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I just found online an apparently wartime Italian version of Lili Marlene (). It set me to wondering what were the home grown popular songs in the Italian Army and who was their Vera Lynn? Cheers, Sid

Is Italian Civil and Military Aircraft 1930-1945 by Jonathan Thompson still the most comprehensive in English on Italian aircraft in the Fascist era and WWII? It is noticeable that the otherwise pretty comprehensive Putnam series on the aircraft of WWII never published one on the Italians. This...

As I understand it, the occupation of Monaco from November 1942 to September 1943 was carried out by part of the 58ª Divisione di fanteria "Legnano". Does anyone know what sub-units of this division were deployed in Monaco and what headquarters was stationed there? Were any other units not of...

Hi, I am trying to compile a list of Italian hospital trains in WWII. Does anyone know of such a list? It appears that the Italian Army medical services, the Red Cross and the Knights of St. John numbered their hospital trains in a single sequence. So far I have the following for 8th Army on...

On 6 January he Daily Telegraph published an obituary of Francesco Volpi. He had been born under Austro-Hungarian rule in 1914. He learnt to fly in 1935 on a Ca.100 biplane and at one point his commanding officer was Italo Balbo. At the outbreak of war he was serving with the airline Ala...

According to Italian Prisoners of War in America, 1942-1946 by Louis E. Keefer, "After Italy surrendered to the Allies, 25,000 of these (Italian) POWs worked with the US Army as "co-operators" in Italian Service Units." The 15,000 "non-co-operators" remained in stockades until release in 1945...

I have seen reference to Graziani's daughter finding sanctuary in the Vartican City State in 1944. What is not clear is whether this was before or after the Allies occupied Rome. Any ideas? Many thanks.

Did Mussolini have a designated successor at any stage? Was there any post ressembling a "Sub-Duce"? Was there any legal apparatus to govern any possible succession? Many thanks, Sid.

Did Mussolini have a distinctive bodyguard unit in the RSI over 1944-45? I have seen a reference to a Colonel Albonetti as the commander of some such bodyguard. He was apparently wounded in an anti-partisan sweep. Does anyone have more on it? Many thanks, Sid

Some 20-30 years ago I came across a couple of interesting and well-illustrated articles in some issues of a British modelling or wargaming magazine on the subject of Italian uniforms. The author was Guido Rossignoli. In Googling his name I came across the following Italian-language books by...

https://fondazionersi.org is a site dedicated to the military history of the RSI. As well as online backnumbers of its quarterly magazine ACTA going back a couple of decades, it contains a constantly updated list of the names and units of the RSI's dead. There is much else besides. It clearly...

The following RSI historical quarterly ACTA is on line: https://fondazionersi.org/mediawiki/images/9/9d/Acta35.pdf There are more editions on line, but I have checked only two. Cheers, Sid.

As he was fluent in Italian, my grandfather was a camp commandant in Italy for Italian POWs. I recommend the following article, Enforced Diaspora: The Fate of Italian Prisoners of War during the Second World War. for a useful overview of their worldwide fates...

There was a significant Italian population in southern France during WWII and in Monaco they were the largest population group. Were they recalled for military service by Italy? I presume that in June 1940 the French would have interned them, but after the armistice they would have been...

How many Allied prisoners of war were being held by Italy in July 1943, and how many of them successfully escaped following Italy's armistice in September? Many thanks, Sid.

The Germans seem to have been helping to build the "M" Division into the MVSN's first armoured division at the time of the Italian armistice. Was the German connection a Heer or Waffen-SS project? I have seen little published on the "M" Division. I can't even establish whether the "M" stood...

I noticed that in October 1943 the Papal Nuncio to Italy was still in contact with the RSI Government of Mussolini. At what point did the Vatican's diplomatic recognition switch from the RSI to the Badoglio/Royal government? Many thanks, Sid.