Battle of Magdalene

The Battle of La Maddalena or Battle of La Maddalena was fought between 9 and 13 September 1943, as part of the larger events of Operation Achse of the Second World War.

Immediately after the announcement of the Armistice between Italy and the Allies on the evening of September 8, 1943, the German Wehrmacht units stationed in Sardinia implemented the long-planned contingency plan for this circumstance, retreating in an orderly fashion toward the north of the island to begin the evacuation to Corsica through the waters of the Strait of Bonifacio . In this context, the capture of the island of La Maddalena was of considerable importance, as it was home to an important naval base of the Italian Royal Navy and the site of numerous coastal and anti-aircraft artillery batteries that could potentially interfere with the German evacuation. Taking advantage of the confusion that reigned among the Italian command, caught off guard by the announcement of the armistice, a German unit then seized, in a coup de main, the key locations of the La Maddalena base on the morning of September 9. the commander of the Italian naval forces in Sardinia, Admiral Bruno Brivonesi , and the commander of the island's defenses, Admiral Aristotle Bona, were taken prisoner, but the reaction of some units prevented the Germans from taking complete possession of the island.

Organized by a few junior officers such as Major Renato Barsotti and Captain Carlo Avegno (who later fell in the fighting), the Italian units mounted a counterattack on September 13, recapturing many of the lost positions and taking numerous Germans prisoner; agreements between the high commands then led to the peaceful evacuation of Wehrmacht units from La Maddalena, completed on September 16.