Battle of Porta san Paolo.
- Thread starter lala1
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diciassette2000
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Porta San Paolo is part of the Aurelian Walls complex built by the Emperor Aurelian in 275 AD and is among the best preserved of the entire wall circuit. Its current name was given to it in the Middle Ages due to its proximity to the Basilica of San Paolo, which can be reached via the Via Ostiense and which began its journey towards Ostia from this gate. Today the gate appears isolated but was originally connected to the section of the Aurelian Walls that descends from the hill of San Saba to the Pyramid of Caius Cestius . It was isolated from the walls as early as 1920 to facilitate traffic in the square, while the part of the walls that connected it to the Pyramid was destroyed during the bombings of 1943. On 10 September 1943 it was the scene of one of the clashes linked to the defence of Rome. Here the Sardinian Grenadiers Division, after having refused to be disarmed by the Germans the previous day, gave rise to furious fighting, aided by groups of civilians. On the remains of a section of the walls, four recent plaques are now visible, two commemorating the events of 10 September 1943, one commemorating the landing at Anzio on 4 June 1944 and the last in memory of the Fallen of the Resistance and terrorism. On 8 September 2011, on the occasion of the commemorative ceremony for the 68th anniversary of the clashes of 1943, the Stele commemorating the military units that participated in the Defense of Rome, previously positioned at Porta Capena, was permanently placed. In substance, the clash was in fact the last sustained by the Italians in the defense of Rome in 1943 and saw as protagonists not only units of the Granatieri but also of the Lancieri di Montebello who had already been fighting with great bravery for two days in an admirable collaboration with the Granatieri. Then the remains of the two decimated battalions of the 1st Granatieri arrived, who were stopped in the most advanced area, that of Garbatella. There were also elements of numerous units: a battalion of a regiment of the “Sassari” division, remnants of the 5th sapper battalion, a group of 100/17 howitzers of the “Sassari”. A group of squadrons of the “Genova Cavalleria” (Lt. Col. Nisco ) arrived later; another battalion, another fascist group, a fraction of a mortar battalion, a company of trucks (Captain Giuffrè ), a unit of tanks of the 4th Tank Regiment, which would suffer many losses. All these forces were used, with the deployment that was possible in such conditions, to block the numerous streets that converged on the city center from Testaccio and the Ostiense district. Events precipitated and the defense became desperate around this last trench. Among the stubs of cut and erected rails, tangles of the torn tramway network, tree branches shredded by the explosions, the surviving self-propelled guns, the last armored cars of the Montebello launched themselves into offensive attacks on the Via Ostiense. They were the remains of a squadron of M15 self-propelled guns and of an L40, of two squadrons of armored cars and of two squadrons of motorcyclists. From 9 in the morning until about four in the afternoon of September 10th they fought in San Paolo, scattering the square and the Via Ostiense with the bonfires of their machines. The command was there under the walls, between the arches; and from that point the self-propelled guns set off on their desperate offensive attacks on the Via Ostiense and on the left of the deployment. Many did not return hit by the anti-tank fire of the German paratroopers of the 2nd para division positioned on the sides of the road and in the low pavilions of the Mercati Generali; or they returned hit with dead and wounded on board. The squadron group of “Genova Cavalleria” partly on foot, blocked the streets closest to the gate supporting the mobile action of the vans, partly on horseback was ready to intervene in any direction. Between 2:30 and 3:00 pm on the same day of the 10th, any further resistance became desperate and vain. The Montebello, almost totally annihilated, retreated; and an intensified action of artillery very close to the Gate and the Pyramid caused the retreat of the other units. The battle was now coming to an end and it was now thought to attest the last resistance on the line of the Colosseum and the Palazzo dell'Africa Italiana, but shortly thereafter the order of the “cease fire” arrived. And the Grenadier Division on the last desperate line of defense counted the last dead in combat.
All the best
Maurizio
All the best
Maurizio
Maurizio has provided a good overview of the fighting.
The only English account of the fighting for Rome is Davis' Who Defends Rome (1972). Most of the book is addressing the events leading up to the battle. The discussion of the battle itself is limited, but in many ways that reflects the scale/scope of the actual fighting.
There aren't that many Italian accounts. The ones I have are:
Le operazioni delle unità italiane nel settembre–ottobre 1943 (USSME)
I Lancieri di Montebello alla difesa di Roma (1981)
La difesa di Roma e i Granatieri di Sardegna nel settembre 1943 (1993)
In my book Infantryman of the Air, there is a short discussion of the involvement of the 111ª cp. of the 10º regimento Arditi in the defense of the city gate (pp.360–362).
Pista! Jeff
The only English account of the fighting for Rome is Davis' Who Defends Rome (1972). Most of the book is addressing the events leading up to the battle. The discussion of the battle itself is limited, but in many ways that reflects the scale/scope of the actual fighting.
There aren't that many Italian accounts. The ones I have are:
Le operazioni delle unità italiane nel settembre–ottobre 1943 (USSME)
I Lancieri di Montebello alla difesa di Roma (1981)
La difesa di Roma e i Granatieri di Sardegna nel settembre 1943 (1993)
In my book Infantryman of the Air, there is a short discussion of the involvement of the 111ª cp. of the 10º regimento Arditi in the defense of the city gate (pp.360–362).
Pista! Jeff