My Uncle (and godfather) served with the 3rd Medium Regiment RA and won a Military Cross for action at the Senio River, a copy of the citation is attached. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1343767/Kenneth-Ballard.html
Agreed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51st_%28Leeds_Rifles%29_Royal_Tank_Regiment#Italy Gerry posted a photo of 51 RTR Crocs on his NIH website. http://www.northirishhorse.net/galleries/I-5.html Two Churchill Crocodile Flame-throwers, of 51st Royal Tank Regiment under command of the NIH, ready to move out. (Photo IWM N.A. 22734)
Owen at the same time that 51st were made into an assault bde with funnies both 142RAC from 25th Bde and 145RAC from 21st Tank bde - were disbanded and NIH moved over to take the place of 145th RAC in 21st Bde along with 12th and 48th RTR- at the end of the war 12 th & 48th as territorial battalions were also disbanded- and the NIH moved on to Germany- and on recovery - I joined 16th /5th Lancers into Austria… Cheers
Many thanks for the comments, and it has been really interesting reading the other contributions. Regards All James
Dramatic painting I just found in One More River - The Story of the 8th Indian Division. https://archive.org/stream/OneMoreRiver-TheStoryOfThe8thIndianDivision#page/n12/mode/1up
lesley, I have just read your post about the last battle on the senio and as my father died on the 21st of april 1945 I guess that was where he fell thank again and god bless all those from the 56th who fell as well. jack Turner.
No need to guess where he fell, here's the 56 Recce war diary for 21/4/45. They'd moved of from the Senio by then. http://ww2talk.com/forums/gallery/sizes/9251-resized-p2250803/large/
This is an excellent thread, many thanks to jamesmurrow who started it and to all those who contributed. I was born in Cotignola, 20 years after the events described here. The memory of that 44/45 winter was a constant subject during my early school years, and it's still part of the collective memory now just as then. I wish more contributions on the Senio battle (and on the Cotignola sector in particular) would come from anyone who has things to share. It's just incredible to read about the people whose fathers were actually there. Mine was too. He was ten and he spent the winter in a shelter in the town centre with his family, hoping for the best and trying to make do with whatever little was available. I don’t think there was one single Cotignola citizen who wasn’t euphoric on the 10th of April 1945, when the Kiwis marched into the huge heap of rubble that was once a town, finally cleared of German troops, and the beginning of a new life for the Cotignolesi. There’s probably something funny in saying “thank you guys for bombing the shit out of our small town”, but given the circumstances…. yes, I think it’s fair to say that.
the first Canadian Corp specifically the Carlton and York Regiment 1st Canadian div held the ground in front of Cotignola after clearing Ravenna by January 5th 1945. http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/docs/Italy_e.pdf Chapter 19 the Battle of the rivers
Thanks for these pics. I was near this spot in October this year when tracing my father's steps with 43rd Gurkha Brigade. They assaulted and captured the east bank near Bagnocavallo in Feb '45 I believe. They were withdrawn from the line after that and joined the Buckland operation further south on Route 9, first with the Poles and then with the New Zealanders.
