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| British troops enter Noto, photo by Phil Stern |
Noto, a Baroque town of
26,000 inhabitants a few miles inland from Avola (halfway between Syracuse and
Pachino), was the seat of the headquarters of both the 146th Coastal Regiment
and the 437th Coastal Battalion. The garrison consisted of the fourth company
of the 437th Coastal Battalion (another company from the same battalion was
stationed in Marzamemi, a third one was defending plants in the area, and
another one was garrisoning fortifications in the Noto-Tellaro area), as well
as a platoon of bicycle infantry and an anti-tank unit. Colonel Felice Bartimmo
Cancellara, commander of the 146th Coastal Regiment, sent the bicycle platoon
on the road that connected Noto to Piano della Pace, so that the link between
the regimental command and the 374th Battalion in Avola would be mantained; the
rest of the troops, supported by three self-propelled guns, prepared to defend
Noto from the advancing troops of the 151st British Brigade (50th Infantry
Division), which had landed between Capo Negro and Calabernardo, and of the
231st “Malta” Brigade, that had landed in Marzamemi.
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| Noto city centre with the baroque Cathedral |
That afternoon, the
situation looked dire for Cancellara’s troops: British forces, continuously
reinforced by newly landed men and weapons, were isolating the coastal
strongpoints; the 430th Battalion had ceased all communications with the
regiment at 13:00, nearly all of the coastal batteries had ceased fire, and
only a few isolated strongpoints remained of the 374th Battalion. British
troops were encircling Noto, and the only roads left open were the San Corrado
and Villa Oliva roads, that led to Palazzolo Acreide. The road to Rosolini had
been closed off following the withdrawal of the 447th Anti-Paratrooper Squad.
By 15:00, all communication with the command of the 206th Coastal Division and
the 122nd Coastal Regiment had ceased, and swarms of fleeing soldiers, sailors
and airmen coming from Syracuse were spreading news that that town had already
fallen. Hospitals were overflowing with wounded soldiers and civilians; all
medical officers of the 146th Coastal Regiments, as well as its chaplain, were
busy attending to the four hundred injured soldiers and civilians that filled
the hospitals in Noto and Avola, where they had been evacuated from Palazzolo
Acreide, a nearby town that had suffered two heavy bombing raids on 9 and 10
July.
Colonel Cancellara sent
two dispatch-riders on motorcycles towards Modica and Palazzolo: the former was
tasked with making contact with the divisional command, but was forced to go
back after finding that the road to Rosolini was already in Allied hands; the
latter came back with the news that the 75th Infantry Regiment would launch a
counterattack towards Floridia, and that the 146th could expect no
reinforcements.
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| Modern-day panoramic view of Noto |
The Allied attack on Noto began at 14:00. The outposts on the
roads to Avola and Calabernardo were attacked by British troops supported by
tanks, and the Italian troops were forced to retreat towards the outkirts of
the town and the town hall. Villa Petrosa was taken; sergeants Carlo Montesi
(23 years old, from Agugliano in the Marche) and Arturo Natoli (33 years old, a
Lombard from Varese), privates Vittorio Bonatti (20 years old, from Moglia in
Lombardy) and Anselmo Ricò (34 years old, from Ramiseto in Emilia) and two tank
troopers were killed, and the bicycle platoon lost half its men killed,
wounded, or captured. The fourth company of the 437th Coastal Battalion then
launched a counterattack, led by 45-year-old Captain Michele Valzani (from San
Pietro Vernotico, Apulia) and 54-year-old Captain Lino Angelotti (from Palermo);
at the cost of two men killed and five wounded, the company managed to
recapture Villa Petrosa, restoring the original frontline. (Valzani and
Angelotti were later awarded the Bronze Medal for Military Valor for this
feat). At 18:30, however, British troops started to enter Noto, driving once
again the defenders from Villa Petrosa; the Italian garrison retreated to the town
hall. At the same time British columns, guided by some locals, marched up the
San Giovanni valley and moved towards San Corrado, to the rear of Cancellara’s
regiment. Cancellara concluded that his position was compromised, and decided
to retreat under the cover of darkness. Around 22:00 on that evening, the
Italian defenders withdrew to Noto Alta (upper Noto) and the contrada of San Giovanni, and at
midnight a column formed by the fourth company of the 437th Battalion, by the
command of the 224th Artillery Group, by the 233rd Self-Propelled Artillery
Group and by Engineering troops, led by Cancellara, started its march towards
San Corrado, with the aim of reaching Palazzolo Acreide and linking up there
with the 75th Infantry Regiments. Despite British shelling, the column manage
to cross the Castagna mined bridge and to reach Villa Vela, a few kilometres
from Noto.
The 146th Coastal Regiment
had left behind over one hundred men killed and another hundred seriously
wounded in Noto, and equal numbers in Avola. The 430th Coastal Battalion had
suffered the heaviest losses, especially in Ognina, La Villa, Fontane Bianche
and at the mouth of the Cassibile.
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| Italian POWs in a temporary enclosure near Noto |
(Main source: “La
battaglia degli Iblei”, by Domenico Anfora)
