Zilli at the celebration for the sinking of the Galilea
(ANSA) – MURIS DI RAGOGNA, MARCH 26 – “In the values of the Alpini it is possible to rediscover the sense of the Friulian community: sacrifice, belonging, respect for the homeland, sometimes even at the cost of one’s life, respect for the neighbor and the community and the ability to look to tomorrow and to make sacrifices for it”. This is the thought of the regional finance councilor Barbara Zilli, who spoke at the commemorative ceremony for the anniversary of the massacre following the sinking of the Galilea steamer, held in Muris di Ragogna near the war memorial on the Greek Albanian front, on which are reported the names of the many Alpini of the Gemona battalion and the tombstones of the Bersaglieri of the Second Regiment and those of the Carabinieri of the First and Twenty-first Battalion.
Remembering the victims of the sinking, Zilli highlighted that the alpine hat represents the “synthesis of important values to be transmitted to the younger generations, so that through the stories of family members and documentation they can get a critical idea of history and be aware of what what it is necessary to do to be better citizens, especially in everyday life”, especially “in a historical moment in which many principles seem to waver”. Thus he recalled “the boys of the Gemona Battalion who shed their blood for their country, but also the daily commitment of the ‘black feathers’ to support the local community”.
Galilea sank on the night of 28 March 1942, hit by a British torpedo, off the Greek island of Antipaxos in the Ionian Sea. The ship had sailed from Patras to Bari and had 1,335 people on board, more than double the recommended capacity, mostly Alpini from the Gemona battalion, some field hospitals from the Julia Division, but also Bersaglieri, carabinieri, soldiers on leave , a hundred sailors and about sixty prisoners, including Greeks and Italians. Only 279 survived, of which 205 were Alpine. (HANDLE).
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