Friday, February 16, 2018

ROME WAR CEMETERY

ROME WAR CEMETERY
It is located between Monte Testaccio to the north and the Aurelian Walls to the south
The area has been given for free by the Italian government to the Commonwealth after the Second World War for the burial of 426 mainly British soldiers (350) but also of other Commonwealth countries such as Canada (22), South Africa (28), Australia (4), New Zealand (10) and India (2)
Four burials are unidentified soldiers
Throughout World War II, about 42,000 Commonwealth soldiers died in Italy, so the soldiers buried in this cemetery are only about 1% of all the dead
The maintenance of the cemetery is entrusted to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission established in 1917
The cemetery retains a fragment of Hadrian's Wall brought here by the will of the citizens of the city of Carlisle in England to commemorate the Cumbrian soldiers who died in the Italian campaign

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