1 Infantry Division (1944-45) In support of the New Zealand operations, 28 Churchill Crocodiles and 127 Wasp flamethrower vehicles were deployed along the front. For the service records of individuals from this period go to Veterans UK, a branch of the Ministry of Defence. This was a system whereby, if one had served three years and nine months abroad, you qualified for home posting. The division landed at Anzio on 22 January 1944 under the command of the U.S. VI Corps. Catalogue search results provide short descriptions of our records and a document reference for each one you will need the document reference to see the record itself. In 1948-51, my mother worked in several camps in Austria and Trieste and brought with her to Australia photographs, monthly reports, refugee art and handcraft. In civvy street he had been a film reviewer for the cinema trade magazine 'The Cinema'. I cant find any information about Subscribe now for regular news, updates and priority booking for events.Sign up, All content is available under the Open Government Licence She also worked in Trieste - in San Sabba, Opincina and Gesuiti. No campaign illustrates the gulf between what you hope to get in war, and what you actually get, than the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943. believe our eyes to find that these refugees were now packed like sardines Take this particular story and the references to my dear old friend Eddy Patman. It remained in the Anzio beach-head until the breakout. In the fight there were two Victoria Crosses won by the 8th Indian Infantry Division. The division was withdrawn from the line and was hurriedly transferred to Greece on 14 January 1945 to fight in the Greek Civil War. IV Corps had continued its northwards advance and reached the Po river at San Benedetto on April 22. This page is not available in other languages. ''He burned our village. dialect are spoken in the city center while Slovenian is partially spoken Three months after I was demobbed I received a payment from the War Office of six shillings and four pence. Bickington November 27, 2019. For some time now my army rank had been Full Corporal, or Tech Corporal as I was known in the squadron. Back to search Royal Army Medical Corps Muniments Collection Thanks for a wonderful web site and if you know where I could get more info and pictures please let me know. ''Because a large number of Italians in Istria and Dalmatia supported the Fascist Italian state, they were singled out for arrest. Members of the Slav minority in Trieste, who often deny that the killings took place, and the old Italian Communists who see the massacres as an embarrassment, have been able to block any investigation. No one dared to upset Trieste's already overcrowded labour market. It was addressed to San Ron, Hi Ron. The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. In March 1943, it was deployed to Tunisia and then used to secure the Island of Pantelleria. For pertinent records please consult the finding aids and reference staff in the consultation area in Room 2400. [28], Secret surrender negotiations between representatives of the Germans and Western Allies had taken place in Switzerland (Operation Crossword) in March, but had resulted only in protests from the Soviets that the Western Allies were attempting to negotiate a separate peace. The Fifth Army began its assault on April 14 after a bombardment by 2,000 heavy bombers and 2,000 guns along with attacks by IV Corps (1st Brazilian, 10th Mountain and 1st Armored Divisions) on the left. The British Army was stationed here and that's why our village is an example of a location shared by two national armies cooperating in war operations. Sorry, no joy there at all. The museum located in the village is aiming to become a reference point in Italy for the history of a foreign contingent, namely what we know as the British Campaign in Italy 1917-1918. The Memorandum gave Zone A with Trieste to Italy for an ordinary civil administration, and Zone B, which had already had a communist government since 1947, to Yugoslavia. It participated in the battle for the Trasimere Line between 20 and 30 June 1944, the advance to Arezzo between 4 and 17 July 1944 and the advance to Florence between 17 July and 10 August. On our arrival back in camp we would find ourselves being armed and sent back to the town in convoy to control the riots that were taking place. I was not to be tempted, however, as the delights of London called and I was looking forward to life as a civilian. getting at Gesuiti, couldn't compare to the quality and quantity we experienced When I arrived in 1950, When he finally made it back to civilian life he achieved very high ranking both for MGM and later for Fox, and we were to stay firm friends right up to his untimely death in 1993. In Trieste, Investigation of Brutal Era Is Blocked, https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/20/world/in-trieste-investigation-of-brutal-era-is-blocked.html. ''It is impossible to consider exhuming the bodies,'' said a University of Trieste historian, Gianpaolo Valdevit. In January 1944, it was involved in the battles for the Garigliano Crossing. It left Italy on 27 January 1945 to transfer to Palestine, where it arrived on 2 February. He was in the RAF, DLI and RAOL as far as I can tell if thats relevant. [17][18] The 8th Indian Infantry Division, 2nd New Zealand Division, and 3rd Carpathian Division (on the Polish Corps front at Route 9) attacked at dusk. Sabba (my grandmother, mother, sister and myself) from Banatsko Novo Selo in 1950. In October 1954 the Allied Military Government was abolished and the Territory turned over to the control of the Italian Government. It was handed back to Italy in 1954. Italian-speaking and Slovenian-speaking You should also provide attribution to the original work, source and licence. Their 40-day occupation of Trieste and hunt for German soldiers, Italian and Croatian fascists and suspected opponents of Communism nearly led to a clash with Allied forces. [9] Allied strength amounted to 17 divisions and eight independent brigades (including 4 Italian groups of volunteers from the Italian Co-Belligerent Army which were equipped and trained by the British), equivalent to just under 20 divisions. As my time got nearer I got more on edge and lived in fear of being involved in a situation that might postpone my home posting. At the same time the divisions were reorganized and their areas of responsibility were redefined. In fact, it brought back memories. Clark succeeded Alexander as commander of the Allied forces in Italy (renamed 15th Army Group), but without promotion. The Italian Special Armored Brigade destroys 15 British tanks and pursues the British for an additional 20 kilometers before losing communication with the home base and turning back. In fact, Trieste was one of the most important cities in the Austro-Hungarian kingdom, along with Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. To induce me to stay he offered, as a bribe if you like, very rapid promotion, mentioning that it was quite common for a Quartermaster Sergeant to be made up to an officer in a very short time. Being the coward that I am, I took the course, and as a result was promoted to Lance Corporal, then later to Full Corporal. On the coastal road to Trieste is the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, operating under the aegis of UNESCO and IAEA. Jevtic went on to spend four years in Trieste before emigrating to Quebec (Canada) via France. Finding gainful employment was an impossibility for all Yugoslav nationals. Zagreb offered the Italians a $35 million share in its hotel industry in March as part of war reparations. They had reached the Santerno, 5.6km (3.5mi) beyond, by dawn on April 11. There were suspicions Find out more about the site contributors. 2/1/06 Hi Olga: Heinrich von Vietinghoff returned from the Baltic to take over from Kesselring and Traugott Herr, the experienced commander of the LXXVI Panzer Corps, took over the 10th Army. British Indian Army and Britain's Allies. I got myself good and early to a vantage point in Whitehall and had the pleasure of seeing a contingent of the 4th Hussars march past in the splendid parade, which included the carriage of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. ''The Italians should try their own war criminals before hunting down people in other countries. We arrived at San 4 Infantry Division (1944-45) [23] Turin was also liberated by partisan forces on April 25, after five days of fighting. moved by the A.M.G. +44 (0)20 7611 [email protected], Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence, Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). in a Jesuit prison appropriated and, almost without facilities, turned into They were left alone.''. Coat of Arms of the Trieste Troops Command, Last edited on 22 December 2022, at 10:58, 1975 the Italian army undertook a major reform, 1st Motorized Infantry Battalion "San Giusto", "82 Reggimento Fanteria "Torino" - La Storia", "151 Reggimento Fanteria "Sassari" - La Storia", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trieste_Troops_Command&oldid=1128868079, I Field Artillery Group, in Trieste, with, This page was last edited on 22 December 2022, at 10:58. And so I come to the end of this unlikely saga. But I don't remember losing any sleep over the matter! The river was crossed the next day and they advanced north to Verona which they entered on April 26. This reduced the Eighth Army, now commanded by Lieutenant-General Richard McCreery, to seven divisions. It took part in the second battle for Cassino between 11 and 18 May 1944, under the command of XIII Corps. Opicina Military Government (A.M.G. Its objective was "to destroy the maximum number of enemy forces south of the Po, force crossings of the Po and capture Verona". Those of us that had one stripe were given three for when we stood up in the Quad to take the salute. or the same as the Riseria? The U.S. Fifth Army had been reinforced between September and November 1944 with the 1st Brazilian Division, and in January 1945, with the specialist U.S. 10th Mountain Division. Then to Monfalcone for a gunnery course,and later a T.A.R.A.course. I am writing to you as I have just completed a new website which has a lot of photos, reports and information on 5 Displaced Persons Camps, collected by my mother, Clare McMurray/Wositzky. It landed at Taranto and advanced up the Adriatic coast under the command of XXX Corps. In both "San Sabba" and "Opicina" we found the same overcrowded conditions, however "Opicina" had slightly better sanitary conditions, and attempts were being made to keep most of the serious T.B. In 1953 Britain and the United States stated their intention to leave Zone A and hand its administration over to Italy. Operation Roast was an assault by 2nd Commando Brigade and tanks to capture the seaward isthmus of land bordering Lake Comacchio and seize Port Garibaldi on the lake's north side. Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Duino-Aurisina, The Erma has this inscription: 'Respect the field of death and glory' in memory of the First World War. The Italian right wing, which says that 20,000 Italians were killed here -- a figure most scholars dismiss as greatly exaggerated -- is reluctant to see any exhumations that might deflate its figures. By Monday we were on our way back, arriving back at camp on Wednesday evening. Six British infantry divisions fought at varying stages of the Italian campaign. Through a long period The large hall where I made my goodbyes was packed with hundreds of men trying on the latest that Montague Burton had to offer, although if I remember rightly you could have any colour suit providing it was navy or brown and any style providing it was single breasted or double breasted! http://www.archives.gov/research/holocaust/finding-aid/military/rg-331-2.html, Apr 7, 2015 In the first week of April, diversionary attacks were launched on the extreme right and left of the Allied front to draw German reserves away from the main assaults. The build-up to the main assault started on April 6 with heavy artillery bombardment of the Senio defenses. 1952 my mother and I was transported to Sweden. But attempts to investigate have gone nowhere. 09:00 to 17:00. Progress was difficult - the rugged terrain of the Apennines, the numerous canals and rivers with destroyed bridges in the low-lying east, and the mud that accompanied winter's driving rain restricted the mobility of the Div. in many of the immediate suburbs. British troops were deployed to north east Italy post-war, one of the primary reasons being the city of Trieste, on the border of Italy and Yugoslavia, and subject to competing claims. Its particularly interesting to me today as it shows Busty, Loopy and Chesty Reed, the RSM. Freedom, you may say, The next day he saw a group of about 250 prisoners at the mouth of the Basovizza pit. On another occasion, a group of British soldiers (BETFOR) decided to When Field Marshal Sir John Dill, the head of the British Mission in Washington, D.C., died on November 5, Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland Wilson was appointed his replacement. It moved to Palestine in April 1944 and then back to Egypt in June. 78 Infantry Division (1944-45). us. Roman Catholic (Chiesa di S. Antonio) and the other Serbian Orthodox (Chiesa Thanks very much and best of luck. Bear in mind that a search in our catalogue will also search for records in other archives around the country keep your eye on the Held by field to establish whether the records are here or elsewhere. I decided that it would be wonderful if this material was accessible to the people or their families who were in the camps at the time - hence I have just put it all on a website. accomodations as I recall than any prison could ever offer. On 11 August 1944, the division transferred to V Corps, and then to I Canadian Corps on 7 September 1944 for the battle of the Rimini Line which commenced on 14 September. On re-checking my personal diaries I now find that after joining the 4th QOH I never went back to Rome, although I clearly visited there twice whilst in the 49th LAA (once on the 21st of June and again on the 10th of July). Rail travel ground to a halt. The division fought in the battle to secure the bridgehead, sustaining heavy casualties. the Annex but a lot about the Riseria San Sabba. San Sabba smallest information would be very helpful to me. 5 Infantry Division (1943-45) Today Im 63 years old and trying to open In the end of summer British estimated around 30,000 casualties were inflicted upon the Axis forces during this offensive, while a German staff officer estimated 32,000 casualties suffered during Operation Grapeshot. The regiment was very involved with the keeping of the peace in Trieste itself, as there were a lot of political parties and even numerous states trying to seize control of the Venezia Giulia area. I have been looking for infomation or The ex-prisoner lived in London and as we had to change stations at King's Cross I agreed to let him visit his folks in Caledonian Road before we finally took him back to camp. While I was fighting in Italy, somebody who shall be nameless had apparently been a naughty boy back in England and had been sentenced to a term in Lincoln jail. The website has a lot of material from all of these camps. very much if you would include "San Sabba DP camp" as one of your many transit As I peeped out of the window to see what was going on I actually saw them take the photo. It then rested and refitted after its long period on front-line duty. Our mutual friend Frank Mee has just drawn my attention to the fact that Barnard Castle is (and was) in Durham and not Northumberland. With some of my friends, I also discovered the joys of gracious living. Scores of accused fascists were paraded daily by the Partisans through the cobblestone streets to Yugoslav military courts. Our library holds a copy of Arthur S Whites A Bibliography of Regimental Histories of the British Army, a useful resource for getting started. Lieutenant general Max-Josef Pemsel, Chief of General Staff of the Army Liguria, consisting of three German and three Italian divisions, followed Graziani's orders and declared in a broadcast message: "I confirm without reserve the words of my Commander, Marshal Graziani. We'd like to use additional cookies to remember your settings and understand how you use our services. She asked me to telephone the police from a nearby bar, because she had no phone in her flat, and I escorted her back to the home we had just left. One such possible event occurred because of my position as Tech Corporal in charge of Squadron Technical Stores. di S. Spiridone), the second is the famed Miramar, the third is Piazza dell'Unita, 12,411 British, and Commonwealth, Free French and French colonial, Polish, and Brazilian troops, Italian Service Unit members, and Jewish Brigade volunteers from Palestine (who served under British command) killed 54,700 Italian partisans killed (44,720 Italian partisans in combat, 9,980 in Axis reprisals) Most of the content on this site is created by our users, who are members of the ostensibly to revisit their families, but always raising the possibility email: [email protected]. general. It would not be the first time we were led up the garden path by the Recce Squadrons they were quite good at it. In March 1943, it was deployed to Tunisia and then used to secure the Island of Pantelleria. From 1950 onwards, unit historical records and reports are in WO 305. Unit records in the aftermath of the Second World War, A Bibliography of Regimental Histories of the British Army, Friends of The National I had been overseas since April 1943 and it was therefore getting near the time for me to be sent home to England under the Python scheme. The capture of Bologna was looked upon as a secondary task.[12]. There is another panaramic virtual site, just as interesting: Italy will become the third nation to begin flying the fifth-generation aircraft from an aircraft carrier. Among the cultural treats available in Trieste was an old Roman Castle named Castello San Giusto. The division fought at the Battle for Adrano between 29 July and 3 August 1943 and then crossing of the River Sangro. For some years now I have been looking at your website and it has been really helpful to me. The U.S. Fifth Army was to launch the Army Group's main effort at 24 hours notice from two days after the Eighth Army attack, and break into the Po valley. fled into Yugoslavia during World War II and after when the Eastern European But the best part was yet to come. The local Venetian dialect These are records that broadly fall into one of two categories: This is not the place to find advice on records of individual soldiers and officers. the closed doors in my life. As a potential Cold War flashpoint, the Free Territory of Trieste was established in 1947, administered by British, American and Yugoslav forces, the British . The 1 Infantry Division was a pre-war Regular Army formation, which was sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) terms and conditions, Royal Army Medical Corps Muniments Collection, Album of photographs of the British Military Hospital, Trieste, Italy, on completion of re-organisation RAMC/2068, Album of photographs of the British Military Hospital, Trieste, Italy, on completion of re-organisation, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. ), with hundreds of other refugees who came streaming On April 27, General Gnther Meinhold surrendered his 14,000 troops to the partisans in Genoa. To the right of Fifth Army on Eighth Army's left wing, XIII Corps crossed the Po at Ficarolo on April 22, while V Corps were crossing the Po by April 25, heading towards the Venetian Line, a defensive line built behind the line of the river Adige. I heard he ended up in the Basovizza foibe. Likewise, the 14th Field Artillery Regiment and the II Field Artillery Group were disbanded and the I Field Artillery Group renamed 14th Field Artillery Group "Murge". The move has been bitterly denounced by many Slovenes and Croats. Apparently the MPs would watch out for British troops making a deal in a side alley, then pounce, confiscate all the cigarettes and any money being offered and let the offenders go on a promise not to offend again. [23] On all fronts, the German defense continued to be strong and effective, but Bondeno was captured on April 23. Joachim Lemelsen, who had temporarily commanded the 10th Army, returned to command the 14th Army. The sights in Trieste include Miramare, a romantic castle built in the 19th century for Austrian Archduke Maximilian and his wife. Indeed, US troops barely got ashore at Salerno in September . In October we moved to the Trieste area, to a small town called Opicina, which sat on the top of a hill overlooking the Bay of Trieste. The lower the group number the quicker you got out. In early January 1945, the British 1st Infantry Division was sent to Palestine and at the end of the month the I Canadian Corps and the British 5th Infantry Division were ordered to north-west Europe. To the left of V Corps, on Route 9, the II Polish Corps would widen the front further by attacking across the Senio towards Bologna. Please read the rules before participating, as we remove all comments which break the rules. [25][26] On April 27, the 1st Armored Division entered Milan which had been liberated by the partisans on April 25 and the IV Corps commander Willis D. Crittenberger entered the city on April 30. At times, when I found myself signing for half a dozen tanks at a time, I used to say to myself: 'Hold on therethat's 180,000 pounds worth of equipment you've just become responsible for!' There were no harsher On one occasion the navy decided it would be a good idea if they were to send some of the matelots stationed in Trieste to our barracks for a day's leave. Warning order received. The 46 Infantry Division was a second line Territorial Army formation, which was formed in 1939 as a duplicate of the 49 (West Riding) Infantry Division. approximately one flamethrower vehicle every 70yd (64m) along an 5.0mi (8km)-long front, 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy, Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II, https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/royal-artillery.php, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/italian-campaign, https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/canada-Italy-1943-to-1945, United States Army Center of Military History, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spring_1945_offensive_in_Italy&oldid=1152528016, This page was last edited on 30 April 2023, at 19:51. It bordered the new Italian Republic to the north, and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the south and to the east. Every morning I would set up the plan board in his office showing which, if any, vehicles were 'off the road'. earlier. I phoned from the bar, not leaving my name or any information other than that there was a corpse in the street near the bar - because I had no intention of being involved with the Italian police when I was so near to going home on leave. http://www.retecivica.trieste.it/new/default.asp?tabella_padre=sx&id_sx=28&ids=8&pagina=-&tipo=monoblocchi, http://www.archives.gov/research/holocaust/finding-aid/military/rg-331-2.html, http://www.windcloak.it/cultura/risiera/monu.htm, http://www.beyondthebluehorizon.com/triestephotogallery/. If "San Sabba" and "Opicina" were bad enough, a third camp, located in downtown Trieste, called "Gesuiti" was -- in the words of my Serbian friend Drago Jevtic -- the worst of the lot.
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