San Pietro memorial Park

Another place I'd love to visit.
"In the fall of 1943, after the landings in Sicily and Salerno, the U.S. military went up the peninsula towards Rome. To lock the Germans decided to set up a defensive line fortified by the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic at Cassino. The line Gustav was preceded by a line connecting the most advanced defense Sambucaro Monte, Monte Lungo, Monte Massimo and Monte Camino, at the height of the " close of Mignano , "that is, where the Casilina (obligatory route for the Allied armored troops ) had to scramble to overcome the obstacle of the natural saddle between Monte Lungo and the Round. The line Bernhardt had the task of slowing down the access to the plain of the allies of the Liri giving time to the Germans and the Todt to complete the fortifications on Gustav . Finally St. Peter and Mount Sambucaro were manned by Panzer Grenadier German, equipped with heavy artillery and lightly. The surroundings and the access roads had been mined. On December 8, he left the Allied attack to Mount Sambucaro . A partial success was obtained in the northern part of the mountain, but the attack toward St. Peter was rejected by the concentrated fire of the Germans. It is at this stage that the country became a target of American artillery fire and was practically destroyed. The following week, the Americans launched an armored column with sixteen tanks Sherman on the road that descends from Molise to the country. The mines and anti-tank guns destroyed the column and repelled the attack. Further fighting took place on December 16. During the night the Germans abandoned the positions of St. Peter, as a result of the fall of Monte Lungo and retired to Cassino. On December 17, the Americans entered in the rubble of St. Peter, welcomed by the inhabitants who had lived the terrible days of battle hidden in caves. As a result of these events and to remember the suffering of the population has been granted to St. Peter the gold medal at the civic value."
http://blogcamminarenellastoria.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/il-parco-della-memoria-di-san-pietro-infine/

 

San Pietro is a very evocative.place, are some other places in Italy, Try the Sangro battlefield on the Adriatic coast.

 

I would like to visit there, too. Thanks for posting this article, Gordon. (Gotta love Google translation. It makes stuff like this accessible to monolingual dolts like me. )

 

I visited Cassino itself and passed though San Pietro probably but did not stop there. Another place recommanded to visit is Argenta Gap around Lake Como in Northern Italy.

 

At San Pietro Infine, there is a wonderful monument to the 36 US Inf Div. The words on it are very moving. When you stand next to the monument and overlook the valley and Monte Lungo, you instantly understand why it was so important a position in the battle to reach Cassino and the Liri Valley.

Well worth a visit.

Regards

FdeP

 

Here's a good article on San Pietro Infine from a series titled A Journey to WWII Battlefields by Carlo D'Este.