The Biskar Massacre is the collective name of two incidents when American soldiers from the 45th Infantry Division killed 74 unarmed Italian prisoners of war and two German prisoners (one of the gunmen explained that words of General Patton were the motivation for action) [1] . It happened on July 14, 1943 .
Content
Event Description
During the invasion of Allied forces in Sicily , the 7th US Army , commanded by Lieutenant General George Patton, and the 8th British Army, commanded by General Bernard Montgomery, invaded the southeastern part of the island on July 10, 1943 . Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley (2nd Corps) gave the 45th US Infantry Division a challenging task: the task was to capture several coastal cities and an airfield, and to hold reinforcements in the form of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division .
The 180th Infantry Regiment was tasked with capturing the airfield of Biscari . The task of the regiment was performed so badly in the first 48 hours after the disembarkation that Major General Troy Middleton considered the question of removing his commander. Instead, the assistant commander of the division was sent to exercise strict supervision of the regiment.
After the capture of the airfield of Biscari on July 14, 1943, the troops of the 180th Infantry Regiment killed 74 (according to another version 71) Italian and two German prisoners of war in two separate incidents. In the first case, 36 or 39 Italians died; The second incident claimed the lives of 35 Italians and two Germans.
Implications
When General Omar Bradley was informed about the massacre, he told General George Patton that American troops killed about 50-70 prisoners. George Patton noted the answer in his diary:
I told Bradley that he was probably exaggerating, but in any case, we can say that the dead were snipers or tried to escape, or else, otherwise it would cause scandal in the press, and also cause strong discontent among civilians. In any case, they are dead, so nothing can be done about it.
Original Text (Eng.)He told her to tell her about what to say about. . Anyhow, they are dead, so it can be done about it. [2]
Bradley rejected this advice Patton.
See also
- Sicilian operation
- Prisoners of War Convention
Notes
- ↑ Biscari massacres (not available link) at allexperts.com
- ↑ Atkinson (2007), p. 119.
Sources
- Atkinson, Rick. The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (The Liberation Trilogy). - New York: Henry Holt and Co. , 2007. - P. 119. - ISBN 0805062890 .
- Bartolone, Giovanni. Le altre stragi. Le stragi alleate e tedesche nella Sicilia del 1943-1944. - Bagheria : Tipografia Aiello & Provenzano, 2005.
- Botting, Douglas. Hitler's Last General: The Case Against Wilhelm Mohnke . - London: Bantam Books , 1989. - p. 354–359. - ISBN 0593017099 .
- Robbins, Christopher. Test of Courage: The Michel Thomas Story. - New York: Simon & Schuster , 2000. - ISBN 9780743202633 .
- Weingartner, James. Massacre at Biscari: Patton and An American War Crime (Eng.) // The Historian: journal. - 1989. - November ( vol. LII , no. 1 ). - P. 24—39 .
- Record of the United States Court of Justice of the United States of America v. CPT. John T. Compton, CM 250835 , US Army Judiciary, Arlington, VA.
- Record of the United States Court of Justice of the United States of America v. SGT Horace T. West, CM0833 , US Army Judiciary, Arlington, VA.
- US Department of War, A Manual for Courts-Martial, US Army, 1928 (Corrected to April 20, 1943) , Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1943.
- Whitlock, Flint. The Rock of Anzio: Sicily to Dachau, a 45th Infantry Division . Boulder: Westview Press, 2005.
- War Department Field Manual FM 27-10 (1940) - Rules of Land Warfare