This is the recounting and the diary of my life - Marino Mattei

16.

The war was escalating on all fronts and, by now, there was no hope of winning. During this time my brother Stefano [see part 1] was recalled [into the army] as was my other brother, Berto. They were stationed in Cuneo [a city close to Saluzzo in Northern Italy] and they were also in the Second Regiment of the Alpini [see part 5]. My other brother Guido was part of the Frontier Guards and he found himself in Casteldelfino. Berto became sick with an appendicitis and was operated on in the hospital at Cuneo. I took two days of leave and I went to visit him. At the same time Stefano was also in Cuneo and I went to visit him as well. When the two days had passed I returned to Costigliole. After two weeks, Easter arrived. Stefano came to Costigliole along with Guido and we celebrated Easter together. It was a beautiful day. A photograph was even taken of us that I still have as a remembrance.

Left to right: Berto, Guido, Marino, and Stefano, 1943.

The 30 days of rest passed quickly and I was sent to Alexandria [a city slightly south of Saluzzo in Northern Italy] for another medical examination. My sickness had passed and the Chief Medical Examiner reported me able for duty. However, there was a corporal there who approached me closely and told me that if I gave him 5 lire, he would send me home for a month of convalescence. I didn't believe him but he assured me and, in fact, I paid the 5 lire and I was given the required permission documents. I returned to Costigliole and on the following night I went on leave for a month.

From Costigliole I took a train to Torino [Turin]. In this way, I would not have to change trains too many times. I arrived in Torino at about 8:00. There was a train leaving for Viareggio [a coastal resort city near his village] at around 10:00. Unfortunately, while I was waiting, an alarm sounded in the station and in five minutes the American bombers began an air raid. There was great confusion in the station. Thousands of people were running in a panic. Everyone went looking for some kind of shelter. I and many others found ourselves in a subterranean passage and we waited there. At about 10:00 the alarm stopped and we emerged from the shelter. The station had not been badly damaged. In a short time, the train arrived and in the morning at around 9:00 I was back home.

Every day things were getting more serious. Our enemies had already occupied Africa. The bombings in Italy and Germany were becoming ever more intense and the future continually looked bleaker. Again the 30 days passed quickly. I returned for my examination and I was declared able for duty and, anew, I was sent to the military depot of mobilization in Costigliole. My brother Berto, after being released from the hospital, was also sent to the same depot. We stayed well there. They gave us enough to eat and we had very little to do. We only had to serve guard duty once every two days and nothing else.

Russia continued its advance. America, having finished in Africa, was now preparing its attack on Italy. September was soon approaching. In August the Saluzzo Battalion was transferred to Bolzano [Northeastern Italy] and, as such, Stefano had to leave. Towards the beginning of September, Guido too was sent to Bolzano. I don't know why this movement of troops took place but, perhaps, our commanders were foreseeing the fall of the Fascist Regime and, under these circumstances, the Italian Army would undoubtedly have to combat the German forces. As it turned out, there was not enough time. The 8th of September arrived and Mussolini was captured by the Partisans [the Italian partisans, aka the resistance movement] and was killed in Como (Milano). [Although Mussolini was killed by the partisans, my father's timeline and recollection of the date is mistaken. The Italian army did surrender on September 8, 1943 but Mussolini was rescued by the Germans. He was not captured by the partisans until 1945. The following are the details of his death according to Wikipedia.org: On April 27, 1945 in the afternoon, near the village of Dongo (Como Lake), just before the Allied armies reached Milan, Mussolini, along with his mistress Claretta Petacci, was caught by the Italian partisans as he headed for Chiavenna to board a plane for escape to Switzerland. The day after, April 28, they were both executed along with their 16-man train, mostly ministers and officials of the Italian Social Republic. The next day their bodies were hung, upside down, in Piazzale Loreto (Milan) along with those of other fascists, to be abused by the crowds.]

Great confusion ensued in Italy. Without a central command, the army was in disarray. Myself and Berto, like everyone else, were happy but this did not last for long. As I said, our commanders were awaiting orders. It seemed like the end of the world where we were. Orders were not arriving. The 8th [of September] passed and among us we had great discussions. On the 9th things became increasingly worse. The Italian army was given orders to return home. Our commander, however - that is, at the Costigliole depot of Saluzzo - was not permitting us to leave. He gave us rifles and ammunition and, according to him, we were to mount a resistance against the Germans when they arrived.

It seemed like a bazaar [unclear reference]. Soldiers were passing by our barracks in a procession. They were coming from every location. The Fourth Army [unknown] that had found itself in Southern Italy disbanded in our area. Everyone was going crazy; thousands of soldiers, tanks, cannons, motorcyclists from the cavalry, in a word, the end of the world. They were all abandoning their arms, horses, anything they had and going home. Unfortunately, our captain kept us in our barracks as he waited for orders and he did not allow us to leave. Things continued to worsen as we were risking being taken prisoner by the Germans. Finally, the captain came out of his office and told us to ready ourselves to resist any coming German offensive. Upon hearing this everyone, in accord, grabbed their rifles and and threatened to shoot him. When he saw that we were serious, he went back to the office and after five minutes he returned with orders permitting us to leave. However, he said that if we remained there until the morning he would open the warehouse for us and we could take anything we wanted; the warehouse contained all manner of clothes, shoes, things to eat, etc. No one stayed.

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