Fnurban #44: The Maggiore Marshal's Monument, Martyred Partizans - and The Other Partizan

Another two weeks gone and precious little hobby time - mainly due to a pleasant holiday! We enjoyed a week's gentle guided walking by Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta in Piedmont, Italy courtesy of HF Holidays, and had a thoroughly nice time. Of course history is everywhere, and there were a  couple of points of Military History interest to be seen, in the shape of  a marshal's grand monument, and a local priest, martyred in revenge for partizans actions. 

First the marshal : we stayed in the small town of Pallanza on Lake Maggiore,  and you couldn't help but notice the rather massive monument built on the lakeside there : 

 and a closer view: 

 The distinguishing features were the splendid figures surrounding the memorial, depicting (probably twice life-size, (so that's 2/1 or about 3.3m scale?)  the various arms  of what was clearly the Italian army of the First World War; I think twelve sculptures in all. Here are four of them:

 and another three - I was interested by the middle chap, is he perhaps holding some sort of fascist symbol? I've done no research, I'm sure someone will enlighten me..

 

I got some close-ups: I particularly liked the airman with his bomb

and this chap, who in common with several others seems to be wrapped up against the chilly mountain conditions the Italians were often fighting in 

 All very interesting, and I initially took it to be a rather grand monument to the fallen of Pallanza, 1915-1918. But no - in the middle of the monument is a large marble tomb, and the whole thing turns out to be the mausoleum of  one Luigi Cadorna, a son of the town

 

Cadorna in 1917 (this image from Wikipedia) 

 

I did not recognise the name, but of course it was easily found on-line. Cadorna was Chief of Staff of the Italian army from 1914 to his dismissal after the disastrous defeat of Caporetto in November 1917, and he remains a controversial character.  He commanded the Italian army on the Italian front, and led his troops in highly attritional warfare in the Eastern Alps and on the Isonzo river ( Caporetto is also known as the twelfth battle of the Isonzo ) .  It seems he made gains, but at great cost, and his lack of effective defences contributed to the eventual defeat.  He also had a policy of iron discipline and heavy punishments for his own troops, including executions of officers whose units had fled, and even rumours of 'decimation' punishment of errant units ( his Wikipedia entry is worth a look ).  I was interested to see that the monument was erected in 1932, so he must have been 'acceptable' to Mussolini's regime,  but presumably not himself a fascist, or the monument would presumably not have survived 1945.  I couldn't help noting the irony of this massive monument to just one man, and very close by the much more modest town War Memorial, presumably commemorating some of those local men who 'he did for..with his plan of attack' 

 On our final day we left the lake shores and headed up into the nearby mountains, along the Anzasca valley towards Monte Rosa (4,700m).  Here in the village of Calasca Castiglione is memorialised the local parish priest, Father Guiseppe Rossi, who was brutally murdered by Fascist soldiers in February 1945, in reprisals for actions by the local partizan Ravenna Black Brigade. It seems that the mountain valleys in this area were the scene of fierce fighting between partizan bands and fascist forces right up to the end of the war, as the allied armies took  two gruelling years to fight their way up the length of Italy, and the Nazis occupied the North and installed puppet fascist governments after the dismissal of Mussolini and Italian surrender in 1943.  Father Rossi has been beatified as a Christian  martyr  in 2024, and presumably may eventually be recognised as a saint. 

 Here's a view of the village, giving an idea of the country : 

You can easily see how this would be good partizan country (and only a few miles up the valley, albeit requiring a very stiff climb at the end, is Switzerland). There are a series of information panels about the events - I don't read Italian, but the pictures are evocative and I'm sure they can be translated if you're interested. I assume that's the 'Black Brigade' in some of the pictures. 

 

 

It all makes for sobering thoughts, as to what Italians went through in the years 1943-1945 as their country was fought over, homes destroyed and friends and families wiped out - perhaps made more poignant by the beauty of the countryside around.  

Finally, in a rather grinding change of gears, 'speaking of partizans'...  I can report that I am planning to go The Other Partizan at Newark showground tomorrow, Sunday 12th October.   Hoping to get there mid-morning, and looking forward to meeting a few friends (at least Neil of Aufklarungsabteilungblog and Chris 'Nundanket' of Horse and Musket Gaming fame  - and I expect we'll spot Postie's Rejects too!) .  Let's hope the show is as good as ever, and if you know me, hope we can bump into each other and chat. I have had no time to research possible shopping lists, which is perhaps just as well(!), will just turn up and see what there is to see. As a result, next post here will most likely be a report on what I saw at the show. Until then, keep well everyone.