Helmet

World War II Italian soldier's helmet, size 61. Worn by Torino Ingagleiese during World War II.
At the beginning of the war Italy was on the Fascist side and troops under Mussolini fought together with the Germans against the Allies in Africa and Sicily. In 1943 Italy switched sides and joined the Allies. Mussolini was placed under arrest, and a new government emerged. Although a few months later German paratroopers rescued Mussolini, he was killed April 28, 1945 by an angry group of Italian partisans.

In September 1943, Allied forces in the Mediterranean Theater, still under General Eisenhower's command, made landings on the Italian mainland at Salerno and Taranto. The campaigns in Italy were some of the most costly of the war.