The more I research the Italian campaign during the Second World War, the more I’m reminded of the “Are we baddies?” meme from Mitchell and Webb.[1] That uncomfortable feeling that we may have done more harm than good in certain areas. Collective memory is as much about what we forget as what we remember, and it is easier to forget history that is ambiguous or presents uncomfortable truths. Whilst the English-centric military historiography has focused on the role of the Allies as liberators during the Italian campaign, few historians have looked at the terrible impact on the civilian population. I first became aware of the equivocal role of the Allies as both liberator and occupier after reading James Holland’s books on the campaign, but Keith Lowe’s Naples 1944 (2024) gives this topic the focus it deserves.[2] The common narrative is that the Allies invaded mainland Italy at Calabria (Operation Baytown), Taranto (Operation Slapstick), and Salerno (Operation Avalanche) during September 1943. After some challenging fighting at Salerno, the Allies pushed northwards and liberated Naples on 1st October 1943. Lowe’s book, Naples 1944 provides new social and political perspectives on the Neapolitan experiences during this period by drawing on Italian primary sources, as well as the oft-cited English-centric sources of Allied soldier’s testimonies and memoirs written by the likes of Norman Lewis.[3]
Lowe challenges several myths in his book, perhaps the most prominent being that the 5th Army liberated Naples alone. The “Quattro Giornate”, the four day uprising by the city’s population in reaction to the German Army’s wholesale looting and destruction of property at the end of September 1943, is described by Lowe in detail. In recognition of this revolt, the city of Naples was awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour a year later by the Italian government. The heroic actions of individuals during this uprising, like Maddelena Cerasuolo, are often overlooked by historians.[4] Likewise, much attention has been given to Italian civilian and partisan massacres by the Waffen SS further north, such as Monte Sole in early October 1944. Lowe highlights many of the war crimes committed on the Neapolitan population a year earlier as the Germans fled the city. The civilian uprising is described beautifully in Naples 1944, illustrating the very different characters of each of the city districts and their population’s differing motivations and political affiliations.
After briefly gaining independence after years of fascist rule and German occupation, the population of Naples lost their political agency with the arrival of the Allies along with the military rule of the Allied Military Government’s (AMG). Enthusiastic crowds greeted the arrival of the Allies; many of the civilians still holding guns used during the “Quattro Giornate” as shown in the photo above. Lowe ties the city’s search for political and economic independence into a much longer history of Naples and the region dating back to before the Risorgimento.
Several years of Allied bombing had left many of the buildings in Naples in ruins, added to this, the efficient work of the German demolition squads meant that the Allies entered a city of almost 1 million people living with no power, no transport, and no water. According to a short film by the 1944 RAF / Army Film Unit, Naples is a Battlefield, the Allies play a primary role in the reconstruction of the city, working hand in hand with the civilian population.[6] It shows the Allied troops busily working to restore power, water, and infrastructure. The video emphasizes the benefits of a civilian population living in ‘a free world’ and not under fascism.
By contrast, Lowe describes how the Allied Military Government ruled Naples using short-term thinking, focusing on military (rather than civilian) objectives. Many of their policies contributed to the appalling conditions suffered by its population either through incompetence or prioritising military goals. In a series of chapters that read like the four-horsemen of the apocalypse, the Allies are shown to have contributed to rampant inflation, hunger, crime, prostitution and the exploitation of women in general, and finally a typhoid epidemic. Naples 1944 provides harrowing stories that illustrate the suffering in Naples, whilst in stark contrast, Allied servicemen and women enjoyed luxurious conditions in their private clubs around the city. The biggest threat to the military objectives of the AMG was perhaps the typhoid epidemic and action was taken quickly to source DTT to control the spread among the civilian population. Lowe points out the startling statistic that “Naples had become the biggest cargo port in the world, outstripping New York by volume of supplies” by Spring 1944.[5] Despite the amazing volumes of resources that the Allies pushed through the port, these were mainly destined to supply the troops fighting further north and not civilians. Lowe makes it clear that the Allies were not prepared, had planned for, or felt particularly responsible for dealing with a potential humanitarian crisis when they invaded Italy.
In Naples 1944, Lowe describes how the AMG’s mismanagement of social problems, together with their failure to remove known fascists from public offices, had long term consequences for the political and economic future of Naples years. I was left wondering if the Allies could have foreseen this humanitarian disaster and have been better prepared. Lowe points out that the Allies learned lessons from their occupation of Naples, which led to more effective military government of newly liberated cities in Northwest Europe. As the Allies pushed into France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, they made sure that adequate food rations were rapidly provided to the civilian populations, they had DTT supplies ready to cope with outbreaks of typhoid and removed fascist sympathisers from office and publicly tried. More importantly though, after the experience of Italy the Allies realised that reconstruction was a key enabler for lasting peace and therefore avoided some of the short-termism shown by the AMG in Naples.
I am very grateful to Keith Lowe for re-telling the tragic story of Naples as it provides pointers to several new sources for my own research into troop morale and organised entertainment in Italy. The civilian population’s suffering is an aspect of the Italian campaign that needs to be remembered and provides important context for the decisions made by the military authorities trying to win a war whilst also trying to win long-term peace.
[1] Mitchel & Webb “Are we the baddies?” meme:
[2] James Holland, Cassino ’44: Five Months of Hell in Italy (Bantam, 2024); James Holland, Italy’s Sorrow: A Year of War, 1944 - 1945, 1. paperback ed (Harper Perennial, 2009); James Holland, The Savage Storm: The Battle for Italy 1943 (Bantam Press, 2023); Keith Lowe, Naples 1944: War, Liberation and Chaos (William Collins, 2024).
[3] Norman Lewis, Naples ’44: An Intelligence Officer in the Italian Labyrinth (Eland Publishing, 2011).
[4] Cerasuolo was later recruited by the Special Operations Executive and she operated behind enemy lines in the north of Italy.
[5] Lowe, Naples 1944, p. 353.