Italian Bersaglieri (Fusiliers) fighting the Allied invasion of Sicily

Italian Bersaglieri (Fusiliers) fighting the Allied invasion of Sicily

British tanks are firing at Italian soldiers. One is dead whilst others have been hit and are falling to the ground. Other soldier are charging the tanks. One soldier in the mid-ground is about to throw a grenade with his left hand. An Italian flag occupies part of the frame. A blue and red striped signpost is pointing towards Catania and Valledolmo.

Label reads “82”; signed by the author; caption reads “17 AGOSTO 1943. Sicilia. Dopo la caduta di Catania, la Marcia di Montgomeri [Montgomery] fù tuttavia lenta, e del ritardo avevano merito anche i soldati italiani. Quanto fosse stata grossa la battaglia, lo si riconosce dall’avere il generale inglese, rassomigliato a El Alamein, l’attacco contro la nobilissima, e massacrata città. E l’alto prezzo pagato per conquistarla, aveva talmente esasperato gli inglesi, che trovato poi a Messina, ferito e ammalato il colonello Leto, che di quella eroica resistenza era stato l’anima, lo serviziarono e lo maltrattarono. A Regalbuto e a Centuripe la battaglia infuriò come tempesta, ed alla stazione di Valledolmo davanti ad Agrigento, il 10o bersaglieri a dorso nudo, con pochi mezzi, affamati, affrontarono, i carri armati inglesi e li fermarono, finchè non caddero quasi tutti. “

Caption translates as: “17 August 1943, Sicily. After the fall of Catania, Montgomery proceeded slowly. Credit also went to Italian soldiers. The scale of the battle could be gauged by the statement of the British general, who compared the attack of the most noble, blood-stained city to the battle of El Alamein. The vast death toll paid by the British to conquer the city aggravated them in the extreme: they eventually found colonel Leto, who lead the resistance, wounded and sick but, nonetheless, mistreated and abused him. In Regalbuto and Centuripe, the battle raged like a storm. At the station of Valledolmo, near Agrigento, the 10th bersaglieri batallion, bare-chested, with a shortage of materiel and food, faced the British panzers and stopped them, until most fell”

One tempera on paper, pasted on mount board

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