Italy WW2 Medal of the 33rd Mountain Infantry Division "Acqui" for the Cephalonia Massacre 1943

ITALY: WW2 Commemorative Medal for the 
Massacre of the 17th Infantry Regiment of 
the Acqui Division of the Italian Army, on 
the island of Cephalonia (15-26 Sep. 1943). 

On the obverse: the Coat of Arms of the 
Acqui Division.
On the reverse: the map of the island of 
Cephalonia , the places (Casetta Rossa, 
Telegraphos) and the dates of the main 
incidents, together with the motto of the 
division ”Aquensem Legionem Time” 
(Themes of the Acqui Legion).

The Massacre of the Acqui Division, also 
known as the Cephalonia Massacre, was the 
mass execution of the Italian Prisoners of War 
(PoWs) of the 33rd Acqui Infantry Div. (among 
them their officers and the Commander of the 
Division General Antonio Gandin) by the 
German 1st Gebirg Div. (Mountain Div.) and 
104th Jager Div. (Hunters Div.), on the island 
of Cephalonia, in Greece, following the Italian 
capitulation during WW2.

In total, 1315 Italians were killed in battle 
fighting the Germans, 5155 were executed 
and 3000 were drowned when the German 
ships taking them to concentration camps 
were sunk.
The massacre provided the historical 
background to the novel Captain Corelli’s 
Mandolin, which later became a Hollywood 
film.
The medal is an unofficial award that was 
issued after WW2 and it is very rare.

FULL SIZE

WW2 1939 1945

Item 100% original - ribbon original

Condition as on the photos
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