World War: Pursuit Race

For the Italians, the Ukrainian campaign was a pursuit of the advancing Germans. Roman Messaggero’s War Correspondent Lino Pellegrini described the difficulties of keeping up with the swift ally. “The enemy mud,” he said, “is implacable to those who seek to advance at any cost, and only tractors can get over it with relative success. The distance of a few kilometers seems unobtainable. . . . Often German comrades helped my car along with their energetic arms.”

The Germans, concluded Signor Pellegrini, await the arrival of the Italians in the fighting lines “with cordial impatience.”