EX-Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri didn’t quite get hero status at Stamford Bridge, but his grandfather definitely is one.
Grandad Goffredo Sarri risked his own life in WWII to save two US pilots shot down by the Germans over occupied Italy, hiding them and leading them to safety in a daring rescue.
12
12
In 1944, Italy was under German occupation after the overthrow and arrest of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
Allied forces were pushing up from the South, but German forces were dug in around the mountains surrounding Florence.
Bill Lanza, from Revere, Massachusetts, was the gunner in a seven-man crew flying a B-25 Mitchell bomber on a mission to destroy a bridge when it was hit by German anti-aircraft fire.
He miraculously bailed out as the plane came down in flames, and as he landed in a field he was immediately embraced by two young Italian boys.
One of them was teenager Amerigo Sarri – Maurizio’s father.
12
12
more brilliant football features
The pilot died in the crash, flying the bomber into a mountain as he tried to allow enough time for the rest of the crew to bail out.
Two men were captured, and four including Lanza managed to evade the Germans in the Val d’Arno countryside, 200 miles behind enemy lines.
Lanza and Todd were told to hide in woods by a farmer, where they covered themselves with leaves.
The farmer went to get Goffredo, Amerigo’s father who was a partisan, which meant he was opposed to the German occupation of the time.
Without introducing himself, Goffredo immediately brought Lanza a bottle of wine and some cheese and told his new friend to go back into the woods and hide again.
After sundown, Goffredo went to the spot where Lanza was hiding and walked him to the farm in civilian clothes.
The remarkable story was later told by John Lanza, nephew of Bill, in a book called Shot Down Over Italy, published in 2010.
12
Map of the doomed flight, showing where Lanza bailed out, 1, and the plane crashed, 7
12
Lanza said, “In the afternoon, about four o’clock, I was hiding in the woods and feeling pretty good because the wine was strong and the cheese was delicious.
“He (Sarri) was carrying a bag of civilian clothes. I changed from my military clothes to my new white shirt and an oxford grey suit.
“I gave him my clothes, but kept my shoes.
“The partisan’s last name was Sarri. That’s all I ever called him.”
If caught, Lanza would’ve been likely viewed as a spy and could’ve been tortured and killed.
While Sarri’s granddad could have been shot dead on the spot for helping the enemy.
Lanza said: “After sundown, Sarri instructed me to follow him to his house.
“So, in my new civilian clothes, I followed him down a dirt road. He was walking about seventy yards ahead of me.
12
12
“While we were walking, two German trucks loaded with soldiers hurried past us.”
Sarri took him and Todd to a cave on his land, and Lanza lived there for the next 65 days, as the family brought them pasta, soup and bread.
The Germans knew the American airmen were being helped by the Italians, and flooded the area with troops.
Amazingly, the cave Lanza and Todd lived in was only 1oo yards from the Germans’ local HQ.
When people there got caught helping Americans – it was no questions asked. They killed about 200 that I heard of
Bill Lanza
Lanza said: “They never knew I was there, but I definitely knew they were there.
“I could see them doing calisthenics every morning from my cave.
“I could hear their machine guns going all night.
“They had a very fast sounding machine gun – much faster than the American ones – and it drove me crazy.
“We slept on straw mattresses in our cave, but we sometimes washed ourselves and our clothes at a rain basin on the farm.”
Lanza knew the risks Sarri was taking.
“When people there got caught helping Americans – it was no questions asked,” said Lanza.
“There were a lot of atrocities. They killed about 200 that I heard of.”
Young Amerigo would often drop-in to check on the two pilots.
12
Lanza said: “Amerigo was a frequent visitor to the cave.
“We liked Rigo and I think he liked us. We used to play games. One game was someone slapped your hand in the dark and you had to guess who slapped it.
“Sounds silly, but we tried to make the best of our circumstances, and had a good time playing games.”
Two months had passed since the pilots had hurled themselves from their burning plane, and the Germans began to give up their searched and started to pull their soldiers out of the Italian countryside.
That’s when Goffredo prepared Lanza and Todd’s escape plan.
He wrote a letter to the German commander telling him he was going to be escorting some miners through town.
But of course, these were no miners.
12
The toughest task between Lanza and Todd’s freedom was crossing a bridge outside the village that was surrounded by Nazis.
Lanza claimed: “The Germans were in foxholes and they were shooting at planes that were bombing the area.
“They must have thought we were nuts because bombs and bullets were flying everywhere as we walked by.
I put my trust in Sarri and he never let me down. Basically, we always trusted each other
Bill Lanza
“They couldn’t be bothered with civilians and we were in regular clothes and looked like refugees.
“We walked right past the Nazi trucks.”
Lanza continued: “It is mind- boggling to me that I was able to walk past German soldiers who were looking for me.
“You can imagine how nervous I was. I put my trust in Sarri and he never let me down. Basically, we always trusted each other.”
12
12
Goffredo had done his duty and taken Lanza and Todd as far as he could.
After staying in a sub-basement of a Silesian church with hiding Jewish families, the pilots managed to find safety with English soldiers.
Their ordeal was over, thanks to the Lazio boss’s grandfather, who later received a letter from the US General Joseph McNarney thanking him for his bravery.
In 2015, Sarri was asked by Italian newspaper Repubblica about Goffredo’s astonishing act of heroism.
He said: “He was called Goffredo, he was very proud of a recognition on a White House letterhead.
“As a partisan, he recovered the pilots of a US plane shot down in Val d’Arno, hid them, and at that time they shot you for less.
“One was called Bill Lanza, I know because his daughter and nephew wrote us a book.”