BRAZIL WWII

The Italian Campaign 

 

                                                                           

                                                                                                The Italian campaign was the name of a                                                                                                     very important mission for the Allies to get                                                                                                   in and out of Italy. After an initial reluctance                                                                                                 to commit troops to the war effort, Brazilian                                                                                                politicians decided that their country’s direct                                                                                                 participation would achieve it a special                                                                                                         status after the war. The Brazilian                                                                                                               Expeditionary Force started as a political                                                                                                     project to make Brazil a “special ally” of the                                                                                                 United States. Britain opposed the                                                                                                               involvement of Brazilian troops partly                                                                                                           because of perceived pro-Axis sympathies                                                                                                 of some Brazilian politicians, and partly                                                                                                       because of troops of too many nationalities                                                                                                 in the Mediterranean Theater. Doubts that                                                                                                   the BEF would be deployed in combat at all                                                                                                 led to its nickname "the Smoking Cobras."                                                                                                   This referred to a Brazilian saying,                                                                                                               equivalent to “pigs might fly,” stating that it                                                                                                   would be more likely for a snake to smoke                                                                                                   than for the BEF to be deployed. As a                                                                                                         result, the BEF insignia was a coiled cobra                                                                                                 with head upright and smoking a pipe. The                                                                                                 U.S. government considered deploying the                                                                                                 BEF in southern Brazil on the Argentine                                                                                                       frontier following coups in Argentina in 1943 and 1944, and a 1943 Argentina-inspired coup in Bolivia. However, the Americans conceded to BEF deployment in Italy because of Brazilian wartime cooperation. A total of 25,335 Brazilian troops came under the command of the U.S. Fifth Army. They fought in battles at Castelnuovo, Monte Castello and Montese in the Apennines south of Bologna. Brazilian military and political leaders rejected Allied offers to remain as an occupying force in postwar Europe. In late 1945, the FEB returned home and was disbanded. This was the end of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force. The reason why this was the most important battle to Brazil was, because it was the battle they were the most involved in during the war, they were used as a special ally to the United States since they were the biggest South American Country. This made them feel more important, and they had sent the most troops of all countries in South America to fight in Italy.