A recent Italian RAI television Porta a Porta discussion programme featured what they called the 70th anniversary of liberation day – April 25.

One of the interviewees was an octogenarian who recounted a touching experience.

He happened to be in a Rome square that day when suddenly machinegun fire rung out and two German soldiers, riding on a motorcycle with sidecar, were shot dead.

People gathered around the bodies and someone commented that it was a pity their mothers back home wouldn’t be seeing their sons again.

By that time, most Italians had come to hate their fascist compatriots more than the Germans.

Suddenly, the interviewee continued, an American tank rumbled into the square and people apprehensively stood still.

Then the tank’s hatch opened and a black face appeared. Most Italians had never seen a black face before and, as the crowd gazed in almost disbelief, the black American soldier took his helmet off and waved to the crowd.

Someone shouted, “Ciao Americano, have you got a cigarette?”

The soldier threw them a packet and the whole square erupted in celebration.

I wonder whether our younger generation know who saved Europe and guaranteed them the freedom they take for granted today.