#Story - Italy
The Liberation of Pistoia
After a year of German occupation, Pistoia was liberated on 8 September 1944. This followed a major operation by partisan troops, who occupied the city centre and public buildings whilst engaging in skirmishes with retreating German rear units heading towards the Gothic Line.
In the summer of 1944, the liberation of the Pistoia plain was imminent: the German forces were making preparations to retreat towards the Gothic Line (German and Italian defence line). The Pistoia branch of the National Liberation Committee (CLN) had long since deployed partisan units in anticipation of a joint operation to occupy the city. Thanks to the intervention of the regional committee, the XII Zone was established to create a single military command for the various communist, Actionist and Christian Democrat units. Command was entrusted to Vincenzo Nardi: the common aim was to occupy Pistoia before the arrival of the Allies.
In early September, the CLN ordered the concentration of partisan brigades at strategic points and in public buildings, so as to assume control and administration of the city. Large units from across the province occupied Pistoia on the night of 7 to8 September. On 8 September, the Liberation was complete, but the city was almost entirely devoid of its inhabitants, who had been displaced following the first Allied bombing on 24 October 1943. In the outskirts and on the hills, guerrilla warfare continued between the partisan patrols out on advanced reconnaissance and the German rearguards, who shelled the city for some twenty days.
On the evening of 8 September 1944, Radio London announced the liberation of Pistoia; four days later, the 6th South African Armoured Division arrived. The city lay in ruins following the war and the German occupation, with thousands of buildings demolished or damaged and various problems relating to supplies and services. There were over 1,250 partisan fighters operating in the province, and several hundred patriots. The victims of Nazi and Fascist massacres numbered at least 235 across 77 incidents, to which must be added the majority of the 174 victims of the Padule di Fucecchio massacre.
The anti-fascist political and military forces reorganised the public administration and reactivated the city’s main services, though not without friction with the Anglo-Americans. The partisan units continued their operations against the enemy until their disbandment at the end of September; some remained engaged against the German forces along the Gothic Line until April 1945.
On 21 April 1977, the Municipality of Pistoia was awarded the Silver Medal for Military Valour.