attend a signal fire.
THE MILLAR STORY
DROPPING SUPPLIES TO THE PARTISANS
The photographs and stories are presented by Sandro Vazon
| A NIGHT TIME DROP | ||||||
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Supplies dropping from an aircraft, watched by
partisans, as they attend a signal fire. |
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| Photo authorised by ISRAL (Fonte ISRAL) | |||
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ENGLISH “ It was amazing to see all these white parachutes scattered everywhere on the slopes… they looked like white mushrooms……many partisans were already there… we started folding and hiding the parachutes, as we gathered all these “big iron cylinders”. Many farmers helped carrying the containers using sledges and cows. The containers were opened with SOE Agents and some partisans of the “Divisione Cichero” and Rolando, representing the “Sixth Zone””. It was really a bad surprise to see that the containers were full of Italian Rifles mod. 91. The packages containing the ammunitions were wet from humidity as they had been stored in a humid place for a long time. We were expecting automatic weapons. It became soon clear that the rifles had been captured by the English in North Africa after the Italian defeat. Rolando complained with the SOE Agents and said to them that if he had a plane he would drop those containers over London . A SOE Agent, with the help of an interpreter, tried to minimise what had happened putting the blame on the people that had filled the containers for the drop. Some weapons were burned and interred. The positive side was that all the blankets in which the rifles were wrapped turned out to be very useful” |
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| Dropping Zone "Morris" N44 27 00 E09 13 00 (Area Aviolancio) | ITALIAN | |||
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“Lo spettacolo era bellissimo. Tutti quei paracadute sparsi sulla montagna davano la sensazione di una distesa di funghi bianchi…molti partigiani erano già sul posto. Incominciammo a piegare e a nascondere i paracadute, mentre radunavamo i grossi cilindri di lamiera per trasportarli in seguito a valle. Molti contadini aiutavano al trasporto dei contenitori con l’ausilio di slitte e mucche. L’apertura dei contenitori avvenne alla presenza di agenti della missione Inglese ed alcuni rappresentanti della Divisione Cichero e di Rolando, in rappresentanza della Sesta Zona. La sorpresa fu amara nel vedere che i contenitori erano pieni di fucili Mod.91, anziché armi automatiche. Le munizioni apparivano inutilizzabili a causa dell’umidità dei depositi. Era chiaro che quelle armi erano state catturate dagli Inglesi all’esercito Italiano in terra d’Africa. Rolando si lamentò con i componenti della missione e disse che se avesse avuto un aereo, sarebbe andato a sganciare su Londra uno di quei contenitori. Un Agente Inglese, con l’aiuto di un interprete, cercò di minimizzare l’accaduto, imputando la colpa alle persone che avevano preparato il materiale per il lancio. Le armi vennero in parte bruciate e sotterrate. Si rivelarono invece utili le coperte nelle quali erano avvolti i fucili.” | |||
| Partisan territories (Zone di Attivita Partigiana) | ||||
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| A PARTISAN NEWSPAPER | |||
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This is a page from a newspaper printed by the
partisan division "Cichero" which operated in
the Neirone area. It is dated 1 August 1944. These newspapers were printed by underground movements. The risk was very high as it was illegal. If found by the Fascists or Germans the printers were immediately sentenced to death. |
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