Battlefield Trip to Italy March 2023

[SJWi]

Good morning fellow LAF-ers,

Rather than photos of my troops or a battle report I thought some of you WW2 buffs may be interested in my recent trip to Anzio and Monte Cassino. Anzio is about 1-1.5 hours on the coast south of Rome, Monte Cassino about 2 hours away down the main Rome- Naples Autostrada. Between the two is a range of hills .

The landing at Anzio in January 1943 was meant to threaten Rome and/or also draw troops away from the allied attack on the Gustav line anchored on Cassino. Anzio is a small port and today only has a small military museum, two immaculately maintained  Commonwealth War Cemeteries and a few memorials in the town itself . The museum is free and run by an extremely enthusiastic old gentleman. One of the attached photos shows an engine from an Italian SM79 torpedo bomber shot down over Anzio and recovered from the sea. Next to Anzio is the small town of Nettuno which includes the massive US Military cemetery ( photo attached. There was reportedly a WW2 museum housed in Fort Sangallo but this seems to have "bitten the dust".

A real find for me was the museum of "La Plana delle Orme" at Borgo Faiti, further south from Anzio/Nettuno. Privately owned, it covers agricultural equipment, WW2 very much from an Italian perspective plus the story of the draining of the Pontine marches in the 1920s-30s. I haven't seen so much WW2 Italian kit before, plus a nice display of WW2 helmets including Siamese, Rumanian and Danish examples. Even the piece on the Pontine Marshes helped explain some if the features I had read about regarding the Anzio fighting ( eg the "Factory" which was actually a "new town" built by Mussolini to house new settlers).

My final trip was to Cassino. Even if not religious the Monastery is a "must visit" , just to see the marvel at the restoration since the USAAF levelled it in 1943. You can see  why it was such a tough nut to crack, and visits to the various cemeteries are quite sobering.  My photos show Cassino Monastery taken from the Polish cemetery plus the German cemetery in nearby Caira. All are beautifully maintained. My colleague got quite angry when we found students picnicing in the British cemetery by the University but we pinched ourselves, and mused that those interred there had died to give people freedom to do what they want!

As regards background reading materiel I took Lloyd Clark's "Anzio; the Friction of War" and Peter Caddick Adams' "Monte Cassino; Ten armies in Hell" . Both are excellent reads albeit the maps can be a tad small ! I also found on Amazon Anne Leslie Saunders "A Travel Guide to World War 2 Sites in Italy". At only £7 this was a good buy, but as it dates to 2016 needs to be treated with caution.  It still listed the Fort Sangallo Museum and a Museum in Cassino Town which is now only open on Sundays . Best to check opening times on websites albeit I fear many of these aren't up-to-date.

In summary I can highly recommend this area for a Battlefield tour.  Not as well known as Normandy, Arnhem or the Bulge and in fairness not as much to see. I don't think it is a period of their history the Italians are that keen to remember. However the "D-Day Dodgers" and their German opponents fought in some terrible conditions and suffered accordingly, and should be remembered. I will certainly be looking to game the period over the next few months.   

                 

[SJWi]

Well, the photos have appeared but I will apologise  for the orientation of two of them.

[Vanth]

I often feel that the italian front is quite neglected in gaming, even though it has seen some of the hardest fighting. I live about five hundred yards from the Allied starting line for the battle of the Trasimene line, which is barely known even though it has gone on for over a month...

[SJWi]

Vanth, I completely agree and from a personal perspective plan to put that right. I'm just listening to James Holland and Al Murray's "We Have Ways of Making You Talk"pidcast about Italy. James is currently writing two books about Italy in 1943, the first of which should be released in September this year.

[modelwarrior]

Some very nice pictures and thanks for sharing. Lovely part of the world to stay in and a huge amount of history to explore. I recently stayed in Naples and visited Pompeii and Paestum.

[Tom Dulski]

I often feel that the italian front is quite neglected in gaming, even though it has seen some of the hardest fighting. I live about five hundred yards from the Allied starting line for the battle of the Trasimene line, which is barely known even though it has gone on for over a month...

 I Agee and would love to see more mini's and terrain reflecting this part of the ETO.

[SJWi]

Tom, agreed. The only figure ranges I recall that are specifically aimed at Italy are the DOM ( Dominion) and TED ( Tedeschi) ranges of British/Commonwealth and Germans respectively, now sold by FAA in the USA. I guess most ranges of German paras will do albeit you may want to acquire some with FG42s, That said I'm not sure how many if any of this weapon actually made it to Italy.

For those who use the Battlegroup rules I believe the next release in their scenario/army list series of books covers Cassino.
   

[malto cortese]

Thanks for telling us about your trip - and I agree we need to talk (and paint ! and game!)  more about the war in Italy

[Sir_Theo]

Thank for sharing. My Grandad was at Cassino, somewhere I really would like to visit one day.

[SJWi]

Chaps, if I was to do it again and have say 7 days rather than 5, I might try to fly to Naples and back from Rome ( or vice versa). From Naples you can cover the Salerno landings in September 1943. From what I can see there are two museums in that area and both are still functioning. From there it is a 1.5 hour drive to Cassino. Of course around Naples there is also a lot of ancient history to see with Pompeii and Herculaneum being the most famous sites. I have the original FAA DOM and TED ranges of figures which I bought nearly 30 years ago, and I think have been on the table about three times. I sense some action for them over the Easter holiday.   

[Vanth]

 I Agee and would love to see more mini's and terrain reflecting this part of the ETO.

The Perry Twins do some excellent Brits, FJs and Americans for this

[SJWi]

Vanth, excellent call there.  I game WW2 in 20mm so Perry's ( or Warlord) of no real interest to me, but my mate does Chain of Command in 28. I'll try to persuade him to invest!

[Vanth]

And the road behind my house has just been closed because they need to remove unexploded ordnance they just found out, a 5.5" shell by the look of it. War takes a long time to end...