Alberti Agostino./Merli Luca G. Behind the Enemy Lines

Between the spring and autumn of 1944, as the Allied forces slowly advanced through Italy, the German Luftwaffe constituted a constant threat to the incursions of the MAAF (Mediterranean Allied Air Forces), and the losses in men and aircraft were very substantial. In the span of a few months, between the autumn of 1944 and the end of hostilities, hundreds of Allied aircraft did not return from their missions on targets in the north of Italy. In most cases, the aviators on board the aircraft were captured or were killed in action. But on many other occasions, the crews managed to evade capture thanks to the collaboration of the civilian population and to the help given by the partisans. Especially in the Tuscan-Emilia-Romagna Apennine Mountains, these groups had setup a very efficient underground organization so that they could even pass through the strong defensive positions of the German Gothic Line and return to liberated territory. This book outlines a variety of lesser known stories and events that had as protagonists American and British aviators and Italian partisans and civilians acting together in various areas of Italy, including Lazio, Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, and Piedmont.