Stockbridge Youth Among 15 Executed

Killed by Germans in Italy in Flagrant Violation of Rules of Warfare Hands Tied, Shoes Stolen.

Washington, Aug. 13 UPI -- Fifteen American soldiers, in full uniform, were executed by the Germans in Italy last year in flagrant violation of the rules of warfare. Disclosing this over the weekend, the Army said the fate of the 13 enlisted men and two officers was discovered shortly , after V-E day when their bodies were found in a common grave near Genoa. Their hands had been tied behind their back and their shoes had been stolen. The men were captured by the Nazis during a daring night raid aimed at blowing up a strategic railroad tunnel near La Spezia. Planes had been unable to bomb out the line. PT boats put the men ashore on the night of March 22. 1944. but before they reached the tunnel. German "E" boats attacked and drove off the PT boats. Unable to pick up the party, the PT boats returned the following night but found no trace of the men. The victims all were members of the Office of Strategic Service 2671st Special Reconnaissance Battalion based on Corsica. They Included Sgt. Alfred L. De Flumeri, of Natlck, Mass., and Tech. 5th Grade, Joseph A. Libardi, West Stockbrldge, Mass.

The North Adams Transcript ; North Adams, Massachusetts; 13 Aug 1945

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Alfred Louis De Flumeri (1911)