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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 1:47 pm
 


Ravenna War Cemetery is an interesting little place,
between Bologna and the Adriatic Coast in Italy.

It was the second Cemetery I visited a few days ago,
I actually went to this one first, in the morning.


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First interesting thing, there are
33 Jewish soldiers from the Jewish Brigade, Palestine Regiment

35000 soldiers from an area with less than 500,000 people

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Overview:

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and the Visitors Book, looks like someone has placed a Torah there ?

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 1:54 pm
 


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First, as usual, our friends in the Commonwealth:

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First Gurkha I have seen:
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:00 pm
 


A couple from the Jewish Brigade:

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:04 pm
 


While taking pictures, I noticed the Date of Death of a fair number soldiers from the West Nova Scotia Regiment
kept appearing, dates during the period December 10 - 15, 1944.
It made me curious as to what happened during that time.

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First, to give you an idea of the region we are talking about:

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Second, a map of some troop movements in the area over December 1944.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:08 pm
 


So I started digging, and at first I have to thank a couple of CKA members for their help.


Wada, who sent excerpts from a book about the West Nova Scotians.

SprCForr, who gave me a fantastic link to the official history of the Canadian Army in World War II.

And Regina, who in the middle of moving house gave me lots of advice on digging stuff up on the internet.

It was surprising how much information you can find about campaigns such as Ortona,
but the Lamone river is buried very deep at the end.


Turns out, if you look at the map, it isn't just the Lamone River,
which is in the center of the map;


There are 3 canals that had to be crossed as well,
all of which are very good defensive points.

Vetro, Vecchio, Naviglio


1st Canadian Division had an offensive against well prepared defenses
during the month of December 1944


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:18 pm
 


Thanks Martin


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:19 pm
 


In 3 weeks of heavy fighting in December, the West Novas lost 34 killed and 101 wounded.

Some of them are in Ravenna:


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These 2 rows are basically all West Nova Scotia.
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Shot from the back row:

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:27 pm
 


Of course, other Regiments were involved:

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:30 pm
 


65 years ago.. this week, this month.. a long time but not so long ago.





Just after these last actions, both 1st Infantry and 5th Amoured divisions were moved out of Italy
and over to Holland and finished the war over there,
thus uniting the First Canadian Army.



In 19 months of combat, the West Novas won 25 battle honors, more than any other infantry regiment from Canada.
The West Nova Regiment at full strength was 980 officers and men

The campaign of Italy proved to be longer and harder than first thought.
In 18 months, 92,757 Canadian soldiers served in Italy. Among them, 408 officers and 4,991 soldiers of other ranks were killed in action;
1,218 officers and 18,268 other ranks were wounded. Over 1,000 men were made prisoners.

5,900 Dead and 19,500 Wounded in Sicily and Italy 10 July 1943 to 2nd May 1945 - 660 days of battle
(approximately 10 KIA on average per day = 300 dead per month

164 Canadians Killed in 12 hours at the Lamone River Crossing
In 20 days at the Lamone and Senia River Crossings over 2nd to the 22nd Dec 1944,
the number of Canadians killed in action totalled 548 = 28 per day


Last edited by martin14 on Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:36 pm
 


Lastly, in a separate section of the Cemetery, some Indian soldiers are buried:

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this one is 17 years old....


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Sikhs and Hindus resting together:

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The last part that was interesting, the graves of the Indian soldiers
are facing 180 degrees opposite the other Commonwealth soldiers.

Administrative screw up ?
or something else I dont know about ?


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 3:16 pm
 


martin14 martin14:
Lastly, in a separate section of the Cemetery, some Indian soldiers are buried:

The last part that was interesting, the graves of the Indian soldiers
are facing 180 degrees opposite the other Commonwealth soldiers.

Administrative screw up ?
or something else I dont know about ?

I doubt it. Must be something to do with their religion.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:09 pm
 


Great job of bringing it all together Martin.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 12:48 am
 


Thanks for the posts.


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:45 pm
 


Hi Martin,
awesome work...My Grandfather is burried at Ravenna War Cemetary and I was hoping you had a picture of his Gravestone.
His name was Trooper Lorenzo Pelletier..Governer Generals Horse Guard....I am ashamed to say that up to 5 years ago I had no Idea who he was and My Mom never spoke of him because she never got to meet him( she was only 5 months old when he was killed by a sniper)
I was able to look at the National archives and get the whole story and actual time and circumstances of his death.
He was MIA after a search of several stronghold house held by the Germans..later that day at November 24th,1944 at 11:10am they heard a shot froma German High Powered Rifle..approximately 1 minute later they heard 3 shots from a Tommy Gun( S.O.S.) they later found my Grandfather shot in a field near one of the Stronghold house, They assume he was approaching the house on his own and was shot by a sniper, all this information was available and in the war History books of Canada.
I encourage everyone to follow up and search their family Military History,I now have a new respect for Remeberance Day and the Canadian Military.

BTW..Chills ran down my spine when I looked up after reading this information at the National Archives in Ottawa Exactly 60 years later at 11:10 am...He sent me to find out for my family.
God Bless the Canadian Army


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:00 pm
 


Hi GerryL

Thank you for your post.

Stick around CKA if you like, make sure I dont forget you.

I currently live in Italy, I will be back in that area in the spring / summer,
there are other places I need to visit.

It would be my pleasure to send a picture of your grandfathers headstone,
another of our CKA members has family in that cemetery as well.

So I will be returning in a few months.

You can send me a pm if you like as well.

Thanks again for your input.


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