British supplies for northern Italian partisans being dropped from a Dakota C-47, spring 1945. — **British supplies for northern Italian partisans being dropped from a *Dakota C-47*, spring 1945.** Imperial War Museums

Allied assistance for Ossola’s partisans

Without the help of the British and Americans, resistance against the German and fascist occupation of Ossola would have come to nothing. However, the region’s partisans had hoped for more in the way of support.

Raphael Rues

Raphael Rues is a historian and specialises in Ticino and the German-fascist presence in Northern Italy.

Without the help of the Allies, the resistance struggle in the Ossola region would have had been a lost cause. The support provided by the British and Americans was primarily a by-product of Switzerland’s neutral geopolitical position. This situation changed radically at the end of 1942 when German troops marched into Vichy France in November, closing the last open corridor between Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. For many people, including a large number of escaped Allied prisoners of war, this left only one way to evade the German fascist troops: flee to Switzerland.

Partisans as escape helpers

Following the armistice between Italy and the Allies on 8 September 1943, several hundred Allied prisoners of war were able to escape from the temporarily unguarded camps in Novara, Biella and Varese. They attempted to make their way to Switzerland, whose southern border was only weakly guarded at the time. Their routes took them through the Monte Rosa region, over the Alps via the Monte Moro Pass or across Lake Maggiore. But it was impossible for those on the run to cross into Switzerland without some form of help. And they received that help from Italian resistance fighters. Early partisan groups such as the Brigate Cesare Battisti facilitated the crossing of the border for a fee. This particular partisan unit, based on the shores of Lake Maggiore, had the advantage that its commander Armando Arca Calzavara spoke good English. But this ‘service’ did not come for free. Records kept by the Swiss authorities show that people were secretly guided across the border for a price of around 10,000 Italian lira per person, equivalent to one month’s wages for a simple labourer at the time.

**Partisan commander Armando Arca Calzavara was able to put his English language skills to good use.** repubblicadellossola.it

In financial terms, smuggling Allied prisoners of war into Switzerland was less lucrative for the partisans than helping wealthy Jews. Logistically, however, this service was extremely important as payment was often made in kind, with the Allies airdropping supplies. The politically moderate partisan units benefited most from this trade. The communist Garibaldi brigades were generally overlooked and received fewer airdrops than their less radical colleagues, not least due to the more or less anti-communist leanings of the organisations providing the supplies.

Allied intelligence services in Switzerland

Allied support for Ossola’s partisans came exclusively from the US intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and its British counterpart, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Both organised their activities from Switzerland, where they enjoyed a great deal of freedom and autonomy. After all, from November 1942 the country found itself completely surrounded by the Axis powers and was practically cut off from the rest of the world. However, there was a certain amount of competition between the OSS, headed by Allen Dulles, who would later go on to become the first director of the CIA, and the SOE, whose station chief in Switzerland was John McCaffery. This repeatedly led to coordination problems rooted in the reluctance on both sides to share any information. Moreover, neither intelligence agency initially expected a strong resistance movement to emerge in Italy ‒ a conclusion the Americans and British arrived at independently. As a result, the support they provided never surpassed a level that would have allowed the movement to stand up to the German and fascist occupiers for any length of time.

Allen Dulles, the first Director of the CIA, 1953. — **Allen Dulles pulled the strings of the *OSS* in Bern.** Wikimedia

In addition to supply drops and monetary payments, Allied support mainly involved providing the resistance fighters with information and know-how. Skills were passed on by American and British agents assigned to the partisan groups. The historiography of the Resistenza, the Italian resistance movement, has a tendency to aggrandise the Allied presence in the Ossola region. In reality, the Allied representatives were little more than common soldiers with experience of field conditions, who were raised to the rank of officer ‘on the spot’. This deception was intended to create the impression that the partisans were highly valued partners. Which was only true to a certain extent. And only when they proved useful to the Allies by acting in line with Allied wishes. This reveals another problem facing the resistance struggle in the Ossola area: the Allies had no interest in opening up a second front in the north of Italy. They were equally reluctant to build up a strong army of partisans that leaned politically to the left. Countless British would have been happy enough to see the monarchy restored in Italy. More or less the opposite of what many partisans were fighting for.

**British soldiers packing arms supplies for partisans, spring 1945.** Imperial War Museums

**Two partisans from the Cuneo-Alba region eagerly awaiting British aid, spring 1945.** Imperial War Museums

The ability of the two intelligence agencies to run so many operations in northern Italy, and particularly in the Ossola area, was also linked to the way in which the Swiss interpreted the concept of neutrality. Certain Italian partisan commanders, various politicians and Allied representatives were able to cross the border without any problems. While this made it possible to provide the resistance movement in neighbouring Italy with assistance in the first place, it also shows how completely dependent Ossola’s partisans were on Switzerland and the Allies. On 7 September 1944, the powers in Bern took another step closer to the resistance fighters. The Weisung der Armeeleitung betreffend Aufnahme einzelner fremder Wehrmänner, a directive issued by the chiefs of the armed forces on the admission of certain foreign soldiers, decreed that partisan groups could now be admitted to Swiss territory so long as they were not criminal, i.e. no ‘bands of robbers’ were allowed. However, this remarkable move proved of little benefit to the Ossola Republic, not least due to the lack of material supplies from the Allies.

Around 30 supply drops were made to the partisans in Ossola between spring 1944 and April 1945. Three liaison missions also took place during that period: Allied agents were parachuted into the region before making their way to Varese or Milan, from where they coordinated the information coming from the various Allied troops. On the whole, only modest amounts of material were supplied. In addition, many of the supply drops were intercepted by the occupying forces or landed in locations that were impossible to reach. Morally, however, the support helped galvanise Ossola’s partisans, spurring them on to keep up the struggle against the German and fascist occupying forces right to the end of the war in April 1945.

More of: 20th / 21st century War/battle Ossola

Further posts

Resistance helpers from Ticino

Raphael Rues 06.08.2024 For two years up to 1945, partisans in Italy's Domodossola area fought against the German Wehrmacht and its allies. Some Swiss also joined the struggle: as helpers and resistance fighters.

Partisans from the Divisione Piave in the Cannobina valley in October 1944.

A story of resistance and escape

Raphael Rues 23.01.2024 During the Second World War, numerous people attempted to flee persecution across the Italian-Swiss border into Ticino. This included Egone Gruenberger, who only managed to escape to freedom on his second attempt and after a long ordeal.

The Valmara – Madonna di Ponte customs office around 1940.

The Ossola Republic

Andrej Abplanalp 10.09.2017 In autumn 1944, partisan groups liberated a sizeable territory around Domodossola from the Nazis and founded their own republic. But the resistance fighters were at odds with one another and after just over a month the dream of an independent state came to an end. The story of a tragedy on the border with Switzerland.

Im Oktober 1944 kam es im Val Formazza nahe der Schweizer Grenze zu einem Kampf zwischen den sich zurückziehenden Partisanen und den deutschen und faschistischen Truppen. Einige Widerstandskämpfer konnten in die Schweiz flüchten.