European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

Conclusion: against war and fascism 

I don't know anything else to say about ...

“Volpe“ Francesco Bertacchini (right) together with other partisans after the liberation of Reggio Emilia, April 25th, 1945

“Volpe” Francesco Bertacchini talking to the participants of the “Sentieri Partigiani” walk, September 2014

Francesco Bertacchini as a young apprentice in the radio shop “Magnadyne”, Reggio Emilia 1943

Right: “Volpe” Francesco Bertacchini, in the middle: his best friend “Pancio” Armando Del Bue, left: Orvillo Radighieri

It wasn’t a very nice journey with that thing. I had no chance of getting through the police blocks, so I solved the problem that way.

Then I asked them to come pick up this damned radio, because it was almost a 5 km walk from Ciano to Cerresola.

When I arrived in Ciano I left the bicycle at the station and followed the Enza river.

But they didn’t notice my package. It was covered with some newspapers.

They looked all over the place, under the seats, inside the packages and suitcases.

Everything went alright until San Polo, where the train was surrounded. The fascist police started searching.

We figured that if they found the package, nobody could have told whose it was.

They often checked the suitcases.

She would put the package in front of me, at the end of the compartment, and leave.

We’d pretend we didn’t know each other.

Maria was supposed to look at where I was sitting, and come inside.

I’d get the Reggio-Ciano train at the station, put my bicycle on the coach and get on.

Maria and I agreed on the following plan. I’d go to the mountains by train.

So we had to bring it to the mountains.

It had a button you had to press, and during the war it was the one the armies had.

It wasn’t a normal radio-transmitter.

It was big, and it was at my house.

had managed to bring out an airplane radio-transmitter.

One day Maria Montanari’s cousin, who worked at the Reggiane plant,

Sometimes I brought ammunition, other times salt, etc.

to Currada, where I met Marco (Sergio Beretti’s battle name).

and they would fit perfectly right in the middle…

If there were only two handguns, I’d carry them alone. I had a big breast

Generally he’d bring handguns.

He’d arrive, hand me a small package, we’d say goodbye and leave.

I would go there, go inside and wait for him.

The meeting point was a hotel behind the Riunite pharmacy.

When we tell you where to go, just go there and he’ll hand you some stuff”.

He was a fascist and they were glad to take him, so now he sends out some weapons for us.

They replied: “He’s with the fascists because we sent him.

I asked them what they’d do to this brother once the war was over.

another one was with the fascists.

Two brothers were in the mountains with the partisans of the Don Pasquino detachment,

The Ferrari brothers at the time had a butchery near the D’Alberto movie theatre.

Do you think you can do it?” I said yes.

“Listen, we need someone to bring what we need to the mountains, especially ammunition and weapons.

He told me:

Transport of weapons, ammunition, radios

We were receiving reports of troops coming back from the front, from Garfagnana,

Mining a bridge; Sabotaging flow of German troops

on the road going through Fivizzano and the Cerreto pass and towards Castelnovo Monti.

They were sending new troops to the front, by that time they had been there two or three months.

There was only this small thing we used to call the “fognone” (big sewer).

By that time we had a lot of TNT since they dropped it from the airplanes.

We walked up there. There was a wonderful moon this night, a very calm night, like in springtime.

They had a machine gun nest not too far away,

and well I went back to see after the war was over,

We walked down a bit because rocks would be falling down

and not only did we blow up the arch, but also 2-3 meters of road on both sides, because 45 kg are a lot.

When they arrived they had to do a horse-shoe, that’s why it was important to stop them.

and forcing them to dig the mountain, build a horse-shoe in order to be able to get through:

After that we set the fuse and set it on fire.

we put two groups there, one on each side of the bridge, in order to work untroubled.