Arezzo and surrounding areas

Discussion in 'Italy' started by Greyhound84, Oct 23, 2022.

  1. Greyhound84

    Greyhound84 New Member

    Hello everybody! I'm passionate about the history of the Second World War and I'm looking for information to reconstruct the history of the places where I live (Arezzo, Italy).
    Most of these places are now forgotten, covered by vegetation and many people don't even know what happened there. What I would like to do, with the help of detailed maps and information (mainly war diaries), is to go up on the mountains, where mainly the events around my city happened, and try to identify the exact places where historical facts happened. On this forum I found some very interesting high level information about the area where I live, but I hope that asking specifically about all the facts happened around my city I will be able to obtain more precise information to try to identify specific places where clashes happened, trenches were digged or headquarters where established. Some places I could think of are Monte Lignano, Alpe di Poti, Alpe di Catenaia, Civitella in Val di Chiana, Val di Chiana (valley), Casentino (valley), Valtiberina (valley) or Valdarno (valley again).
    If anyone should have maps or war diaries related to this area of Italy I'd be glad if they could share them with me!
    Thanks in advance to everyone that will take some time to answer me.
     
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  2. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Hello,

    You need to get hold of the war diaries from the following units:

    6th British Armoured Division who liberated Arezzo and moved on through Castiglion Fibocchi to Loro Ciuffenna.
    4th and 10th Indian Divisions who were in the Casentino.
    2 New Zealand Division who were on Monte Lignano.
    Civitella - the first troops into Civitella Val di Chiana were 4th Recce Regiment (4 British Infantry Division) who had moved up from the Trasimene Line to Foiano and thence continued up to Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni and beyond.
    6 British Armoured Division who moved up the eastern side of the Val di Chiana from Cortona to Arezzo.
    10 Indian Division who were in the Valtiberina.

    For the maps, check them out on these two sites:

    Italy AMS Topographic Maps - Perry-Castañeda Map Collection - UT Library Online (utexas.edu)

    Italy – WWIII Topographic Map Series (mcmaster.ca)

    Regards,

    Vitellino
     
  3. Greyhound84

    Greyhound84 New Member

    Thank you very much for the reply Vitellino, this is super-helpful!
    Do you know if there is any way to retrieve them online? I've tried in the past to find war diaries, but despite my efforts I haven't been lucky.

    Regards,

    Greyhound
     
  4. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    You can order then directly from The National Archives but I would recommend that you use the servces of a researcher, which would be cheaper.

    I will send you a private message with the catalogue numbers and a suggestion as to whom you might contact.

    Regards,

    VItellino
     
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  5. JimHerriot

    JimHerriot Ready for Anything

    Hello Janet, I'm thinking you may not have seen these photos taken in Civitella in April/May '44 previously. I posted them up a few years back here:

    Photographic Treasure Trove

    There are other photos taken by John Cobb from other locations within Italy too.

    All courtesy of the AFS Archive.

    Kind regards, always (and apologies in advance should you already have seen them),

    Jim.
     
  6. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    Jim,

    I hadn't seen them, thank you. They don't refer to Civitella in Valdichana, though. British troops - 4 Recce to be exact- entered the town on 16 July 44.

    I know the place very well and once lived not far from there. It was the scene of a terrible massacre on 29 JUne 1944.

    Best wishes,

    Janet
     
    JimHerriot likes this.
  7. DianeE

    DianeE Member

    Hi, I have the war diary for the Counter Mortar Org 10th Indian Division from August 1944 to the end of the war. Happy to share it with you if you would like a copy. I have sent you a personal message with my e-mail address.
    Diane
     
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  8. Recce_Mitch

    Recce_Mitch Very Senior Member

    4 Recce WD

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-january-1944.1086/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-february-1944.1087/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-march-1944.1088/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-april-1944.1089/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-may-1944.1090/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-june-1944.1091/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-july-1944.1092/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-august-1944.1093/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-september-1944.1094/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-october-1944.1095/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-november-1944.1096/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-december-1944.1097/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-january-1945.1098/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-february-1945.1099/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-march-1945.1100/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-april-1945.1101/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-may-1945.1102/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-june-1945.1103/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-july-1945.1104/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-august-1945.1105/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-september-1945.1106/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-october-1945.1107/

    http://ww2talk.com/index.php?media/albums/4-recce-regt-war-diary-november-1945.1108/
     
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  9. Greyhound84

    Greyhound84 New Member

    Thanks Diane and Recce_Mitch, this is very helpful and appreciated!
     
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