ITALY
August 5 – Italian Torpedo Boat Pallade is sunk in Naples by U.S. bombers.
August 8 – Italian destroyer Freccia is sunk in Genova by U.S. bombers.
August 9 – Italian destroyer Vincenzo Gioberti is sunk off La Spezia by British submarine HMS Simoon.
August 17 – Axis resistance in Sicily ends.
August 28 – Italian Torpedo Boat Lince is sunk in Taranto by British submarine HMS Ultor.
August 31 – Allies offer to give Italy 48 hours to officially surrender and then they would drop a U.S. Airborne division near Rome to help defend against the Germans. Italy wants more time to prepare to fight the Germans, but the Allies refuse the wait.
September 3 – General Montgomery lands 2 Divisions near Reggio di Calabria. Prime Minister Badoglio radios Castellano the authorization to surrender.
September 8 – Badoglio sends a code to General Eisenhower repudiating the surrender terms. The Italian government was beginning to feel shaky of letting Allies freely into Rome. The Long Terms seemed to be made by the victor for the defeated and Italy was still capable of fighting for the Allies. Eisenhower, upset over the lack of progress in the surrender talks, broadcasts Italy’s surrender over the radio at 6:30 PM.
Italy was now placed in a tough situation, to either confirm the surrender, or face warring both the Allies and Germany. At 7:45, Badoglio informs his country of the Italian surrender. Italians cheer and the Germans become infuriated.
September 9 – Allies come ashore at Taranto and Salerno.
Badoglio orders his military to stop any hostilities and the Germans begin to disarm the Esercito. Thousands of Italian soldiers are taken prisoner. Many Italian officers protest this disarming and are shot. Over 615,000 Italians soldiers are taken prisoner. Only 1% offer to join the Germans.
The Italian fleet sails to Malta as part of the Short Terms, and to prevent them from getting into German hands. The Italian Battleship Roma is the only casualty; sunk by a German guided bomb.
Cruiser Taranto, Destroyers Maestrale, Corazziere, Nicole Zeno and FR 21 (Former French destroyer Lion) and Torpedo Boats Antonio Cascino and Procione are scuttled in various ports to prevent German capture.
Italian destroyer Antonio Da Noli is sunk off Corsica after hitting a mine.
King Victor Emmanuelle and Prime Minister Badoglio flee Rome and set up a Government in Brindisi. The Italian Armed Forces become confused and leaderless. They do not know whether to fight the Germans or not.
German troops try to occupy Bari harbor. General Nicola Bellomo, commander of the XII MVSN Zone, forms a group of Italian forces and counter-attacks the German position, with himself personally leading the action. Bellomo joins men of 151st Militia Legion, 9th Engineer Regiment and some sailors, Guardie di Finanza and carabinieri. At least 100 men, more or less, with few support weapons comprise this emergency Italian force. After two hours of fighting, The Germans were ousted out of Bari. General Bellomo was wounded more than one time in this event.
September 11 - Italian Torpedo Boat T6 (Former Yugoslav Torpedo Boat T6) is scuttled off Cesenatico. Italian Torpedo Boat T8 (Former Yugoslav Torpedo Boat T8) is sunk in Punta Oliva by German bombers.
Torpedo Boats Giuseppe La Masa and Partenope are scuttled in the port of Naples when German forces approach the harbor.
Torpedo Boats Impetuoso and Pegaso are scuttled in Mallorca.
Italian destroyer Quintino Sella is sunk by a German S-Boote in the Adriatic.
September 12 – From July 27 to September 12, the Italian Military Intelligence (SIM) and German Intelligence Agents play cat and mouse in the German attempt to locate Mussolini. On September 12, Lt. Otto Skorzeny pilots a glider to Gran Sasso and rescues Mussolini. Mussolini is then flown to Hitlers Headquarters in Rastenburg.
September 23 – Mussolini is flown back to Northern Italy in his resort at La Rocca delle Caminate and proclaimed Head of State of the new Italian Socialist Republic, with the capital as Salò. This “new” nation would be known as the Salò Republic (Italian Socialist Republic RSI) . Mussolini would continue to promote his Fascist ideals and state how he was let down by the Italian people. Mussolini orders a revival of his military with a new uniformed military including the Republic National Guard, police and 10th Squadron naval commandos.
September 25 – Italian Torpedo Boats Francesco Stocco, Enrico Cosenz and Giuseppe Sirtori are scuttled in Corfu, Greece when German troops invade the island.
October 1 - Italian Destroyer Euro is sunk in Leros by German bombers.
October 13 – King Victor Emanuele declares war on Germany.
October 16 – Gestapo enter Rome and arrest 1,000 Jews. Pope Pius XII offers asylum to 4,700 Jews in the monasteries and convents in Rome.
Sources: World War II, Time Life Books, Italy at War; World War II, Time Life Books, The War in the Desert; SIEGE: MALTA 1940-1943 by Ernle Bradford, World War II Strange and Fascinating Facts, by McCombs and Worth. Destroyers of World War 2 and Cruisers of World War 2 by Mike J. Whitley; courtesy Stefan Schlemmer.
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