On July 25, 1943, Benito Mussolini was ousted from power and replaced by a new government. The Germans were perfectly aware of the Italian bid to surrender to the Allies and they prepared accordingly. On September 8th, 1943, after a series of last-minute deals, Badoglio announced an armistice with the Allies and promptly fleed with the King of Italy to reach the Allied lines, leaving a good majority of Italian soldiers without any firm directive. The Germans promptly occupied Italy in the wake of this coup, and the Italian Army was largely disbanded. On September 12th, 1943, after weeks of frantic research, the German intelligence services managed to locate where Mussolini was being held as a prisoner and launched a covert operation to rescue him. The operation was an amazing success, organized and performed by German Parachutists under the direction of Otto Skorzeny. On September 14th, 1943, a worn-out Duce arrived at Rastenburg where he found several of his hard-line fascist generals waiting. After strong pressure from Hitler, Mussolini grundingly accepted a new political role as the head of the new Italian Fascist Government, and on September 23rd, 1943, the "Repubblica Sociale Italiana" (RSI) was founded with its capital located at Salo, a small village on the Garda Lake. The new government was a "Republic", the first Italian Republic since the early 1800's, and "Social", that is, it introduced very advanced social security and work regulation provisions, such as the participation of workers in the profit of their industries, etc. As a political entity the RSI was a reasonably efficent machine, albeit in times of great economical and social difficulties, and was able to mantain a surprisingly high level of independence form the Germans in this respect.

ESERCITO NAZIONALE REPUBBLICANO
(NATIONAL REPUBLICAN ARMY)
After the Italian Armistice, the great majority of the Italian army, left without orders, was disbanded. Thousands of soldiers were killed by the Germans in attempts to quell any move by the former Axis nation to join the Allies or the partisans, while tens of thousands were disarmed and sent to Germany as prisoners. A few units were able to stand together, while some went over to the Allies such as the garrisons of Sardegna and Corsica, others went over to the Germans. A virtual Civil War broke out within the forces of the defunct Italian military and ex-government between continued support of the Axis cause and joining up with the Allies.

Of the many Italian units that continued to fight alongside the Axis was a company from the 10th Arditi Regiment, the commando unit of the Italian Army. It joined the 2.Fallschrimjajer-Division that was based with them at the Pratica di Mare airport near Roma. They had fought in Russia at Jatomir, Kiev, Novocobiscoia, and Kirovgrag, to name a few places, and later in Holland near Eindhoven and Arnhem. They served as the recon unit of the 2.Fallschirmjager- Division, and did so in German uniforms, but with some of their Italian recon veichles still on hand.

Another unit was the Blacksirt (Camicie Nere) "M" Assault Legion "Tagliamento", who were also veterans of the Russian front. They joined the SS-Polizei- Bataillone "Gorice", (Named from the Polish town where they were trained), and "Vendetta". They were used as assault troops during the counterattacks on the Anzio Bridgehead in Italy, performing admirably.

The "Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano" (National Republican Army) of the RSI was recruited at first among volunteers coming both from Italy and from the prison camps in Germany. The RSI authorities were amazed by the very high response of volunteers, over 150,000, and it was decided to form four front-line divisions, to be trained in Germany by German instructors . Life in the training camps was miserable, with bare survival meals and incredibly hard physical and tactical training, but the end product was four first-class divisions with very high morale and operational skills, eager to fight against the Allies.

Unfortunately, the Germans did not trust the Italians much by this time, and when the Divisions returned to Italy they were assigned to counter-insurgency and coastal-defence operations. The morale of the soldiers was quickly shattered, and their operational skill diminished. Soon, the desertion rate very high within these units.

Besides garrison and anti-partisan activity, the RSI army fought on the north east frontier against the Yugolsavian partisans (who by 1944 were already organized as a regular army), that were advancing against Trieste, Udine and Venezia in Italy. The only large offensive operation of the RSI Army against the Allies was a regimental-size tactical counterattack on the Appennines in the Winter of 1944 against US troops. The operartion was a full success, and the RSI troops proved themself very skilled and aggressive in this otherwise brief encounter.

After the May 8th, 1945, with the final and total Axis surrender, RSI Army troops were butchered all over Italy by rampaging bands of self-proclamed partisans. Their only defence was in the hands of the advancing US units or when they surrendered to the few "legitimate" partisan combat outfits in the region. Many thousands of RSI soldiers were not so lucky.

The main units of the "Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano" were as follows:

1st (later 4th) Apini Division "Monterosa" (Pink Mountain)

Divisional Headquarters
23rd Recce Bn "Fimme Rosse" (red flames)
1st Alpini Regiment "Monterosa"
Alpini Bn "Aosta" (Name of a town, like the other battalions)
Alpini Bn "Intra"
Alpini Bn "Bassano"
Pack-mules supply column
101st AT coy.
2nd Alpini Regiment "Monterosa"
Alpini Bn "Brescia"
Alpini Bn "Morbegno"
Alpini Bn "Tirano"
Pack-mules supply column
102ndt AT coy.
101st Replacements Bn "Ivrea"
1st Alpini Artillery Rgt. "Monterosa"
1st Alpini Arty Bn "Aosta"
2nd Alpini Arty Bn "Bergamo"
3rd Alpini Arty Bn "Verona" (later "Vicenza")
4th Alpini Arty Bn "Mantova"
1st Lines-of-Comunication Engineers Bn
1st Mountain Assault Engineers Bn
1st Transport Bn
1st Medical coy
101st Medical coy
1st Medical transport section
1st Field Butchery coy
1st Field Bakery coy
1st Logistic coy
1st Veterinary coy
1st MP section

2nd Infantry Division "Littorio"

Divisional headquarters
2nd Recce Bn
2nd Heavy AT coy
3rd Infantry Regiment "Littorio"
1st Infantry Bn
2nd Infantry Bn
3rd Infantry Bn
103rd AT coy
4th Alpini Regiment "Littorio"
1st Alpini Bn
2nd Alpini Bn
3rd Alpini Bn "Edolo"
Pack-mules supply column
104th AT coy
102nd Replacements Bn "Littorio"
2nd Artillery Regiment "Littorio"
1st Arty Bn
2nd Arty Bn
3rd Arty Bn
4th Arty Bn
2nd Lines-of-Comunication Engineers Bn
2nd Mountain Assault Engineers Bn
2nd Transport Bn
2nd Medical coy
201st Medical coy
2nd Medical transport section
2nd Field Butchery coy
2nd Field Bakery coy
2nd Logistic coy
2nd Veterinary coy
2nd MP section

The "Littorio" Division was sometimes called a "Grenadier" division. This was mainly a morale-bolstering effort, in imitation of the German tendancy to give units the title of Grenadier. The Littorio Division was not a Grenadier unit, as in the Italian Army the Grenadiers were, and still are, the Guard units, formed from select (and usually very tall) soldiers. Only one such unit - a single independent Grenadier battalion - was part of the RSI Army (see below).

3rd Naval Infantry Division "San Marco" (the Saint-patron of Venice)

Divisional Headquarters
3rd Rece Bn (the former 2nd Bn of the 10th Arditi Regiment)
5th Naval Infantry Regiment "San Marco"
1st Naval Infantry Bn
2nd Naval Infantry Bn
3rd Naval Infantry Bn
6th Naval Infantry Regiment "San Marco"
1st Naval Infantry Bn
2nd Naval Infantry Bn
3rd Naval Infantry Bn
3 x AT coys
53rd Replacements Bn.
3rd Artillery Regiment "San Marco"
1st Arty Bn
2nd Arty Bn
3rd Arty Bn
4th Arty Bn
3rd Lines-of-Comunication Engineers Bn
3rd Mountain Assault Engineers Bn
3rd Transport Bn
3rd Medical coy
301st Medical coy
3rd Medical transport section
3rd Field Butchery coy
3rd Field Bakery coy
3rd Logistic coy
3rd Veterinary coy
3rd MP section

This Division was part of the Army, and NOT of the Navy as it is often incorrectly reported.

4th (later 1st) Bersaglieri Division "Italia"

Divisional Headquarters
2nd Recce Bn.
7th Bersaglieri Regiment "Italia"
1st Bersaglieri Bn
2nd Bersaglieri Bn
3rd Bersaglieri Bn
107th AT coy
8th Cacciatori degli Appenninini ("Appennines Hunters") Regiment "Italia"
1st Cacciatori Bn
2nd Cacciatori Bn
3rd Cacciatori Bn
108th AT coy
4th Recce Bn
4th haevy AT coy
104th Replacements Bn "Italia"
4th Artillery Regiment "Italia"
1st Arty Bn
2nd Arty Bn
3rd Arty Bn
4th Arty Bn
4th Lines-of-Comunication Engineers Bn
4th Mountain Assault Engineers Bn
4th Transport Bn
4th Medical coy
401st Medical coy
4th Medical transport section
4th Field Butchery coy
4th Field Bakery coy
4th Logistic coy
4th Veterinary coy
4th MP section

Independent Units:

Comando Controguerriglia (counter-guerrilla command)
1 x Cavalry Coy.
1 x 155mm artillery battery

Centro Addestramento Reparti Speciali (Special units training center)
1st Grenadiers Bn
2nd Alpini Bn "Cadore"
2nd GNR Bn (GNR = Republican National Guard)
3rd GNR Bn
Dismounted cavalry coy

Raggruppamento Anti Partigiani (anti-partisans task force)
1st Bn
2nd Bn
3rd Bn

Reggimento Volontari Fiumani "Tagliamento" (a river, volunteers came from Fiume near Yugolsavia)
1st Bn
2nd Bn
3rd Bn
1st Blackshirts Bn

Reggimento Bersaglieri Volontari
15th Coastal Defence Bn
1st Bersaglieri Bn "Mussolini"
2nd Bersaglieri Bn "Mameli"
3rd Bersaglieri Bn
101st Replacements Bn

Unita' legionarie Italiane
Officers Bn
"Von Dibio" Group (3 Bns)
Brigata d'Assalto Italiana
1st Mot. Infantry Regiment (2 Bns)
2nd Mot.Infantry Regiment (2 Bns)
4 x Arty Bns

Coastal Defence units:

1st Bersaglieri Bn

2nd Bersglieri Bn

3rd Bersglieri Bn

7th Infantry Bn

8th Infantry Bn

9th Infantry Bn

10th Mountain Bn

11th Bersaglieri Bn

12th Infantry Bn

13th Infantry Bn

14th Blackshirts Bn

16th Infantry Bn

17th Infantry Bn

1st Coastal Arty Bn (10 batteris)

3rd Coastal Arty Bn (8 batteries)

5th Coastal Arty Bn (4 batteries)

9th Coastal Arty Bn (12 batteries)

13th Coastal Arty Bn (8 batteries)

15th Coastal Arty Bn (2 batteries)

17th Coastal Arty Bn (3 batteries)

Field Fortification Construction Engineers:

116th Bn

122nd Bn

123rd Bn

124th Bn

125th Bn

126th Bn

132nd Bn

134th Bn

138th Bn

140th Bn

142nd Bn

143rd Bn

145th Bn

146th Bn

Elements of other 18 partially disbanded Bns were grouped in a Centro Raccolta Complementi Genio, and another 7 Bns were under re-construction (the 113th, 115th, 117th, 135th, 119th, 151st, 130th)

Field Engineers:

6 Bns (numbered from 1st to 6th)

Armour:

1st independent Cavalry coy (armoured cars)

"M" armoured Bn

3rd Armoured Bn/31st Rgt

In Germany:

5 x "smoke cover" Bns in defence of the Baltic ports

92nd Blackshirt Bn at Vienna

In France:

militia Volunteers unit

Italian Security Bn AOK

6th Heavy Arty Bn

In Greece:

2nd Bn, Arty Rgt "Piemonte"

8th MG Bn

Elements of the 7th Infantry Rgt

24th Blackshirts Legion "Carroccio" (1 inf + 1 arty Bns)

In Croatia:

49th Blackshirts Legion "Marche"

In Montenegro:

72nd Blackshirts Legion (3rd + 72nd Bns)

86th Blackshirts Legion (86th + 94th Bns)

81st, 82nd, 40th, 49th, 33rd, 111st, 114th ind. Blackshirts Bns

In Russia:

834th Field Hospital

Others:

44 x independent garrison coys

6th Arditi Ufficiali unit (Shock troops - officers)

221st "Italiani all'Estero" legion (volunteers returned to Italy from abroad)

6th Artillery bn (3 batteries)

"Moschettieri delle Alpi" Bn

"Volontari di Sardegna" Bn

1st Assault Engineers Bn "Forli"

MARINA NAZIONALE REPUBBLICANA
(NATIONAL REPUBLICAN NAVY)

The bulk of the Italian Fleet attempted to "go south" and join the Allies, according to the orders given by the High Command (the surrender of the fleet was one of the Armistice conditions). Actualy, it is not very clear what Admiral Bergamini, the Fleet Commander, was trying to do. He ordered the fleet to move from La Spezia to the Bocche di Bonifacio, the strait between Sardinia and Corsica, and that was absolutely not the correct direction for Malta. Admiral Bergamini was deeply shocked by the order to surrender the fleet, and there is some thought that he was moving toward Spain to have the fleet interned and put under the custody of a neutral power, in this case Spain, until the end of the war. As Bergamini was killed in the sinking of the battleship Roma by the Germans, the real goal of the Admiral may never be known.

A few battered cruisers, destroyers and submarines remained in the ports, often sabotaged by their crews, and were taken over by the Germans, but they were never returned to the Republican Navy in operational conditions. A great number of smaller Torpedo Boats, patrol craft and other various auxiliary vessles and merchant craft were also taken over by the Germans after the Italian surrender.

The bulk of the Republican Navy was the "Divisione Decima", a huge organization born from the 10th MAS Flottilla, the very successful underwater raiding unit of the Italian Navy prior to the 1943 surrender. The morning after the Armistice, Prince Junio Valerio Borghese, a highly decorated and dashing submarine commander and commander of the 10th MAS Flottilla commandos, started gathering all the naval personel he could find in La Spezia inside the 10th MAS barracks. He then went to the local German command offering the services of his troops. The German were quite puzzled, but they accepted. In the following weeks, Borghese traveled all over Italy, recruiting hundereds of soldiers, until the 10th MAS was of divisional strenght. When the Italian Social Republic was formed, at attempt was made to disband the Decima (Decima = Tenth), but Borghese refused, threatening to shoot at sight anyone who dared come close to the Decima barracks. Thereafter, an arrangement was arrived at and the Decima officially became part of the Marina Nazionale Repubblicana (National Republican Navy). It remained out of the central command structure of the RSI - and out of the command structure of the Germans too. It was a truly independent force, fighting with the same reckless, devil-may-care attitude of a Renaissance "Condottiere" (commander of a "Condotta", i.e. = a merchenary unit)! The Decima fought as a ground unit against the US and British forces at the Anzio bridgehead, and then in North East Italy against Italian and Yugolsavian communist partisans.

At peak strenght the Divisione Fanteria di Marina "Decima" was organized as follows :

1st Combat Group

Fusiliers Bn "Barbarigo" (an ancient Venetian admiral - Anzio veterans)

Fusiliers Bn "Lupo" (wolf) (*)

Bn "Nuotatori-Paracadutisti" (2 coys of Assault Swimmers and 3 of Parachutists)

Artillery Bn "Colleoni" (a Renaissance Condottiere) (*)

1st Coy, Engineer Bn "Freccia" (arrow)

2nd Combat Group

Fusiliers Bn "Fulmine" (lightning - previously called "Maestrale" SW wind) (*)

Fusiliers Bn "Sagittario" (archer) (*)

Mountain Assault Engineer Bn " Valanga" (avalanche)

Recruits Bn "Castagnacci" (from the name of the first Decima KIA)

Artillery Bn "Da Giussano" (another Condottiere)(*)

Mountain Artillery Bn "San Giorgio" (the saint-patron of Genova)

Engineer Bn "Freccia" (2nd and 3rd coy)

Independent units:

Fusiliers Bn "Risoluti"

Fusiliers Bn "Giobbe" (10th MAS Flottilla hero KIA in a raid on Malta - previously "Ardimento" - courage)

Fusiliers Bn "Longobardo" (hero of the Italian Submarine forces)

Fusiliers Bn "Pegaso" (pegasus) (*)

Fusiliers Bn "San Giusto" (the saint-patron of Trieste)

Fusiliers Bn "Scire' " (the submarine of Borghese)

Fusiliers Bn "Serenissima" (the nickname of Venice)

Fusiliers Bn "Vega" (a star) (*)

Fusiliers Coy "Adriatica"

Fusiliers Coy "D'Annunzio" (famous poet and WWI hero)

Fusiliers Coy "Sauro" (a WWI naval hero)

"Operativa" Coy (no details about that)

Fusiliers Coy "Mai Morti" ("never dead")

Women Auxiliary Service

The translation of the names of the Bns is a litteral one. Several of them, indicated by an (*) were the names of ships of the Italian Royal Navy, whose crews formed the "core" of each Bn.

Naval Units:

"Comandante Todaro" Raiding Crafts School (both surface and underwater)

Underwater Diver School

Underwater Operations Group

"Gamma" Group (assault swimmers)

"Comandante Moccagatta" Surface Crafts Units.

Both Commander Todaro and Commander Moccagatta were heroes of the 10th MAS Flottilla, both of them KIA).

Besides the almost-independent "Decima" units, the Marina da Guerra Nazionale Repubblicana also had the following units:

Minesweepers Flottilla at Venice.

Submarine base at Bordeaux, France, defended by "Divisione Atlantica Fucilieri di Marina" (3 Naval Fusiliers Coys + 1 Arty Bty)

An Anti-submarine Flottilla with some light sub-chasers.

Midget submarine Flottilla "Longobardo" with 22 boats.

Others various minor naval units...

AERONAUTICA NAZIONALE REPUBBLICANA
(NATIONAL REPUBLICAN AIR FORCE)

Contrary to the behaviour of the Navy, the Air Force went almost entirely North, except for a few training and bomber units. This is not surprising, considering that the former Italian Regia Aeronautica was the most Fascist of the Italian armed forces (Much like the Luftwaffe in the German Wehrmacht). The core of the Republican Air Force were its fighter units that operated against Allied heavy bombers. At first Italian aircraft were used, such as the MC205 and the outstanding G55 and Re2005, but these were later largely replaced with German- made Bf109s. At the end of the war a small group of Italian pilots was located in Germany ready to begin training on the Me163 and Me262, but the war ended before they started the actual training. The Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana was organized as follows:

Air Force Headquarters

Torpedo-Bombers Command

Fighter Command

Transport Command

Anti-Air Artillery Command

Air Force Academy (courses "Zodiaco" and "Aquila 2nd")

Fighter Training Flight

5 x recruits Bns

9 x anti-parachutists Bns

Reggimento Arditi Paracadutisti "Folgore"
1st Parachutist Bn "Folgore" (lightning)
2nd Parachutist Bn "Nembo" (storm-cloud)
3rd Parachutist Bn "Azzurro" (Bright Blue)

1st Fighter Squadron
1st Flight "Larismont" (an Airforce hero, as per the other flights names)
2nd Flight "Guido Bobba"
3rd Flight "Dante Ocarso"

2nd Fighter Squadron
1st Flight "Gigi Caneppelle"
2nd Flight "Nicola Magaldi"
3rd Flight "Gianni Graffer"

3rd Fighter Squadron

101st Indipendent Fighter Squadron

Independent Fighter Flight "Montefusco"

Training Flight "Francesco Baracca"

Torpedo-bomber Squadron "Faggioni & Buscaglia"

Air Transport Squadron "Terracciano"

Air Transport Squadron "Trabucchi"

Air Liason Flight

1st Bomber Flight "Ettore Muti"

Gliders Flight

Even if officially entitled with the names of Airforce heroes, each fighter flight was usually called by its nickname, based on the flight's insigna, as follows. The 1st Squadron's flights had the following: 1/1 "Asso di Bastoni" (cludgel ace - from the traditonal Italian paying cards, that have different symbols from the "international" ones), 2/1 "Vespa Incacchiata" (pissed-off wasp), 3/1 "Incocca, tende, scaglia" ("Notch, Pull, Loose", the three actions to launch an arrow from a bow). The 2nd Squadron's flights had the following: 1/2 "Gigi tre Osei" (Gigi with three birds. The ace Gigi Caneppelle was a pre-war Top Grade glider pilot - entitled to wear a blue badge with three white birds. But "bird" is also the Italian slang for penis...), 2/2 "Diavoli Rossi" (red devils), 3/2 "Gamba di Ferro" (iron leg, the nickname of Cpt.Botto, one of the most charismatic WWII Italian fighter pilots).

NATIONAL GUARD (GUARDA NAZIONALE REPUBBLICANA)

The Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana was formed as a militarized police force, grouping the former Carabinieri (military police), state police, Polizia Africa Italiana (colonial police), frontier guards and blackshirts units, and was later included in the Armed Forces of the RSI. The GNR was used mainly in anti- partisan role, a role that was largely a "dirty war" of reciprocal war crimes that do not give credit to any one of the contendants.

The "field units" of the GNR were as follows:

Territorial defence militia:
"Isonzo" Rgt
"D'Annunzio" Rgt
"Istria" Rgt
"Tagliamento" Rgt

1st "M" Assault legion "Tagliamento"

Special Bn "Trieste"

"M" Armoured Bn "Leonessa"

Parachutist Bn "Mazzarini"

Assault cyclist Bn "Roma"

Assault cyclist Bn "Venezia Giulia"

Grenadiers Bn "Ruggine"

Independent Bns:
"Bologna"
"Ferrara"
"Firenze"
"Marche"
"Perugia"
"Romagna"
"IX Settembre"

115th "M" Assault Bn "Montebello"

24th "M" Assault Bn

29th "M" Assault Bn

Legione "M" "Guardia del Duce" (Mussolini bodyguard)

Assault Bn "Pontida"

Assault Bn "Fiamme Bianche" (formed by boys of the party youth organizations)

In the Balkans :

4 legions and 8 independent Bns

The prefix "M" to some units was an honour title for elite units, allowed to wear a special collar-pin reproducing the "M" of Mussolini's signature.

BRIGATE NERE

These units were a type of volunteer militia organized by the Republican Fascist Party. They were mostly older die-hard fascist of the 1920's revolution, with the addition of some fanatic youngsters. They were organized in over 50 "Brigades" (actualy weak bn's - reinforced coys in strenght), and used in anti- partisan and garrison duties. With the passing of time most units grew more and more desperate, and were guilty of some of the worst atrocities in the anti- partisan war in the region. They were not actually part of the RSI "Forze Armate" (armed forces), but were considered as a kind of "auxiliary" formation.

All the Black Brigades were entitled to the memory of Fascist heros, and, for the territorial outfits, the name of their recruitement province is given.

Territorial Black Brigades:

1st Territorial Black Brigade "Ather Cappelli" - Torino

2nd "Attilio Prato" - Alessandria

3rd "Emilio Picot" - Aosta

4th "Luigi Viale" - Asti

5th "Carlo Lidonnici" - Cuneo

6th "Augusto Cristina" - Novara

7th "Bruno Ponzecchi" - Torino

8th "Aldo Resega" - Milano

9th "Giuseppe Cortesi" - Bergamo

10th "Enrico Tognu' " - Brescia

11th "Cesare Rodini" - Como

12th "Augusto Felisari" - Cremona

13th "Marcello Turchetti" - Mantova

14th "Alberto Alfieri" - Pavia

15th "Sergio Gatti" - Sondrio

16th "Dante Gervasini" - Varese

17th "Bartolomeo Azara" - Venezia

18th "Luigi Begon" - Padova

19th "Romolo Gori" - Rovigo

20th "Francesco Cappellini" - Treviso

21st "Stefano Rizzardi" - Verona

22nd "Antonio Faggion" - Vicenza

23rd "Eugenio Facchini" - Bologna

24th "Igino Ghisellini" - Ferrara

25th "Arturo Capanni" - Forli'

26th "Mirko Pistoni" - Modena

27th "Virginio Gavazzoli" - Parma

28th "Pippo Astorri" - Piacenza

29th "Ettore Muti" - Ravenna

30th "Umberto Rossi" - Reggio Emilia

31st "Silvio Parodi" - Genova

32nd "Antonio Padoan" - Imperia

33rd "Tullio Bertoni" - La Spezia

34th "Giovanni Briatore" - Savona

35th "Don Emilio Spinelli" - Arezzo

36th "Benito Mussolini" - Lucca

37th "Emilio Tanzi" - Pisa

38th "Ruy Blas Biagi" - Pistoia

39th "??" - Siena

40th "Vittorio Ricciarelli" - Apuania (later become a Mobile Black Brigade - see below)

41st "Raffaele Manganiello"" - Firenze

Mobile Black Brigades Group:

1st Mobile Black Brigade "Vittorio Ricciarelli" (later renamed 1st Mobile Arditi Black Brigade "I.Barattini")

2nd "Danilo Mercuri"

3rd "Attilio Pappalardo"

4th "Achille Corrao" (previously "Ministerial Black Brigade "Meattini" - see below)

5th "Emilio Quagliata"

6th "Dalmazia" (the Italian province on the Yugoslavian Adriatic Cost)

7th "Tevere" (The river of Rome)

2nd Mobile Arditi Black Brigade - Milano.

Independent Black Brigades:

Operational Black Brigade "Giuseppe Garibaldi" (not strictly a "fascist" hero!) - Morbegno

Ministerial Black Brigade "Meattini" - Brescia

Black Brigade "Giovanni Gentile" - Cremona

Black Brigade "Tulio Cividino" - Trieste

Women Black Brigade "Norma Cosseto" - Trieste

Black Brigade of the Youth Action Groups

Black Brigade Operational Group-Lombardy "Butti"

Black Brigade Indeendent Coy "Fascisti 1" - Rhodes Island - Greece

POLIZIA REPUBBLICANA

The Republican Police activated a few "field units", used in the anti-partisan war, as follows:

Independent Mobile Legion "Ettore Muti" - Milano

1st Mobile Assaut Unit "ISPA" (Special Anti-Partisan Police Inspectorate) - Brescia

2nd Mobile Assaut Unit "ISPA" - Torino

6 x Police Bns (located at Padova, pavia, Roma, Treviso, Gorizia and Venezia)

Police Arditi Legion "Pietro Caruso) - Milano

Main | May 17 | Forums | Search | Glossary | 1919-1935 | Heer | Luftwaffe | Kriegsmarine
Waffen-SS | Auxiliary | Axis Allies | Foreign | Collaboration | Campaigns | Medals

Created, maintained and Copyright © 1996-2006, Jason Pipes

o in seguito al consumo di carne contaminata cotta in modo insufficiente: una categoria a rischio era rappresentata dagli scaricatori che nei porti maneggiavano pellame infetto.(3) La cura con antibiotici è piuttosto efficace, ma in assenza di una terapia adatta il livello di mortalità è elevato, oscillando fra il 20 e il 90% dei casi a seconda delle modalità d’infezione. Il decorso è piuttosto rapido, e presenta caratteristiche differenti a seconda dei casi: in particolare, l’infezione cutanea è caratterizzata nella fase iniziale da gonfiore e prurito in corrispondenza della parte colpita con successivo sviluppo di un’ulcera non dolorosa, del diametro di due o tre centimetri, con una caratteristica zona necrotica al centro. Si gonfiano poi le ghiandole linfatiche e, se la malattia non è curata con antibiotici, i casi mortali sono circa il 20%; l’infezione per inalazione è la più grave, con sintomi che nella fase iniziale possono essere confusi con quelli del comune raffreddore che si evolvono però in gravi problemi respiratori e portano solitamente al collasso: la mortalità, in questi casi, è molto elevata. L’infezione intestinale, infine, è caratterizzata da un’infiammazione acuta del tratto intestinale, nausea, vomito, febbre, dolori addominali, vomito e diarrea sanguinolenti. La mortalità oscilla fra il 20 e il 65% dei casi. L’antrace era stato preso in considerazione dagli inglesi come arma da impiegare in un possibile conflitto a partire dalla seconda metà degli anni trenta, attraverso l’opera del Commetee for Imperial Defence diretto dal Colonnello Maurice Hankey. L’istituto, che si avvaleva dell’opera di personaggi importanti come il Premio Nobel per la medicina Frederick Banting e Sir Edward Mellamby, segretario del Medical Research Council, riuscì a dimostrare l’efficacia di questo agente patogeno contro l’uomo, evidenziando scenari apocalittici. La caduta della Francia e il conseguente pericolo di un’invasione tedesca della Gran Bretagna diedero una spinta decisiva alla ricerca, e nel 1941 gli inglesi erano in grado di produrre quantità notevoli di spore del carbonchio, caricandone proiettili di artiglieria. Il passo successivo fu rappresentato dalla sperimentazione delle nuove armi su alcune zone del Regno Unito: non solo furono bombardati isolotti disabitati al largo della Scozia, ma addirittura fu deciso di evacuare l’isola di Gruinard per valutare gli effetti dell’antrace su un’area relativamente estesa. Gli abitanti di quest’isola di 130 ettari ricevettero un’indennità di 500 sterline pro capite e furono evacuati in altre località, mentre il governo di Londra provvedeva a diffondere grandi quantità delle spore mortali. I risultati andarono oltre le attese e a modo loro furono un successo, poiché il tasso di mortalità fra le pecore liberate sull’isola raggiunse il 100%. L’antrace, però, si dimostrò così persistente da rendere l’isola inaccessibile per molti anni, fino a che, nel 1986, fu dato incarico ad una ditta specializzata di procedere alla decontaminazione. L’intervento, che costò più di mezzo milione di sterline, richiese l’utilizzo di duecentottanta tonnellate di formaldeide diluita in duemila tonnellate di acqua di mare: nell’aprile del 1990 il ministro della difesa britannico visitò l’isola e la dichiarò abitabile, dando la possibilità ai suoi antichi abitanti di riprendere possesso delle terre che erano stati costretti ad abbandonare. E’ curioso notare come coloro che accettarono la proposta furono costretti a restituire le somme ricevute al momento dell’evacuazione. I risultati ottenuti incoraggiarono evidentemente le autorità britanniche, poiché nel corso del 1942, sotto la guida del dottor Paul Fildes, direttore del dipartimento di biologia di Porton Down, nei pressi di Salisbury, fu sviluppato un piano destinato a diffondere l’antrace sul territorio tedesco. L’idea di base era relativamente semplice: si trattava di lanciare sulla Germania alcuni milioni di tortine di semi di lino infettate dall’antrace, così da provocare la morte di un gran numero di capi di bestiame e la conseguente riduzione delle fonti alimentari del popolo tedesco. Naturalmente, e il particolare non era certo trascurabile, una simile operazione avrebbe provocato migliaia di morti anche fra la popolazione, perché l’infezione si sarebbe inevitabilmente diffusa, con una dinamica difficilmente prevedibile, fra gli esseri umani. La produzione delle micidiali tortine fu affidata alla J. & E. Atkinson di Londra, una ditta specializzata in profumi e saponette, fornitrice ufficiale della Casa Reale. Nel mese di luglio del 1942 la Atkinson informò il dottor Fildes che la produzione aveva ormai raggiunto un livello pari a 40.000 pezzi a settimana, ad un costo compreso fra i 12 e i 15 scellini per ogni migliaio, e che entro la primavera dell’anno seguente sarebbero stati pronti oltre 5 milioni di pezzi. Per ragioni di sicurezza l’antrace veniva preparata nei laboratori veterinari del Surrey, mentre lo strumento per inoculare i bacilli nelle tortine era stato realizzato da un professore di Oxford, il dottor Schuster. Agli inizi del 1944 l’operazione, che aveva ricevuto il nome in codice di "Vegetarian", era pronta a scattare: occorreva soltanto aspettare il momento adatto, che secondo il dottor Fildes era rappresentato dai mesi estivi. In quel periodo, infatti, l’erba migliore era ormai soltanto un ricordo, e quindi il bestiame sarebbe stato particolarmente attratto dalle mortali tortine di semi di lino. Proprio l’attesa dei mesi estivi condusse però all’abbandono dell’operazione "Vegetarian", poiché il 6 giugno 1944 gli Alleati sbarcarono in Normandia rendendo sicura la sconfitta della Germania. Come ha rivelato un servizio di Robert Harris per la BBC nel 1981, Churchill aveva comunque preso in seria considerazione anche un’altra possibilità di attacco batteriologico contro la Germania, diretto questa volta innanzitutto nei confronti della popolazione civile. In una lettera al Generale Ismay, nel luglio del 1944, il Premier inglese, oltre a discutere un possibile impiego dei gas sulle città tedesche, si dichiarava disposto a fare "qualsiasi cosa" che potesse colpire in modo decisivo il nemico. L’antrace non era citata espressamente, ma è sicuramente significativo il fatto che, nel marzo di quello stesso anno, Churchill aveva autorizzato l’acquisto di mezzo milione di bombe, caricate con la mortale sostanza, dagli Stati Uniti. Anche in questo caso le intenzioni non si tradussero in azione essenzialmente per ragioni contingenti: i militari informarono Churchill che l’utilizzo dei gas avrebbe ostacolato l’avanzata alleata anziché facilitarla, mentre l’antrace non sarebbe stata disponibile in quantità sufficiente sino a metà del 1945. Gli Inglesi intendevano infatti colpire le città di Berlino, Amburgo, Stoccarda, Aquisgrana, Wilhelmshaven e Francoforte, ma per ottenere risultati soddisfacenti avrebbero avuto bisogno di un gran numero di bombe: in un primo tempo si pensò che ne sarebbero bastate un milione e mezzo, ma calcoli successivi, che tenevano conto della superficie da contaminare, dei lanci probabilmente falliti e della dispersione causata dal vento, condussero a raddoppiare questo numero. Una simile quantità di bombe all’antrace, per fortuna, non era disponibile, e non lo sarebbe stata ancora per molti mesi. In questo modo, fu risparmiata all’Europa una strage dalle proporzioni difficilmente immaginabili.

NOTE
1. D. Barenblatt, A Plague Upon Humanity, 2004, tr. it. di F. Ardizzoia, I Medici del Sol Levante, Rizzoli, 2004.
2. K. Alibek, Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the
World -Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It, Random House, 1999.
3. Si ringrazia per la consulenza il medico legale, dr. Stefano Ricciardelli
4. R. Harris, in "The Daily Telegraph", 2 giugno 1981.