vanish, reduced to a mere district of Grande Reggio. So grievances, in the Fascist regime, were not lacking: one of the biggest supporters of the autonomy of the town was Don Luigi Nostro, who sent in writing to Mussolini, "The end of a municipality", or rather a mandate of ten municipalities supported petitions of the Villesi against the maxi-municipality. The government, by decree of January 26, 1933, restored self-government to Villa San Giovanni, including from that date the territory of Cannitello (up to 1947 and also Campo Calabro and Fiumara). The first post-war period Additional reconstructions were necessary after the Second World War, since the summer of 1943, Villa, a railway junction of national importance, had been heavily bombed by the allied forces. Almost all the ferry-boats had been sunk, with only the Messina having been saved. The first free elections, after fascism, took place in Villa, 10 March 1946. They faced two boards: the first, under the symbol of the cross and shield, picked up the Christian Democratic parties of the center and also many of the independents; the second list, which was a symbol for an ear of corn, was formed on the left. The centrist list won by a large majority, mainly because of the fear, widespread in those years in Italy, that a leftist victory would bring the country into the orbit of the Soviet Union. Natale Sciarrone became mayor remaining in office continuously for fourteen years, until 1960. The year 1946-1947 recorded a historic event for Villa: That season, the Villese city football team participated for the first and only time in the series C championship. The experience of the neroverde team in the third series only lasted for that season, due to corporate and financial problems. Demands for autonomy In 1947 the City Council had to rule on the administrative autonomy of the centers of Campo Calabro, Fiumara and Cannitello, annexed to the city in 1933 following the separation of Villa from Grande Reggio. Mayor Sciarrone made a report to the council on the problem, introducing it, historically, with the thesis on the Reggina Column formulated by the Villese historian Don Luigi Nostro, to show that Campo and Fiumara, having never been part of the Villese territory, could become autonomous, but that since ancient times of Colonna Reggina, Cannitello constituted only one area with Villa. He added that the population of those centers was