I have been looking for the areas where the locations of the various Ufficio Postale Speciales were. When mean looking I really am referring to Goggling. I have not bee able to locate then. But nonetheless we march on.
This letter was mailed on July 13th, 1937 from Angelo Bianchi of the 724th Bandera "Inflessibile", 2nd Company, 7th Gruppo, “Fiamme Nere” (Black Flames) Poste Speciale 4 (500) to the family of Luigi Bianchi in (Urgnano) Bergamo via aerea I can actually read Italian pretty well but there is one word I struggled with but looking at the Wiki entry for the Order of battle for Guadalajara the Console of the 7th Gruppo was Marino Marino. In my “search” I haven’t found out anything out about Angelo Bianchi. What happened to him? I wish I knew. The cover is stampless and has a nice patriotic slogan. I can't read the word in the top right corner.
So the letter was written after the disastrous Battle of Guadalajara.The Division XXIII di Marzo were part of the 2nd CCNN Division which was filled out with the disbanded 3rd CCNN Division (April, 1937) following their loses from the Battle of Guadalajara. Then from April-August of the same year the CCNN Division began to take on a different composition with Spanish troops being the foot soldiers while the Italians were the technical and officer component.
More changes for the Division XXIII di Marzo when in October following the ending of the Northern campaign they along with the 1st CCNN Division were consolidated with the Division XXIII di Marzo and renamed the XXIII de Marzo - Llamas Negras Division.
Order of battle for the Battle of Guadalajara 1937
2nd CCNN Division "Fiamme Nere" - Bgd. Gen. Guido Amerigo Coppi
6th Group of Banderas - Console Mario Pittau.
-651 Bandera "Ardita" - Seniore Spagnolo
-630 Bandera "Intrepida" - 1st Seniore Angelucci
-638 Bandera "Audace" - Seniore Alberto Zaccherini
Support Battery 65/17
Engineers Section
7th Group of Banderas - Console Marino Marino
-724 Bandera "Inflessibile" - Seniore Gamberini
But before the August-September 1937 Battle of Santander which was a decisive victory for the Nationalists. Following this the Fiamme Nere were transferred to the Aragon front.The Division XXIII di Marzo performed very well in the Aragon offensive, which began March 1938. The Fiamme Nere led the break through of Republican‘s lines which led to the eventual ending of the war as Barcelona, the objective, would fall January 26th, 1939.
(Incomplete) Order of battle for the Aragon Offensive 1938
Commander: Luigi Frusci
IV Grupo de banderas
V Grupo de banderas
VII Grupo de banderas
-Battalion Implacabile
-Battalion Inflessibile
-Battalion Disperata
-Battery of 65/17
No comments:
Post a Comment