition more brutally played out than on the island of Cephalonia.
Located just off the western coast of Greece, Cephalonia had been occupied by Axis forces in 1941. The Italian garrison consisted of the 12,000 men of the Acqui Division. Relieved that their country was no longer involved in a hugely unpopular war, the members of the division celebrated when they learned of the armistice. The Italians seemed unfazed by the sullen Germans, who also had their own garrison on the island.
When German Maj. Gen. Hubert Lanz demanded that the Italians lay down their arms, the soldiers of the division overruled their officers, who realized the importance of resistance. Lanz received considerable reinforcements, and on September 15th his 1st Gebirgsjäger Division attacked.
Despite its lack of equipment, supplies and direction from authorities in Rome, the Acqui Division resisted the superior German forces for a week and suffered more than 1,600 casualties before its commander, General Antonio Gandin, negotiated surrender. As part of the agreement, Gandin was assured that his men would be repatriated to Italy.
Soon after the surrender on September 23, 1943, however, the Germans began to carry out terrible reprisals against the Italians. After Captain Amos Pampaloni's artillery unit was disarmed and assembled, German soldiers began to strip the men of their valuables. When the captain protested that it was illegal to take prisoners' effects, the German commander replied, "Not from prisoners, but from traitors, yes." Shortly thereafter, the Germans began shooting the Italians.
There were so many prisoners shot that one of the Germans wrote in his journal that the sound of machine gun fire could be heard continuously for more than two hours. By the time they were finished, the Germans had shot some 5,000 Italian prisoners in cold blood and thrown their bodies into unmarked pits or into the sea. Those who were not shot were transferred to ships. An additional 3,000 perished on the voyage to Germany, where the rest endured months of brutal captivity in slave labor camps.
After the war, the graves containing the remains of the men of the Acqui Division were uncovered. It was hoped that Gandin's body could be identified among the thousands of other corpses by the Iron Cross ribbon that he wore on his uniform for his service with the Wehrmacht in Russia. Unfortunately, the General Gandin’s remains could not be found among the other murdered soldiers and that 60 years later his final resting-place remains unknown.
Today the atrocity remains almost forgotten outside Italy. On Cephalonia, however, a memorial commemorates the murdered men of the Acqui Division, who represent just a fraction of the more than 200,000 Italian servicemen killed during World War II.
Shortened Version:
In World War II, the island was occupied by Axis powers. Until late 1943, the occupying force was predominantly Italian -- the Acqui division plus Navy personnel totalled 12,000 men -- but about 2,000 troops from Nazi Germany also were present. The island largely was spared from the fighting, until the armistice with Italy concluded by the Allies in September 1943. Confusion followed on the island, as the Italians were hoping to return home, but the Germans did not want the Italians' munitions to be used eventually against them. The Italian forces were hesitant to turn over their weapons for the same reason. As German reinforcements were headed to the island the Italians dug in and, eventually, after a referendum among the soldiers to choose between surrender or fighting, they fought against the new German invasion. The fighting came to a head at the siege of Argostoli, where the Italians held out for around 6 hours. Ultimately the German forces prevailed, taking full control of the island. 6000 of the 9000 surviving Italian soldiers were brutally rounded up and executed.
While the war ended in central Europe in 1945, Kefalonia remained in conflict due to the Greek Civil War. Peace returned to Greece and the island in 1949.
This disdain for the Italian soldier's abilities was part of the reason for the ruthlessness of Operation Asche, the German plan to disarm its allies and occupy their country if they capitulated. Within hours of Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio's announcement on September 8, 1943, that he had asked General Dwight D. Eisenhower for an armistice, German forces moved swiftly against Italian military units.
While the operation proceeded smoothly for the most part, in several locations Italians chose to resist the Germans' high-handed tactics. Much of the Italian fleet was able to get away, and hundreds of pilots flew their planes across allied lines. In a handful of cities, small groups of soldiers and civilians resisted the Germans, with predictably bloody results.
In the Italian-controlled Balkans, there were even more dramatic incidents of resistance. The Taurinense and Venezia divisions refused to surrender their arms and would eventually form the Garibaldi Division, which fought under Italian leadership with partisan leader Josip Broz Tito's forces for the rest of the Balkan campaign.
Those Italians who made the decision to resist the Germans did so at great personal risk. Nowhere was the cost of opposition more brutally played out than on the island of Cephalonia.
Located just off the western coast of Greece, Cephalonia had been occupied by Axis forces in 1941. The Italian garrison consisted of the 12,000 men of the Acqui Division. Relieved that their country was no longer involved in a hugely unpopular war, the members of the division celebrated when they learned of the armistice. The Italians seemed unfazed by the sullen Germans, who also had their own garrison on the island.
When German Maj. Gen. Hubert Lanz demanded that the Italians lay down their arms, the soldiers of the division overruled their officers, who realized the importance of resistance. Lanz received considerable reinforcements, and on September 15th his 1st Gebirgsjäger Division attacked.
Despite its lack of equipment, supplies and direction from authorities in Rome, the Acqui Division resisted the superior German forces for a week and suffered more than 1,600 casualties before its commander, General Antonio Gandin, negotiated surrender. As part of the agreement, Gandin was assured that his men would be repatriated to Italy.
Soon after the surrender on September 23, 1943, however, the Germans began to carry out terrible reprisals against the Italians. After Captain Amos Pampaloni's artillery unit was disarmed and assembled, German soldiers began to strip the men of their valuables. When the captain protested that it was illegal to take prisoners' effects, the German commander replied, "Not from prisoners, but from traitors, yes." Shortly thereafter, the Germans began shooting the Italians.
There were so many prisoners shot that one of the Germans wrote in his journal that the sound of machine gun fire could be heard continuously for more than two hours. By the time they were finished, the Germans had shot some 5,000 Italian prisoners in cold blood and thrown their bodies into unmarked pits or into the sea. Those who were not shot were transferred to ships. An additional 3,000 perished on the voyage to Germany, where the rest endured months of brutal captivity in slave labor camps.
After the war, the graves containing the remains of the men of the Acqui Division were uncovered. It was hoped that Gandin's body could be identified among the thousands of other corpses by the Iron Cross ribbon that he wore on his uniform for his service with the Wehrmacht in Russia. Unfortunately, the General Gandin’s remains could not be found among the other murdered soldiers and that 60 years later his final resting-place remains unknown.
Today the atrocity remains almost forgotten outside Italy. On Cephalonia, however, a memorial commemorates the murdered men of the Acqui Division, who represent just a fraction of the more than 200,000 Italian servicemen killed during World War II.
Shortened Version:
In World War II, the island was occupied by Axis powers. Until late 1943, the occupying force was predominantly Italian -- the Acqui division plus Navy personnel totalled 12,000 men -- but about 2,000 troops from Nazi Germany also were present. The island largely was spared from the fighting, until the armistice with Italy concluded by the Allies in September 1943. Confusion followed on the island, as the Italians were hoping to return home, but the Germans did not want the Italians' munitions to be used eventually against them. The Italian forces were hesitant to turn over their weapons for the same reason. As German reinforcements were headed to the island the Italians dug in and, eventually, after a referendum among the soldiers to choose between surrender or fighting, they fought against the new German invasion. The fighting came to a head at the siege of Argostoli, where the Italians held out for around 6 hours. Ultimately the German forces prevailed, taking full control of the island. 6000 of the 9000 surviving Italian soldiers were brutally rounded up and executed.
While the war ended in central Europe in 1945, Kefalonia remained in conflict due to the Greek Civil War. Peace returned to Greece and the island in 1949.
