The quiet towns on the shores of the northern end of Lake
Como suddenly became centre stage as World War 2 came to its close in Europe.
Earlier, in 1943, the tide of war changed as the Allies
landed in Sicily and pushed rapidly northwards, the Italian army unable to
mount a strong defence. The Fascist Grand Council met and passed a resolution
deposing Mussolini, known as Il Duce (The Leader), and replacing him as Head of
the Armed Forces with the king, Victor Emanuel III. Just like that Mussolini
was arrested and Italy swapped sides, joining the Allies. The government moved
out of Rome, southwards, abandoning the north of Italy to the German occupiers.
A daring raid rescued Mussolini from his captors, who were
holding him at the Campo Imperatore Hotel, high in the Gran Sasso mountains in Abruzzo.
After a brief visit with Hitler in Germany Mussolini was returned to northern
Italy as the puppet head of the newly invented fascist Italian Social Republic.
Less than 2 years later the last act was to play out. On 27th
April 1945 Mussolini fled,along with his mistress, Claretta Petacci, her
brother and a few close supporters. They were heading northwards to reach
Switzerland and joined a German convoy. Militias made up of disbanded Italian
troops and local partisans were more or less in control of the southern alpine
foothills through which the convoy had to travel as it moved northwards along
the western shore of Lake Como. Briefly halted at Menaggio the convoy was
allowed to proceed with the proviso that no Italians were part of the group.
Approaching Dongo the convoy was halted by a roadblock of
boulders avalanched down by Partisans as the road passes on the lakeshore below
an overhanging cliff.
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| Showing the road rounding the cliff. In the foreground is the harbour of Dongo. |
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| This is the old road where the ambush took place. A modern day supporter has grafitti-ed a memorial on the left. |
This time the convoy was carefully searched and a worn-out
Mussolini was identified. All were arrested and taken the few hundred metres to
Dongo harbour. A following car was also stopped and found to be carrying Petucci
and her brother. Mussolini was spirited away to Germasino, a nearby town high above
the lake, for safety.
The following day he was joined by Claretta and the two of
them driven southwards down the lake shore to Mezzagra where a decision was
quickly taken. Il Duce and his mistress were summarily shot.
Fifteen of the accompanying convoy were executed too on the
harbour front at Dongo. I haven’t looked but they say that the steel railings
still show evidence of the bullets fired. The bodies of Mussolini and Petacci
were taken to Milan where they were displayed to the populace, hanging by their
feet from the rusty canopy of a petrol station in Piazza Loreto.
