Italy

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "

• Polish II Corps launches an assault on the Gothic Line in the Adriatic sector, with elements of the Corpo Italiano di Liberazione on the left, 5th (Kresowa) Infantry Division in the center, and 3rd (Carpathian) Rifle Division on the right.

 

• The Yugoslav manned No.352 Squadron of the RAF begins flying missions from Cannae, Italy, as part of the “Balkan Air Force” in support of partisans in Yugoslavia, Greece, and Albania.

 

Yugoslav Spitfires at Cannae, 18 August, 1944. The Balkan Air Force consists of numerous squadrons of several nationalities as well as a unit of Soviet Yak fighters and Dakota transports which will conduct shuttle missions between Soviet bases and Italy in support of Tito."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• US Military Police in Naples arrest Vito Genovese, powerful Mafioso of the Luciano crime family, and controller of a powerful black market operation in Italy and Sicily, for a 1934 murder in the United States. Genovese is also a member of the Allied Military Government of the Occupied Territories (AMGOT). With his powerful connections, he will not be extradited to the US until after the war in Europe is over. His trial will be dismissed in 1946 after the murders of all witnesses against him."

 

Genovese with Italian bandit Salvatore Giuliano, in 1940

 

"• Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, Commander-in-Chief of Italy, informs German 10. Armee commander Heinrich von Vietinghoff that the Allied attack on the eastern end of the Gothic Line (Operation Olive) is only a diversion, and that he will not release any reserves.

 

- By tomorrow, he will realize his error as Canadian I Corps and Polish II Corps troops are into and penetrating the Green Line fortifications."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The Brazilian 6th Regimental Combat Ream takes Stazzema, Italy.

 

• In reprisal for the local support given to the Italian resistance, soldiers of the SS-Panzer-Aufklärungsabteilung 16 systematically round up and murder approximately 800 people in Marzabotto and several adjacent villages. At the end of the weeklong operation, it is reported as “execution of bandits”. Many of the victims are less than two years old.

 

Memorial for the murdered

 

- After the war Generalleutnant Max Simon will receive a death sentence from the British for his part in the massacre. It will be changed to life in prison but he will be pardoned in 1954. Indicted in Germany for war crimes committed in 1945, he will die in 1961 before trial.

 

- SS Sturmbannführer Walter Reder, who personally directed six hundred of the killings, will receive life in prison from an Italian military court. In response to a flood of letters from military officers in 35 countries, including the United States, to release him, he will issue an apology and be paroled in 1985. He will return to Austria, being met by the Defense Minister with full military honors, and immediately retract his apology."

[jollyjack]

All that SShit "pardoning" really hurts today's families even now, at least members within mine ..

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "The Brazilian 1º Grupo de Aviação de Caça begins flying combat missions in Italy. The Group will spend the war conducting fighter-bomber recon and interdiction missions in support of US Fifth Army. Of the 48 pilots, 13 will be shot down, all by AA fire. Five will be killed and eight captured.

 

Brazilian P-47D at Museu de Curitiba

 

[Brazilian P-47D that lost half a wing and flew back to base]