80 Years Ago Today: Last Days of Mussolini and the Axis Powers

"War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it."--Erasmus

Liberation Day, April 25, 2023. Three men wearing
the uniforms of the Resistance fighters of the North.

Today is the 80th anniversary of the death of Mussolini. On 25 April he fled Milan, where he had been based, and headed towards the Swiss border. He and his mistress, Claretta Petcci, were captured on 27 April by local partisans near the village of Dong on Lake Como. Mussolini and Petacci were executed the following afternoon, two days before Adolf Hitler's suicide.  

The bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were taken to Milan and left in a suburban square, the Piazzale Loreto, where a large angry crowd insulted and physically abuse. They were then hung upside down from a metal girder above a service station on the square.  

These were epic times, the culmination of the war in Europe. My father-in-law, Wilmer "Bud" Wagner, as a front line company agent in the Red Bull Division, had the opportunity to go see the bodies of Mussolini and his mistress, but he declined. He'd seen enough gore, having been on the first convoy to cross the Atlantic for the European Theater, fighting the Germans across North Africa to the toe of Italy and all the way up the boot.

All throughout he'd kept a diary, which later became a book, And There Shall Be Wars. Here are diary entries from those fateful days, along with additional commentary for context.

* * * * * 

Friday, April 27, 1945

Had to make one trip to Division Artillery last night around 1:00 a.m.  Took less than an hour.  Raining this morning, rained quite a bit during the night.  

Moved again, raining most of the day.  Several more trips to Division Artillery.

Both 5th and 8th Army units have been pouring across the Po and into the valley for 3 days; there's little or nothing now the Germans can do.  I'm thinking now when I see hay being made, that with luck, I'll be home even this summer helping make some more of it.

On April 25, the U.S. 1st Army met up with the Soviet forces at Torgau on the Elbe.  The U.S. 3rd Army crossed the Danube near Regensburg, and was attacked there.  Berlin had been entered in the south and the east.

Saturday, April 28, 1945

We moved on to #9 again today, in kind of an assembly area. Nice place alongside the road.

Several trips to Division Artillery. A pretty girl came up to talk -- she could speak German. Always nice to talk a little to them.  

As far as I can tell, we came through Modena and Parma, maybe farther.

It was nice to go through Modena, a city of over 150,000.  There were no old, narrow streets here, and there was a really tall 290 foot Cathedral.  Parma was another city worth forfeiting a furlough in order to see.  It looked modern, with straight streets.  The people were wild for the Americans.  Both Modena and Parma were Roman colonies before Christ. 

Seeing these cities had to have been a part of the glory of war -- there wasn't much glory in the shooting, killing, seeing the wounded, the mud, or slowly advancing toward the front.  That's where the fear, and the sickly feeling, and the wondering of "Why are we doing this?" comes in instead of glory.  As Desiderius Erasmus said a few hundred years ago, "War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it."

I was also happy to be out of the mountains.  I'd seen enough of mountains to last me a lifetime, and I still prefer the valleys.  The hills in Duluth are all I want to climb nowadays.

An ersatz surrender ceremony affecting all troops fighting in Italy took place at 2:00 p.m. on April 28.  The ceremony was kept somewhat secret; the German officers were dressed in civilian clothes, and were acting on their own.  A German Major and Lieutenant Colonel appeared at the peace table grim-faced before General Morgan and many other high-ranking American and British officers.  Their muscles were taut, their hands were clenched fiercely together behind their backs, and they had an "I hate you" expression on their face, just opposite of most of the low- ranking prisoners I had hauled to the rear.  

The German Lieutenant Colonel said for the record that he had received only limited powers from his Commander in Chief, and that he was being forced to overstep those limits.  He assumed his Commander would approve his action, but said he could not be sure if this was the case.

General Morgan just told him casually, "We accept those conditions."

The Germans sat and signed 5 copies of the surrender documents, and General Morgan signed them last.  The Germans left swiftly, and the ceremony was over at 2:17.

Sunday, April 29, 1945

A day I won't forget for awhile.  Up at 7:00.  

Pulled out at 8:30.  Made 172 miles.  Cold and windy.  Really enjoyed it, though.  Thick groves of people lined the road all the way.  Many beautiful girls, and well-dressed adults and younger people, all waving and cheering.  Some close enough to you hold out their hands to touch yours.  

Saw thousands of German prisoners.  I counted 35 heavily loaded vehicles with Jerry prisoners, some high ranking officers, also nurses, all standing in their trucks, with Kraut drivers heading north.  

We just crossed the Po again today, as wide as the Missouri River. We're at the foot of the Alps; they tower high in the distance, capped with snow, sure glad we don't have to chase Jerry through the Brenner Pass.  We'd heard about that place.  

We parked in a court yard for the night.  Was a hard day, but nice driving on a good road, and made good time. Tom McGee rode with me.

Monday, April 30, 1945

Layed around most of the day, but went to Division Artillery several times.  They are in a large town.  It seems we were supposed to get to Bergamo, but I'm not sure.  I don't think the Krauts who we heard were waiting there to ambush us are going to -- after all, the Germans are heading homewards.

We are close to, or in the outskirts of Milan.  All the Italians are chanting "Finito, Benito!" and he is pretty well finished, all right.  He and his mistress Clare Petacci are hanging by their heels in the main square of Milan for all to see.  Dick and I were going to go, but we changed our minds.  Some of our fellows went to see Benito and his girl friend, and said it was a pretty gory sight.  It seems this couple was almost in Switzerland on vacation when they were intercepted.

Related Links

Bud Wagner's And There Shall Be Wars

Liberation Day: Italy Celebrates Victory Over Fascism, With Expressions of Gratitude to the U.S.

Veteran's Day: The Book "And There Shall Be Wars" Speaks Volumes

Legacy Unearthed: Richard Bong’s "Marge" Has Been Found

Fighter pilot Richard Bong
repeatedly put his 
life on the line.

On Thursday, May 23, researchers announced from Papua, New Guinea’s Madang Province that they had found the wreckage of one of World War II ace Richard Bong's planes in the South Pacific. This plane, that he had named “Marge,” wore nose art featuring a photo of the sweetheart he would later marry before the end of the war.

The announcement of the find was made via a video news conference to journalists around the world, including a roomful at the Richard I. Bong Veterans Center here in Superior, Wisconsin, where Bong’s 99-year-old sister Gerry Fechtelkotter sat enthusiastically absorbing the news.

 

The press conference began with introductory remarks by John Gidley, Executive Director of the Bong Veterans Center. The mission, Gidley stated, was straightforward. “Whatever became of Richard Bong’s P-38 named Marge which crashed on March 24, 1944, in Papua, New Guinea?” 

 

Medal of Honor recipient and WW2 Top Gun 
with bride to be and inspiration, Marge.

Briana Fiandt, Curator of Collections and Exhibits, shared why this was such an iconic plane. Richard Ira Bong was one of the most decorated American fighter pilots in history and the country's top flying ace. A U.S. Army Air Forces major and Medal of Honor recipient, Bong has been credited with shooting down 40 Japanese aircraft, all with the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter. 

 

Bong himself was not flying the plane the day it crashed in March 1944. Rather, it was being flown by another pilot, Thomas Malone. Bad weather and mechanical issues forced Malone to bail out, so the plane was lost. “Its discovery is a significant historical find,” Fiandt said. 

 

The expedition to find Bong’s plane—code name Mission: Marge—was undertaken as a partnership between the Veterans Center and a non-profit organization called Pacific Wrecks. The mission of Pacific Wrecks has been to chronicle, investigate, and safeguard the history of military aircraft wreckages and crash sites, mainly from the Pacific Theater during World War II. The organization has been vital in capturing and sharing the narratives behind these wrecks, paying tribute to those who served, and informing the public about the war's events and sacrifices.

Fiandt then introduced the team, streaming live from Papua where it was 4:00 a.m. The two chief spokespersons were Steve Kleiman, project manager for the expedition, and Justin Taylan, founder of Pacific Works and team lead. They were joined by Norman Nayak of the Madang governor’s staff, and team photographer Joe Carillet.

Seated on a couch with three of his compadres, Steve Kleiman began, “Hello, Wisconsin, from Nadang!”  

 

Justin Taylan opened his remarks by thanking the Bong Center, and especially Briana Fiandt, for setting the project in motion. The team had come to locate one of the most important crash sites of World War II and it was a success. “Marge” was Bong’s first and most famous plane, in part because of the larger-than-life portrait of his sweetheart on the fuselage, and also because of the distinctive red wingtips and other painted embellishments. While flying this plane he notched three of his record-setting 40 aerial kills. 

 

“It was an amazing find,” said Taylan. 

 

When they located the crash site the engines were buried, but the red paint on the wingtips was still visible. Upon reaching the Marge they located the serial number and confirmed the find. All members of the team touched her. “Mission accomplished.”

 

“It was quite emotional,” Taylan added.

 

Nayak said, “Hooray” and Carillet concurred. “I was in the midst of history,” he said.

 

Richard Bong's 99-year-old sister Gerry
was present for announcement of find.* 

During a Q&A they were asked how they found the plane. Using historical references, Pacific Wrecks spent more than two years researching. “There are thousands of wrecks there.” 

The first plane they found there was a Japanese aircraft. When it was learned that this was not the Bong plane, the locals said there was a second plane near the plantation. This second plane was The Marge.

 

An old logging road nearby gave them access to the vicinity of the crash site. Even so, to reach the site they were supplied with 16 locals who carved a trail and helped carry their gear. Taylan said they were lucky this forest had not been logged or the plane would likely have been lost forever.

 

For history buffs it’s noteworthy that approximately 10,000 Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft were produced, serving in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific, and China-Burma-India (CBI) theaters. Of these, around 1,800 were lost in combat or accidents. This figure includes aircraft lost due to enemy action, mechanical failure, pilot error, or other factors. 

 

Major Bong’s last flight took place on August 6, 1945, the same day the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. During a test flight while piloting a P-80 Shooting Star jet fighter the aircraft's engine malfunctioned shortly after takeoff. Bong attempted to eject but was unable to do so in time, resulting in his fatal crash in Burbank, California. He was just over a month shy of his 25^th birthday.

* * *   

Originally published May 30, 2024 in Duluth's Reader Weekly

Related Link
Industry Veterans Bill Rebane and Robert Wilhelm III in Superior to Shoot First Episode of Masters of Valor

* Photo Caption: Bong’s 99-year-old sister Gerry Fechtelkotter, center, was in attendance at the Bong Center on May 23 for the announcement that searchers found the fighter plane Bong had named after his future wife while serving in New Guinea in 1944.

Vaclav Smil's Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing Is A Humbling Warning

The 20th century has been proclaimed by many to be "The American Century" because of its surprisng rise as a powerhouse in the wake of Britain's decline after 300 years of global dominance. For many, this premise is unchallenged, accepted as fact. And many see the next 100 years as more of the same, with the U.S. remaining on top of the heap as the world's top dog. 

Vaclav Smil sees things differently, hence ths book about what he calls as The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing.,the subtitle of his 2013 assessment of the USA today. 

It's easy to see how America became a manufacturing powerhouse after WW2. Our competitors' industrial capabilities, infrastructure and populations were decimated by that war, and many had not yet fully recovered from the earlier global conflict.

For Smil, America's ascent began with the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s. Advancements in technology, infrastructure, and workforce skills turned the U.S. into a manufacturing powerhouse. These advances were mega-amped by the rise of mass production techniques (hence Huxley's A.F. in Brave New World) that boosted productivity and economic growth. 

However, from the late 20th century onward, several factors contributed to the sector's decline. (1) The rise of global competition (esp. Japan, China and Germany) eroded the U.S. manufacturing base. (2) Many American companies relocated production to countries with lower labor costs. This outsourcing lead to job losses and deindustrialization in the U.S. (3) Automation and advancements in technology reduced the need for manual labor, changing the nature of manufacturing jobs. 

And how has this played out?

Smil shows how the loss of manufacturing jobs contributed to economic inequality, regional disparities, and the decline of the American middle class. The shift away from manufacturing has also affected communities that were once heavily reliant on factory jobs (eg. Detroit) leading to social challenges such as unemployment and declining living standards.

Surprisingly, Smil still expressed cautious optimism about the future of American manufacturing, arguing that the sector can be revitalized through strategic investments in innovation, education, and infrastructure. Key recommendations include reindustrialization, advanced manufacturing and sustainable manufacturing practices to address environmental concerns and improve efficiency.

I find it interesting that some critics considered the book too pessimistic. I find it overly optimistic. Is the glass half empty or half full. We'll eventually find out.

Smil makes a solid case for the importance of manufacturing. Yet here in Northern Minnesota there is very little being done to incentivize it, even though we are rich in natural resources. Our economic base has flipped, away from manufacturing to a service economy. The biggest employers are universities, hospitals and our tourism related services. I don't see evidence of this turning around. Do you?

James Wiita on Bud Wagner's And There Shall Be Wars

Nearly a half century ago, Bud Wagner (who would eventually become my father-in-law) shared with me his diaries from the time he enlisted in the army and went to war in Europe, first in North Africa and on to Italy. He asked my opinion regarding his record from that time, "Would anyone be interested in this?"

I replied, "Absolutely." 

As a market gardener, he had little time much of the year for this project, but each winter he remained dedicated to researching the global context of his personal experience and devoted his time to setting down in writing what I peronally believe is not only an insightful book but also a significant contribution to our understanding of what it was like to be a soldier during the Second World War.

What follows is an email from someone who recently purchased a copy of Bud's book, And There Shall Be Wars.

Just a note to say how much I am enjoying the book about your Father-in-Law.

You strike me as someone who ingests a lot of reading each week. I imagine you are always in the midst of a good book. With all the focus on my own project , I haven’t  read a good, fat book for way too long.
 
I am now just getting back into that swing. This book has truly launched the habit.

I’ve just started to dig into the story, and want to pick it up as my first read in the morning. It’s a few days after Pearl Harbor in the story.

Reading Bud is like a daily talk with someone, though one sided. You can pick right up where you left off, it’s so personal it shows his human characteristics, and what to anticipate with each entry.

It seems to show every aspect of “army life “ -- the important details and accuracy mixed with the training -- moments with friends and music, faith, along with frequent headaches and  times of boredom.

You can easily see the kind of soldier he became, and how his superiors and others viewed him. The entries give vivid clues. Not in a slighting way, but this man was definitely on the spectrum. There are so many indicators it’s fascinating.

I could give many examples already of his definers. I’m no expert, but the fastidious behaviors and attention to detail tell a true daily approach to his obsession with detail.
It adds a generous empathy to his storytelling. You feel as fulfilled in his chronicling as he did .

Well, that sounded like a critique, but I wanted you to know I think preserving this story is as important to me as it was to Bud.

Before he ever left he knew he was going to be chronicling, the cameras alone tell the tale. The results are extremely impressive.

Thanks for bringing the book to me.
James

* * * 

HERE'S AN EXCERPT that reflects how the book is organized. Bud recorded each of his daily handwritten diary entries and then added a commentary, amplifying the account recorded in his journals. The additional commentary often included details from other parts of the war theater, thereby giving context to his personal experience. 

Friday, January 7, 1944
Had to go to all battalions at midnight with firing orders. Moonlight so I didn't mind too much. Slept through breakfast. Were shelled twice here today. My nerves aren't able to take it anymore as well as they used to. Some shells came close enough.

151 moved tonight; I moved with them to the other side of San Pietro, a rubbled mess, a battlefield, to be sure. Back here at 10:00, just got nicely to sleep when the guard called, "Wag, get to Message Center," so there was another Firing Order to all battalions. It must have been after 2:00 when I got back.

San Pietro and San Vitorre were two towns literally blown off the face of the earth. There were many trees around that were totally devoid of all branches, and were just sticks left from all the shell fire. The city itself was piles of concrete rubble. I didn't see life of any kind left any time I drove through. About this time the II Corps took Mts. Porchio and Chiaia, two objectives necessary for our Division to have before our ultimate objective of Cassino.

Photo Caption Top: Don and I went to Sbeitia with water truck. Saw 4 German graves, some old buildings that were failing down, and French garrison that had been bombed. --Tuesday, March 30, 1943

* * * 

RELATED LINKS

James Wiita is author of the book Rock On, Duluth

Dogs of War and Liberation Day, Italy

TO PURCHASE A COPY OF YOUR OWN, SEND A NOTE TO ENNYMAN3@GMAIL.COM

Various Ways of Looking at History with Commentary (and a Book Offer)

I have long been fascinated with history. In fourth grade I remember taking every opportunity I could get to study the large American Heritage volume in the back of the classroom telling the history of the Civil War. I was an avid reader of biographies of famous people like Zebulon Pike, Paul Revere, Lewis and Clarke and others who shaped our past.

There are many different ways to look at history. Some people see it as a series of great events, while others see it as the sum of the experiences of ordinary people. Some people see it as a linear progression, while others see it as a cyclical process. Some people see it as a story of progress, while others see it as a story of decline. (I can see these as simultaneous, which is interesting to me.)

Here are some of the different ways of looking at history according to Google's AI bot called Bard:

Great man theory: This is the view that history is made by great individuals, such as kings, queens, and presidents. It follows, naturally, that the educated class wrote books about these people as the movers and shakers of history.

Political history: This is the view that history is made by political events, such as wars, revolutions, and elections. 

Economic history: This is the view that history is made by economic events, such as the invention of money (in ancient Mesopotamia) and the spread of the Roman Empire which produced safe roads resulting in widespread commerce. The Great Depression and, later, the collapse of the Soviet Union would be important chapters in this history.

Cultural history: This is the view that history is made by cultural events, such as the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. 

Global history: This is the view that history is made by the interactions between different parts of the world. Historians who subscribe to this theory look at the world as a single interconnected unit, and that the history of any one part of the world cannot be understood without considering the history of other parts of the world.

Military history: This is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships.

Digital history: This is the view that history is made by the use of digital technologies. Historians who subscribe to this theory believe that digital technologies are changing the way that history is written and studied.

Marxist view of history: History is a series of class struggles. In each historical epoch, there are two main classes: the ruling class and the oppressed class. The ruling class controls the means of production and the oppressed class does not. The ruling class exploits the oppressed class, and this exploitation leads to conflict between the two classes.

Religious History: By studying the origins of our world's religions and the manner in which they spread, we gain insights that can be applied to current events. 

Social history: This is the view that history is made by ordinary people, and that it is important to study the lives of ordinary people in order to understand history. This focus has resulted in bringing to light multitudes of personal memoirs and diaries whose stories shed light on the perceptions and experiences of common people, humanity's herd.

These are just some of the different ways of looking at history, each way providing us with a different understanding of the past.

* * * 

I re-arranged the Bard's list in order to end with a pitch for the book And There Shall Be Wars by Wilmer "Bud" Wagner and Lloyd Wagner. The book epitomizes this "Common Man" ordinary people perspective on history.

Bud was my father-in-law, the second civilian drafted into the WW2 at our local draft board here in Proctor. He carried a small pocket camera and kept a diary from beginning to end, from Camp Claiborne to Ireland to North Africa and the Italy Campaigns. His keen day by day observations have been amplified with a lifetime of research and reflection to provide readers with important insights through the eyes of a young soldier from rural Minnesota.

Bud served as a cook, machine gunner and company agent. He had the privilege of being on the first convoy to make its way across the Atlantic for the European theater. And the good fortune of having survived the duration of the war without becoming a casualty -- in North Africa and Italy, which included beachheads at Anzio and Salerno. 

The book was a joint project involving the research skills and memoirs of WW II veteran Bud Wagner and his son Lloyd Wagner (Masters in Literature). Bud showed me his original diaries during a weekend visit when I was dating my wife Susie. He asked if anyone would be interested in them. I was floored by their contents as I leafed through the pages.

For years I encouraged him to amplify his diaries and make a book of them. A market gardener by trade, he used the long winters here to research and assemble the contents of this memoir. The results greatly exceeded my expectations and, with the able editing of his son, produced a fascinating manuscript. A large collection of photographs accompanies the text.

The book is titled And There Shall Be Wars. It is 536 pages with 178 original photos and illustrations.

Here is a letter from retired General John W. Vessey, former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who received notice of his promotion to Captain while seated in Bud's jeep:

"Dear Bud, ... Thanks not only for the copy of the book, but also for putting those wartime notes into a permanent record. It is an important addition to all the "stuff" historians record. I couldn't put the book down once I got into it. It brought back a lot of memories reading about times, places, and people from 55+ years ago."
 

The book is currently out of print, though a couple copies are available at Amazon for $75. If interested, we have copies available for $20 + S&H. To purchase your copy, send a note expressing your interest to ennyman3@gmail.com

To learn more about And There Shall Be Wars visit: https://budwagneratsbw.blogspot.com/2012/11/and-there-shall-be-wars-contactorder.html