When Italy was governed from Brindisi
At 4 p.m. on 10 September 1943 the corvette Baionetta sailed into the harbour of Brindisi, in Puglia, at the heel of the Italian boot. On board were King Vittorio Emanuele III and the royal family, who had boarded at Ortona, and Marshal Badoglio with ministers and chiefs of staff, embarked at Pescara — all fleeing Rome since dawn the day before, in the wake of the armistice with the Allies. The government of what remained of the Kingdom of Italy settled in the port city, and Brindisi stayed its seat until February 1944, when the government moved to Salerno.