American football was brought to Italy with the advent of World War II. American units in the European theatre were full of young men with experience from the high school level to the pros. The first official game is recorded as the 1944 Bambino Bowl, played in front of 5000 spectators in Bari. On January 2, 1945, the 5th Army met the 12th Air Force in the Spaghetti Bowl in Florence.
Military Bowl Games were played during World War II and beyond. Many established bowls became “military bowls” for one or more years during wartime. An example is the Poi Bowl, which is otherwise known as the Pineapple Bowl. The game was played from 1936 to 1952 but was not played from 1942 through 1946, except as a military game in 1945, due to the war and specifically, the Pearl Harbor attack. The bowl resumed after the war. But, it was played as a military bowl in 1945. I have listed on the games that were played between military units below. The Salad Bowl was actually played 9 times, but only two were military.
Airborne Bowl (2)- 1957,1959
Arab Bowl-1943
Army Pacific Olympics- 1945
Army-Navy Benefit Bowl- 1952
Atomic Bowl (3)- 1952, 1965, 1996
Bambino Bowl- 1944
Bamboo Bowl (4) 1945-1949
Brooklyn Bond Bowl (2) 1944, 1945
Cherry Bowl (Japan)- 1951
Chigger Bowl- 1944
China Bowl (3) 1945-1947
Cigar Bowl- 1951
Coconut Bowl (New Guinea)- 1944
Coffee Bowl- 1943
Conch Bowl (2)- 1957,1958
Electronics Bowl (3) 1951-1954
European Orange Bowl- 1946
European Rose Bowl- 1946
European Sugar Bowl- 1946
Iranian Bowl- 1944
Jungle Bowl- 1944
Lily Bowl (6)- 1942-1948
Marine Bowl- 1944
Missile Bowl (5) 1960-1964
Navy Bowl- 1948
Oriental Rice Bowl- 1949
Palmetto Shrine- 1954
Parc Des Princes Bowl- 1944
Poi Bowl- 1945
Poinsettia Bowl (4)- 1952-1955
Potato Bowl (Ireland)- 1943
Rice Bowl (China)- 1944
Rice Bowl (Japan) (12) 1945-1958
Riviera Bowl- 1944
Salad Bowl (2) 1953,1954
Satellite Bowl 1957
Shrimp Bowl (6) 1955-1959
Shuri Bowl 1958
Silver Bowl (2) 1947, 1948
Spaghetti Bowl (2) 1944, 1952
Sukiyaki Bowl 1956
Tea Bowl (2) 1943-1944
Tokyo Bowl- 1945
Treasury Bowl- 1944
Typhoon Bowl- 1956
Valor Bowl- 1957
