Hello everybody, I am currently analysing the entries in the register for Assisi War Cemetery and have discovered 55 tombstones for men from 46 British Infantry Divison who died between 28 September and 15 October 1944. Given that 46 Division was not in Umbria at the time but was in action on the Gothic Line in late August and September I can only deduce that they had been brought down to Assisi from there to 5 General Hospital where they had then died. I would like some more detail about the actions in which the division was involved from mid September to the end of the month and the first week in October. Does anyone have a copy of the war diaries for that period or alternatively can anyone suggest some details reading matter?? Regards, Vitellino
Vitellino From about the 4th to the 18th September '44 the 46th Div was actively involved with the major battles at Croce / Gemmano at what we called the Coriano Ridge where they took a very bad beating along with 56th Div and 1st Armoured Div - that whole line was holding back about all of 8th Army with the Canadian and Kiwi Divs for more that two weeks with tremendous casualties - so much so that the CCS at Ancona was overwhelmed and the 5th Gen at Assisi had to take many of those casualties - a boat load of wounded were shipped South to Bari on a daily basis - I was further shipped to Catania and many to the UK. During the last week at Coriano - we were losing 150 KIA and 650 WIA DAILY…..It was real mess…. Cheers
Vitellino Meant to add - "GOGGLE " for Battle of Gemmano - the olive article by an Italian - its the best account Cheers
V, At the risk of regurgitating already known detail, I think that the 46th Div burials at Assisi may be slightly more than 55 for the period in question (see attached download excel from CWGC) Given that nearly half of the listed 46th Division casualties are for those men, who were serving with various battalions of the Hampshire Regiment in 128 Brigade and deaths are dated 7th to 9th Oct 1944, I noted in "Richard Doherty's 8th Army in Italy 1943 -45" the following: "..With weather conditions worsening, the Mahrattas advanced in gale force winds and rain to assault Monte Farneto, which fell on the night of 6/7 October. Once again, there was the customary counter attack; the ferocity of this indicated the importance the Germans assigned to Monte Farneto. the Hampshire Brigade of 46th Div then crossed the Fiumicino to conform with the 10th Indian and extend the line. Prior to the Hampshire attack, two officers had carried out a reconnaissance patrol but had been captured with, it had to be assumed, marked maps showing details of the planned operation.. .the Brigade attacked on the night of 7 October..Conditions proved difficult enough for the advance since heavy rain began falling at midnight; this caused problems with bridging and some pack mules drowned in the prevailing flood conditions. Not until dawn on the 9th was the Brigade able to consolidate on its objectives; 138 and 139 Brigades then passed through to continue the advance..." Perhaps a starter for ten. best
Thanks for your replies. I did a rapid calculation just using the regiments I knew to have been in 46 Division. What I really needed to know was the actions which you have so clearly described. Thanks a lot.
vitellino Apologies for being a bit late to the thread Around the time in question the 46th Division were operating in the area between San Marino - Rimini - Cesena Also based on the WW2 documents (concentration reports etc) now available on the CWGC website it appears likely nearly all the 46th Division casualties for that time that are buried in Assisi War Cemetery were 'concentrated' from other 'battlefield' cemeteries. The 'earlier' casualties (like those of Hampshire Regiment) appear to have been originally buried in an area to the northwest of a town/village called Camerano near the following map reference Original WW2 Ref: wr718965 Latitude: 44' 02' 47' N (44.04651) Longitude: 12' 23' 57 E (12.39928) The 'later' casualties (like those of the York & Lancs) appear to have been originally buried in an area to the west of the town/village called Longiano - map reference Original WW2 Ref: wr659998 Latitude: 44' 04' 30' N (44.07513) Longitude: 12' 19' 29' E (12.32477) With regard to the actions they were involved in i have a few albums with information about the 6th Bn York & Lancasters who were part of the 46th Division at the time which may be of interest 6th York & Lancs - War Diary - September 1944 http://ww2talk.com/forums/gallery/album/897-wo-1701491-war-diary-6th-york-lancs-italy-september-1944/ 6th York & Lancs - War Diary - October 1944 http://ww2talk.com/forums/gallery/album/898-wo-1701491-war-diary-6th-york-lancs-italy-october-1944/ 6th York & Lancs - Diary of Events 1943-1945 http://ww2talk.com/forums/gallery/album/899-york-lancaster-6th-bn-diary-of-events-1943-45/ Regards Scott
Hi Vittelino, Apologies also for the late reply. I can supply the 6 Lincolns & 138 Brigade war diary for the above period. PM sent. Regards Rob
Thanks a lot. All very interesting indeed . The local people of Assisi are only just realising that a large number of men who lie buried in the cemetery weren't acutally killed in the vicinity! The same applies to many of hte relatives too. Vitellino
Hello all, I have just finished the mammoth task of consulting all the Concentration Forms for Assisi War Cemetery (available on line from CWGC.org) and converting the Grid References into places using echodelta. An amazing number of men - over 100 - were brought down to Assisi from two temporary cemeteries on the Gothic Line - Longiano and near Canonica. (As you can see from my first post I previously thought that these men had died in Assisi General Hospital No. 5.) I have put a summary of my findings on a website: assisiwarcemetery.weebly.com The link might not work yet as the site is new, but if you type its name into the ADDRESS BAR on your computer you should be able ot access it, Regards, Vitellino
Just had a quick peek at your work Vitellino. I am very impressed and will spend some quality time soon reading through the site. Thanks for all the hard work. Next time we're in that area of Italia, we will definetly re-visit the cemetary. Yet again, a very special place to walk and pay one's last respect to the fallen.
