Padoglio Travel

The Badoglio Brigades are one of the partisan forces assembled in northern Italy near the end of the Second World War. Their contrast with the Garibaldi Brigades is both material and political: they have Allied-supplied weapons and uniforms, while their rivals distrust their relationship with the British. Yet the approaching operation against Milan requires cooperation, and the two formations agree to serve under a joint command.

Formation and Equipment

As German forces retreat and the Fascists scatter in April 1945, partisan brigades gather in a town before setting out for Milan. The Badoglio Brigades arrive in khaki uniforms resembling British uniforms, with blue neckerchiefs and new Sten guns. Their equipment reflects the Allied assistance they receive through nighttime parachute drops. The narrative also recalls Pippetto, a British reconnaissance plane that had passed overhead at eleven each evening for two years, although its purpose remained unclear to those on the ground.

Their appearance sharply differs from that of the Garibaldi Brigades, whose members wear improvised, individually varied uniforms marked by red neckerchiefs and stars. Their weapons are also makeshift: old shotguns and guns taken from the enemy. These concrete differences make the brigades’ competing political associations visible before either group speaks.

Rivalry and Political Suspicion

Relations between the Badoglio and Garibaldi forces are tense. The Garibaldini accuse their rivals of having sold out to the British, and dispute the meaning of their battle cry, “Forward, Savoy!” Some regard it as an unthinking habit rather than proof of monarchism; the Garibaldini answer that the cry suits an open charge with fixed bayonets, not movement around a corner with a Sten gun. The disagreement exposes how military conduct and inherited slogans become evidence in a struggle over political loyalty.

The conflict remains unresolved in principle, but neither side can proceed alone on the terms the situation demands. The account presents their antagonism alongside the practical necessity of joining forces: distrust does not disappear, but it must be managed for the campaign ahead.

Joint Command and the Milan Operation

The two brigades reach a modus vivendi and decide that the assault on Milan requires one commander. They choose Mongo, who leads the best-equipped brigade, is the oldest of the leaders, has fought in the First World War, and is regarded as a hero trusted by Allied command. His appointment supplies a shared command structure without erasing the rivalry that made such an arrangement necessary.

The brigades set out for the city before the Milan insurrection. News later arrives that the operation has succeeded and that the forces are returning victorious, though there have been casualties and rumors say Ras has fallen and Mongo has been wounded. The Badoglio Brigades’ role in this account is therefore not simply that of an Allied-backed counterpart to the Garibaldi forces: they are part of the coalition that advances on Milan, under a commander chosen to bridge their competing affiliations.