Contesto Storico (Historical Context)

da Anzio a Roma

During this period, partisan activity near the front remained mostly clandestine in nature and partisans working behind Axis lines were keen to blend in with the local populace. In such circumstances, a partisan would carry only the minimum equipment necessary to execute a specific mission; plausible behind-the-lines weaponry might include a small handgun that could be hidden inside clothing (and inconspicuously dropped in a dark alley), or perhaps a grenade or improvised bomb.

As the Allied armies inched towards Rome, it is reasonable to assume that partisans came into contact with Allied troops on the ground or otherwise communicated their location to Allied headquarters via their connections in the OSS or SOE. If vetted as trustworthy, a partisan might become involved in recon, further sabotage, or conventional combat, either as a member of an organized partisan squad or attached to an Allied unit.

In the confusion following the ouster of Mussolini and the September 1943 armistice proclaimed by his successor Marshal Badoglio, thousands of Italian troops and newly-escaped Allied POWs ‘melted’ into the countryside where many linked up with the partisans, providing both additional manpower as well as tactical military expertise. It’s should be expected that once in contact with Allied forces the former POWs would have been whisked off to the rear to be debriefed, re-equipped, and eventually rejoined with their respective fighting force. Many of the antifascist Italian soldiers who made it behind Allied lines were later organized into co-belligerent units and fought against their former German allies.