THE MARCHI FAMILY
Province of Livorno
Rosignano Solvay and Volterra
Destruction from French bombs on Solvay
Province of Livorno
THE MARCHI FAMILY
The story of hardship and sacrifice in Italy WWII
Before the beginning of WWII, the Marchi family lived in the town of Rosignano-Solvay where the father Giulio Marchi worked in the huge Solvay plant located there which manufactured various soda ash and caustic soda products. Mariagrazia and Carlo Marchi lived with their mother Aurelia on Via Folrì, house 19, which was given to them by the Solvay Society.
On June 17, 1940, the Marchi family was on vacation north of Rosignano-Solvay near Castelnuovo della Misericordia when the Solvay plant was bombed by a french plane coming from the island Corsica. The plane launched two small-caliber bombs, damaging the chimneys and boilers of the plant, and then let out a round of machinegun fire on the surrounding houses. This was the first of many incidences that would force the Marchi family to make sacrifices throughout the five following years of war.Throughout 1942 and 43 frequent night alarms would sound throughout Rosignano-Solvay, driving the Marchis to find a new home. They stayed with many different people around Rosignano, travelling every day to go to work and to school under the sound of alarms. This changed on September 8, 1943, when the Nazi Headquarters put out an order for everyone living on the west coast of Italy to move at least five kilometers inland, and the Marchi family found themselves in Volterra.
VOLTERRA
During their time in Volterra, the Allied troops advanced on the town and managed to liberate it. In an attempt to slow the Allies down, the retreating Nazis had planned to detonate an ancient (circa 400 BCE) Etruscan Arch on June 30, 1944. Hearing of this, the commissioner of the town Colonel Borgiotti and Bishop Bagnoli convinced the Nazis not to, with the caveat that the arch had to be entirely walled up with 6-meter thick stone by 6pm the next day, 24 hours away. The Marchis and the people of Volterra, mostly women and children, banded together and succeeded in walling up the entire arch with 2 hours to spare. The family continued to stay in Volterra after it had been liberated until the end of July of 1944 living in the old Etruscan tomb with another 120 displaced persons for twelve days.
On August 1, 1944, the Marchis returned to Rosignano to find their house occupied by two families from the town of Livorno whose houses had been destroyed by gunfire and bombing. They stayed until the end of summer, but it wasn’t long before the Marchis opened their home to another group of strangers.
HOUSING AMERICAN PILOTS
One day, on Carlo and Mariagrazia’s walk to school, they passed a US official who asked them if they were willing to house three members of the army in their house. Carlo responded that they were still housing several displaced people and that the officer would have to ask Solvay and his landlord. A short while later, the displaced families had left and there were soldiers living in the Marchi family’s attic in exchange for some much-needed extra food. In December 1944 they took in another group of soldiers, this time 11 pilots from the 35th Squadron of the 64th Troop Carrier Group named Neuman, Gabrosec, Billeisley (the captain), Bill Tucker, Stowell (who was a Mormon), Weeha, O’Donnell, Checling (the navigator), Frizgerald, Yangh, and Warner.
Gabrosec drove a german car that he had gotten liberating different parts of Italy. One day he was driving the car around and he accidentally ran over Frizgerald’s dog. Frizgerald, after hearing this news, became so depressed that he declared that he wouldn't be flying any more missions. Fearing that he would get in trouble for refusing his duties as a soldier, his comrades enlisted the Marchis to find him a puppy. The new dog gave Frizgerald new hope and he continued to fly. Unfortunately, Frizgerald had to return early as he had broken both legs during a launch test on mount Amiata, and the puppy remained in Rosignano.
The Marchis lifted the spirits of the american pilots once again on Bill Tucker’s 21st birthday, when they and the captain Billeisley helped to cure his homesickness with a birthday party even when they did not have that much food.
After completing their mission of supporting the Partisan resistance of Northern Italy, the pilots left May 8th, 1945, thanking the Marchis for their hospitality.
When the 35th Squadron left the Marchis in 1945, each man was only allowed to carry 53 pounds of luggage back with them, so many clothes, belongings, and even weapons were left with the Marchis. The weapons were returned to the local authorities, but the rest of the belongings left behind are still with the Marchis. Frizgerald's puppy, Flik, also remained with the Marchis until his death in 1959.
SUMMARY
The Marchi family was impoverished and nearly made homeless by the war, and yet they still worked hard to help others. Whether by helping to protect the Etruscan Arch in Volterra, taking in displaced families, and eventually sheltering members of the US army and air force, the Marchis suffered and sacrificed for the wellbeing of others.