Monte cassino/Anzio/Taranto

turnipbmw

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Visited these a few years ago, was having trouble finding somewhere to stop due to Italian holidays and arrived at the Monte Cassino campsite about 11.00pm.
Italians dont seem to value their military history, there is a small collection of bits dug up during the monastery restoration inside the main building but the focus is mainly on the destruction by the Allies.

There are 3 main graveyards, the Commenweath one is very formal, where as the German one is most thought prevoking.
There is a Polish one on a hillside behind the Monastery.

I think there is a 13km road up to the Monastery which gives excellent view over the area - giving it its tactical importance.
Its amazing to think how quickly the building was rebuilt after the war when all the materials had to be carried up to the site.

It was fairly hot during my visit and I kept imagining the German units on top of the surrounding hills with little shelter or water, no picnic.
Pretty easy to find yourself a souvenir piece of shrapnel, its was still everywhere.

The Anzio landing site has a small museum but it does not seem to be open very often and the town bears little resembalance to its 1944 pictures.

I could not find any memorials to the Swordfish pilots that attacked the Italian fleet at Taranto in 1940, giving the Japanese the idea of Pearl harbour.
Would have thought a life sized model of a plane on the seafront at least.

On the way back from the port I was buzzed by a 916, I have an instinctive habit of looking in my mirrors every few seconds and I still missed this guy.
He was totally flat out in top, chin on tank.
I nearly did a backwards summersault with the shock.
 


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