Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 19 May , 2003 Share Posted 19 May , 2003 I know that the future Il Duce served in the Italian Army during WW1, but does anyone have any info on where and what he actually did? In addition, did he stop wearing the Interallied Victory medal ribbon once he had declared war on the Allies in WW2? Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 19 May , 2003 Share Posted 19 May , 2003 Ian this from Osprey's Essential Histories - The First World War - 'The Mediterranean Front' by Michael Hickey Aged 32, reservist Mussolini rejoined the Bersaglieri in August 1915 but was invalided out the following August wounded in a trench mortar accident (but not before being decorated for gallantry.) Sorry, no info on for what, where, how etc and no info re wearing Victory ribbon during WW II, however this latter should be checkable from press photographs (?) Regards Michael D.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Bowbrick Posted 19 May , 2003 Share Posted 19 May , 2003 Michael, Thanks for that - like Hitler then in being decorated for gallantry then! One of my colleagues has told me that he read somewhere that Mussolini had a uniform he wore when he met Hitler without the Victory medal ribbon, his others had it! But I do not believe it without proof!!! But I suppose annoying Hitler was not the best thing to do!! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andigger Posted 14 July , 2004 Share Posted 14 July , 2004 Does anyone have WWII pictures of Il Duce with his medals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brummy Posted 14 July , 2004 Share Posted 14 July , 2004 Do not know anything about his medals, but in Febuary 1916 he was promoted to corporal. Brum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeppoSapone Posted 14 July , 2004 Share Posted 14 July , 2004 I know that the future Il Duce served in the Italian Army during WW1, but does anyone have any info on where and what he actually did? In addition, did he stop wearing the Interallied Victory medal ribbon once he had declared war on the Allies in WW2? Ian Ian Here is a little more detail on "Il Duce's" army service. The problem is that it doesn't mention too many hard facts like units, dates etc. Where does fact end and propaganda begin? Interestingly it suggests that he had some sort of rank "it got too hot and exploded, killing his men closest to it" etc. Here is the source, for anyone who wants to read the entire article: http://www.usd.edu/honors/HWB/hwb_u/musso2.html "Mussolini did not let the loss of the Aventi! plague his thoughts. Within two weeks, he had formed another paper, Il Popolo d'Italia, which was a competitor of Aventi! Through this paper, he spread his belief that Italy should give up its neutrality, threatening civil war. When war did break out, Mussolini did not volunteer to go to the trenches. Instead, he chose to wait until he was conscripted, remaining editor of the paper and helping to influence popular opinion. Mussolini spent his time during the war in one of the worst sections of the trenches fighting against Austria in the Alps. After a few months, he caught paratyphoid fever and was hospitalized. When he recovered a few months later, he received sick leave from the army and went home to straighten out his affairs. During this time, he made his marriage legal and met his two children, one with Rachele - Vittorio Alessandro, born in September 1915 - and the other by his paramour, a child that he recognized and supported. Mussolini returned to the war and continued writing, sending his reports to his paper to be published. All was as well as could be expected until an accident occurred in February 1917. Mussolini's troops were practicing with a Howitzer when it got too hot and exploded, killing his men closest to it and sending 44 pieces of shrapnel into him. After 27 operations, Mussolini was released in August of the same year, with a lasting sign of his time spent in the hospital. Mussolini would have to wear a boot on his left leg that buttoned or zipped to support his weak left leg. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Dave Posted 16 July , 2004 Share Posted 16 July , 2004 Taken from the book, "I know these Dictators." G Ward Price, Harrap Press, published 1937. In this book the Auther (who was incidently trying to convince England that Hitler and Musso were actually top blokes, not out to hurt anyone) writes that: "Mussolini, now 32, was called up by his old Regiment, the 11th Beraglieri. The first winter of the War he speant in the trenches on the Upper Isonzo, a bleak and bitterly cold mountain sector. From there he was moved to the Carnia, and at the end of 1916, was on the stony plateau of the Carso, one of the most acive parts of the Italian front, where every shell burst was made more deadley by flying fragments of rock. Mussolini was promoted to Corporal in the field. His Company officer refered to him in orders at the time as, "Ever the first in operations of courage and audacity." With the exception of a time in hospital with typhoid fever, Mussolini remained at the front for fifteen months. That he recieved no further promotion he attributes to the suspicion attaching to his political past. On the afternoon of Feb 23, 1917, he was engaged with about twenty men of his battalion in carrying out ranging fire with a trench mortar. A dozen rounds had been expended when a bomb burst prematurely inside the gun. Four of the twenty men were killed and Mussolini himself recieved about forty wounds from steel splinters." An interesting book that basicaly says Hitler and Musso have no weapons of mass destruction. Obviously the benefit of 20/20 hindsight has omproved our interpretation of this erronous publication. I assume that some of this may have been tweaked to emphisise he was fighting on the same side as the allies. There are a few b/w plates of him, its hard to tell if he was wearing the VM as he is usually so bedecked in other medals. However if you look at this website at http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-medals/italian1.htm he appears to be wearing those that he was entitled to. (plus some orders that he most likely gave himself.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 15 October , 2009 Share Posted 15 October , 2009 quote: Archived documents have revealed that Mussolini got his start in politics in 1917 with the help of a £100 weekly wage from MI5. For the British intelligence agency, it must have seemed like a good investment. Mussolini, then a 34-year-old journalist, was not just willing to ensure Italy continued to fight alongside the allies in the first world war by publishing propaganda in his paper. He was also willing to send in the boys to "persuade'' peace protesters to stay at home. Read the full article here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Blonde Posted 15 October , 2009 Share Posted 15 October , 2009 Has the Italian Inter-Allied Victory Medal for World War I been seen on any other Italian Military uniform in World War 2? As I would imagine if Benito was wearing it all ranks under him who were eligible would be doing the same. Connaught Stranger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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