Where did Kamal Ram win his VC ?

His VC was earned on 12th May 1944 shortly after crossing the River Gari, Italy.

Obviously the part of the river is the key and the only other information I have is that the the enemy position had to be captured to be able to secure a bridgehead over the Gari.

Will do some more digging when I have time.

Cheers

 

From his Wiki,

On 1944-05-12 at the River Gari on the Gustav Line in Italy, the company advance was held up by heavy machine-gun fire from four posts on the front and flanks. The capture of the position was essential and Sepoy Kamal Ram volunteered to get round the rear of the right post and silence it. He attacked the first two posts single-handed, killing or taking prisoner the occupants and together with a Havildar he then went on to complete the destruction of a third. His outstanding bravery unquestionably saved a difficult situation at a critical period of the battle.


Kamal Ram - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edit: Darn, Andy just beat me to it..again!

 

Someone on your side ( ) could try at the Imperial War Museum in London for the Kamal Ram VC. Original Recommendation, with it I could find the exact location of VC and take some photographs of the place! What do you think about?

Best Regards, Gurdjieff

P.S. Owen, this link
Defence Dynamics - Multimedia Library - Sepoy Kamal Ram VC
doesn't work to me....

 

OK Owen, I'm here...I hope for some good news, in the next hours!

 

Best I can do is 'south of Sant' Angelo'. From 'Martial India, the story of two million volunteers' by F. Yeats-Brown.
Confusingly, the Gari is called the Rapido in its upper reaches, then the Gari, then the Garigliano near the coast. At the point where it was crossed by the 8th Division on the night of May 11th-12th, south of the village of Sant' Angelo, it is ten feet deep, thirty broad, fast flowing, with treacherous banks. On the far side lie swamps and a wet cornfield extending to the low plateau on which Sant' Angelo stands.



On the right, between the Cassino railway station and Sant' Angelo, 4 British Division had not completed a bridge before dawn and was unable to do so in daylight, but although lacking support weapons the division clung to a shallow lodgement on the far bank throughout the day. On the left 8 Indian Division succeeded in placing two bridges over the river south of Sant' Angelo and was joined by tanks of 1 Canadian Armoured Brigade and some anti-tank guns.
From III: The Destruction of the Gustav Line | NZETC

 

The Indian built Bailey Bridge. called 'Oxford Bridge' was put across about 3/4 of a mile south of Sant' Angelo.

The Liri Valley: Canada's World War ... - Google Books

with this interesting sideline in tank launched bridges.
THE INVENTION OF THE TANK-LAUNCHED BRIDGE
by lan Seymour
(Radio Operator of the Carrier Tank)

General Russell consulted Lieutenant
Colonel Cyril Neroutsos (Distinguished
Service Order) from Montreal, Quebec,
Commander of the Calgary Regiment, and
the latter, after doing a personal
reconnaissance, (which involved swimming
the Gari River) reported that one bridge
would be quite inadequate, for the purpose.
General Russell agreed and took up the
matter with General Kirkman, who at first
demurred. A number of discussions ensued
between the 3 officers and Lieutenant
Colonel Schoolhouse (General Russell's
assistant) concerning the difficulty of
constructing another tank-bearing bridge
quickly. And then occurred, one of those
chance remarks which can change the
course of history. Colonel Schoolhouse
said, at one of the meetings, "Well, why
can't we build a Bailey Bridge and push it
across the damn river - it's only a couple of
hundred yards wide!" This was taken in a
jocular sense, but this one spoken sentence
sparked a thought in the mind of Colonel
Neroutsos that led to a chain of events that
may have caused the slight difference
between defeat and victory at Casino. And
the difference was slight despite the huge
superiority in size and equipment enjoyed
by the 8th Army. The German 51st
Mountain Corps was to fight with stubborn
tenacity, courage and endurance. Typical
German Army initiative was displayed by
the non-commissioned officers innumerable
stereotyped Hollywood images to the
contrary notwithstanding. Colonel
Neroutsos went on more reconnaissances
through No Man's Land (in this case "No-
Man's River) and picked out a suitable
place on the Gari River about 500 metres
south of "Oxford". This spot was code-
named "Plymouth". Still thinking about the
words of Colonel Schoolhouse, Colonel
Neroutsos consulted his Royal Canadian
Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
(REME) officer, Captain Tony Kingsmill
from Toronto, Ontario. Captain Kingsmill
mulled over this strange notion and
conceived the idea of 2 tanks working
together to carry and push a
bridge across the 60 foot wide Gari River.
One Sherman tank (the "Carrier) would
have its turret removed and have substituted
a large metal steel "I" beam until the front
end of it was well over the far bank of the
river. Captain Kingsmill would then order
the carrier tank to advance and it would
drive down into the river - the bridge failing
into place. Another duty of the operator
was to see that the driver disentangled
himself "-from his head-set and got out of
his hatch, and to assist him if he was
wounded. The two man crew was then to
bail out and swim for shore. The pusher
tank would decouple.

PLYMOUTH INITIALLY SUCCESSFUL

Several hours after dawn "Plymouth
Bridge" was completed out of sight of the
enemy on the far bank of the river. Captain
Kingsmill took his place on the ground to
the left of this huge ungainly contraption
and ordered both tanks to advance. With
many a creak and groan, the whole moved
slowly forward, Lieutenant C. Howe
commanding the engineering platoon,
standing on top of the bridge. We had
several hundred metres to travel to reach
the prepared launching position. To mask
the infantry attack and the large target
offered by Plymouth, the 8th Indian
Division artillery also laid down smoke.
The two slowly moving tanks with their strange burden were nevertheless either
seen or heard and some mortars landed
during the approach. Captain Kingsmill
calmly ignored these and the bridge itself
was not hit. After what seemed an
interminable journey to the two tank crews,
the Gari at last came in sight. Captain
Kingsmill ordered a halt, and after a slight
pause to get perfectly aligned, he ordered
the pusher tank forward. The bridge moved
slowly over the rollers. Across the carrier
tank and when it was projected across the
Gari with its front end about 20 feet over
the further landing place, Captain Kingsmill
ordered the carrier tank forward. I passed
the order to MacLean and he promptly
drove down into the river - "Plymouth
Bridge" lowered neatly into position as the
carrier tank disappeared under water for
what seemed an interminable time to me, as
I was standing about chest deep. However,
MacLean soon popped up and out of his
hatchway and swan back to shore. My
duties were thus completed. Fearful of the
poisonous serpents which infested the area,
I went hand over hand on the bottom of the
bridge being about one half in the water,
and thus we both reached the shore safely.

Captain Kingsmill ordered the pusher tank
to decouple and sent a coded, wireless
message of success to Colonel Neroutsos,
and the Calgary Regiment (less the one
squadron at "Oxford") rolled forward from
their hidden positions to Plymouth.
MacLean and I had the pleasure of standing
soaking wet waving to our comrades as the
first two tanks rumbled across the bridge.
The crew commander of the lead tank was
Lieutenant A. I. Cawsey from Calgary,
Alberta (who also had the second tank
under his command).


VICTORY

The tank crossings of the Gari and the other
rivers, had a decisive effect on the cracking
open of the German Gustav Line and this,
in turn, paved the way for the breaching of
the Hitler Line. The whole operation taking
about 11 days of hard fighting by 8th Army.
A purist might label this "Journalistic".
This is best left to history. This victory
along with other attacks resulted on a
general advance to and far beyond the
"Open City' of Rome. The Germans were
forced back with huge losses. The allied
Air Force came into its own and caught
what remained of the German forces on a
desperate attempt to retreat by moving their
vehicles in unclouded daytime, something
they had heretofore, for many months
rigidly avoided. Thousands of tanks, guns,
trucks and all manner of military vehicles
were destroyed. This Victory dovetailed, as
planned, with the successful allied landing
on the Normandy beaches on June 6.

REWARDS

Both Captain Kingsmill and Captain Patton
received the Military Cross. MacLean and
Carson received the Military Medal and I
was Mentioned in Despatches - for our
respective contributions to this seemingly
small part of World War II. Lieutenant
Cawsey was also Mentioned in Despatches
for his gallantry in a later battle.

 

YouTube - Sepoy Kamal Ram gujjar

YouTube - Sepoy Kamal Rams return to India

 

Wounderful video, thank you very much!

Regards, Gurdjieff

 

Wounderful video, thank you very much!

Regards, Gurdjieff

I'll second that. Thanks Owen.

Map Overlay showing Gari crossings for 12th Infantry Brigade.

Regards
Tom

 

Hi Owen,
I'm sorry but there is an error,

the point 63 is this:




Zoom




On the Paul map:



I hope to take soon pictures of point 63 and the Gari river!

All the best, Gurdjieff

 

Yes Owen, right! I was confused...:icon_smile_blackeye

infact, this was my first approach:




with Sant'Angelo in Theodice as a reference point:




Best Regards, Gurdjieff

 

Owen,

A very timely reminder.

Regards
Tom