L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2015 www.italoamericano.org 11 L'Italo-Americano American author tells Italian war history through medals J ohn Bothwell, Attorney at L a w , S c u l p t o r a n d Collector says that during his efforts to collect Italian war medals his research discovered that the British had taken credit f o r t h e i r e f f o r t i n w i n n i n g W W I , w h e n i n f a c t , i t w a s Italy's 51 divisions who should h a v e b e e n c r e d i t e d , n o t Britain's 3. " A s a n A m e r i c a n I h a v e nothing to gain in telling the story; we weren't there in any number that would allow us to claim that it was our effort that won the war," stated Bothwell. "Because we didn't claim the Italian victory for our own, the British did, however the math doesn't add up to any claim of British victory." Bothwell fur- ther stated that in his research the battle at Sacile was claimed by the British, and although "no Italians are mentioned as hav- ing helped," he has a medal in his collection that was given to the Light Calvary Guides for Sacile in 1918 that contradicts the British claim. T h e A m e r i c a n a t t o r n e y b e g a n c o l l e c t i n g m e d a l s i n 2 0 0 8 a s a c u r i o s i t y . B e i n g m i n i a t u r e s c u l p t u r e s , t h e medals have "beautiful work- manship and are unparalleled." As a former sculptor, having obtained a degree in art at San Diego State University, he said the Italians have a particular flair for medals. "Nothing done o n a m e d a l i s a c c i d e n t a l , " a c c o r d i n g t o t h e c o l l e c t o r . "Everything is done for a par- ticular reason." " M o s t A m e r i c a n s d o n ' t know that Italy was in WWI," s a i d B o t h w e l l , a d d i n g " W e were in France to win the war and our entrance into the war brought untold resources and manpower; but there is a huge gap in the knowledge base of WWI and of Italy's involve- ment in the war." He stated that he would like to fill in this huge gap. It is the author's contention t h a t w h e n I t a l y f o r c e d t h e Austria-Hungary factions to sit "on the wrong side of the nego- t i a t i n g t a b l e ( i n P a d o v a ) o n November 1918, Italia save the allied lives numbering in the thousands, tens of thousands, h u n d r e d s o f t h o u s a n d s . " Bothwell further contends that when Italy forced the Italian armistice (effective November 4th) the Germans didn't want to stop fighting. However, that armistice allowed the Italian army to walk virtually unmo- l e s t e d i n t o G e r m a n y . W h e n Germany realized that it was w i d e o p e n f o r a t t a c k , t h e y signed their own armistice. "The knowledge that Italy won the war is glossed over," a c c o r d i n g t o B o t h w e l l , a n d although Italians are aware of and celebrate November 4th, the Americans do not because they are unaware of the vital role Italy played in WWI. "The fact that Italy forced the end of t h e w a r , t h a t F i e l d M a r s h a l ROBERT GALLO Douglas Haig highjacked the historical records and that the Italians were ignored is a story that deserves to be told," stated John Bothwell B o t h w e l l . " H a i g s e n t t h r e e d i v i s i o n s i n t o t h e w a r a n d i n s i s t e d t h a t t h e y , a n d n o t Italy's 51 divisions deserved the victory. The math doesn't add up," repeated Bothwell. "When I started looking, I found that things didn't sound r i g h t , t h e y d i d n ' t a d d u p o r make sense," said the attorney. "When I looked further, I found some facts were right and what I thought was right was record- ed incorrectly. The Italians lost more people in WWI than the British; the sacrifice was huge and touched almost every fami- ly. It's all back there, in every l i t t l e t o w n I v i s i t e d I s a w a m e m o r i a l o r m a r b l e p l a q u e with names of the dead. The more I looked, the more inter- ested I became. One gains a n e w r e s p e c t f o r t h e I t a l i a n s once the truth is revealed." Although Bothwell stated t h a t t h i s r e s p e c t I t a l i a n s deserved might have been lost or tarnished after Mussolini, "It shouldn't have been," he said, adding, "The Italians can hold their heads as high as any sol- dier of WWI." Bothwell stated that "one learns all kinds of t h i n g ; t h i n g s t h a t m a k e o n e curious to know the truth, and that's just what I planned to do." In 2012, Bothwell and his Italian wife visited her home- town of Padova as well as some adjoining towns and the WWI battlefields. What he saw "will change your view of war, and w h a t I t a l y s u f f e r e d ; n o b o d y c o m e s o u t o f a c e m e t e r y w h i s t l i n g D i x i e . " T h i r t e e n thousand were buried at Monte Grappa, most without names, and this was in just one place.

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