My son attended the Outlook music festival in Pula, Croatia a few days ago. Curiosity led me to check the map to see how the coach got him from Venice to Pula, and I noticed it took him through Trieste, where my dad served a policing role at the end of WW2. Dad had been transfered to 78th Regiment 700th BTY RA Auxiliary Police and received training in June/July 1945, arriving in Trieste early August. I now realise that Pula was part of Italian territory back in the day, and was called Pola. So my son visited the same area that his grandfather had been working in 73 years earlier. My son is 22 years old, and his granddad would have been 23 years old. Isn't life strange sometimes!
The area known as Julian March around Trieste and Pola (Pola is now Pula in Croatia) was disputed territory, with the British & Americans administering one half (Zone A), and the Yugoslavs the other (Zone B). Relations in this region were tense, and remained so until 1954. In 1946, two US transport planes were shot down by Yugoslav forces.
I remember this border conflict well....an aftermath of the end of WW2 threatening peace in the area as the new political lines were drawn up......always likely to escalate with the British as usual trying to hold the peace. Thanks for the look back in history.
Pula/Pola was the Port of Entry for British troops operating in that part of the Balkans. The port is vast and so the British ran it as a fiefdom for a period after the war. They did the same at Taranto and the Americans had Naples. All locations, fully administered by Allies and Italians were kept out. Regards Frank
It's good to see the map of Trieste again as this was my last port of call in Italy and marked a period of much stability at the end of 1945, Trieste, post May 1945 Best regards Ron
You may be interested in the Spoken History of Henry Moore, where he describes being transferred to police duties in Trieste and breaking up fights between Italians & Yugoslav Partisans (Moore, Henry William (Oral history) ...from 10 minutes into the second tape). My dad must have known Henry as they were both in 164 Battery, and both transferred to Policing duties in Trieste (Sergeant ACK-ACK: Italy & the end of the war)