Anzac Day Tribute – Monte Cassino

Dawn was breaking. The air was cool and the fog rose from the river. The large crowd was silent for the Dismounting of the Guard at the close of the Anzac Dawn Service for the local Returned Soldiers League.

I have attended Dawn Services for many years in tribute to the many family members, who have served in the Australian Defence Forces in many theatres of war, over the last century.

Fifteen years ago my ‘Anzac Day’ experience was very different.

We were traveling in Europe with some forty plus other Australians on a bus tour. We had left Naples earlier in the day and were heading for Florence.

It was late morning and we were all chatting about our recent visit to the incredible Pompeii ruins when someone mentioned they had been talking with family back in Australia, and they were attending an Anzac Dawn Service. A quietness descended, as our thoughts turned to home and the many memorial services taking place there and elsewhere in the world for Anzac Day.

Our tour guide announced that, although our schedule was tight, as a mark of respect, we were taking a short detour to the nearby Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Monte Cassino.

The bus pulled up at the gate and we silently filed off. As we passed through the gate we were faced with thousands of white headstones and an imposing memorial.

Monte Cassino – Copyright Nola Mackey-2004

Over seventy-five years ago in  September 1943, the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians, who then re-entered the war on the Allies’ side. Progress through southern Italy was rapid despite stiff resistance, but by the end of October, the Allies were facing the German winter defensive position known as the Gustav Line, which stretched from the river Garigliano in the west to the Sangro in the east.

Initial attempts to breach the western end of the line were unsuccessful.

During the early months of 1944, Cassino saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Italian campaign, the town itself and the dominating Monastery Hill proving the most stubborn obstacles encountered in the advance towards Rome.

After many attempts assisted with much bombing a breakthrough was finally achieved on 18 May and Cassino and the Monte were finally taken.

Monte Cassino-Copyright Nola Mackey-2004

A summary of the battle for Monte Cassino can be found here-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ff6_cassino.shtml

The majority of those buried in this war cemetery died in the battles during these months. There are now 4,266 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated at Cassino War Cemetery.

It lies about 140 kilometres south-east of Rome near Cassino, right at the foot of the Monte.

Although no Australian troops are buried here there are some 2347 from the United Kingdom, 1435 from  India, 193 from Canada, 55 from New Zealand and 13 from South Africa.

Within the cemetery stands the CASSINO MEMORIAL which commemorates over 4,000 Commonwealth servicemen who took part in the Italian campaign and whose graves are not known.

The Memorial was designed by Louis de Soissons and unveiled by Field Marshal The Rt. Hon. The Earl Alexander of Tunis on 30 September 1956.

Further information can be found here.

From https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2005600/cassino-memorial/

Although we held no service and just wandered around the cemetery for over half an hour, we were all completely overawed by the place. Even after we had returned to the bus and resumed our journey, everyone was quiet and hardly spoke a word for over an hour. A very moving experience.

Monte Cassino- Copyright Nola Mackey-2004

Lest We Forget.

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Australian World War I Battlefields Tour – Family Heroes J J Stapleton and R E Sherwood – Peronne

In my last blog I wrote about our experience at Mont St Quentin, while on a tour of the Australian World War I Battlefields.

After St Quentin we drove on to Peronne, where we had lunch and visited the ‘Historial De La Grande Guerre 14-18’ or the Museum of the War of 1914-18, which was housed in the old medieval castle. It was well worth visiting, as it showed the story of the soldiers, of the many nations, who took part in the war.

After lunch we boarded the bus and drove to the Peronne Communal Cemetery Extension.

The Peronne Communal Cemetery Extension was begun in March 1917 after the Germans had abandoned the town the first time. The Germans continued to use this cemetery when they took the town back in early 1918.

The Australian 2^nd Division became the final group to use it, until after the end of the war when the Commonwealth Graves Commission brought in all those soldiers in isolated graves and small cemeteries. There are 517 Australians here, nearly all lost their lives on the attack on Mont St Quentin in late August and early September 1918.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has its own website at http://www.cwgc.org/. It is worth visiting not only for the history and continued work of the Commission, but the symbolism which goes with the cemeteries, such as the ‘Cross of Sacrifice’ and the ‘Stone of Remembrance’.

This was the first of many cemeteries we visited over the next few days, and our tour guide did a wonderful job in educating our group on these features, as well as many more concerning the general nature of these cemeteries.

We have two family heroes in this cemetery, Private Robert Edward Sherwood and Corporal James Joseph Stapleton.

Before we left home in June I had printed out from the above mentioned website, the map of this cemetery and marked the position of their graves.

We were able to alight from the bus at the cemetery gate.

The sky was grey and cheerless, never the less the cemetery was beautiful with the gleaming white headstones, lush green grass, and coloured flowers in full bloom decorating the graves themselves. The whole was shrouded in a peaceful silence.

We were the only members of the group to have soldiers buried here, and with the assistance of Pete and our fellow tour companions we were quickly able to find their graves.

For the second time that day we were in for a surprise, although perhaps we should not have been. Corporal J J Stapleton was buried between his two mates, who were carrying him to the field medical station when they were killed by shrapnel from an exploding ‘whiz-bang’ mortar shell.

This gave us a strange comforting feeling knowing that even though he had died so far away from home and family, he was not alone, but resting in peace beside his mates.(Below)

We were able to take photos with the back -drop of the Australian flag. One of the members of our group had previously made many tours of the Western Front Battlefields, and generously shared with us all an Australian flag he had brought with him. We all appreciated this kind gesture, as it gave an added depth to all our photos.

My grandmother’s, cousin, Robert Edward Sherwood was also buried in another section of the cemetery. We  took photos of his grave with the Australian flag too.(Below)

After reboarding the bus, we headed for the town of Iepers, where we were to stay the night.