The October Martyrs of Lanciano

Heroic group of partisans earned Gold Medal for Valour

A statue in the town of Lanciano honours
partisan leader Trentino La Barba

The town of Lanciano in Abruzzo today and every October 6 remembers the 23 citizens killed by German troops on this day in 1943 after one of the most celebrated revolts of World War Two against the occupying Nazi forces.

The group became known as the Martiri ottobrini di Lanciano - the October Martyrs of Lanciano. Their deeds were recognised by the postwar Italian government with the award - to all the citizens of the town - of the Gold Medal for Military Valour, and there are a number of monuments in the town that commemorate the event and the participants.

As well as 11 partisan resistance fighters, another 12 Lancianese who fought alongside them were killed by the Germans. The leader of the partigiani group, a 28-year-old former soldier named Trentino La Barba, was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal for Valour in his own right. Three others were honoured with Silver Medals.

Lanciano - 22km (14 miles) southeast of the city of Chieti and about 30km (19 miles) from the coastal resort of Pescara - had the misfortune to be one of the key municipalities close to the Gustav Line, one of the major defensive lines established by the Germans to counter the Allied invasion of the Italian peninsula.

As such, it was in the line of fire for many months, over which time around 500 civilians were killed in the bombardments that regularly took place.  The citizens of Lanciano also found themselves often deprived of food and supplies that instead went to the German military.

The Torri Montanare were an important
strategic capture by the partisans

The uprising of October 6 followed the torture and killing of La Barba in the centre of Lanciano in full view of local people.

One of the founder members of the Gran Sasso resistance group, La Barba - emboldened by news that Allied troops had landed at Termoli, just 72km (45 miles) away from Lanciano - had stolen weapons from a Carabinieri barracks on October 4, hid them in a cave at nearby Pozzo Bagnaro, just outside the town, and the following night launched an attack on a German column.

His guerrilla group entered the town at Porta San Biagio, a gate in the ancient walls, setting fire to some German vans, but German reinforcements arrived and La Barba was captured. He was interrogated and tortured, then taken to the centre of the town, where he was shot and his body hung from a tree, which the Germans hoped would deter the local population from further insurgence.

Instead, as the remainder of La Barba’s group fought on and occupied a number of strategic points, including the Torri Montanare in the ancient walls, many local people joined the fight.  A number of partisans died in a battle near Porta Santa Chiara, but the rest of the brigade was able to move into the historic centre.

The Piazza del Plebiscito, where
Lanciano's liberation was celebrated

Ultimately, as fighting continued, 11 partigiani and 12 other citizens were killed, as well as 47 German soldiers. Shops and arcades on Corso Trento and Trieste, at the commercial heart of the town, were burned down in acts carried out by the Nazis in reprisal. The clashes halted after Monsignor Tesauri, the local bishop, organised a summit at which the Germans accused the town’s mayor of inciting the uprising, but eventually an agreement was reached.

In any case, the German divisions were soon occupied with fighting Allied troops, who were approaching ever closer to the Gustav Line. Lanciano found itself bombarded repeatedly, with many historic buildings damaged or destroyed.

It was finally liberated on December 3, when sections of the 8th Indian Division and the 78th English Division, part of the British 8th Army fighting the important Battle of the Sangro River, arrived at the convent of Sant'Antonio di Padova. 

The Indian troops, accompanied by some local Italian officials who had come out of hiding on their arrival, marched triumphantly along Corso Trento and Trieste to Piazza Plebiscito, the town’s main square.

The active participation of Lanciano’s citizens in the Italian Resistance was recognised in 1952, when Lanciano was awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valour by President Luigi Einaudi. 

In the 1970s, a commemorative monument was created at Piazzale VI Ottobre at the beginning of Via Ferro di Cavallo, in memory of the martyrs, while in 2016 a statue by the sculptor Nicola Antonelli was erected in Largo dell'Appello, depicting Trentino La Barba.

The Diocletian Bridge and
bell tower of the Basilica

Travel tip:

Situated about 10km (6.2 miles) from the port of Ortona on the Adriatic coast, Lanciano sits on a group of hills rising to about 265 metres (869 feet) above sea level. Formerly the Roman city of Anxanum, Lanciano has another claim to historical fame as the site of what is recognised as the first Eucharistic Miracle of the Catholic Church, which took place in the eighth century, when a monk having doubts about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist - also known as Holy Communion - found when he said the words of consecration at Mass that the bread and wine changed into flesh and blood.  Lanciano today has a number of churches, including the 17th century Basilica Santa Maria del Ponte, named after the adjoining Ponte Diocleziano - the Diocletian Bridge - a Roman relic from the late third century.  Panoramic views can be had from the two Torri Montanare, which used to form an important part of the town’s mediaeval defensive walls.

Part of Ortona's Castello Aragonese, the coastal
town's dominant historic feature

Travel tip:

Nearby Ortona, which can be found about 22km (14 miles) south of Pescara along the Adriatic coast and about 26km (16 miles) east of the provincial capital Chieti, is dominated by a huge 15th century Aragonese castle, a legacy of another major battle when Ortona came under heavy attack by the Venetian navy in 1447. The castle has been renovated and visitors can reach it by walking along the Passegiatta Orientale, which looks out over the coastline. Ortona’s Cathedral of Saint Thomas contains remains of Saint Thomas the Apostle, which were brought to Ortona by sea in the 13th century more than 1,200 years after his death in India.  Ortona was also badly damaged in World War Two, the port being the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the Allies’ Italian Campaign a short time after Lanciano was liberated. Ortona has a museum dedicated to the December 1943 battle.

Also on this day:

1888: The birth of wartime nurse Saint Maria Bertilla Boscardin

1935: The birth of wrestling champion Bruno Sammartino

1943: The birth of football coach Ottavio Bianchi

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Paolo Tosti – composer

How a poor boy from Abruzzo became an English knight

Paolo Tosti

Paolo Tosti, the composer of the popular Neapolitan song, Marechiare, died on this day in 1916 in Rome.

Many of the light, sentimental songs he composed were performed by the top opera singers of the time and are still regularly recorded by the stars of today.

At the height of his career, Tosti was singing professor to Princess Margherita of Savoy, who later became the Queen of Italy. He then went to live in England, where his popularity grew even more.

He was appointed singing master to the British Royal Family and was eventually knighted by King Edward VII, who had become one of his personal friends.

Born Francesco Paolo Tosti in Ortona in the Abruzzo region, the composer received an early musical education in his home town and then moved on to study at the Naples Conservatory.

His teachers there were so impressed with him that they appointed him a student teacher, which earned him a small salary.

Ill health forced Tosti to return to Ortona, but while he was confined to bed, he began composing songs.

Once he had recovered from his illness he moved to live in Ancona where, it is said, he was so impoverished that he had to exist on stale bread and oranges.

Nellie Melba, the Australian opera singer,
performed a number of Tosti songs

When Tosti moved to Rome his fortunes improved after he met the pianist and composer Giovanni Sgambati, who became his patron.

Sgambati arranged for him to give a concert at which Princess Margherita of Savoy was present. She was so impressed she appointed him as her singing professor and later made him the curator of the Italian Musical Archives at the court.

Soon after arriving in London, Tosti became a celebrity and was invited to the fashionable drawing rooms and salons of the time. After being made singing master to the Royal Family, his fame grew even more.

One of his songs, For Ever and For Ever, became a hit in England overnight. His publishers are said to have paid him a substantial retainer for producing 12 songs a year for them afterwards.

Tosti is particularly remembered for his collection of Abruzzo folk songs, Canti popolare Abruzzesi, but he also wrote many Neapolitan songs.

The Australian opera singer Nellie Melba recorded his song, Mattinata, and the Swedish star, Jussi Bjorling, recorded his song, L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra.

Tosti joined the Royal Academy of Music as a professor and then became a British citizen. He received his knighthood in 1908.

Tosti returned to Italy in 1913, where he died three years later in Rome.

His former home in London, 12 Mandeville Place, Marylebone, which is now the Mandeville Hotel, bears a memorial plaque to him, which was unveiled in 1996.

The coastal town of Ortona, where Tosti was born

Travel tip:

Ortona, where Paolo Tosti was born, is a coastal town in the province of Chieti in Abruzzo. It became known as ‘Little Stalingrad’ after it was fiercely defended by German soldiers fighting against Canadian soldiers in 1943, who were trying to take the port on behalf of the Allies during the Second World War.

Hotels in Ortona by Hotels.com

Travel tip:

Ortona now has a musical institute dedicated to Tosti, Istituto Nazionale Tostiano, which is in Palazzo Corvo in Corso Matteotti. It was founded in 1983 to commemorate the life and works of Tosti and other musicians from Abruzzo. There is a museum with Tosti rooms, Sale Tosti, recreating the environment in which he composed his music, using his own furniture, pictures and objects. For more information visit www.istitutonazionaletostiano.it.

More reading:

Cesare Andrea Bixio - songwriter whose legacy of classic songs included Mamma and Vivere

Enrico Caruso - great tenor began his career singing Neapolitan songs

Teatro San Carlo - the world's oldest opera house

Also on this day:

1946: The birth of dress designer Gianni Versace

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