This is the recounting and the diary of my life - Marino Mattei

14.

I was glad to hear this but I was also very worried [see part 13]. I was wondering how I would be able to remove myself from these surroundings and how much danger I would encounter. On the afternoon of the same day they called me and took me to the airfield in an ambulance. They loaded me onto the plane and in this manner we crossed over the fields of battle and I was taken far away from the front into another hospital that was somewhat better than the one I had just left. The new hospital was in a larger city, the name of which I cannot remember.

There I found a professor [doctor] who was very good. He came from Florence. He examined me every day, giving me medication and telling me that a train would soon be coming to return me to Italy. Unfortunately, the train never arrived. The days passed, the Russians were advancing, the Italian assault was in disarray and each day the Russians were getting closer. Where we, upon my arriving, had been fairly distant from the front, we now began to hear the explosions of artillery shells. Myself and seven others had become friends and we studied ways in which we could escape from our situation. The artillery shelling was getting closer and we did not know what to do. Even the doctor was worried and, seeing that the train was not arriving, he gave us documents for our passage back to Italy but he told us we had to find our own way home. In a word, we would be in the hands of fate and here began another great problem.

I did not know what to do. The cold was intolerable. As I said, we were a group of eight soldiers. Among us was a soldier from the air force who had a small truck and we drove it directly to the station to catch the first train that was passing. We presented the documents that proved we had been released by the doctor to the Italian Commander Tappa of the station. We asked for the [correct] train but he knew nothing because the station traffic was being directed by the German commander and he was not telling the Italians anything. Not only this but they also did not want Italians to be taking any of the trains out. Lieutenant Commander Tappa told us there was a train loaded with cargo that would likely be leaving for Italy that night. It was a merchant train, without heat, all in the open [presumably, flatbed cars]. The temperature had reached 50 below zero [Celsius], the explosions were advancing towards us and the danger was at every moment becoming more severe. Due to these reasons, we decided to take the train.

We immediately got on board because it was scheduled to leave at any moment. Our superiors, as I said, knew nothing of this. There wasn't much room but we arranged ourselves as best we could. We were waiting for the train to depart but, unfortunately, it was not moving. We stayed on that train, in the unimaginable cold, for three days and three nights. Every second, the shelling was getting closer. Not only was the artillery approaching but also the machine gun and rifle fire was drawing near. Seeing that after three days the train had not left, we no longer knew what to do. Someone told us there was a train departing for Italy on the following morning but it was around 10 kilometers from where we were and we would have to go towards the front line to reach it. As I said, we had a small truck and we left immediately. It was almost nighttime. We arrived late in the evening and they gave us something to eat. We asked about the train and, in fact, they told us that the train was to depart early in the morning. However, before its departure it had been called to pick up wounded soldiers near the front line and as soon as it returned it would immediately leave for Italy. Unfortunately, when it had unloaded its wounded, it received orders to embark on an alternate mission.

We no longer knew what to do. We were in danger of being invaded at any moment. Both the Italian and German offensives were in disarray, lines of trucks that were madly trying to escape, machine gun and rifle fire was quickly approaching; in a word, it seemed like the end of the world. At this point our dream of returning to Italy was disappearing with each moment that passed. We waited for the train to arrive. Each second felt like an hour. Even though the hours appeared never ending, the time passed. It was already 2 p.m. and the train had not arrived. By now we had lost all hope and, in fact, word came that the Russians had captured the train.

We still had our little truck. We quickly left but in order to return we had to cross a small river and the bridges were all blocked. They were allowing no one to cross. It was here that they were intending to mount a resistance to the Russian advance. The problem continually became more difficult and frightening. [Returning to] Italy, at this point, seemed an impossibility. The soldier driving the truck was familiar with the area and with the roads surrounding us. He knew of a small bridge on which we might cross and, in fact, it went well. They let us cross. By now night had fallen and we went back to the same station. The train filled with cargo was still there. Once again we got on board and decided that if the train did not leave during the night, at daybreak we would set out on foot because it was too dangerous for us to stay where we were. As God wanted it, at around midnight, the train began to move and it finally left the station. You can imagine how happy we were.

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