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Brazil has a long history of fascist governments, with present day being no exception. And during World War II it was ruled by a vicious military dictator, but the nation still knew that fucking Nazis were bad, so Brazil sent an expeditionary force to side with the Allies to help defeat Hitler—the only independent South American nation to do so.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: February 21, 1945--
It was over 25,000 men and some women, and they were badasses. Referred to as the Smoking Cobras, they made a significant naval contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic and fought fiercely on land in the Mediterranean theatre of the war under U.S. command. This is the story of their role in the Battle of Monte Castello.
Part of the Italian campaign, the fighting began in late November of 1944, and was the first time the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) entered combat on land. They were attacking a hill 30 miles north of Tuscany, where the Germans were dug in deep. It was critical that the hill be taken, because the fucking Nazis had ample artillery emplacements that halted the Allies from being able to push further north toward Bologna and then continue their northward advance to retake all of Italy from the Axis.
The Brazilian soldiers were inexperienced and forced to learn on the job. AKA in combat. Fighting in coordination with American forces, Monte Castello was captured in only two days. But then there was a massive German counterattack, and they lost the position. The winter sucked, the roads became a quagmire, and it was just generally not a fun place to be when you’re trying to charge uphill through the mud while some fucking Nazi is trying to kill you.
In this battle and the many that followed, the Smoking Cobras developed a reputation for courage and determination, lauded by their allies and feared by their enemies. Monte Castillo was finally taken on February 21, 1945, at a significant cost due to the entrenched and elevated positions held by the enemy. A German captain said to a captured Brazilian lieutenant, “You Brazilians are either crazy or very brave. I never saw anyone advance against machine-guns and well-defended positions with such disregard for life … You are devils.”
Regarding the nickname, that was a fuck you to their own government. The Brazilian government was trying to play both sides during the war, maintaining economic relations with Axis and Allies alike. It was only when Brazilian merchant ships suffered massive losses from Axis submarines that the FEB was sent. Prior to that there was a saying that went “It’s more likely for a snake to smoke a pipe than for the FEB to go to the front and fight.” When they deployed, the FEB proudly wore badges depicting a snake smoking a pipe. The FEB also often wrote on their mortars (in Portuguese) “The snake is smoking.”
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