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25 April1945
Liberation of Rapallo
Author
Giuseppe Bacigalupo
Format
9,5mm
Credits
Music by Emiliano Battistini | Scuola di Sound Design del Conservatorio di Musica di Bologna. Mix audio Pierpaolo Ovarini

In the exciting sequences filmed in 9.5 mm by Giuseppe Bacigalupo on the Liberation of Rapallo, the African-American soldiers filmed in the streets of the Ligurian town together with the local population are very recognisable. It is 25 April 1945 (and not the 24th as mistakenly written on the sign at the beginning of the film). The soldiers, who enter a Rapallo already liberated by partisans, belong to the 92nd Infantry Division of the US Army. Known as the 'buffalo soldiers' division in reference to the African-American cavalrymen of the 19th century, the 92nd Infantry Division was a 'segregated' unit that served in the First World War. In 1942, the 92nd Division was reorganised in Alabama and Arizona, also as a segregated unit, following the mobilisation that followed the entry of the United States into the war. In the autumn of 1944, the Division took part in the Italian Campaign: elements of the 92nd were among the few African-American units to serve in combat. As will be recounted in the novel 'Miracle at Sant'Anna' and in the film based on the book, the 92nd Division distinguished itself on the battlefield, disproving the 'sceptics', if they don't mean the racists, and earning a chapter of honour in the history of the Second World War.

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