Recent posts from the forum. http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/index.php Thu, 17 May 2012 09:23:39 +0000 30 http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/topic/6591-repro-giubba-ventowind-proof-jacket/
















]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 09:23:39 +0000 http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/topic/6591-repro-giubba-ventowind-proof-jacket/ http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/topic/6590-pw-m33-helmets/
Got in another batch of PW M33's if anyone is looking to refinish one or I can redo in GG color! Sizes 56-58.

Ciao
Rob]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 15:44:59 +0000 http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/topic/6590-pw-m33-helmets/ http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/topic/6589-alpini-feather-holder/
Original GG color feather holder for M33 helmet! Can email
pics. $60.00

Ciao
Rob]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 15:20:00 +0000 http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/topic/6589-alpini-feather-holder/ http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/topic/6588-m41-wool-trop-tunics/
Hessian antique chen chen made tunics new in bag size
44-46R correct GG color no longer being sold by HA!

Ciao
Rob]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 15:16:14 +0000 http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/topic/6588-m41-wool-trop-tunics/ http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/topic/5869-italians-in-normandy-d-day-and-beyond/ Overlord and Neptune. You already know about the island of Cezembre, defended by WH units that included Italian artillerymen and Marine infantrymen. This small outpost off St. Malo became a thorn in the Allies' side which resisted continuous shelling from the mainland and the sea, as well as carpet bombings from the air. The defenders finally yielded when the Allies resorted to napalm. For the intensity of the bombings compared to its small size, Cezembre maintains the infamous record of being the most intensely bombed area in Europe and perhaps in the world. So fierce were the attacks that, despite some mine-clearing efforts made post war, the Northern part of the island remains fenced off to visitors.
They were not the only ones though. Many Italian POWs were pressed into labor battalion to build the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall. Others who chose the German side were employed in catering and Flak. (I wonder if any of you has info on Italians who fought on the Allied side too).

Italians became again involved after the war, when divers were on demand to assist the clearing of the landing zones and the recovery of scrap metal to be "recycled" in foundries: especially the wrecks of ships sunk or scuttled during the battle, as well as tanks. Ships were floated before being scrapped, while other heavy wreckage was cut up directly underwater. The job was made easier by a large number of amphibious "Ducks", likely of D-Day vintage, which carried scrap from the sea onto the beaches. Whatever was on board was to be brought back, including the ship's load and human remains. A diver experienced a memorable fright when it grabbed "something round" in the dark of a submerged box, only to discover that it was a human skull with a full set of false teeth in gold. Dental prints later identified it as belonging to the Captain of the ship ("Neubarth"). Cold, little visibility and streams hardened the job of the Italian divers, used to working in the "quiet" Mediterranean. Besides, obviously, the risks of dealing with explosives. Unexploded ordnance was plentiful and was to be set off from a safe distance. But when the wreck of cargo Iddlesight blew up with a majestic explosion, two Italian divers were involved (one of them, Luciano Ambrogini, was a veteran of WWII). All of their equipment was blown off, but they survived. After two months in a hospital they started over. The enterprise declined in the 70s after flourishing for two decades, but to this date, much steel might still be resting in the deep of the Channel.]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 10:42:14 +0000 http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/topic/5869-italians-in-normandy-d-day-and-beyond/