Traverso was a young lieutenant in the Savoy Cavalry which, in June 1942, was shielding the southern flank of the German summer offensive. The fighting intensified as, approaching the River Don approximately 125 miles north of Stalingrad, the 600 men of the Savoy Cavalry arrived at Isbuschenskij.
There, on the evening of August 23, an Italian patrol encountered a Soviet rearguard of 2,000 men supported by mortars and machine-guns. The regiments monocled commanding officer, Count Alessandro Bettoni, winner of two Olympic golds in equestrianism, ordered his men to take defensive positions before settling down to dine off the regimental silver.
The following morning, after breakfast, Bettoni gave the order to attack across a plain thick with sunflowers. Officers, wearing red neck ties, slipped on white gloves for the occasion. They wielded captured Cossack swords, which were heavier, and thus more destructive, than Italian sabres.
Such was the thirst to take part in what was even then recognised as an unusual event, that Traversos commander rode off to join the four cavalry squadrons, each of 150 men, which formed the main thrust of the attack.
Traverso was left in charge of the fifth (machine-gun) squadron, which was the first to advance, laying a thick field of fire from the front and centre of the Italian position directly into two lines of the 812th Siberian Infantry Regiment. Around Traverso, the other Italian squadrons formed up at a walk, before breaking into a trot, canter and finally an all-out gallop. As they set off the battle cry went up: Sabres. To hand. Charge!
What followed proved to be a textbook mounted attack. The second squadron broke right, before turning sharply to hammer through the Siberians left flank, and then wheeling around again to press the advantage from behind, hurling hand grenades into the disintegrating enemy line. Bettoni then ordered the fourth squadron to attack head on, and the battle wore down into brutal hand-to-hand fighting, with many of the Savoy having dismounted.
At this crucial point the third squadron launched a second diagonal attack, similar to that which had opened the battle, and Soviet resolve crumbled. As the smoke cleared, their losses stood at 150, with a further 500 captured. The Savoy Cavalry had lost fewer than 40 men.
You were magnificent, a German officer remarked to the Italians afterwards. We no longer know how to do these things.
Mario Traverso is survived by his sister, Alba. As for the Savoy Cavalry, its regimental flag survived the Russian campaign thanks to Traverso, who recovered it from a fallen comrade. Postwar Italy was no place to honour such things, however, and it was only towards the end of his life that he returned it. A delegation from the regiment attended his funeral, where the flag was draped upon the coffin before being taken to a permanent home in the regimental museum.
This is a re-enactment of an Australian Light Horse attack during WWI. But machine gunners on horseback such as the WWII Savoy Cavalry attack is definitely an interesting concept.
Posted by: Snereger Lover of the Swedes3903 ||
02/20/2011 0:54 Comments ||
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#2
I thought some of our SpecOps were fighting from horse back in the early days of Afghanistan?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
02/20/2011 1:34 Comments ||
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#3
Indeed they were. Met by General Rashid Dostum upon arrival. Doug Stanton's book "Horse Soldiers" while taking some liberties, provides a fairly accurate account.
Cavalry (from French cavalerie, cf. cheval 'horse') were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest (after infantry and chariotry) and the most mobile of the combat arms. A soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations such as cavalryman or trooper.
The designation of cavalry was not usually given to any military force that used other animals, such as camels or mules. Infantry who moved on horseback, but dismounted to fight on foot, were known in the 17th and early 18th centuries as dragoons, a class of mounted troops which later evolved into cavalry proper while retaining their historic title.
A Victory but nearly 60,000 Italian POWs died in Nazi labour camps, while nearly 20,000 perished in Allied Prisoner of War camps (mainly Russian: 1/4 of the 84,830 Italians officially lost in the Soviet Union were taken prisoners, and most of them never returned home).
#6
Goodluck.
(a) I was talking about USSF, not italiants.
(b) Those who fight on foot are infantry---whether they use horses, APC, or planes (paratropers) for a ride. Those who fight of the back of a horse, or camel, or elephant, or from inside a tank are cavalry.
(c) Look up hobelar before you invoke dragoons.
(d) The term "gromgoru" comes from a SF book.
#7
I laugh and am joyous with you G(r)omgoro, we learn much on Rantburg. Fill your cup, and toast the passing of Mario Traverso, may he find peace, for the likes of him shall never pass this way again.
'I consider myself a lucky man to be the husband of 39 women and head of the world's largest family.' I wonder what sort of trouble he would be in were he to be found having an affair in his spare time. Pics at the link, including one of this fella and his wives. The women don't look happy.
[Ennahar] The general amnesty for political prisoners came into force on Saturday in Tunisia after the promulgation of a decree law by the transitional president, said Saturday an official source.
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[Ma'an] Former Madagascan president Marc Ravalomanana was blocked from leaving South Africa Saturday, after an airline refused to give him a boarding pass citing a letter from Madagascan civil aviation authority.
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[Arab News] Ivorian security forces fired into the air and used teargas on Saturday to disperse protesters in Abidjan calling for incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo to step down, witnesses said.
His rival Alassane Ouattara has called for Egypt-style mass protests to oust Gbagbo, who has refused to step down after a Nov. 28 presidential election that UN-certified results show Ouattara won.
Witnesses said around 200 youths gathered in Abobo, a pro-Ouattara area of the main commercial city Abidjan, but soldiers and police broke them up. Abobo has often been the scene of violent festivities between security forces and civilians.
"The oppositions youths started assembling at the roundabout this morning. The security forces came in armored vehicles and fired teargas and bullets into the air," said Tieba Doumbia, 30, who owns a small shop nearby.
One of the teargas grenades landed in a local market, forcing dozens of women to flee, he said. There was no immediate comment from Ivory coast's military or police.
The army imposed a night-time curfew across the country this weekend that will be lifted at 0600 GMT on Sunday.
Gbagbo has defied widespread international condemnation and Western sanctions by clinging to power, with backing from a pro-Gbabgo legal body that overturned Ouattara's win and the military, which has entrenched his position and crushed dissent.
West Africa's central bank has cut him off, triggering a liquidity crisis that has forced international banks to close up shop. Gbagbo decreed this week that the main ones are to be forcibly nationalized and re-opened on Monday.
Paramilitary forces loyal Gbagbo killed at least six civilians in Abobo last week. At least 300 have been killed in violence since the disputed election, mostly Ouattara supporters killed by pro-Gbagbo forces, the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society says.
"A military vehicle drove toward the protesters. They fired in the air to disperse them. I didn't see any deaths for the moment," said witness Ladgi Traore, 28, a newspaper seller.
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Passengers travelling on the London Underground could soon be using their mobile phones to make calls and send text messages.
Chinese telecoms company Huawei has offered to install a £50m phone network in the Underground as a gift from one Olympic nation to another.
The idea is being backed by London Mayor Boris Johnson but security chiefs fear the move could increase the risk of terrorism.
'In the event of a terrorist attack, putting a mobile network on the underground would be extremely helpful,' said Patrick Mercer MP and former chairman of the counter-terrorism subcommittee. 'But it absolutely answers a terrorist's prayers -- to be able to detonate devices on the Underground.'
According to the Sunday Times mobile transmitters would be installed along the ceilings of tunnels so that commuters can make and receive calls for the first time on the Underground.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/20/2011 13:47 Comments ||
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#2
Heck, regardless of who installs it, the parts and sub-assembles are most likely going to be coming from China anyway. You think they're going to do a line by line examination of the micro code?
[Pak Daily Times] Several thousand supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide protested in Haiti's quake-torn capital on Friday, waving photos of their exiled leader and vowing to derail a runoff election next month unless he returns.
Chanting "No Aristide, no second round," flag-waving and horn-blowing demonstrators marched through gritty slums and near the collapsed National Palace, which police protected with light barricades. There was no violence and the mood was festive, with loudspeakers blaring music and men drinking beer in the hot sun.
"We must have the return of Dr. President Aristide as a simple citizen to help us get better as a country, as a people," said Eugune Mirthil, an unemployed 37-year-old who wore two photos of the ousted leader stapled to his white T-shirt.
Aristide, a former slum priest and Haiti's first democratically elected president, decamped the country on a US plane in February 2004 amid a violent rebellion. He still retains strong support in this impoverished and often rudderless Caribbean country, particularly in the slums of Port-au-Prince.
Speculation that he might come back soared after ex-dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier made a surprise return in January after nearly 25 years of exile in La Belle France.
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[Arab News] Venezuela's top diplomat hit back at the United States on Friday over its suggestion that His Excellency President-for-Life, Caudillo of the Bolivarians Hugo Chavez's government should allow an international investigation into alleged human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... abuses.
Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the matter is a domestic affair and Washington has no business meddling. Sounds like he's a little worried.
"We absolutely reject that the US get involved in this issue," he said. "Our country does not accept tutelage from anybody." Maduro was responding to a statement Thursday from the US State Department, which urged the South American nation to permit an investigation "as a means to promote dialogue and understanding." Diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the United States have been tense for years due to mutual antagonism, spurred by Chavez's frequent condemnations of US foreign policy in Latin America and Washington's accusations of deteriorating democracy in Venezuela.
The human rights probe is the key demand of a small but growing group of students conducting a hunger strike and sympathizers who want the chief of the Organization of American States to look into their allegations that the government improperly uses judges and prosecutors to attack Chavez's political adversaries.
Maduro said OAS Secretary-general Jose Miguel Insulza has not contacted Venezuela to make a formal request for a visit.
But Insulza said Friday that he has repeatedly asked for permission to travel to Venezuela.
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AyPee has an article on a social network organized protest at a Mickey D's in Beijing, Shanghai and 11 other cities. "We want food, we want work, we want housing, we want fairness" Photo at article shows cops three and four deep outside the Arches, but it's not clear whether they are there for crowd control or MCFlurries. Let's hope it's the CIA testing systems.
[Iran Press TV] Albania's opposition Socialist Party has held another anti-government demonstration in the capital Tirana to demand that the government resign over corruption allegations.
Thousands of demonstrators, led by opposition leader Edi Rama, marched in central Tirana on Friday, calling for the resignation of the coalition government led by Sali Berisha.
Protesters also called for early elections, although the next elections are planned for 2013.
The opposition has accused the ruling government of rigging the 2009 elections and has refused to accept the results.
"We are the only hope to give an end to the injustice and give Albania a fair governance," AP quoted Rama as saying in a speech to protesters.
"We do not want to come to power through demonstrations but we shall keep on demonstrating to oust this government. Here are the people asking for fresh, free, and fair elections," he added.
He also said a peaceful solution was needed to end "a crisis that is harming every day the country and the common people."
Four people died when an opposition movement demonstration turned violent last month.
Albania, which is one of Europe's poorest countries, is seeking to join the European Union, but the 27-nation bloc has said the country has not yet done enough to root out corruption.
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[Arab News] The US House of Representatives on Saturday approved legislation to cut federal spending deeply through September, a plan that is sure to be stopped by President Barack B.O. Obama and his fellow Democrats in the Senate.
The Republican-backed bill is a challenge to Obama to show he is serious about closing record budget deficits and sets up the possibility of government shut downs if a compromise is not worked out by March 4, when current funding expires.
On a largely partisan vote of 235-189, House Republicans won passage of the bill to cut current spending by about 14 percent, or more than $61.5 billion from current levels, marking a victory for Tea Party conservatives who were elected in November.
House Speaker John It is not pronounced 'Boner!' Boehner ... the occasionally weepy leader of House Republicans... said the legislation was part of Republican efforts "to liberate our economy from the shackles of out-of-control spending."
Obama has outlined his own plan for less severe spending cuts in 2012, and has warned that tightening the belt too much too soon could harm the slow economic recovery.
Attention now shifts to the Senate, which will write its own version of a government funding bill for this fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.
The House spending cuts reflect Republican opposition to federal regulation, which they say hampers business growth, and distaste for taxpayer dollars being used for programs ranging from job training and food aid for the poor to NASA space exploration.
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#1
The Republicans need to keep presenting and voting on legislation in the House even though it will not make it past the Senate or Obama's veto pen. At least it will put the ball in the Democrat's court so that many (maybe enough) voters will be aware of who is really preventing the economy and Washington from getting fixed. Of course there are those who just want things to continue as is and who want to continue getting their chunk of the boodle. They don't seem to understand that the boodle is rapidly evaporating and that soon there won't be any boodle. Voters who are self-employed or in the private sector, many of whom are not getting any benefits are being asked to pay taxes for generous benefits for public union members via their taxes. At the State level, the protesters who protest Walker's attempts at reform and balancing the budget look stupid, silly, hateful, greedy, and unbending. Obama dollars won't buy anything if they are not worth anything. I don't think this is lost on voters who are crying for reform. All this is ammunition for 2012.
#2
At this point I would just bypass O. In my opinion he has become irrelevant. Pass the legislation and proceed just like they are doing with health care.
They don't abide the constitution give them a dose of their own medicine. The constitution is a living document so it can be updated as they say. I am not serious but regressive liberals do change the rules to suit themselves.
That's not possible, Dale. A lot of things can be done at the state level, including the 26 states suing in federal court, claiming that Obamacare is unconstitutional... and Alaska at least refusing to enforce it. But at the federal level the president is the chief executive officer, the one responsible for running things. There is no one else -- that's how the system was designed.
#4
Obama's far left agenda has been derailed by the 2010 elections. Unfortunately, the Pubs will have trouble moving their agenda. But as you say T.W. much can be done at the State level and in the courts. As individuals, we can all participate in the process and keep pressure on our representatives. Another bunch of them will be up for re-election in 2012.
It is interesting to compare our "quiet" revolution with what is going on in the Mideast. Our founding fathers had a genius about them when they built into our Constitution the means for ongoing revolution.
I don't think the "hope and change" going on is what Obama meant in 2008.
#5
It requires positive action for the Feds to spend money. The executive branch can't spend money the legislators haven't appropriated. So by all means Barack, shut down the federal government and its spending torrent. It's like money in the bank to taxpayers.
Posted by: Pearl Gleaper1127 ||
02/20/2011 18:36 Comments ||
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SULAIMANIYA / Aswat al-Iraq: Security forces in Sulaimaniya dispersed protesters in the Kurdish city Saturday by using water cannons and shooting fire in the air, a local security source said.
The protesters, located about 500 meters away from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), were forced to withdraw to side roads after security forces used water cannons and shot fire in the air, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
A medic told Aswat al-Iraq that eight people, including a policeman, were wounded in the incidents.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Sulaimaniya to demand better living conditions, an end to corruption and political reforms. Unrest continued Friday in Sulaimaniya, where personnel from the security agencies, police and peshmerga (Kurdish forces) were intensively deployed to keep order and security and prevent a possible outbreak of violence.
Protests and acts of violence sparked the concerns of the semi-autonomous Iraq Kurdistan region inhabitants that they might move to other areas.
KDP deputy leader Nejervan Barzani had said on Friday that the politburos of the KDP and Iraqi President Jalal Talabanis Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the two main Kurdish parties, discussed during a meeting ways to unify stances regarding the incidents that broke out in Sulaimaniya and efforts to solve the problems.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/20/2011 00:00 ||
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An interesting event. I can almost understand what happened
Computer security firm HBGary & its federal branch HBGary Federal had a very bad week. The CEO of HBGary Federal said he was prepared to name key players in the 'Anonymous' DOS attacks against supposed enemies of Wikileaks a few months ago.
The 'Anonymous' response was swift and humiliating. HBGary's servers were broken into, its e-mails pillaged and published to the world, its data destroyed, and its website defaced. As an added bonus, a second site owned and operated by Greg Hoglund, owner of HBGary, was taken offline and the user registration database published. Well-known 'best practices' were not followed. Key details are in the article.
#3
Someone needs to start finding these organizers and followers and breaking legs, privately. RADIUS logs tell you all you need to know for location. A little old fashioned detective work and a bit of brains you can drive some of these out. Start imposing real world consequences on things like this.
[Straits Times] MYANMAR'S military rulers called on Saturday for the party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to apologise to the public for backing Western sanctions it said were restricting the country's development.
A commentary carried in three state-controlled newspapers said the National League for Democracy (NLD) party 'have to mend their ways, begging public pardon for the acts they have breached in their interests, at the expense of that of the nation'.
The comments followed a warning in last week's dailies that Ms Suu Kyi would face 'a tragic end' and suggest the army junta has not softened its stance towards the Nobel Peace laureate, despite releasing her from seven years of house arrest in November.
Ms Suu Kyi last week said she saw no reason to lift sanctions at present and called for dialogue on the issue, although she did not say with whom talks should be held.
Ms Suu Kyi has backed sanctions as a means to isolate the regime but has shown a more flexible approach in recent weeks.
Analysts believe she is using her influence on the West as leverage to coax the reclusive generals towards reforms, but their latest rebuke suggests they are still unwilling to cooperate.
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[Straits Times] THOUSANDS of Thai 'Red Shirts' gathered in Bangkok on Saturday to mark nine months since a bloody crackdown on their anti-government rally and to press for the release of jugged leaders.
Police estimated around 8,000 protesters massed in Ratchaprasong, the retail heart of the city, and a further thousand met at Democracy Monument, both sites of bloodshed during last year's April and May demonstration.
Dressed in their trademark colour and waving banners, flags and plastic clappers, the crowd cheered loudly as the movement's few key figures not jugged by authorities spoke to protesters.
'We came today to ask for justice for our people who died exactly nine months ago at this place,' said Thida Thavornseth, leader of Red Shirt movement.
'They died for our fight we will ask for justice for them from those who do not show either political responsibility or legal responsibility,' she said.
More than 90 died and nearly 1,900 were maimed in festivities between protesters and the army during the two-month rallies in 2010 calling for immediate elections.
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[Straits Times] HEAVY weapons fire from rebel groups in eastern Myanmar killed four farm workers and maimed three more as fighting continues to rage in the region, state media reported on Saturday.
The armed wing of the Karen National Union was accused of 'undermining peace of the State, tranquility of community and prevalence of law and order' and 'causing death, injury and fear', the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
It said the group, which has waged Myanmar's longest-running insurgency, battling the government since 1949, fired heavy weapons into an area of Bago Region, north-east of Yangon, that borders Karen state.
Fighting between ethnic Islamic fascistiand government troops in Karen State flared around the time of the country's controversial elections last November.
Thousands of people briefly decamped across the border into Thailand seeking to escape the violence and unrest has continued to boil.
As a result of the elections Myanmar, ruled by the military since 1962, has a new parliamentary system, although it is dominated by retired generals and has been criticised as a sham aimed at shoring up army rule.
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#1
Islamic fascisti and the Karen? Transmogrifier trouble?
Posted by: Pearl Gleaper1127 ||
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Hat tip Instapundit
The Center for Equal Opportunity released a study earlier this week that analyzed undergrad admissions data we had obtained from Ohio State and Miami University and concluded that heavy preferences are given to African American and, to a lesser extent, Latino applicants over white and, again to a lesser extent, Asian applicants.
#1
Other factors are also most certainly in play here. Dropout rates were not mentioned, nor were college and government financial grants, degrees and actual studies undertaken. Obviously the more students through the front door the more likely you'll manage to have a few make it to the graduation exericse. Two things make the world go around, and the other one is money!
#2
Nah, this can't be happening. There is racial discrimination in major universities? Who would have known?
Such discrimination has been prevalent for many years. University have departments set up for to insure diversity training, student recruitment, and faculty recruitment. Considerable resources are expended searching for minorities to fill faculty slots. Minority means African-American. In some instances there are few or no minority candidates to fill faculty slots. The search for minorities must be done nonetheless and documented before anyone can be hired. There are active programs to recruit black students into engineering. This is a tougher task than recruiting black students into athletic programs. The high schools are not doing a good job of preparing students in the basics.
As Besoeker said, much of this is about Federal money. When universities are evaluated, Federal dollars are considered more valuable than other dollars. Faculty are largely evaluated on the basis of research output--not teaching, or community service. All Federally-funded research must meet guidelines for insuring that minority or sexual discrimination does not occur. Of course, much of the apparatus set up to insure diversity has to be set up and is an added cost to universities. It is a reason that tuition keeps going up year after year. It is a reason that university administrations become top heavy and bloated.
#3
When I went to Miami U. (geologic eras ago...) there were very few " people of color". This was before all this racial preference was really in force. Those that were there were very qualified hence no GPA inflation. Sad to see we continually lower the bar academically....wonder when the riots will start at the college level?
#4
Of course, much of the apparatus set up to insure diversity has to be set up and is an added cost to universities. It is a reason that tuition keeps going up year after year. It is a reason that university administrations become top heavy and bloated.
I don't mean to imply that administrations become bloated only because of diversity programs. It is a host of federally mandated programs and laws which universities must comply with that cause university bureaucracies to become bloated, OHSA, EPA, privacy laws, affirmative action, sexual harassment, regulation on using human subjects for research, copyrights and patents, etc.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
'I consider myself a lucky man to be the husband of 39 women and head of the world's largest family.'
His Excellency President-for-Life, Caudillo of the Bolivarians Hugo Chavez
