European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

As usual it was the dispatch-rider who had to face this battle,

in order to go and inform all our comrades, otherwise they would have been slaughtered.

If they couldn’t be ready in time, they could at least withdraw before they all got killed.

At a certain point I declared I would go.

I already knew the area. I had gone there often.

We had many families of peasants there, wonderful families.

I said: “I’m going, give me the gun and I’ll head over there”.

I was given the orders, essentially those that could be remembered and passed on and left.

I met this patrol. What could I do?

They ordered me to stop. I pulled my gun and started to shoot.

I shot while I was riding the bicycle, I shot as long as I could carry on until I reached the right place and inform all the others.

After that we spread the news quite quickly.

I managed to get through all these bullets,

this mess because when it was them shooting they didn’t need to save ammunition.

We had to do it, but they had plenty.

But I made it. The battle went well and they survived.

We might laugh about it now, but can you figure out how many comrades survived when they all could have died?

I didn’t even know this episode was known,

until one day the Carabinieri came knocking at my door telling me

that I would be awarded by the army, by the government.