The "red devils" partisan brigade in the Codroipo-Aris marshes

The "red devils" partisan brigade in the Codroipo-Aris marshes

A semi-clothed man, whose left arm has been amputated at the elbow, has a rifle slung over his right shoulder and is directing men and one woman who are walking in knee to waist high water. Most of the men are armed and some are carrying boxes. The men are all clothed or partially-clothed in uniforms of green trousers or shorts, white shirts and red caps.

Label read “270” signed by the author; caption reads “13 APRILE 1945. La Brigata “diavoli rossi” sfuggita ad un rastrellamento di Cosacchi, si mette in salvo nelle paludi aquitrinose di Codroipo-Aris con un carico di munizioni di oltre 10 quintali. Li guida “Romano” un uomo dal coraggio eccezionale, che ha sfiorato la leggenda, macchiata solo marginalmente, da qualche suo subalterno senza scrupoli, macchiatisi di crimini, di persone oneste che non c’entravano nella lotta partigiana”.

Caption translates as: “13 April 1945. The “red devils” brigade, after escaping a Cossacks sweeping, ran for their lives in the swampy marshes in Codroipo-Aris. They are carrying loads of munitions, more than on metric ton. They are led by “Romano”, a man of extraordinary bravery, who almost became a myth, whose figure was only marginally tarnished by some unprincipled subalterns who had nothing to do with the partisan struggle and took advantage of honest people".

One tempera on paper, pasted on mount board

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.

PFilliputtiA16010106