Brazilian Expeditionary Force
Encyclopedia
The Brazilian Expeditionary Force
or BEF was a force about 25,700 men and women arranged by the Army
and Air Force
to fight alongside the Allied forces in the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II
. Brazil was the only South American country to send troops to fight in the Second World War.
This air-land force fought in Italy
from September of 1944 to May 1945, while the Brazilian Navy
as well as the Air Force also acted in the Atlantic Ocean
from the middle of 1942 until the end of war. During the eight months of the Italian campaign
, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force managed to take 20,573 Axis prisoners
, including two generals, 892 officers
and 19,679 other ranks
. During the War, Brazil lost 948 of its own men killed in action
across all three services.
was by no means a foregone conclusion, even though Brazil had come to participate with them in World War I
. Then Brazilian participation was primarily naval, although it did send a regiment to the Western Front
. The navy and air force played a role in the Battle of the Atlantic after mid-1942, but more importantly, Brazil also contributed with an infantry division that entered combat on the Italian Front
in 1944.
As in World War I, Brazil initially maintained a position of neutrality, trading with both the Allies and the Axis Powers
, while Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas
's quasi-Fascist policies indicated a leaning toward the Axis powers. However, as the war progressed, trade with the Axis countries became almost impossible and the US began forceful diplomatic and economic efforts to bring Brazil onto the Allied side.
At the beginning of 1942, Brazil permitted the US to set up air bases in return for the offer by the United States to encourage the formation of an iron industry Companhia Siderurgica Nacional
in Brazil. The US bases were located in the states of Bahia
, Pernambuco
and Rio Grande do Norte
, where the city of Natal
hosted part of the U.S. Navy's VP-52 patrol squadron. In addition, US Task Force 3 established itself in Brazil; this included a squadron equipped to attack submarines and merchant vessels attempting to trade with Japan
.
Although Brazil was technically neutral, this increasing cooperation with the Allies led the Brazilian government to announce at the Pan American States Conference in Rio on 28 January 1942 its decision to sever diplomatic relations with Germany
, Japan
, and Italy
.
As a result, from the end of January to July 1942, German U-Boat
s sank 13 Brazilian merchant vessels. In August 1942, U-507 sank five Brazilian vessels in two days, causing more than 600 deaths:
In all, 21 German and two Italian submarines were responsible for the sinking of 36 Brazilian merchant ships, causing 1,691 drownings and 1,079 other casualties. The sinkings were the main reason that led the Brazilian government to declare war against the Axis.
Berlin Radio pronouncements led to increasing nervousness among the Brazilian population. So unlike 1917, in 1942 it seemed that the Brazilian government did not want war. However, in the then capital, Rio de Janeiro
, the people started to attack German businesses, such as restaurants. The passive position of the Vargas government was untenable in the face of public opinion
. Ultimately, the government found itself with no alternative but to declare war on Germany
and Italy
on August 22, 1942.
(later succeeded by General Mark Clark
), via the U.S. Fifth Army of Lieutenant General Mark Clark (later succeeded by Lieutenant General Lucian Truscott
) and the U.S. IV Corps of Major General Willis D. Crittenberger
. The entry for the Gothic Line order of battle
provides the overall order of battle for the Allied and German armies in Italy.
The Brazilian Air Force component was itself under the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force.
The BEF headquarters functioned as an administrative headquarters and link to the Brazilian high command
and War Minister General Eurico Gaspar Dutra
in Rio de Janeiro. General Mascarenhas de Moraes
(later Marshal) was the commander of the BEF with General Zenóbio da Costa as commander of the division's three regimental Combat Teams ("RCT")
and General Cordeiro de Farias as commander of the Artillery.
The BEF was (theoretically) organized as a standard American infantry
division
, complete in all aspects, down to its logistical
tail, including postal
and bank
ing services. The maneuver units were the 1st, 6th and 11th Regimental Combat Teams, each of about 5,000 men in three battalion
s plus supporting units, with each battalion consisting of four companies
each.
an expeditionary force to fight in Europe
. At that time, Brazil was a country with a traditionally isolationist foreign policy, a population largely rural and illiterate, an economy focused in the export
of commodities, and lacking an infrastructure
in industry
, health
and educational systems that could serve as material and human support to the war effort
that a conflict of that dimension required. Brazil was thus precluded from pursuing a line of autonomous action in the conflict, and found it difficult to take even a modest role in it. It took almost two years to gather a force of one Army
Division
with 25,000 men (replacements included), compared with an initial goal of a whole Army Corps
of 100,000, to join the Allies in the Italian Campaign
.
, where they waited to join the US Task Force 45. They disembarked without weapons, and as no one had arranged barracks, the troops stood around on the docks. At the time this caused controversy in the Brazilian media. In late July, two more transport
s with Brazilian troops reached Italy, with three more following in September, November, and February 1945.
The BEF dedicated its first weeks in Italy to acquiring the proper equipment to fight on Italian terrain, and to training under American command inasmuch as the preparation in Brazil, despite the 2 years interval since the declaration of war, had proved obsolete. Although, among the veterans of that campaign there is a consensus that only the combat
is able to adequately prepare the soldier, regardless of the quality of training received earlier. In August, the troops moved to Tarquinia
, 350 km north of Naples
, where Clark's army was based.
The Brazilians joined what was a multinational hodgepodge of forces. The American forces included the segregated African-American
92nd Infantry Division and the Japanese-American 442nd Infantry Regiment. British Empire forces included New Zealanders, Canadians
, Indians, Gurkhas, Black Africans, Jews
and Arabs from the British Mandate in Palestine, South Africans, units of exiles — Poles, Greeks
, Czechs, Slovakians, as well as anti-fascist Italians, also served under British command. The French forces
included Senegalese, Moroccans and Algerians
. In November 1944, the BEF joined General Crittenberger
's U.S. IV Corps
.
The Germans made much of the political aspect of the presence of the Brazilian force in Italy. They targeted propaganda specifically at the Brazilians. In addition to leaflets, the Germans provided an hour-long daily radio broadcast in Portuguese from Berlin Radio called "Hora AuriVerde" (GoldenGreen Hour).
, La Serra, Castelnuovo, Soprassasso, Montese, Paravento, Zocca, Marano su Panaro, Collecchio and Fornovo.
The first missions the Brazilians undertook were reconnaissance
operations to the end of August. Brazilian troops helped to fill the gap left by divisions of the Fifth Army and French Expeditionary Corps
that left Italy for Operation Dragoon
, the invasion of southern France
.
On September 16, the 6th RCT took Massarosa
. Two days later it also took Camaiore
and other small towns on the way north. By then, the BEF had already conquered Monte Prano, and taken control of the Serchio
valley without any major casualties. After having suffered its first reverses around Barga
city, and after the arrival of the 1st RCT at the end of October, the BEF was directed to the base of the Apennines
where it would spend the next months facing the harsh winter and the resistance of the Gothic Line
. Allied forces were unable to break through the mountains over the winter and an offensive by German and Italian divisions to the left of the BEF sector, against the US 92nd Infantry Division, required the assistance of the 8th Indian Infantry Division to be refrained.
Between the end of February and beginning of March 1945, in preparation for the Spring offensive
, the Brazilian Division and the U.S. 10th Mountain Division were able to capture important positions on the Apennines, which deprived the Germans of key artillery positions on the mountains, whose gunnery fire since the fall of 1944 blocked the allied path to Bologna
.
In the US 5th Army's sector, the final offensive on the Italian Front began on April 14, after a bombardment of 2,000 artillery pieces; an attack carried out by the troops of US IV Corps, commenced by the Brazilian Division took Montese
. After on the 1st day of allied offensive without much effort had stopped the main attack of the IV Corps did by US 10th Mountain Division, causing significant casualties among the troops of that US division, the germans mislead thought that the BEF's raid over Montese using M8 armoured cars
and Sherman Tanks
could be the real main allied objective on that sector, which lead them to bombed the Brazilians with 1,800 rounds of artillery
gunning from the total of 2,800 used against the all 4 allies divisions of that sector during the days of the combat for Montese when they tried unsuccessful took Montese back from brazilians. After that, the breaking of the Germans' lines to the North by forces of IV Corps became unavoidable. On the right, the Polish Division, from the British 8th Army, and the U.S. 34th Infantry Division, from the US 5th Army, entered Bologna on 21 April.
On 25 April the Italian resistance movement
started a general partisan insurrection at the same time as the Brazilians troops arrived at Parma
and the Americans at Modena
and Genoa
. The British VIII Army advanced towards Venice
and Trieste
.
At Collecchio
, the Brazilian forces were preparing to face fierce resistance at the Taro river
region from the retreating German-Italian forces of the region of Genoa/La Spezia that had been set free by troops of the 92nd US Division. These Axis troops were surrounded near Fornovo
and after some fighting surrendered
. On April 28, the Brazilians captured more than 13,000 men, including the entire 148th Infantry Division
, elements of the 90th Panzergrenadier and the last former Division of the Italian Fascist Army.
This took the German Command by surprise as it had planned for these troops to join forces with the German-Italian Army of Liguria to counterattack against the US 5th Army. The US 5th army had advanced, as is inevitable in these situations, in a fast but diffuse and disarranged way uncoordinated with air support, and had left some gaps on its left flank and to the rear. The Axis forces had left intact many bridges throughout the Po River
to facilitate a counter-attack. The German Army Command was already negotiating a truce in Caserta
, and hoped that a counterattack would improve the conditions for surrender. The events in Fornovo disrupted the German plan, as much by the disarray of their troops as by the delay it caused. This, added to the news of Hitler's death and the fall of Berlin
to the Red Army, left the German Command in Italy with no option but to accept the unconditional surrender of its troops.
In their final advance, the Brazilians reached Turin
and then on 2 May they joined up with French
troops at the border
in Susa. That same day brought the announcement of the end of hostilities in Italy.
The group had 350 men, including 43 pilots. The group was divided into four flights: Red ("A"), Yellow ("B"), Blue ("C"), and Green ("D"). The CO of the group and some officers were not attached to any specific flight.
Unlike the BEF's Army component, the 1oGAVCA had personnel who were experienced Brazilian Air Force
(Portuguese: Força Aérea Brasileira, or FAB) pilots. One of them was Alberto M. Torres, who had piloted a PBY-5A Catalina
that had sunk U-199
, which was operating off the Brazilian coast.
The group trained for combat in Panama
, where 2o Ten.-Av. (Aviation Second Lieutenant) Dante Isidoro Gastaldoni was killed in a training accident. On May 11, 1944, the group was declared operational and became active in the air defense of the Panama Canal Zone. On June 22, the 1oGAVCA traveled to the U.S. to convert to the Republic P-47D Thunderbolt
.
On September 19, 1944 the 1oGAVCA left for Italy, arriving at Livorno on October 6. It became part of the 350th Fighter Group
of the USAAF
, which in turn was part of the 62nd Fighter Wing
, XXII Tactical Air Command
, of the 12th Air Force.
The Brazilian pilots initially flew from 31 October 1944, as individual elements of flights attached to 350th FG squadrons, at first in affiliation flights and progressively taking part in more dangerous missions. Less than two weeks later, on November 11, the group started its own operations flying from its base at Tarquinia
, using its tactical callsign Jambock. Brazilian Air Force stars replaced the white U.S. star in the roundel on the FAB Thunderbolts. The 1oGAVCA started its fighting career as a fighter-bomber unit, its missions being armed reconnaissance
and interdiction
, in support of the US Fifth Army, to which the FEB was attached.
On April 16, 1945, the U.S. Fifth Army started its offensive along the Po Valley
. By then, the strength of the Group had fallen to 25 pilots, some having been killed and others shot down and captured. Some others had been relieved from operations on medical grounds due to combat fatigue
. The Group disbanded the Yellow flight and distributed the surviving pilots among the other flights. Each pilot flew on average two missions a day.
On 22 April 1945, the three remaining flights took off at 5-minute intervals, starting at 8:30 AM, to destroy bridges, barges, and motorized vehicles in the San Benedetto region. At 10:00 AM, a flight took off for an armed reconnaissance mission south of Mantua
. They destroyed more than 80 tanks, trucks, and vehicles. By the end of the day, the group had flown 44 individual missions and destroyed hundreds of vehicles and barges. On this day the group flew the most sorties of the war; consequently, Brazil commemorates April 22 Brazilian Fighter Arm Day.
In all, the 1oGAVCA flew a total of 445 missions, 2,550 individual sorties, and 5,465 combat flight hours, from 11 November 1944 to 6 May 1945. The XXII Tactical Air Command acknowledged the efficiency of the Group by noting that although it flew only 5% of the total of missions carried out by all squadrons under its control, it accomplished a much higher percentage of the total destruction wrought:
blocked and the necessity to go beyond to the far east, Germany used the Atlantic Ocean
to maintain its supply of material necessities.
The Axis
tried to block the transport of material logistics to the United States
and the supply of Great Britain
, initiating a policy of sinking commercial ships in the Atlantic.
As a result of the Axis attacks Brazil
suffered nearly 1600 dead, including nearly 500 civilians and more than 1000 of Brazil's 7,000 sailors involved in the conflict. The navy losses included 470 sailors of the merchant navy and 570 sailors of the military navy, a total of 36 ships sunk by the Germans, and more than 350 dead in 3 accidental sinkings. .
The main task of the Brazilian Navy was, together with the Allies, to ensure the safety of ships sailing between the Center and South Atlantic to Gibraltar
. The Brazilian navy conducted 574 operations that protected 3,164 merchant ships; German submarines U-boats were only able to sink three ships. In the fight against German submarines, Brazilian frigates and submarines used sea mines
and depth charges. According to German documents, the Brazilian Navy attacked German submarines U-boats a total of 66 times.
A total of 9 U-boats known German submarines were destroyed along the Brazilian coast. Those were: U-164, U-128, U-590, U-513, U-662, U-598, U-199, U-591, and U-161.
in Pistoia
were later transferred to a mausoleum
in Rio de Janeiro
. Marshall Mascarenhas de Moraes
had proposed and promoted the construction of the mausoleum and it was inaugurated on July 24, 1960. It covers an area of 6,850 square meters.
Brazil's participation in World War II was more extensive than its participation in World War I
. During World War II, Brazil provided a meaningful tactical and strategic contribution. Still, the FEB/BEF was just one of the 20 Allied divisions in Italy. Furthermore, although the division played an important part in the sectors in which it operated, none of these sectors were the main one on the Italian Front, and the Italian Front became secondary for both sides after D-Day
.
After the war the meaning was reversed, signifying that something will definitively happen and in a furious and aggressive way. With that second meaning the use of the expression "a cobra vai fumar" has been retained in Brazilian Portuguese until the present times, although few in the younger generations realize the origin of the expression.
Expeditionary warfare
Expeditionary warfare is used to describe the organization of a state's military to fight abroad, especially when deployed to fight away from its established bases at home or abroad. Expeditionary forces were in part the antecedent of the modern concept of Rapid Deployment Forces...
or BEF was a force about 25,700 men and women arranged by the Army
Brazilian Army
The Brazilian Army is the land arm of the Brazilian Military. The Brazilian Army has fought in several international conflicts, mostly in South America and during the 19th century, such as the Brazilian War of Independence , Argentina-Brazil War , War of the Farrapos , Platine War , Uruguayan War ...
and Air Force
Brazilian Air Force
The Brazilian Air Force is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces"...
to fight alongside the Allied forces in the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Brazil was the only South American country to send troops to fight in the Second World War.
This air-land force fought in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
from September of 1944 to May 1945, while the Brazilian Navy
Brazilian Navy
The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...
as well as the Air Force also acted in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
from the middle of 1942 until the end of war. During the eight months of the Italian campaign
Military campaign
In the military sciences, the term military campaign applies to large scale, long duration, significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of inter-related military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war...
, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force managed to take 20,573 Axis prisoners
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
, including two generals, 892 officers
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
and 19,679 other ranks
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...
. During the War, Brazil lost 948 of its own men killed in action
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
across all three services.
Overview
Brazil's participation alongside the Allied powers in World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
was by no means a foregone conclusion, even though Brazil had come to participate with them in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Then Brazilian participation was primarily naval, although it did send a regiment to the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
. The navy and air force played a role in the Battle of the Atlantic after mid-1942, but more importantly, Brazil also contributed with an infantry division that entered combat on the Italian Front
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
in 1944.
As in World War I, Brazil initially maintained a position of neutrality, trading with both the Allies and the Axis Powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
, while Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
's quasi-Fascist policies indicated a leaning toward the Axis powers. However, as the war progressed, trade with the Axis countries became almost impossible and the US began forceful diplomatic and economic efforts to bring Brazil onto the Allied side.
At the beginning of 1942, Brazil permitted the US to set up air bases in return for the offer by the United States to encourage the formation of an iron industry Companhia Siderurgica Nacional
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional is the second major steel-maker company in Brazil. Its main plant is located in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro...
in Brazil. The US bases were located in the states of Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
, Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
and Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern region of the country, occupying the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. Because of its geographic position, Rio Grande do Norte has a strategic importance. The capital and largest city is Natal...
, where the city of Natal
Natal, Rio Grande do Norte
-History:The northeastern tip of South America, Cabo São Roque, to the north of Natal and the closest point to Europe from Latin America, was first visited by European navigators in 1501, in the 1501–1502 Portuguese expedition led by Amerigo Vespucci, who named the spot after the saint of the day...
hosted part of the U.S. Navy's VP-52 patrol squadron. In addition, US Task Force 3 established itself in Brazil; this included a squadron equipped to attack submarines and merchant vessels attempting to trade with Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Although Brazil was technically neutral, this increasing cooperation with the Allies led the Brazilian government to announce at the Pan American States Conference in Rio on 28 January 1942 its decision to sever diplomatic relations with Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
As a result, from the end of January to July 1942, German U-Boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s sank 13 Brazilian merchant vessels. In August 1942, U-507 sank five Brazilian vessels in two days, causing more than 600 deaths:
- On August 15, the Baependy, traveling from SalvadorSalvador, BahiaSalvador is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first...
to RecifeRecifeRecife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
, was torpedoTorpedoThe modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
ed at 19:12. Its 215 passengers and 55 crew members were lost. - At 21:03, U-507 torpedoed the Araraquara, also traveling from Salvador towards the north of the country. Of the 142 people on board, 131 died.
- Seven hours after the second attack, the U-507 attacked the Aníbal Benévolo. All 83 passengers died; of a crew of 71, only four survived.
- On August 17, close to the city of Vitória, the Itagiba was hit at 10:45, with a death toll of 36.
- Another Brazilian ship, the Arará , traveling from SalvadorSalvador, BahiaSalvador is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first...
to SantosSantos (São Paulo)-Sister cities: Shimonoseki, Japan Nagasaki, Japan Funchal, Portugal Trieste, Italy Coimbra, Portugal Ansião, Portugal Arouca, Portugal Ushuaia, Argentina Havana, Cuba Taizhou. China Ningbo. China Constanţa, Romania Ulsan, South Korea Colón, Panama* Cadiz, Spain...
, stopped to help the crippled Itagiba, but ended up being the fifth Brazilian victim of the German submarine, with a death toll of 20.
In all, 21 German and two Italian submarines were responsible for the sinking of 36 Brazilian merchant ships, causing 1,691 drownings and 1,079 other casualties. The sinkings were the main reason that led the Brazilian government to declare war against the Axis.
Berlin Radio pronouncements led to increasing nervousness among the Brazilian population. So unlike 1917, in 1942 it seemed that the Brazilian government did not want war. However, in the then capital, Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, the people started to attack German businesses, such as restaurants. The passive position of the Vargas government was untenable in the face of public opinion
Public opinion
Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....
. Ultimately, the government found itself with no alternative but to declare war on Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
on August 22, 1942.
Command
The Brazilian 1st Division of the BEF fought with the 15th Army Group under Field Marshal Harold AlexanderHarold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis
Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis was a British military commander and field marshal of Anglo-Irish descent who served with distinction in both world wars and, afterwards, as Governor General of Canada, the 17th since Canadian...
(later succeeded by General Mark Clark
Mark Wayne Clark
Mark Wayne Clark was an American general during World War II and the Korean War and was the youngest lieutenant general in the U.S. Army...
), via the U.S. Fifth Army of Lieutenant General Mark Clark (later succeeded by Lieutenant General Lucian Truscott
Lucian Truscott
Lucian King Truscott, Jr. was a U.S. Army General, who successively commanded the 3rd Infantry Division, VI Corps, U.S. Fifteenth Army and U.S. Fifth Army during World War II.-Early life:...
) and the U.S. IV Corps of Major General Willis D. Crittenberger
Willis D. Crittenberger
Willis Dale Crittenberger was a United States Army officer whose career served as a World War II combat commander of IV Corps during the later part of Italian campaign from 1944 to the end of the war....
. The entry for the Gothic Line order of battle
Gothic Line order of battle
Gothic Line order of battle is a listing of the significant formations that were involved in Operation Olive, the Allied offensive on the Gothic Line in northern Italy, August - September 1944, and in the subsequent fighting in the central Apennine mountains and on the plains of eastern...
provides the overall order of battle for the Allied and German armies in Italy.
The Brazilian Air Force component was itself under the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force.
The BEF headquarters functioned as an administrative headquarters and link to the Brazilian high command
Command (military formation)
A command in military terminology is an organisational unit that the individual in Military command has responsibility for. A Commander will normally be specifically appointed into the role in order to provide a legal framework for the authority bestowed...
and War Minister General Eurico Gaspar Dutra
Eurico Gaspar Dutra
Eurico Gaspar Dutra , was a Brazilian marshal, politician and president of Brazil from 1946–1951.He was born in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, and like many other Brazilians, was from Azorean-Portuguese origin...
in Rio de Janeiro. General Mascarenhas de Moraes
Mascarenhas de Moraes
Marshal João Baptista Mascarenhas de Morais was a Spanish Brazilian Army Officer and commander of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in the Second World War.-Biography:...
(later Marshal) was the commander of the BEF with General Zenóbio da Costa as commander of the division's three regimental Combat Teams ("RCT")
Regimental combat team
A regimental combat team was a provisional major infantry unit of the United States Army during the World War II and the Korean War, and of the U.S. Marine Corps to the present day...
and General Cordeiro de Farias as commander of the Artillery.
The BEF was (theoretically) organized as a standard American infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
, complete in all aspects, down to its logistical
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
tail, including postal
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
and bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
ing services. The maneuver units were the 1st, 6th and 11th Regimental Combat Teams, each of about 5,000 men in three battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s plus supporting units, with each battalion consisting of four companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
each.
Preparations
Soon after Brazil declared war, it began to mobilizeMobilization
Mobilization is the act of assembling and making both troops and supplies ready for war. The word mobilization was first used, in a military context, in order to describe the preparation of the Prussian army during the 1850s and 1860s. Mobilization theories and techniques have continuously changed...
an expeditionary force to fight in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. At that time, Brazil was a country with a traditionally isolationist foreign policy, a population largely rural and illiterate, an economy focused in the export
Export
The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...
of commodities, and lacking an infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
in industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
, health
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
and educational systems that could serve as material and human support to the war effort
War effort
In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...
that a conflict of that dimension required. Brazil was thus precluded from pursuing a line of autonomous action in the conflict, and found it difficult to take even a modest role in it. It took almost two years to gather a force of one Army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
Division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
with 25,000 men (replacements included), compared with an initial goal of a whole Army Corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
of 100,000, to join the Allies in the Italian Campaign
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
.
Arrival in Italy
On July 2, 1944 the first five thousand BEF soldiers, the 6th Regimental Combat team, left Brazil for Europe aboard the USNS General Mann, and arrived in Italy on July 16. They disembarked in NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, where they waited to join the US Task Force 45. They disembarked without weapons, and as no one had arranged barracks, the troops stood around on the docks. At the time this caused controversy in the Brazilian media. In late July, two more transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
s with Brazilian troops reached Italy, with three more following in September, November, and February 1945.
The BEF dedicated its first weeks in Italy to acquiring the proper equipment to fight on Italian terrain, and to training under American command inasmuch as the preparation in Brazil, despite the 2 years interval since the declaration of war, had proved obsolete. Although, among the veterans of that campaign there is a consensus that only the combat
Combat
Combat, or fighting, is a purposeful violent conflict meant to establish dominance over the opposition, or to terminate the opposition forever, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed....
is able to adequately prepare the soldier, regardless of the quality of training received earlier. In August, the troops moved to Tarquinia
Tarquinia
Tarquinia, formerly Corneto and in Antiquity Tarquinii, is an ancient city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Italy.- History :Tarquinii is said to have been already a flourishing city when Demaratus of Corinth brought in Greek workmen...
, 350 km north of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, where Clark's army was based.
The Brazilians joined what was a multinational hodgepodge of forces. The American forces included the segregated African-American
92nd Infantry Division and the Japanese-American 442nd Infantry Regiment. British Empire forces included New Zealanders, Canadians
I Canadian Corps
I Canadian Corps was one of the two corps fielded by the Canadian Army during World War II. From December 24, 1940 until the formation of the First Canadian Army in April 1942, there was a single unnumbered Canadian Corps...
, Indians, Gurkhas, Black Africans, Jews
Jewish Brigade
The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group was a military formation of the British Army that served in Europe during the Second World War. The brigade was formed in late 1944, and its personnel fought the Germans in Italy...
and Arabs from the British Mandate in Palestine, South Africans, units of exiles — Poles, Greeks
Military history of Greece during World War II
Greece entered World War II on 28 October 1940, when the Italian army invaded from Albania, beginning the Greco-Italian War. The Greek army was able to stop the invasion and even push back the Italians into Albania, thereby winning one of the first victories for the Allies...
, Czechs, Slovakians, as well as anti-fascist Italians, also served under British command. The French forces
French Expeditionary Corps (1943-1944)
The French Expeditionary Corps , also known as the French Expeditionary Corps in Italy , was an expeditionary force composed of French soldiers that fought in the Italian Campaign during World War II under the command of General Alphonse Juin....
included Senegalese, Moroccans and Algerians
3rd Algerian Infantry Division
The 3rd Algerian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the French Army during the last half of the Second World War. The 3e DIA had one of the most successful combat records of any French Army division during the Second World War. It paid a high price for this distinction, suffering more...
. In November 1944, the BEF joined General Crittenberger
Willis D. Crittenberger
Willis Dale Crittenberger was a United States Army officer whose career served as a World War II combat commander of IV Corps during the later part of Italian campaign from 1944 to the end of the war....
's U.S. IV Corps
IV Corps (United States)
The IV Corps replaced the VI Corps in the Fifth United States Army's order of battle in Italy after Allied forces liberated Rome in the summer of 1944 when VI Corps was withdrawn to take part in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France. Initially the Corps had two divisions, U.S...
.
The Germans made much of the political aspect of the presence of the Brazilian force in Italy. They targeted propaganda specifically at the Brazilians. In addition to leaflets, the Germans provided an hour-long daily radio broadcast in Portuguese from Berlin Radio called "Hora AuriVerde" (GoldenGreen Hour).
The campaign
The BEF achieved battlefield successes at Massarosa, Camaiore, Monte Prano, Monte Acuto, San Quirico, Gallicano, Barga, Monte CastelloBattle of Monte Castello
The Battle of Monte Castello was an engagement which took place from 25 November 1944 to 22 February 1945 during the Italian campaign. It was fought between the Allied forces advancing into northern Italy and dug-in German defenders. The battle marked the Brazilian Expeditionary Force's entry into...
, La Serra, Castelnuovo, Soprassasso, Montese, Paravento, Zocca, Marano su Panaro, Collecchio and Fornovo.
The first missions the Brazilians undertook were reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
operations to the end of August. Brazilian troops helped to fill the gap left by divisions of the Fifth Army and French Expeditionary Corps
French Expeditionary Corps (1943-1944)
The French Expeditionary Corps , also known as the French Expeditionary Corps in Italy , was an expeditionary force composed of French soldiers that fought in the Italian Campaign during World War II under the command of General Alphonse Juin....
that left Italy for Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
, the invasion of southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
On September 16, the 6th RCT took Massarosa
Massarosa
Massarosa is a town and comune in the province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy.-Frazioni:3191 People live in Stiava as of December 31, 2004. 1564 Of them are men, 1627 women. In the centre of the village is a local supermarket, a bakery and a few other shops. There is also a small church dedicated to the...
. Two days later it also took Camaiore
Camaiore
Camaiore is a town and comune of 31,503 inhabitants within the province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. It stretches from the Alps to the east, to the plains and the coast of Versilia to the west.-Morphology:...
and other small towns on the way north. By then, the BEF had already conquered Monte Prano, and taken control of the Serchio
Serchio
At 126 kilometres the Serchio is the third longest river in the Italian region of Tuscany, coming after the Arno and the Ombrone...
valley without any major casualties. After having suffered its first reverses around Barga
Barga
Barga is a medieval town and comune of the province of Lucca in Tuscany, central Italy. It is home to around 10,000 people and is the chief town of the "Media Valle" of the Serchio.-Geography:...
city, and after the arrival of the 1st RCT at the end of October, the BEF was directed to the base of the Apennines
Apennine mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...
where it would spend the next months facing the harsh winter and the resistance of the Gothic Line
Gothic Line
The Gothic Line formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's last major line of defence in the final stages of World War II along the summits of the Apennines during the fighting retreat of German forces in Italy against the Allied Armies in Italy commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander.Adolf Hitler...
. Allied forces were unable to break through the mountains over the winter and an offensive by German and Italian divisions to the left of the BEF sector, against the US 92nd Infantry Division, required the assistance of the 8th Indian Infantry Division to be refrained.
Between the end of February and beginning of March 1945, in preparation for the Spring offensive
Spring 1945 offensive in Italy
The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the Allied attack by Fifth United States Army and British 8th Army into the Lombardy Plain which started on 6 April 1945 and ended on 2 May with the surrender of German forces in Italy....
, the Brazilian Division and the U.S. 10th Mountain Division were able to capture important positions on the Apennines, which deprived the Germans of key artillery positions on the mountains, whose gunnery fire since the fall of 1944 blocked the allied path to Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
.
In the US 5th Army's sector, the final offensive on the Italian Front began on April 14, after a bombardment of 2,000 artillery pieces; an attack carried out by the troops of US IV Corps, commenced by the Brazilian Division took Montese
Montese
Montese is a town in the province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.During World War II, the town was liberated by Brazilian forces on April 17, 1945, after three days of battle against German forces....
. After on the 1st day of allied offensive without much effort had stopped the main attack of the IV Corps did by US 10th Mountain Division, causing significant casualties among the troops of that US division, the germans mislead thought that the BEF's raid over Montese using M8 armoured cars
M8 Greyhound
The M8 Light Armored Car was a 6x6 armored car produced by the Ford Motor Company during World War II. It was used by the U.S. and British troops in Europe and the Far East until the end of the war. The vehicle was widely exported and as of 2006 still remains in service with some third world...
and Sherman Tanks
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease...
could be the real main allied objective on that sector, which lead them to bombed the Brazilians with 1,800 rounds of artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
gunning from the total of 2,800 used against the all 4 allies divisions of that sector during the days of the combat for Montese when they tried unsuccessful took Montese back from brazilians. After that, the breaking of the Germans' lines to the North by forces of IV Corps became unavoidable. On the right, the Polish Division, from the British 8th Army, and the U.S. 34th Infantry Division, from the US 5th Army, entered Bologna on 21 April.
On 25 April the Italian resistance movement
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance is the umbrella term for the various partisan forces formed by pro-Allied Italians during World War II...
started a general partisan insurrection at the same time as the Brazilians troops arrived at Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
and the Americans at Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
and Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. The British VIII Army advanced towards Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
.
At Collecchio
Collecchio
Collecchio is a town in the province of Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is located just south of Parma. It is the home of Parmalat and Parma F.C.'s training complex, Centro Sportivo Parma Calcio....
, the Brazilian forces were preparing to face fierce resistance at the Taro river
Taro River
The Taro is a 126 km-long river in northern Italy, tributary to the Po River. It flows almost entirely in the province of Parma, west of the city Parma. The Taro flows into the Po River north of Parma....
region from the retreating German-Italian forces of the region of Genoa/La Spezia that had been set free by troops of the 92nd US Division. These Axis troops were surrounded near Fornovo
Fornovo di Taro
Fornovo di Taro is a comune in the province of Parma, in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 100 km west of Bologna and about 25 km southwest of Parma....
and after some fighting surrendered
Surrender (military)
Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.When the...
. On April 28, the Brazilians captured more than 13,000 men, including the entire 148th Infantry Division
148th Reserve Division (Germany)
The German 148th Reserve Division was a German reserve infantry division during the Second World War, made up of three infantry regiments and an artillery regiment.- History :...
, elements of the 90th Panzergrenadier and the last former Division of the Italian Fascist Army.
This took the German Command by surprise as it had planned for these troops to join forces with the German-Italian Army of Liguria to counterattack against the US 5th Army. The US 5th army had advanced, as is inevitable in these situations, in a fast but diffuse and disarranged way uncoordinated with air support, and had left some gaps on its left flank and to the rear. The Axis forces had left intact many bridges throughout the Po River
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...
to facilitate a counter-attack. The German Army Command was already negotiating a truce in Caserta
Caserta
Caserta is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial and industrial comune and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Campanian Subapennine mountain range...
, and hoped that a counterattack would improve the conditions for surrender. The events in Fornovo disrupted the German plan, as much by the disarray of their troops as by the delay it caused. This, added to the news of Hitler's death and the fall of Berlin
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....
to the Red Army, left the German Command in Italy with no option but to accept the unconditional surrender of its troops.
In their final advance, the Brazilians reached Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
and then on 2 May they joined up with French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
troops at the border
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
in Susa. That same day brought the announcement of the end of hostilities in Italy.
The Air Force
The 1oGAVCA (1st Fighter Group/1º Grupo de Aviação de Caça) was formed on December 18, 1943. Its commanding Officer was Ten.-Cel.-Av. (Aviation Lieutenant Colonel) Nero Moura.The group had 350 men, including 43 pilots. The group was divided into four flights: Red ("A"), Yellow ("B"), Blue ("C"), and Green ("D"). The CO of the group and some officers were not attached to any specific flight.
Unlike the BEF's Army component, the 1oGAVCA had personnel who were experienced Brazilian Air Force
Brazilian Air Force
The Brazilian Air Force is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces"...
(Portuguese: Força Aérea Brasileira, or FAB) pilots. One of them was Alberto M. Torres, who had piloted a PBY-5A Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
that had sunk U-199
German submarine U-199
German submarine U-199 was a Type IXD2 U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. U-199 was sunk off the Brazilian coast in 1943 by a combination of attacks by Brazilian and American planes....
, which was operating off the Brazilian coast.
The group trained for combat in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, where 2o Ten.-Av. (Aviation Second Lieutenant) Dante Isidoro Gastaldoni was killed in a training accident. On May 11, 1944, the group was declared operational and became active in the air defense of the Panama Canal Zone. On June 22, the 1oGAVCA traveled to the U.S. to convert to the Republic P-47D Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
.
On September 19, 1944 the 1oGAVCA left for Italy, arriving at Livorno on October 6. It became part of the 350th Fighter Group
350th Fighter Group
The 350th Fighter Group is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the III Fighter Command, being stationed at Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina. It was inactivated on 7 November 1945....
of the USAAF
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
, which in turn was part of the 62nd Fighter Wing
62d Fighter Wing (World War II)
The 62d Fighter Wing is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Twelfth Air Force, based at Pomigliano Airfield, Italy. It was inactivated on 12 September 1945.-History:...
, XXII Tactical Air Command
XXII Tactical Air Command
The XXII Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Twelfth Air Force, based at Pomigliano Airfield, Italy...
, of the 12th Air Force.
The Brazilian pilots initially flew from 31 October 1944, as individual elements of flights attached to 350th FG squadrons, at first in affiliation flights and progressively taking part in more dangerous missions. Less than two weeks later, on November 11, the group started its own operations flying from its base at Tarquinia
Tarquinia
Tarquinia, formerly Corneto and in Antiquity Tarquinii, is an ancient city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Italy.- History :Tarquinii is said to have been already a flourishing city when Demaratus of Corinth brought in Greek workmen...
, using its tactical callsign Jambock. Brazilian Air Force stars replaced the white U.S. star in the roundel on the FAB Thunderbolts. The 1oGAVCA started its fighting career as a fighter-bomber unit, its missions being armed reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
and interdiction
Air interdiction
Air interdiction is the use of aircraft to attack tactical ground targets that are not in close proximity to friendly ground forces. It differs from close air support because it does not directly support ground operations and is not closely coordinated with ground units...
, in support of the US Fifth Army, to which the FEB was attached.
On April 16, 1945, the U.S. Fifth Army started its offensive along the Po Valley
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...
. By then, the strength of the Group had fallen to 25 pilots, some having been killed and others shot down and captured. Some others had been relieved from operations on medical grounds due to combat fatigue
Combat stress reaction
Combat stress reaction , in the past commonly known as shell shock or battle fatigue, is a range of behaviours resulting from the stress of battle which decrease the combatant's fighting efficiency. The most common symptoms are fatigue, slower reaction times, indecision, disconnection from one's...
. The Group disbanded the Yellow flight and distributed the surviving pilots among the other flights. Each pilot flew on average two missions a day.
On 22 April 1945, the three remaining flights took off at 5-minute intervals, starting at 8:30 AM, to destroy bridges, barges, and motorized vehicles in the San Benedetto region. At 10:00 AM, a flight took off for an armed reconnaissance mission south of Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
. They destroyed more than 80 tanks, trucks, and vehicles. By the end of the day, the group had flown 44 individual missions and destroyed hundreds of vehicles and barges. On this day the group flew the most sorties of the war; consequently, Brazil commemorates April 22 Brazilian Fighter Arm Day.
In all, the 1oGAVCA flew a total of 445 missions, 2,550 individual sorties, and 5,465 combat flight hours, from 11 November 1944 to 6 May 1945. The XXII Tactical Air Command acknowledged the efficiency of the Group by noting that although it flew only 5% of the total of missions carried out by all squadrons under its control, it accomplished a much higher percentage of the total destruction wrought:
- 85% of the ammunition depots
- 36% of the fuel depots
- 28% of the bridges (19% damaged)
- 15% of motor vehicles (13% damaged)
- 10% of horse-drawn vehicles (10% damaged)
The Navy
Having the Suez CanalSuez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
blocked and the necessity to go beyond to the far east, Germany used the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to maintain its supply of material necessities.
The Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
tried to block the transport of material logistics to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the supply of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, initiating a policy of sinking commercial ships in the Atlantic.
As a result of the Axis attacks Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
suffered nearly 1600 dead, including nearly 500 civilians and more than 1000 of Brazil's 7,000 sailors involved in the conflict. The navy losses included 470 sailors of the merchant navy and 570 sailors of the military navy, a total of 36 ships sunk by the Germans, and more than 350 dead in 3 accidental sinkings. .
The main task of the Brazilian Navy was, together with the Allies, to ensure the safety of ships sailing between the Center and South Atlantic to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
. The Brazilian navy conducted 574 operations that protected 3,164 merchant ships; German submarines U-boats were only able to sink three ships. In the fight against German submarines, Brazilian frigates and submarines used sea mines
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
and depth charges. According to German documents, the Brazilian Navy attacked German submarines U-boats a total of 66 times.
A total of 9 U-boats known German submarines were destroyed along the Brazilian coast. Those were: U-164, U-128, U-590, U-513, U-662, U-598, U-199, U-591, and U-161.
Aftermath
The bodies of the soldiers buried in the BEF cemeteryCemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
in Pistoia
Pistoia
Pistoia is a city and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 km west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno.-History:...
were later transferred to a mausoleum
Monument to the dead of World War II
The Monument to the dead of World War II, also known as the Monument to the Brazilian soldiers of World War II, commemorates Brazil's participation in the Second World War....
in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. Marshall Mascarenhas de Moraes
Mascarenhas de Moraes
Marshal João Baptista Mascarenhas de Morais was a Spanish Brazilian Army Officer and commander of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in the Second World War.-Biography:...
had proposed and promoted the construction of the mausoleum and it was inaugurated on July 24, 1960. It covers an area of 6,850 square meters.
Brazil's participation in World War II was more extensive than its participation in World War I
Brazil during World War I
In 1917, the Brazilian president Venceslau Brás declared war against the Central Powers. Brazil in World War I had a position supported by the Hague Convention, keeping initially neutral, trying not to restrict the market to their export products, mainly coffee, latex and industrial manufactured...
. During World War II, Brazil provided a meaningful tactical and strategic contribution. Still, the FEB/BEF was just one of the 20 Allied divisions in Italy. Furthermore, although the division played an important part in the sectors in which it operated, none of these sectors were the main one on the Italian Front, and the Italian Front became secondary for both sides after D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
.
Nickname
- Due to the Brazilian dictatorship's unwillingness to get more deeply involved in the Allied war effort, by 1942 a popular saying was said at a session by Getulio Vargas: "it's more likely for snakes to start to smoke now than for the BEF to set out." ("Mais fácil uma cobra fumar do que a FEB embarcar") Until the BEF entered combat, the expression "a cobra vai fumar" ("snakes will smoke") was often used in Brazil in a context similar to "when pigs fly." As a result, the soldiers of the BEF called themselves Cobras Fumantes (literally, Smoking Snakes) and wore a divisional shoulder patch that showed a snake smoking a pipe. Moreover, also was common for Brazilian soldiers write in their mortars, "The Snake is smoking ..." ("A cobra está fumando...")
After the war the meaning was reversed, signifying that something will definitively happen and in a furious and aggressive way. With that second meaning the use of the expression "a cobra vai fumar" has been retained in Brazilian Portuguese until the present times, although few in the younger generations realize the origin of the expression.
See also
- Brazil at WarBrazil at WarBrazil at War is a 1943 propaganda short documentary film produced by the Office of War Information and the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs....
– American propaganda film about Brazilian contribution - Battle of Monte CastelloBattle of Monte CastelloThe Battle of Monte Castello was an engagement which took place from 25 November 1944 to 22 February 1945 during the Italian campaign. It was fought between the Allied forces advancing into northern Italy and dug-in German defenders. The battle marked the Brazilian Expeditionary Force's entry into...
- Brazil during World War IBrazil during World War IIn 1917, the Brazilian president Venceslau Brás declared war against the Central Powers. Brazil in World War I had a position supported by the Hague Convention, keeping initially neutral, trying not to restrict the market to their export products, mainly coffee, latex and industrial manufactured...
- Elza MedeirosElza MedeirosElza Cansanção Medeiros or Major Elza was a Brazilian Army officer and World War II veteran. She was the highest-ranking female officer in the Brazilian Army with the rank of Major...
– Brazilian major, highest-ranking female officer in the Brazilian Army - Max WolffMax WolffMax Wolff Filho was a Brazilian Army sergeant, a member of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force who fought in Italy in World War II....
– Brazilian sergeant, an iconic figure of Brazilian army in World War II
External links
- An article about the formation and the contribution of the FEB by A Frank D. MacCann, "Brazil and World War II: The Forgotten Ally: What did you do in the war, Zé Carioca?", 'Estudios Interdisciplinarios de America Latina y el Caribe', vol. 6, No. 2, 1995
- http://www.sentandoapua.com.br (in Portuguese )
- http://www.lapaazul.com (in Portuguese with subtitles in english and italian )
- WW II propaganda pamphlets