When you live in a place, you never go to visit your local museums. They are too much easy to reach. So you think that you can visit them when you want, tomorrow maybe. And years pass away. Living in Rome I have a lot of things to see, and I saw a lot of things. But something is always left for another time. So, I took a day holiday to visit three obscure museum in my city. I think that they can be interesting even for you. This day is divided in 4 posts. This is the first.

In Rome there are some military museums but they are difficult to reach due to locations, timetables and lack of informations. This time I went to the Army museum, that collect even pieces from other minor Army museums. I think it is the best Army museum in Rome, maybe in Italy. To introduce this museum I’m showing the internal shrine. To remember that people fight and die in war.

And now a total different visual code, the war as comic book heroism. The paratroopers are Italian ones, the part of Folgore that fought with the Allies after the 8th of September 1943.

In the hands of the paratroopers there were MABs. Here a rack with its family. Under a glass, pity!

Here some Beretta pistols, always under glass. The light conditions were terrible, so I can give you only photos with ugly colours. These pistols were the standard ones for the Italians in the WWII.

More weapons. An Italian flame thrower.

The English antitank PIAT. These weapons were freely available around and without surveillance, but I hadn’t the courage to embrace them. Indeed, these are a little heavy too.

A Solothurn rifle used at the start of WWII as antitank weapon. Look at the radiator elements to obtain an approximation of the real dimensions. It is more than 50kg heavy and the projectile is enormous. Remember, is a rifle.

An extension for a rifle used inside a trench.

The example of a trench. Without mud. It reminds to me the trench of the Imperial War Museum in London. That one is more educative and modern respect to this one. However our museum has dignity, but it is based on outdated conceptions. I wish something more organised and presented. Materials are really great, but they are poorly showed. There is love for the matter, but love is not enough. And the lack of money is evident, from broken showcases to inadequate rooms. It is the doom of the Italian Army to have great excellences treated without the rightful respect.

I showed only weapons but there are a lot of other materials as uniforms and relics. The saddest things are the flags. These in the photo are part of the Askari group collection, the indigenous troops that fought for Italian Empire. Men that are now forgot by Italy and their native countries. Moreover, you can find buried Italian flags to spare their capture by the enemy, Italian flags cut in small pieces to preserve them carried on prisoners, Italian flags ripped to shreds by years and aligned as tombs in a war cemetery. It was the saddest image, the end of glory…

For us, players of little soldiers, something very thrilling. A diorama on Waterloo. Lights are scarce, this is only a portion of the scene, but you can appreciate it indeed. And on the next post: tanks.

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