The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not The British plans were prepared under the direction of Brigadier General JHV Crowe, assisted in Italy by the British Military Mission, Italian staff officers and representatives of the British and Italian . Thanks for a wonderful web site and if you know where I could get more info and pictures please let me know. Old Soldier's Home (TRUST & BETFOR): began to resemble a reception center with the influx of new refugees, the The Partisan army seized the Istrian Peninsula, in the southern Adriatic, and raced on toward Trieste. Italy 1943 - 1945: British Infantry Divisions Six British infantry divisions fought at varying stages of the Italian campaign. Trieste came under the rule of the House of Hapsburg in the late 14th century, and remained a part of the kingdom all the way until the end of World War I in 1918. earlier. On the coastal road to Trieste is the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, operating under the aegis of UNESCO and IAEA. A treaty signed between Italy and Yugoslavia more than 20 years ago to settle territorial and property disputes was never fully carried out. I remember the dances at the Four Aces and sometimes confined to barracks because of disturbstances in the town. http://www.retecivica.trieste.it/new/default.asp?tabella_padre=sx&id_sx=28&ids=8&pagina=-&tipo=monoblocchi, http://www.archives.gov/research/holocaust/finding-aid/military/rg-331-2.html, http://www.windcloak.it/cultura/risiera/monu.htm, http://www.beyondthebluehorizon.com/triestephotogallery/. email: MichaelPetrovich@hotmail.com. The 1 Infantry Division was a pre-war Regular Army formation, which was sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. It was the best meal we'd had in set up emergency internment In fact, it brought back memories. General Harold Alexander, having been promoted to Field Marshal, replaced Wilson as Allied Supreme Commander Mediterranean on December 12. ''As soon as one of them was questioned, four or five women rushed up to them and accused them of having murdered or tortured one of their relatives, or of having burned down their homes. The division remained in Italy, until it was disbanded in 1947. The division fought at the Battle for Adrano between 29 July and 3 August 1943 and then crossing of the River Sangro. The bodies are those of Italians and Yugoslavs who opposed the Yugoslav Communist takeover of the city in May 1945, along with scores of captured Germans. In Trieste, Investigation of Brutal Era Is Blocked, https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/20/world/in-trieste-investigation-of-brutal-era-is-blocked.html. [14], Once across the Senio, the assault divisions were to advance to cross the Santerno. British Element Trieste Force (BETFOR) was the UK organization in the free territory. The pits, covered with tons of debris, are believed to hold hundreds, perhaps thousands, of corpses. These seemed idiotic and insuperable difficulties that we encountered, but in the thick of this maelstrom of chaos we found individuals with whom we could share our common fate as we waited to re-enter Canada. One morning, immediately before roll call, the young lad who was my assistant and who I was training to take over from me came to me in a state of panic. If it was separate, does Lieutenant general Max-Josef Pemsel, Chief of General Staff of the Army Liguria, consisting of three German and three Italian divisions, followed Graziani's orders and declared in a broadcast message: "I confirm without reserve the words of my Commander, Marshal Graziani. The YMCA in Trieste had taken over a leisure centre which offered, amongst other facilities, a chance to have one's laundry done. On 1 April 1962 the 82nd Infantry Regiment "Torino" moved to Gorizia and was replaced in Trieste by the 151st Infantry Regiment "Sassari".[2]. [12] In Phase I, the Eighth Army would cross the Senio and Santerno rivers and then make a dual thrust, one towards Budrio parallel to the Bologna road, Route 9 (the Via Emilia) and the other northwest along Route 16, the Via Adriatica, towards Bastia and the Argenta Gap which was a narrow strip of dry terrain through the flooded land west of Lake Comacchio. Among the few civilians I knew in Trieste was the Austrian AMGOT worker I had met at the Passover service. v3.0, Cabinet Defence Committee minutes and [papers, Chiefs of Staff Committee registered files, Defence and Overseas Policy Committees and Sub-committees minutes and papers, Mediterranean: central Mediterranean forces, Unit historical records including war diaries and records of operational activity, Caribbean: Headquarters British forces Caribbean, Cyprus: Sovereign base area administration, Cyprus, records created by units of the army itself, records created by politicians, top-ranking officers and other high-level personnel, name of operation or campaign (for example, Operation Corporate), name of a conflict (for example, Suez crisis or Korean War) keyword searches like this work best if you put them in inverted commas, name of army unit. After the war I wrote to him and his delightful reply is at the back of my album. This reduced the Eighth Army, now commanded by Lieutenant-General Richard McCreery, to seven divisions. 78 Infantry Division (1944-45). The move has been bitterly denounced by many Slovenes and Croats. Coat of Arms of the Trieste Troops Command, Last edited on 22 December 2022, at 10:58, 1975 the Italian army undertook a major reform, 1st Motorized Infantry Battalion "San Giusto", "82 Reggimento Fanteria "Torino" - La Storia", "151 Reggimento Fanteria "Sassari" - La Storia", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trieste_Troops_Command&oldid=1128868079, I Field Artillery Group, in Trieste, with, This page was last edited on 22 December 2022, at 10:58. In fact, Trieste was one of the most important cities in the Austro-Hungarian kingdom, along with Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. Below are just some of the wars and conflicts since 1945 that are covered in our records. Its objective was "to destroy the maximum number of enemy forces south of the Po, force crossings of the Po and capture Verona". Many Slovenes in Trieste at the time, ecstatic at the downfall of Italian Fascism, greeted the Partisans as liberators and assisted in manhunts by the Yugoslav secret police. By a sheer coincidence, when I eventually returned to England the same Trooper X was on the same draft. 1 Infantry Division (1944-45) [23] Turin was also liberated by partisan forces on April 25, after five days of fighting. By Tara Isabella Burton. Almost overnight, stones were whitewashed, flagpoles were erected and 'bull' was the order of the day. Thousands more were deported, and many perished in Yugoslav detention camps, according to allied officers and historians who investigated the killings. Depending on the relative success of these actions, a decision would be made on whether the Eighth Army's prime objective would become Ferrara on the Via Adriatica or remain Budrio. It was withdrawn from the mainland and landed in the Anzio beach-head on 12 March 1944, under the command of U.S. VI Corps. The area was known as the Morgan Line and acted as a buffer zone between the Yugoslavs and the Italians, both of whom laid claim to this territory. The job required organising expertise rather than engineering experience, and I was soon well on top of the situation and enjoying my new-found responsibilities. research. For the first time in my army career I saw officers under the rank of captain being ordered to join snow-clearing parties and issued with spades to do some of the digging themselves! I was shocked It remained in Greece until the end of the war, and was disbanded there in March 1947. October 1945: On board a mine-sweeper in Trieste Harbour, From the Regimental Diary for 1 October 1945: 'Major JJ OBrien left to go on a course in UK, also 14 days leave. The camps mum worked in Austria were Eisenerz, Kapfenburg, Reid Rehabilitation Centre, and the YMCA Simmer Camp program in Waiern and Ebanesse. We spent all day digging trains out of snowdrifts and as virtually everyone in the camp was on the point of being de-mobbed, rank meant nothing at all. My responsibilities were twofold. This state was de facto dissolved in 1954 as un-governable and in 1977 in the Treaty of Osimo officially subdivided between the two countries: the city of Trieste went to Italy, while the southern part of the territory went to Yugoslavia. The division was withdrawn from the line and was hurriedly transferred to Greece on 14 January 1945 to fight in the Greek Civil War. It emerged that Kesselring had his authority as Commander of the West extended to include Italy and had replaced Vietinghoff with General Friedrich Schulz from Army Group G on hearing of the plans. WO 264. from that early impromptu tent camp, near the Yugoslav It was invented as a port town and turbo-charged its fortunes after Austrian Emperor Charles VI declared its port "free" in 1719. With some of my friends, I also discovered the joys of gracious living. From 9 April 1945 until the end of Operation Grapeshot, thus casualties exclude those suffered during the preliminary operations. My late mother and I arrived The United States Army assigned the mission of providing troops for the Free Territory of Trieste to the 88th Infantry Division which was on occupation duty in Italy along the Morgan Line between Italy and Yugoslavia. On May 1, 1945 the Yugoslav army entered Trieste (see Foibe) one day before before the New Zealand army, in a race to decide who would control the city. The river was crossed the next day and they advanced north to Verona which they entered on April 26. v3.0, except where otherwise stated, 2. Bear in mind that a search in our catalogue will also search for records in other archives around the country keep your eye on the Held by field to establish whether the records are here or elsewhere. Best wishes Italian Government normally housed 400 prisoners. Associated places Western Desert, Libya, Tunisia, Sicily, Catania, Italy, Austria. very much if you would include "San Sabba DP camp" as one of your many transit On another occasion, a group of British soldiers (BETFOR) decided to The Cavour entered the Chesapeake Bay on February 13 and docked at Norfolk, Virginia,. British troops were deployed to north east Italy post-war, one of the primary reasons being the city of Trieste, on the border of Italy and Yugoslavia, and subject to competing claims. These messages were added to this story by site members between June 2003 and January 2006. A few days later I called to her home again to find out what had happened and was told that the police believed the dead man had committed suicide by jumping from the roof. Six British infantry divisions fought at varying stages of the Italian campaign. Lazy blighter that I am, in most cases I just 'lifted' the stories from my computer onto this site without checking for any obvious chronological errors. Our library holds a copy of Arthur S Whites A Bibliography of Regimental Histories of the British Army, a useful resource for getting started. Dear Ron Goldstein, eastern Friuli and Istria. http://www.archives.gov/research/holocaust/finding-aid/military/rg-331-2.html, Apr 7, 2015 Specific operations and campaigns. I was a child then and became very sick in TBC. the American Military Government had more than 1,000 single boys and men It left Italy on 27 January 1945 to transfer to Palestine, where it arrived on 2 February. Below are just some of the wars and conflicts since 1945 that are covered in our records. I had been in the army for four and a half years, and as dad, G-d rest his soul, would have said, 'It's enough already'. In March 1943, it was deployed to Tunisia and then used to secure the Island of Pantelleria. I found this In October we moved to the Trieste area, to a small town called Opicina, which sat on the top of a hill overlooking the Bay of Trieste. The division left for Greece on 12 December 1944, arriving a day later. In January l947, just three months short of four years from the time I set sail to North Africa, I was posted home to Barnard Castle in Northumberland. British estimated around 30,000 casualties were inflicted upon the Axis forces during this offensive, while a German staff officer estimated 32,000 casualties suffered during Operation Grapeshot. Even the As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. [15], The Fifth Army plan (Operation Craftsman) envisaged an initial thrust by IV Corps along Route 64 to straighten the army front and to draw German reserves away from Route 65. Politics, policy and planning: records of high command, 4. It is now, and only now, some sixty years later, that I realise what I should have recorded in the family book. The Italian right-wing National Alliance party, which received 24 percent of the vote in Trieste's last elections, cites the massacres and the expulsions to fan sentiment against the city's ethnic Slav minority, who make up about 30 percent of the population. The battle concluded on 21 September and the division returned to V Corps on 1 October 1944. Rail travel ground to a halt. At the time in question he was sufficiently satisfied with my services to both him and the squadron to ask me to stay on in the army after I was due for demob. It remained in the U.K. re-equipping and refitting until leaving for North Africa on 6 January 1943. Gesuiti Roman Catholic (Chiesa di S. Antonio) and the other Serbian Orthodox (Chiesa Heinrich von Vietinghoff returned from the Baltic to take over from Kesselring and Traugott Herr, the experienced commander of the LXXVI Panzer Corps, took over the 10th Army. The corpses, he said, were thrown into the huge Basovizza foibe, now a memorial to the victims. The sights in Trieste include Miramare, a romantic castle built in the 19th century for Austrian Archduke Maximilian and his wife. We must have looked pretty emaciated. The stores themselves were in the barracks but immediately outside the store I kept various large items that were too big to be kept indoors. Although they managed to breach the formidable Gothic Line defenses, the Allies failed to break into the Po Valley before the winter weather made further attempts impossible. The Fifth Army began its assault on April 14 after a bombardment by 2,000 heavy bombers and 2,000 guns along with attacks by IV Corps (1st Brazilian, 10th Mountain and 1st Armored Divisions) on the left. One such possible event occurred because of my position as Tech Corporal in charge of Squadron Technical Stores. Likewise, the 14th Field Artillery Regiment and the II Field Artillery Group were disbanded and the I Field Artillery Group renamed 14th Field Artillery Group "Murge". crowded and crammed from the dungeons to the rafters. I was at his house one evening and one of his daughters was just about to leave to visit another friend. Their 40-day occupation of Trieste and hunt for German soldiers, Italian and Croatian fascists and suspected opponents of Communism nearly led to a clash with Allied forces. They were left alone.''. The long-awaited day eventually arrived. [10][6] Three of the Italian divisions were allocated to the Ligurian Army under Rodolfo Graziani which guarded the western flank facing France. The Poles had also closed on the Santerno by the night of April 11.[19]. To the left of the 8th Indian Division, on the left of the salient, the 2nd New Zealand Division would attack across the river to form a pincer. [23] To the south of Milan, at Collecchio-Fornovo, the Brazilian Division bottled up the remaining effectives of two German divisions along with the last units of the National Republican Army, taking 13,500 prisoners on April 28. In early January 1945, the British 1st Infantry Division was sent to Palestine and at the end of the month the I Canadian Corps and the British 5th Infantry Division were ordered to north-west Europe. From 15:20 to 19:10, five heavy artillery barrages were fired each lasting 30 minutes, interspersed with fighter bomber attacks. Heavy snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures made our barracks a place of purgatory and there was not a single toilet that worked in the barracks. I remember, one day a group of American United States National Archives (NARA) On April 27, General Gnther Meinhold surrendered his 14,000 troops to the partisans in Genoa. those of the BBC. But the best part was yet to come. Trieste's location at the top of the Adriatic has always defined it. The following sections of this guide provide links to key record seriesthat you can search within our catalogue, helping you to target your searches more precisely. Archives, Open Government Licence Another anomaly The most widely travelled formation of the British Army in the Second World War, the 5 Infantry Division had previously served in the United Kingdom, France and Belgium, India and Iraq, with elements having also taken part in 1940 campaign in Norway and the invasion of Madagascar. As the position at Anzio deteriorated, the division was transferred from X Corps to the U.S. VI Corps at Anzio. Sorry, no joy there at all. In 1953 Britain and the United States stated their intention to leave Zone A and hand its administration over to Italy. It would be my guess we were all touched by the Chinese curse as we certainly lived through interesting times plus a bit, it led to an intersting life that is for sure. [28] Confirmation from Vietinghoff, did not reach the 15th Army Group headquarters until the morning of May 2. They were interesting days, indeed, and it's nice to hear from someone who shared that experience. It was handed back to Italy in 1954. No one dared to upset Trieste's already overcrowded labour market. The British and French each envisaged sending an expeditionary force of two Army corps; about 120,000 men and 26,000 horses, to Italy. The U.S. Fifth Army was to push past Bologna, north to link with Eighth Army in the Bondeno region, to complete an encirclement of German forces south of the Po. By clicking on the series links (for example,WO 269) you will arrive on the respective series description pages from where you can search the series, using dates/years and keywords, such as: Series description pages also provide information on the arrangement of the records and sometimes some of the historical context in which they were created, as well as suggesting related series you could explore. Samo Pahor, a local Slovene leader, said, ''The stories about the Partisan massacres of Italians are not true.''. It landed at Taranto and advanced up the Adriatic coast under the command of XXX Corps. ''It is impossible to consider exhuming the bodies,'' said a University of Trieste historian, Gianpaolo Valdevit. I recall the heavy rains, chilled by the Borah For both his peace of mind and my claim to accuracy I am glad to admit my error. ''There were some 800 Italian Fascists listed as war criminals by the Allies, but none were ever brought to trial,'' said Ivan Fumic, head of the Partisan veterans' organization in Croatia. I could either go on a skiing holiday at Cortina, or take a course as a technical storeman. Bologna was entered in the morning of April 21 by the 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division of the II Polish Corps and the Friul Combat Group of the Italian Co-belligerent Army advancing up the line of Route 9, followed two hours later by II US Corps from the south. If you're in Italy and you need urgent help (for example, you've been attacked, arrested or someone has died), call +39 06 4220 0001 (available 24/7, 365 days a year for British nationals . Makes me feel good to share this experience. We showed them around, let them drive our tanks etc, and in short they had a good day's fun. '', See the article in its original context from. Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trieste, Detail, View of a path through the park with a tablet made of stone from the Karst, The park was built in the. Do you know if the Annex was a separate area It replaced four smaller synagogues that existed previously.. V Corps was ordered to make an attack on the salient formed by the river into the Allied line at Cotignola. In 1947 Trieste became an independent state as the Free Territory of Trieste. The area between the city and the Timavo river to the North was to be defended by the Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli"'s Regiment "Piemonte Cavalleria" (2nd), which fielded two armored squadrons groups equipped with a mix of tanks and armored personnel carriers in Villa Opicina and Sgonico. rest were Serbians, Bulgarians, Romanians and Serbians from Romania who had In 1870, 'C' Telegraph Troop, Royal Engineers, was founded under Captain Montague Lambert.The Troop was the first formal professional body of signallers in the British Army and its duty was to provide communications for a field army by means of visual signalling, mounted orderlies and telegraph.By 1871, 'C' Troop had expanded in size from 2 officers and 133 other ranks to 5 . To induce me to stay he offered, as a bribe if you like, very rapid promotion, mentioning that it was quite common for a Quartermaster Sergeant to be made up to an officer in a very short time. Album of photographs of the British Military Hospital, Trieste, Italy, on completion of re-organisation | Wellcome Collection Find thousands of books, manuscripts, visual materials and unpublished archives from our collections, many of them with free online access. It took part in the final offensive with the crossing of the River Senio and then the forcing of the Argenta Gap. In the fight there were two Victoria Crosses won by the 8th Indian Infantry Division. disappearing, going back across the border at night into Croatia or Slovenia at the American mess hall, needless to say. 1) is of Canal Grande where two churches stand side-by-side, one Italian 56 Infantry Division (1943-45) Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) terms and conditions, Royal Army Medical Corps Muniments Collection, Album of photographs of the British Military Hospital, Trieste, Italy, on completion of re-organisation RAMC/2068, Album of photographs of the British Military Hospital, Trieste, Italy, on completion of re-organisation, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. We arrived at San 1/21/06 Hi, Olga These used to fetch a fair price on the streets and there was at least one 'scam' that some of our own MPs were said to have practised. and when it was served, it was awful. us. It remained in Austria on occupation duties until it was disbanded in August 1946. From 1950 onwards, unit historical records and reports are in WO 305. accomodations as I recall than any prison could ever offer. The Race for Trieste, [8] was a battle during the Second World War that took place during early May 1945. Today the. [9] Allied strength amounted to 17 divisions and eight independent brigades (including 4 Italian groups of volunteers from the Italian Co-Belligerent Army which were equipped and trained by the British), equivalent to just under 20 divisions. Most of them, Slovene-speaking Italians, teach their children in local Slovene schools about the fascist repression, when their language was banned and Slavs were purged from Government jobs. On June 12, 1945, the Yugoslav forces were driven out by the British Army; American and British took over the administration of the Territory, creating the Allied Military Government [1] on the western part of the Julian March or Venezia-Giulia. Bickington were White Russians who had fled to Serbia after the 1917 Revolution. The two tyres had been stolen. It was involved in the battles to recapture Naples in September 1943, the Volturno Crossing in October 1943, and Monte Camino in November and December 1943. The remaining units, including the two reserve battalions, were disbanded. Hed just finished his sentence (two years) and I as 'Corporal in charge of Escort' plus one other trooper were to meet up with him at the prison and escort him back to the army at Darlington. approximately one flamethrower vehicle every 70yd (64m) along an 5.0mi (8km)-long front, 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy, Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II, https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/royal-artillery.php, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/italian-campaign, https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/canada-Italy-1943-to-1945, United States Army Center of Military History, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spring_1945_offensive_in_Italy&oldid=1152528016, This page was last edited on 30 April 2023, at 19:51. The German Army surrendered to New Zealand army on May 2. International pressure made the Yugoslavs leave the city on June 12. In the first place I was responsible for seeing that all the stores necessary to run a squadron of Sherman tanks were kept up to date and I was the liaison between the mechanics and the Base Store Depots. Sat 31 Oct 2009 20.06 EDT A fateful blunder by British military intelligence allowed the Nazis to seize 50,000 Allied prisoners of war from the Italians during the Second World War and transport. During this time, Axis shipping was being attacked in bombing raids such as Operation Bowler. The barracks we moved into had formerly belonged to an Italian army unit and were quite spacious. The ex-prisoner lived in London and as we had to change stations at King's Cross I agreed to let him visit his folks in Caledonian Road before we finally took him back to camp. British Indian Army and Britain's Allies. The New Zealanders had reached the Santerno at nightfall on April 10 and succeeded in making a crossing at dawn on April 11. The final offensive in Italy commenced on 13 April 1945, with the division involved in forcing the Argenta Gap. When Tito broke with the Soviet Union in 1948 the Western allies, no longer wishing to antagonize Belgrade, did not press the Yugoslavs about the killings. Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Duino-Aurisina, The Erma has this inscription: 'Respect the field of death and glory' in memory of the First World War. The link is www.displacedpersoncampcollection.org, Thanking you, Katherine Wositzky katherine.w@optusnet.com.au, Hi! Michael's email to you said it all. it has been gaining influence as Italy's window to the East. When I arrived in 1950, The view from the peak was terrific. And Italy - which only became a . I clearly state "when we were in Rome I went with him to see "The Song of Bernadette". The rest of the division followed in December along with the 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade. On March 18, Clark set out his battle plan. The Chinese are said to have a curse that goes ' You should be born in interesting times '.I think I can safely own to an extensive wartime experience! Joachim Lemelsen, who had temporarily commanded the 10th Army, returned to command the 14th Army. The cavernous pits and gorges scattered throughout the hills above this port city hold dark secrets from the twilight days of World War II, secrets that still disturb Italy and its Balkan neighbors. They. A fair number of German-speakers are native The U.S. Fifth Army was to launch the Army Group's main effort at 24 hours notice from two days after the Eighth Army attack, and break into the Po valley. In May 1945, Tito's Communist Partisans in Yugoslavia, after a bitter guerrilla war against the German and Croatian fascists, pursued the retreating forces toward Italy. The division fought in the battle to secure the bridgehead, sustaining heavy casualties. Reporter, Trieste. My second responsibility was to keep the squadron leader, Major 'Loopy' Kennard, completely informed at all times as to the state of readiness of all the vehicles under his command. Many of the records covered in this guide are not available to view online so to see them you will have to either visit usin Kew ororder copies. Archived post. For pertinent records please consult the finding aids and reference staff in the consultation area in Room 2400. By Monday we were on our way back, arriving back at camp on Wednesday evening. The A.M.G. Progress was difficult - the rugged terrain of the Apennines, the numerous canals and rivers with destroyed bridges in the low-lying east, and the mud that accompanied winter's driving rain restricted the mobility of the Div. This story has been placed in the following categories. http://www.beyondthebluehorizon.com/triestephotogallery/. How to use this guide and get a search for records started, 3. across the borders from Yugoslavia in 1950. Subordinate units came from . Twenty men drawn from all ranks were sent home from Italy to be present on the night, and wonder of wonders, I was one of four corporals to travel a total of six days to attend the dinner. I hasten to explain. On our arrival back in camp we would find ourselves being armed and sent back to the town in convoy to control the riots that were taking place. +44 (0)20 7611 2222info@wellcomecollection.org, Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence, Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

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