88th Infantry battle for Volterra, Lajatico and Villamagna

Hoping someone here can help. My wife and I recently purchased a vacation home about 8 km from Volterra Italy. Its not far from Lajatico and Villamagna Italy. On July 8-13th, 1944 the 88th Infantry fought the Germans in this area.

We were told by the former owners (saw the photos as well) that the home was severely damaged during the war. They reconstructed the home years later. They also mentioned that the US troops used the hill and home as a staging area before they advanced on Lajatico and Villamagna.

We were wondering if anyone had any maps or photos of the battles fought in the area. Also was wondering how to determine the labeling of the hills used by the US military in this area. Any information would be helpful.

Thanks in advance

 

Hi ripa21,

When is the house-warming party Is there an open invitation for chums from WW2f.com?

My family visited Volterra a couple of years ago when we stayed at a farmhouse outside Poggibonso. What a nice part of the world.

There are some good sources on the fighting in this area. The volume of the History of the Fifth covering the advance to the Army tells the story of the advance through Voiterra and the tank battles sough of it which cost the Germans 30+ Tiger tanks You can download it here http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p4013coll8/id/1537/rec/1 You need parts 4 and 5.

You may need the 1:50,000 maps used by

The British Library map collection appears to have a copy of the right map-sheets.G.S.G.S.No. 4229 and A.M.S. M791.If you click the "details" you will see the index to the mapping.

http://catalogue.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=moreTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=BLL01004865986&indx=5&recIds=BLL01004865986&recIdxs=4&elementId=4&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&dscnt=1&scp.scps=scope%3A%28BLCONTENT%29&frbg=&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1417892198703&srt=rank&mode=Basic&vl(488279563UI0)=any&dum=true&tb=t&vl(freeText0)=maps%20italy%201%3A50000&vid=BLVU1

The sheet numbers refer to the 1:100,000 map sheet. It looks as if sheet 112 includes Volterra. The red tick means they should have the 1:50,000 sheets and the blue the 1:25,000 sheets. Whether the maps are actually in the boxes where you expect can only be tested by a visit to the Library.

I'll bring a copy to your house-warming ;D

 

Sure, come on over! If I knew how to post a photo I would show you the villa. Thanks for the response. It gives me some place to start.

 

Here's a photo of the villa.

 

A few more views.

 

Here are a couple websites that have info regarding the 88th Infantry Division:

www.mtmestas.com - Dedicated to the 88th and its regiments. Much of the good stuff lacks active links.

www.custermen.com/ItalyWW2/Units/Division88.htm


You could also purchase an 88th Division "research CD" from that major online auction website. Most of the the documents it will have are likely available online. However, I believe that the CD is not very expensive, so it may be worth it.

 

TD-Tommy776

Thanks for the information. I may just purchase the DVD and leave it at the home so visitors can learn more about the history of the area and the home.

Thanks!