Description
This guidebook, published in 2016, describes and gives directions to 200 World War II sites in Italy, including museums, monuments, and former battlegrounds. These memorials honor the soldiers who fought in the Italian campaign, Italian civilians caught in the crossfire, and the Italian Resistance, which aided Allied forces in numerous ways. Noted also are monuments to victims of the Holocaust. Each chapter begins with a brief historical summary that places these memorials in their context. Please note that the pandemic has forced some museums to change schedules; check websites for updated hours. SUMMARY
Chapter 1 describes Italy's role in WWI, the rise of Fascism, and Italy's alliance with Germany during World War II Chapters 2 and 3 focus on museums and memorials honoring American, British, and Canadian troops along Sicily's southern and eastern coasts, where Allied armies landed and began the Italian campaign in 1943. Chapter 4 covers the subsequent landing of Allied forces near Salerno, where the U.S. Fifth Army met stiff resistance from German forces. Numerous monuments and several museums mark those events. Chapter 5 focuses on memorials in and near the city of Cassino, where German forces blocked the Allies from advancing for five months in 1944. Included are war cemeteries, battle monuments, and the rebuilt Abbey of Montecassino, which was destroyed during the war. Chapter 6 concerns the Allied landings at Anzio and Nettuno, towns an hour south of Rome. Here an American cemetery and two Commonwealth cemeteries honor the thousands who died here or in southern Italy. Chapters 7 and 8 are devoted to World War II sites in Rome. These include the Basilica of San Lorenzo, which was damaged by bombs in 1943 and rebuilt soon after the war. Other locations include an apartment building (now museum) used as a prison during the German occupation, and the Jewish Museum, which has exhibits about the deportation of Roman Jews to concentration camps. Chapters 9--13 describe memorial sites in or near Orvieto, Florence, Lucca, and various mountain villages, as well as selected Gothic Line battlegrounds. The latter have the remains of bunkers and trenches. Noted also are monuments to combat on Battle Mountain, where Allied and German troops clashed for over a week in the fall of 1944. Today the top of the mountain has commemorative plaques and statues. Chapters 14--17 focus on memorials to units of the British Eighth Army, which from 1943 to 1945 forced German armies to retreat up the Adriatic coast and then inland to Bologna. Chapters 18--20 provide tours of WWII sites in or near Bologna, and Trieste. Several national monuments are described in detail, including those that honor Italian civilians and the Italian Resistance. Appendix: Excerpts from the journal of Donald Waful, an American soldier who was a prisoner of war in Italy for close to a year SAMPLE CHAPTER
Chapter 6: The Armies at Anzio and Nettuno
Anzio: Beachhead Museum
War memorials in harbor
Anzio War Cemeteries (Commonwealth)
Nettuno: Sicily--Rome American Cemetery and Memorial
Memorials in the center of Nettuno
Museum of the Allied Landing
Cisterna: Remembering the Rangers
Borgo Faiti: La Piana delle Orme (WWII museum)
Pomezia: German Military Cemetery
Author: Donald R. Waful, Anne Leslie Saunders
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 12/13/2016
Pages: 188
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.57lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.40d
ISBN13: 9781540566041
ISBN10: 1540566048
BISAC Categories:
- Travel | Europe | Italy
Chapter 1 describes Italy's role in WWI, the rise of Fascism, and Italy's alliance with Germany during World War II Chapters 2 and 3 focus on museums and memorials honoring American, British, and Canadian troops along Sicily's southern and eastern coasts, where Allied armies landed and began the Italian campaign in 1943. Chapter 4 covers the subsequent landing of Allied forces near Salerno, where the U.S. Fifth Army met stiff resistance from German forces. Numerous monuments and several museums mark those events. Chapter 5 focuses on memorials in and near the city of Cassino, where German forces blocked the Allies from advancing for five months in 1944. Included are war cemeteries, battle monuments, and the rebuilt Abbey of Montecassino, which was destroyed during the war. Chapter 6 concerns the Allied landings at Anzio and Nettuno, towns an hour south of Rome. Here an American cemetery and two Commonwealth cemeteries honor the thousands who died here or in southern Italy. Chapters 7 and 8 are devoted to World War II sites in Rome. These include the Basilica of San Lorenzo, which was damaged by bombs in 1943 and rebuilt soon after the war. Other locations include an apartment building (now museum) used as a prison during the German occupation, and the Jewish Museum, which has exhibits about the deportation of Roman Jews to concentration camps. Chapters 9--13 describe memorial sites in or near Orvieto, Florence, Lucca, and various mountain villages, as well as selected Gothic Line battlegrounds. The latter have the remains of bunkers and trenches. Noted also are monuments to combat on Battle Mountain, where Allied and German troops clashed for over a week in the fall of 1944. Today the top of the mountain has commemorative plaques and statues. Chapters 14--17 focus on memorials to units of the British Eighth Army, which from 1943 to 1945 forced German armies to retreat up the Adriatic coast and then inland to Bologna. Chapters 18--20 provide tours of WWII sites in or near Bologna, and Trieste. Several national monuments are described in detail, including those that honor Italian civilians and the Italian Resistance. Appendix: Excerpts from the journal of Donald Waful, an American soldier who was a prisoner of war in Italy for close to a year SAMPLE CHAPTER
Chapter 6: The Armies at Anzio and Nettuno
Anzio: Beachhead Museum
War memorials in harbor
Anzio War Cemeteries (Commonwealth)
Nettuno: Sicily--Rome American Cemetery and Memorial
Memorials in the center of Nettuno
Museum of the Allied Landing
Cisterna: Remembering the Rangers
Borgo Faiti: La Piana delle Orme (WWII museum)
Pomezia: German Military Cemetery
Author: Donald R. Waful, Anne Leslie Saunders
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 12/13/2016
Pages: 188
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.57lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.40d
ISBN13: 9781540566041
ISBN10: 1540566048
BISAC Categories:
- Travel | Europe | Italy
About the Author
Anne Leslie Saunders is a research associate at the College of Charleston, where she taught for twenty years. Her other publications include the translation of a book about WWII combat in Tuscany. She has a BA from Wellesley College, MA from Columbia University, and PhD from the University of South Carolina.
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