british army trieste italy

On 1 April 1962 the 82nd Infantry Regiment "Torino" moved to Gorizia and was replaced in Trieste by the 151st Infantry Regiment "Sassari".[2]. Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. 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. By a sheer coincidence, when I eventually returned to England the same Trooper X was on the same draft. Royal Corps of Signals - Wikipedia 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. If this site was helpful to you, please consider making This was vital information, as at the drop of a hat the squadron could be called onto the streets of Trieste to keep the peace. During the occupation, at least 3,500 residents of Trieste, along with an unknown number of Yugoslavs, Italians and Germans who washed up there, were killed and thrown into the fissures, or foibes, of the Carso mountain range, the eastern end of the Italian Alps. Today the. It left Italy on 18 July 1944 to transfer to Egypt for a period of rest and refitting. A TB epidemic had broken out at about that time, and representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) came to monitor the situation, and report on its containment. ''He burned our village. 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. 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. Unfortunately my Thanks very much and best of luck. I'm going through a collection of photos my father took while in Trieste Italy in 1953 (He was in the American Army, CID.). Ron, commerce and culture, and lost influenc--however lately British Army operations after 1945 - The National Archives It must have been on the second occasion when I saw the film in the company of my fellow wireless op, Peter. Almost overnight, stones were whitewashed, flagpoles were erected and 'bull' was the order of the day. The Regimental Association was about to hold its first post-war reunion, and as Winston Churchill was the honorary colonel the affair had to be done in style. 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. On re-checking my personal diaries I now find that after joining the 4th QOH I never went back to Rome, although I clearly visited there twice whilst in the 49th LAA (once on the 21st of June and again on the 10th of July). Allied manpower shortages continued in October 1944. locals are considered autochthonous into the border region of Trieste, 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. The Memorandum gave Zone A with Trieste to Italy for an ordinary civil administration, and Zone B, which had already had a communist government since 1947, to Yugoslavia. Here's a website you should like: It has exterior and interior shots of San Sabba. The system for release from the army at that time was based on a combination of age and length of service. http://www.windcloak.it/cultura/risiera/monu.htm, The best gallery of still As I peeped out of the window to see what was going on I actually saw them take the photo. 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. What an extensive experience you had! Faenza, Trieste and home - The Italian Campaign - NZHistory During this time, Axis shipping was being attacked in bombing raids such as Operation Bowler. 78 Infantry Division (1944-45). Besides, these three individuals are innocent. The record series listed do not necessarily contain material exclusively on these conflicts but they are amongst the most comprehensive sources. Hi Ron. Kind regards, British Embassy Rome - GOV.UK 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 . In civvy street he had been a film reviewer for the cinema trade magazine 'The Cinema'. You have done a massive job. By Monday we were on our way back, arriving back at camp on Wednesday evening. ostensibly to revisit their families, but always raising the possibility British Army, XIII Corps (13th Corps) & British Element Trieste Force (BETFOR) Associated events Relief of Tobruk, Alamein, Husky, Catania, Po Valley, occupation forces. It landed at Taranto and advanced up the Adriatic coast under the command of XXX Corps. The only ref in my records for that time is going on home leave on May 21st. This was accompanied by a pay form that explained that the money in question was two days' ration allowance for escorting a prisoner back to Darlington from a jail in Lincoln! +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). The barracks we moved into had formerly belonged to an Italian army unit and were quite spacious. [22], On the same day, the Italian National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy, in command of the Italian resistance movement, ordered a general insurrection; in the following days, fighting between Italian partisan and the German and RSI forces broke out in Turin and Genoa (as well as in many other towns across Northern Italy), while German forces prepared to withdraw from Milan. Sabba Annex DP Camp, Trieste. BBC - WW2 People's War - Trieste, October 1945 to January 1947 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. She also worked in Trieste - in San Sabba, Opincina and Gesuiti. to find that this was the welcome for those who, like myself, had given up For both his peace of mind and my claim to accuracy I am glad to admit my error. How to use this guide and get a search for records started, 3. During the same reform the Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli" was split and the Regiment "Piemonte Cavalleria" (2nd) was used to form the new Armored Brigade "Vittorio Veneto", which took over the defense of the area between Trieste and the Timavo river. take us to their mess hall but their food, a little better than what we were 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. Instead of paying cash for these blessings we would each sell a tin of 50 cigarettes to the waiter and the cash received was more than sufficient to pay for the whole evening's entertainment, including the earlier visit to the YM! On March 23, Albert Kesselring was appointed Commander-in-Chief West, replacing General-Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. 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. A treaty signed between Italy and Yugoslavia more than 20 years ago to settle territorial and property disputes was never fully carried out. 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. On April 28, Vietinghoff sent emissaries to the Allied Army headquarters. Makes me feel good to share this experience. Race for Trieste - Wikipedia The spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. It moved to Palestine in April 1944 and then back to Egypt in June. 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. The Race for Trieste, [8] was a battle during the Second World War that took place during early May 1945. Most of the articles that I've posted on this site started life in the Goldstein Family Book that we published privately in 1988. Today the city has 230,000 people, many of them from Italian families who were forced out of Yugoslavia after the war. We had just got into the street outside his flat when we literally stumbled over a body in the kerb. In 1986 the Italian Army abolished the divisional level and the Trieste Troops Command, headed at the time by a division general, was disbanded on 1 October 1986. cases there. Damage to other transport infrastructure forced Axis forces to use sea, canal, and river routes for supply. 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. England was in a state of crisis as fuel was almost unobtainable. If you are looking for war diaries or other records related to specific British Army regiments and other units these are often recorded in our catalogue using abbreviations so try a variety of terms when searching (for example, Regt as well as Regiment, Bn as well as Battalion, Bty as well as Battery), Anthony Farrar-Hockley, The British Part in the Korean War: Official History (HMSO, 1990-1995), Lawrence Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign (Routledge, 2005), Arthur S White, A Bibliography of Regimental Histories of the British Army (The Naval and Military Press, 1992). those of the BBC. There were another 91,000 German troops on the lines of communication, and Germans commanded about 100,000 Italian police. But the best part was yet to come. While we were stationed here I got my first leave home back to England, briefly touched on in my story My Welcome Home. GAUMONT BRITISH NEWSREEL (REUTERS)To license this film, visit https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA6XE2ZWC64DCEWO5I7WLX1GOD1-ARMY-DAY-PARADE-IN-TRIESTE-ITA. It participated in the battle for the Trasimere Line between 20 and 30 June 1944, the advance to Arezzo between 4 and 17 July 1944 and the advance to Florence between 17 July and 10 August. 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. The Allied forward formations spent the rest of the winter of 1944 in inhospitable conditions while preparations were being made for a spring offensive in 1945. public. The territory was split into the Yugoslav-administered Zone B in the South and the British-American-administered Zone A in the north, which included the city of Trieste. Thanks for a wonderful web site and if you know where I could get more info and pictures please let me know. Trieste War Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images It was withdrawn from Anzio to Egypt on 28 March 1944 to refit. Because the streets of Trieste were not altogether safe after dark, he asked me to escort her to her destination and I was happy to oblige. camp being scarcely a mile from the Communist Yugoslav border. mother died shortly after that, very young, and I was never able were White Russians who had fled to Serbia after the 1917 Revolution. The regiment was very involved with the keeping of the peace in Trieste itself, as there were a lot of political parties and even numerous states trying to seize control of the Venezia Giulia area. British Element Trieste Force (BETFOR) was the UK organization in the free territory. Through a long period It was the best meal we'd had in British Military History The 46 Infantry Division was a second line Territorial Army formation, which was formed in 1939 as a duplicate of the 49 (West Riding) Infantry Division. Winterton. Find out how you can use this. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites The camps mum worked in Austria were Eisenerz, Kapfenburg, Reid Rehabilitation Centre, and the YMCA Simmer Camp program in Waiern and Ebanesse. Lieutenant General Lucian Truscott, the commander of the U.S. VI Corps from the Battle of Anzio and the capture of Rome to Alsace, landed in the South of France during Operation Dragoon and returned to Italy to assume command of the Fifth Army. ''Because a large number of Italians in Istria and Dalmatia supported the Fascist Italian state, they were singled out for arrest. I had been overseas since April 1943 and it was therefore getting near the time for me to be sent home to England under the Python scheme. Although they gained a foothold, they were still held up at positions on the Fossa Marina on the night of April 14. I asked this before but I didn't get an answer; My grandfather was in the army during ww2 and I was too young (7/8) to really know what he did during the war before he died and my mum doesnt know either, just that he was deployed in Italy. The Allied Campaign in Italy, 1943-45: A Timeline, Part Three [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. You should also provide attribution to the original work, source and licence. On March 18, Clark set out his battle plan. In October 1954 the Allied Military Government was abolished and the Territory turned over to the control of the Italian Government. Dear Ron Goldstein, 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. 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 . I phoned from the bar, not leaving my name or any information other than that there was a corpse in the street near the bar - because I had no intention of being involved with the Italian police when I was so near to going home on leave. [27] On the Allied far right flank, V Corps, met by lessened resistance, traversed the Venetian Line and entered Padua in the early hours of April 29 to find that partisans had locked up the German garrison of 5,000. Was the British army in Casarsa, Italy in 1947? : r/AskHistorians - Reddit 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. Subordinate units came from . 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. I am a minister in the On 1 September 1962 151st Infantry Regiment "Sassari" and the 14th Field Artillery Regiment entered the newly raised Trieste Military Command, which was tasked with the defence of the city. '', See the article in its original context from. Indeed, US troops barely got ashore at Salerno in September . Italy 1943 - 1945: British Infantry Divisions Six British infantry divisions fought at varying stages of the Italian campaign. Please read the rules before participating, as we remove all comments which break the rules. ''It is impossible to consider exhuming the bodies,'' said a University of Trieste historian, Gianpaolo Valdevit. 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/. But I don't remember losing any sleep over the matter! Upon our arrival, "San Sabba" was By Tara Isabella Burton. Trieste's City Hall, in the Piazza Unita d'Italia Another anomaly 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. Then to Monfalcone for a gunnery course,and later a T.A.R.A.course. Our mutual friend Frank Mee has just drawn my attention to the fact that Barnard Castle is (and was) in Durham and not Northumberland. Gesuiti After its activation the Trieste Military Command came under the 5th Army Corps and consisted of the following units: On 1 December 1968 the command was renamed Trieste Troops Command. In 1953 Britain and the United States stated their intention to leave Zone A and hand its administration over to Italy. Italy in WW2: Timeline of Events in 1941 - Comando Supremo of time, Trieste was seen as being peripheral to the centers of Italian 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. countries came under Communist control, they left for Trieste. The 6th Armoured Division linked with the 10th Mountain Division the next day at Finale some 5mi (8.0km) upstream along the river Panaro from Bondeno. 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. It was invented as a port town and turbo-charged its fortunes after Austrian Emperor Charles VI declared its port "free" in 1719. 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. Finding gainful employment was an impossibility for all Yugoslav nationals. Online resource covering 1930- 1950 British Army, The division left for Egypt on 3 July 1944. v3.0, except where otherwise stated, 2. http://www.archives.gov/research/holocaust/finding-aid/military/rg-331-2.html, Apr 7, 2015 and the hundreds of refugees running for cover to shut themselves in tents, 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. 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. in a Jesuit prison appropriated and, almost without facilities, turned into Do you know if the Annex was a separate area from that early impromptu tent camp, near the Yugoslav The Italian right wing, which says that 20,000 Italians were killed here -- a figure most scholars dismiss as greatly exaggerated -- is reluctant to see any exhumations that might deflate its figures. 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! eastern Friuli and Istria. The U.S. Fifth Army had been reinforced between September and November 1944 with the 1st Brazilian Division, and in January 1945, with the specialist U.S. 10th Mountain Division. Never trust your memory and don't forget to keep a diary! Unit records in the aftermath of the Second World War, A Bibliography of Regimental Histories of the British Army, Friends of The National An amphibious operation across the lake and parachute drop would bring pressure to bear on the flank and help to break the Argenta position. of Trieste is called Triestin in Italian and Triestino (pronounced getting at Gesuiti, couldn't compare to the quality and quantity we experienced The rest of the division followed in December along with the 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade. When Field Marshal Sir John Dill, the head of the British Mission in Washington, D.C., died on November 5, Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland Wilson was appointed his replacement. Alternatively, search The National Archives library catalogue to see what is available to consult at Kew. The long-awaited day eventually arrived. The last three months of my army life was boring to say the least, and I welcomed any chance to do something different. There were no harsher and when it was served, it was awful. San Sabba site and I must say its been very helpful for me. It remained in Greece until the end of the war, and was disbanded there in March 1947. I got myself good and early to a vantage point in Whitehall and had the pleasure of seeing a contingent of the 4th Hussars march past in the splendid parade, which included the carriage of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. October 1945: On board a mine-sweeper in Trieste Harbour From the Regimental Diary for 1 October 1945: 'Major JJ O'Brien left to go on a course in UK, also 14 days leave.
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