Communists
On December 2, 1944, Holohan sent Icardi to meet with the local Communist commander Vincenzo Moscatelli. This was arranged, reluctantly, by Aminta Migliari, aka Giorgio, who had wanted the arms drops funneled through him. Although Migliari proved to be treacherous, the OSS men had to rely on him for support. The Communists, who made up about 75% of the partisans in the Chrysler area, were supposed to receive equal allocations of the two arms drops, but the Communists frequently raided drops intended for rival groups. Lieutenant Icardi stated in 1950 that Holohan treated the Communists equally as the other groups. Some Italians regarded Holohan as "fervently anti-Communist".
On December 6, 1944, the OSS men were holed up in Villa Castelnuovo on Lake Orta when two friendly priests came to warn them to flee. As the soldiers left in the darkness, gunfire broke out and Holohan, Icardi, LoDolce and Italian agents Gualtiero and Tozzini fired back. By prearrangement, the men would split up if attacked. Icardi made it to Giorgio's headquarters. When the men finally reunited, Holohan was missing. Icardi reported the incident to his headquarters.
Two weeks later, an OSS man from Milan visited the Lake Orta and investigated Holohan's disappearance. At the villa, the officer found spent 9mm shell casings (used by all sides) and on the beach, one of Holohan's hand grenades.
The surviving Chrysler men continued to arrange supply drops to the partisans, and Moscatelli stated later that after Holohan’s death, OSS support increased. In February 1945, Mission Chrysler was ordered to Milan, but its operations changed because of the urban environment, which precluded air drops and hiding in the countryside.
Read more about this topic: The Holohan Murder Case
Famous quotes containing the word communists:
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