Luigi Sperduti

Luigi, a fisherman, father of four, and a committed anti-Fascist, began ferrying Allied prisoners to the South shortly after September 8, 1943, under the command of Major Macchi—likely on behalf of IS9.

On October 10, 1943, Luigi set out from Roseto in his boat to cross the front line and reach Termoli. In early November 1943, while the boat was returning to Roseto, it was forced by a storm to approach the coast, where it came under German shelling. The crew—and Luigi himself—miraculously survived. He set out again toward Bari on January 17, 1944. From that moment on, the family never heard from him again. After the liberation, Major Macchi told the family that on April 23, 1944, Luigi had set out with his boat on another rescue mission, from which he never returned. He was later declared dead.

Assunta, the fisherman’s widow, wrote to the Allied Commission to request financial assistance. In addition to losing her husband, she had also lost the family’s boat, which had been their property:

The undersigned has five children, one of whom is a soldier; the others are minors and in need of care. She is in dire financial conditions. For this reason, she turns to you and asks that her case be given careful consideration, and that you provide assistance to her and her family. This is the family of a man who lost his life in service of the cause of freedom. All the more so because, in addition to the moral sacrifice, she has suffered material damages amounting to 350,000 lire — including the loss of the boat R.G.