The 2nd New Zealand Division in Taranto
La 2^ Divisione neozelandese a Taranto
Nell’ottobre
del 1943, la 2^ Divisione neozelandese (20.000 uomini) sbarcò in Italia
proveniente da Alessandria d’Egitto. Sette navi trasportarono 14.000-15.000
uomini a Taranto, mentre il resto della Divisione, con l’attrezzatura e i mezzi
pesanti, sbarcò a Bari. Entrambi i porti erano già in mano agli Alleati e il
fronte sul lato adriatico era arrivato in Abruzzo. Gli uomini rimasero diverse
settimane a Taranto in attesa dei trasporti. Per molti era la prima esperienza
in Europa. Arrivavano freschi e riposati, con nuove reclute e nuove
attrezzature. Incoraggiati dalla vittoria in Nord Africa e consapevoli
dell’armistizio con l’Italia, erano fiduciosi, persino ottimisti. Non potevano
immaginare la lunga e ardua campagna davanti a loro.
Trovarono
una Taranto distrutta dai bombardamenti e abbandonata, con la popolazione ridotta
alla miseria. Accampati nelle campagne attorno alla città, però, ebbero
occasione di apprezzare i prodotti della terra e la semplicità dei contadini.
*****
In the first half of the twentieth century, travel between New Zealand and Europe (excluding the call to arms) was limited to a small élite who managed to return to Britain to visit relatives. For the 20,000 soldiers of the 2nd New Zealand Division, war provided an unexpected opportunity to travel. For most units coming from Britain’s scattered empire, travel was a great incentive to enrolment.
Very
few men of the 2nd New Zealand Division that landed in Puglia, in southern
Italy, in October 1943, were veterans of the Greek Campaign. Most had served only
in North Africa, or were the new recruits yet to see battle. This would be their first taste of Europe. Coming from
Alexandria, in Egypt, they arrived in two ‘flights’, on 18 and on 26 October.
Seven ships carried 14,000-15,000 men to the port of Taranto, while the
remainder, with the supplies, heavy equipment and vehicles travelled in
forty-one other ships and by a different route, to the port of Bari, 80 km away
on the Adriatic coast.
The men
were fit and rested, and eager to get on with the job. They were also longing
to return to the ‘civilised’ world after their long experience in the North
African desert, and naturally very curious about Italy. Few would have known
they were entering Europe through an ancient port dating to Phoenician times! None
imagined how long and arduous the Italian Campaign would be.
Sadly, they saw a Taranto reduced to a sorry state. In
October 1943, the harbour was full of shipwrecks and Allied shipping. The Allied
bombing of the city in November 1940, coupled with the effect of six years of maintaining
a disastrous war, and government neglect, had brought the city to its knees.
The recent Armistice with the Anglo-Americans, and total collapse of the
Fascist regime hardly made any difference to this forgotten corner of Italy. The excitement of the troops as they came
close to shore was soon tempered by what they saw:
‘We pulled into the wharf,’ wrote Sergeant Greg
Mowat, who was with the second flight, ‘and we could see the roofless houses,
the burnt-out buildings, and the piles of rubble—a sight new to the
reinforcements. Once again, we piled gear on our backs, struggled up the
stairway, down the gangplank, and into the new country. We left our heavy stuff
on the wharf to be picked up by lorries and taken to the transit camp, which
was about five miles out of town. (S. P. Llewellyn, Journey Towards
Christmas)
While pleased to see real buildings, houses, shops,
and European dress, they were shocked by the poverty, the lack of hygiene, and
the evident misery of the population.
“The older section was
reminiscent of Cairo with its inadequate drainage, side-street disposal of refuse, and consequent variety of evil smells. Battered
buildings and half-sunken hulks along the waterfront showed the havoc wrought
by Allied bombers. The Germans had ransacked the town before leaving and the
people were obviously very hungry. Long queues waited to buy the small stocks
of food offered for sale.” (Frazer D. Norton, 26 Battalion).
Abandoned
by the State, devastated by the invaders and looted by the departing enemy, Taranto
did not have a lot to offer the souvenir-hunting Kiwi, but there was more than
enough to look at – the massive, waterfront castle, the imposing public buildings,
the great revolving bridge connecting the ’island’ of the Old Town with its picturesque
labyrinth of narrow alleys, and the New Town to the south with its broad
squares and leafy avenues.
The
town of Taranto in 1943
Around the waterfront, where the troops came ashore, they saw the imposing heavy buildings typical of Fascist architecture - the Bank of Italy, the Post Office, the Government Building (now the headquarters of the Police and the Provincial Government), and the former Casa del Fascio (the Fascist Party Building), today the premises of a regional tax office.
The Government Building, today seat of the Provincial Government and Police headquarters
They were more intrigued, however, by the ancient Castle
which dominates the harbour entrance - even the untravelled Kiwi soldiers could
appreciate that it was a centuries-old historic monument. In fact, the Castle
probably dates to the tenth century, although its present form is largely
fifteenth century, and it is still, deservedly, the city’s best-known and most
prominent feature. A squat and sturdy
fortress, with walls eight metres thick and only one (landside) entrance, remained
impregnable through the centuries. Since 1887 it has been the Headquarters of
the Italian Navy, and today is a National monument.
There
would be many more castles along their trail, but Taranto Castle would not be
forgotten. They would also become familiar with two other buildings in Taranto,
the city’s fine Archaeological Museum (the Museo Archeologico di Taranto, or M.AR.TA.),
and a large school building on the same Piazza Garibaldi,, the Istituto
Magistrale Statale Livio Andronico. During
the war, the museum building (emptied of its treasures) was requisitioned for
use as a hospital. When the British began evacuating their patients, the
Division set up its own temporary hospital for the sick and wounded, in a wing
on the second floor. Luckily, this was one of the cleaner and quieter parts of
war-time Taranto. The old school
building, on the other hand, which before the arrival of the Eighth Army had
been the headquarters first of the German Command, was subsequently used for
the same purpose by the Allies.
The soldiers who
arrived in October 1943 camped in the countryside to the north and north-east. Some
were near villages, like Statte (6th Brigade), and Galese, while others were on
farm estates (masserie), such as Santa Teresa (Divisional HQ and the
Medical Units), Todisco (19 Battalion and Armoured Regiment), and Giranda.
In most cases,
nothing was ready for them - there were neither buildings nor sanitary
facilities. Stone walls between fields were demolished to make paths. The
terrain was generally barren and stony, mitigated by the shade of olive or,
occasionally, pine trees. The abundance
of fresh fruit, and the friendliness of the simple country people, compensated
for the physical hardships.
Subsequently (January
1944) a divisional assembly camp was established among olive groves at San
Basilio some 25 km north-west of Taranto
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