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| . . . have been greatly exaggerated . . . ? |
In 1940 Mussolini sent the Corpo Aereo Italiano, or the Italian Air Force, to Belgium to support German bombing runs on the UK. It turned out to be a disaster, and they went home after a year. But Il Popolo D'Italia made a wild claim about these airmen in the middle of World War II.
They weren't even all that original. Goebbels made a similar comment in 1940, and the Italians had to be aware of it, right? Because Goebbels was of the opinion that any nation who believed in monsters was stupid and couldn't possibly win a war like this one. Which is funny, coming from a Nazi. You know, the guys who went looking for Excalibur and werewolves and invisibility serums, etc. Regardless, it was Goebbels who claimed that the Loch Ness Monster was killed when she hit a mine and exploded.
He thought such an announcement would demoralize the Scots, so I'm guessing that's why, a half a year later, the Italians claimed TO HAVE KILLED NESSIE THEMSELVES. A member of the CAI had bombed the Loch Ness Monster, or at least a giant serpent-like creature living in Loch Ness. Which, well, you know.
A lot of weird stories came out of WWII. Douglas MacArthur's mere existence is pretty fucking weird, if you ask me, but there's other stuff, like the cannibals of Guadalcanal, for example. So why not have an Italian pilot blow up Nessie?
The Brits, never a group of people to let a good joke pass them by, publicized a story about a father and son who later saw Nessie alive and well afterwards. Here's an excerpt from the article published from back then:
Possibly scarred and even shell-shocked, he seems to have returned perhaps from repairs at some deep-sea wetdock, and outwardly as good as ever. "Stout fella!" say the English, pleased as well as amused. He may be a monster, but he has some sturdy, bulldog characteristics which the British admire.
I have to wonder, is Nessie a decorated WWII vet? Do they make medals that big? Why isn't there a movie about that?
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