80: Battle Of San Marino

80 years ago today (September 17, 1944) the Battle of San Marino occurred.

Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Neutral San Marino and the Allies then attacked to liberate San Marino. The Battle is also known as the Battle of Monet Pulito.

The Republic of San Marino declared its Neutrality during World War 2 despite being completely surrounded by Fascist Italy and the Sammarinese Fascist Party being in power at the time.

The German Defensive Position (called the Gothic Line) ran across the Italian Peninsula only a short distance from the Sammarinese Border.

When the Allies were close to San Marino and planned to completely bypass the Neutral Country the Germans sent in a small force into San Marino to guard their Lines of Communication and to act as Artillery Observers.

On September 17^th the Allies (4th Indian Infantry Division) attacked the Germans (278. Infanterie-Division) holding two hills just across the Sammarinese Border; after heavy fighting to gain control of the hills, the situation stabilized on the 19th, and the Allies began to push into the City of San Marino itself.

The City was captured by the afternoon of September 20, 1944 and the 4th Indian Division left the San Marino on the 21^st.

(Allied troops passing through San Marino, September 1944)

The Allies stayed in San Marino until October 1945.

After the War, the Government of San Marino tried to make the British Government pay them 32 Million Lira in compensation, but the British rejected their claim saying the Germans had breached Sammarinese Neutrality first.

274 Germans were killed in the Battle of San Marino.

323 Allies (British, Indians, New Zealanders, Canadians, Australians, South Africans and Free Poles) were killed in the Battle of San Marino.