Captain Corelli's Mandolin

The real Captain Corelli, Amos Pampaloni, vividly recalls the events of September, 1943. It was the climax of developing tensions between the Italian and German invaders of Cephalonia.

Il Duce had been forced to resign. On July 25, 1943, a coup against him (led by Marshal Pietro Badoglio) followed a string of Italian defeats at the hands of Allied forces. The next day King Victor Emmanuel III, who had offered Benito the job in the first place, dismissed Mussolini and made Badoglio the new head of the Italian government. He also ordered Mussolini's arrest.

With great delight, President Roosevelt told the American people Mussolini had resigned. (Americans viewed Mussolini on a par with Hitler and Tojo.)

The Germans, however, were deeply concerned. Hitler ordered his troops to invade Italy. Italian resistance was not sufficient to prevent German troops from coming into the northern part of their country.

Negotiations between the Italian government and their former combatants continued. Five days after the Armistice was officially signed (on September 3, 1943), Allied forces landed at the Gulf of Salerno (southeast of Naples.) On September 8, Badoglio's government announced that Italian forces should cease hostilities against the Allies.

Italian soldiers everywhere rejoiced. For them - they thought - the war was over. But Hitler had other plans for the Italian invaders of Cephalonia.