In 1923 a Fascist squad murdered a Catholic priest, don Giovanni Minzoni, an anti-fascist and the voice of the poor farmers in Romagna, as well as a friend of several socialist politicians like Natale Galba.
Similarly, Blackshirt legions (one per infantry division) were regarded and used as elite assault units both for their fanaticism and their armament, in which the Beretta 38 bulked.
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During 1941 and 1942, this weapon was available almost exclusively to paratroopers, Blackshirts, tank crews and Carabinieri military policemen, given the need of all of the former to express high volumes of firepower in prolonged actions or to keep close-quarters combat superiority.
The MVSN original organization consisted of 15 zones controlling 133 legions (one per province) of three cohorts each and one Independent Group controlling 10 legions.
The Husker "Blackshirts" defense included seven first-team All-Big Eight selections, four players who would earn consensus All-America recognition during their careers and two Outland Trophy winners: tackle Larry Jacobson and middle guard Rich Glover.
In March 1936, after the Battle of Shire, he was given command of a mixed group of Blackshirts and Bersaglieri being assembled in Asmara, Eritrea.
He participated in the Sarzana incident on 21 July 1921, leading a column of 600 "squadristi" (Blackshirts) to Sarzana with demands for the liberation of Renato Ricci.
Comandante generale (commandant general), in Fascist Italy's MVSN, was the title of the head of the Blackshirts, held by Benito Mussolini from 1922 to 1943.
Of the remaining approximately 810,000 (of which 58,000 were caught in France, 321,000 in Italy and 430,000 in the Balkans), more than 13,000 lost their lives during the transportation from the Greek islands to the mainland and 94,000, including almost all of the Blackshirts of MVSN, decided immediately to accept the offer to fight alongside the Germans.
In 1936, he was involved in the 'Battle of Cable Street', when Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts were routed by a mobilisation of East End workers.
As the middle guard, he was a key member of the Blackshirts as an underclassman on the 1970 and 1971 undefeated Nebraska teams that won consecutive national championships.