Montecassino 75 years on

[lagatta]

This long battle was one of the bloodiest towards the end of the War, though its British and Commonwealth fighters were sometimes disparaged as 'D-Day Dodgers'.

I'll start off, though with the major role played by Polish troops, as it is not well enough known:

polishatheart.com/they-really-did-believe-monte-cassino-18-may There is a Polish cemetery there now. Poor Poles, stuck between Nazi Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union... Millions of Poles were killed by the Nazis, but they were also terribly mistreated by the Soviets.

www.wantedinrome.com/news/75th-anniversary-of-the-battle-of-monte-cassino.html

Commonwealth War Graves in Cassino: www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/overseas/second-world-war/italy/cassino

www.abbaziamontecassino.org/abbey/en/legacy/the-battle-of-montecassino/31-wwii-cemeteries-montecassino-abbey

The American Cemetery at Nettuno, north of Cassino, is the resting place for US troops killed in the campaigns from Sicily to Rome: www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/sicily-rome-american-cemetery

A Maori commemoration: www.facebook.com/tekareremaorinews/videos/delegation-marks-75th-anniversary-of-wwii-battle-of-monte-cassino/492129244658477/

[bjd]

My father fought at Monte Cassino - in the Polish Army.

[lagatta]

Bravo!