Great work Richard and many thanks for the kind words spent for me and the mates of the Gustav Line Team. See you soon. Damiano
Richard-thank you for posting those lovely photos. I know 56 recce were "here, there and everywhere!" which means I will probably have a long journey from the south to the north of Italy but I have the war diaries so I shall have to pick out certain points where I would like to visit-not an easy task I would imagine! Just another thing-I have read about Cavendish Road before-strangely enough when my dad and mum got married and I was born we lived on Cavendish Road for about 12 years! Wonder what he thought about that! Lesley
I suspect your 56 Recce tour will be fantastic. Clearly the area around the Liri Valley is quite well defined but as you say Recce were involved in many of the other engagements. As you know, Kendal Chavasse was an Irish Fusilier and he had a very close relationship with the Irish Brigade throughout those years. Very funny about living in Cavendish Road - was there a Sherman tank at the end of the road ? Richard
I suspect your 56 Recce tour will be fantastic. Clearly the area around the Liri Valley is quite well defined but as you say Recce were involved in many of the other engagements. As you know, Kendal Chavasse was an Irish Fusilier and he had a very close relationship with the Irish Brigade throughout those years. Very funny about living in Cavendish Road - was there a Sherman tank at the end of the road ? Richard No -but Cavendish road was a long cobbled street and there was a tunnel under the road-only ran from one side of the road to the other! Don't know what that was for.
Belatedly, a longer write up of the days that I spent in Italy can be found on the Irish Brigade web site with a few more photos. Irish Brigade - Battlefield Visit: Liri Valley I can't seem to master attaching "large" photos here. Richard Hi Richard, Firstly great write up, really interesting well done. I visited the same area in August this year and spent a great day with Damiano and Marisa, i took many photos but the one I'm particularly interested in was this one, we must have been very close to the same spot. I was staggered by the ferocious speed of the water through the that particular stretch...i can't for the life of imagine what it must have been like when the Americans tried to cross it ! in flimsy boats in winter at night with the germans pouring devastating amounts of amunition in the crossing point. When we drove into the village i noticed the ground rose to the right of the bridge, almost perfect positioning for the defenders to set up machine guns. I hope to return to Cassino area, so much to take in.(definitely later in the year when it's cooler ..it was +40deg C while we were there). I will read through the rest of the article, it looks like we were on a similar tour, albeit mine was just for the day. (Damiano is a great guy he looked after us so well). Many thanks. Derrick
Derrick, Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I received the usual great hospitality. As you know, the route I followed was to trace my father and his battalion colleagues' movements from March to May '44: the war diaries cross referenced with contemporary maps and Damiano's iPad worked wonders. The rise in the ground on the west bank of the Gari is particularly striking and there is indeed a great view down onto the river plain from the San Angelo side. 40C is surely hot for any normal person. I know the August sunshine well in Italy. I like a bit of exercise so the October weather was perfect: 25C during the day. Hope to see you in Italy. Richard
Richard, Yes the ipad, great bit of technology. Came in very handy when we stopped for a beer up in the hills near the Belvedere and chatted about the Battlefields around Cassino. We were in the Polish cemetery around midday, it was unbelievably hot, we saw some workman carrying out some refurbishment work on the cemetery. We went in search of shade, they kept working. Great research you have done, there is always a another angle to investigate, yes it would be great to meet up in Italy one day. Regards Derrick
