Messages posted by: MAS96

Merry X Mas and a warm hug to all the CVA comunity :)

If I can help, I've been learning German for about 2 years at school and I still remember something -)

Hi Christine,
I'm from Italy and I'm very interested in this theme, since I'm trying to trace a brief history of cooperation between Italian Partisans and Allied Special Forces. However the matter is quite complex. Due to the nature of their activity, most of the collaboration with the Italian Partisans have been carried out by the SOE, OSS and SAS and it's quite hard to find a trace of Commandos in the Resistance's official history. Moreover, there is a general misunderstanding about the word 'commando': in many accounts or books, it is used as a generic term everytime an Allied soldier was operating between the lines, doesn't matter if he belonged to SAS, OSS, SOE or even Commandos.
However, I would like to suggest you a book: "The Secret War in Italy - Special Forces, Partisans and Covert Operations (1943-1945)" by William Fowler, published by Ian Allan Publishing. It describes the OSS, SOE and SAS activity in Italy, but there also few references to the Commandos.
Do you know to which Commando Unit your dad belonged?

P.s.
I'm sorry about my poor English :)

Does anybody knows if is possible to watch 'Yesterday Channel' online?
I had a look at the channel website but it looks they do not provide any streaming service :(

Thanks,
Stefano

P.s.
I live in Italy

Hi Pete,
yes, I am referring to the Argenta Gap War Cemetery. I'm sorry I did not notice it is already in the database.
In my plans, I would like to be able to visit that Cemetery before the end of this year and to take pictures of each Commando's gravestone: finger crossed! :)

I would like to suggest one more place of interest. I had a look at your links and I could not find any mention about a plaque in the Village of San Pietro Avellana (Isernia). The plaque is placed on the Monument to the Dead in the town square and honours 2 Commandos:

Corporal
MAIRESSE M.
20/12/43
SAN PIETRO AVELLANA
ITALY

Lieutenant
DETON A.
3/01/44
MONTENERO VAL COCCHIARA
ITALY

They both were from No. 10 Commando, at that time attached to the British 8th Army and engaged in the assault of the 'Gustav Line'.
I hav no photos of that plate at the moment, only a G.Map link:

http://maps.google.it/maps?q=86088+San+Pietro+Avellana+Piazza+Umberto&hl=it&ll=41.790913,14.182963&spn=0.010655,0.026157&sll=41.783729,14.190559&sspn=0.085249,0.209255&vpsrc=0&hnear=Piazza+Umberto+I,+86088+San+Pietro+Avellana+Isernia,+Molise&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A

Hope it is useful :)

Regards,
Stefano

In Argenta, near the city of Ferrara, Italy, there is a War Cemetery where 625 Commonwealth soldiers are buried (37 of thems belonged to Commandos): they took part to the fights of the so called "Argenta Gap" in the Comacchio area during april 1945.
Here is the G.Map link:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=argenta+Via+Piangipane&hl=en&ll=44.634399,11.83264&spn=0.007268,0.021136&sll=44.869496,12.296448&sspn=0.879838,2.705383&vpsrc=6&doflg=ptk&hnear=Strada+Piangipane,+44011+Argenta+Ferrara,+Emilia+Romagna,+Italy&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=44.634454,11.832514&panoid=CsFJ3yrVDqHjG_FeIW-PnA&cbp=12,225.64,,0,-1.64

I found two more gravestons referred to No 10 Commando in Isernia, a city in the south of Italy. I'm going to look for them in G.Map and I will post the link as soon as possible.

It's a pleasure, Nic :)
I sent you an email with few attachments; I hope they will be usefuls.

Stefano

Thanks for your kind reply, Nic.
I'm pleased to know that my english is not so terrible :)
I wish I could contribute to the tasks and duties of CVA, so I would be glad to put my work and researches at the disposal of CVA.
By the way, one of the first things I wanted do is to share some infos and photos from my archive regarding to Commando's gravestones and memorials. I should have few pics and lists of Fallen Commandos that might be useful to CVA: just give me a little bit of time for searching and I will post them in the forum or, if you prefer, I will email directly to you.

Stefano

Fingers crossed for a "less fiction-more action" movie!
Anyway, few more infos here at IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1647670/combined

:)

Hello to all Veterans and CVA Members,
I just joined this forum and I thought it was a good idea to introduce myself (i did not find a proper section for members presentation, so I decided to open a new post in "General Topics").
My name is Stefano, I'm 33 and I'm from Livorno, Italy. I do work in the music business, but I'm a WWII military history enthusiast and I have been studying it since I was 20. During the last seven years, I'm focusing my attention to the role and history of Special Forces during WWII, both Allied and Axis, and I'm trying to spread their story by collaborating with some Italian magazines which deal with military history. It's not an easy task, since in my country there is a lack of interest by hisotrians to this theme. Especially about Commandos, there is a scarce bibliography and a big confusion about their formation, role, history, activity and operations during WWII. Commandos, SAS, LRDG and even our Decima MAS are not so "famous" and the main attention is dedicated to other general themes, such as military campaigns, war's politic aspects, Partisans and Civil War.
But I keep on trying!
So, maybe I'm too naive in my purpose, however I decided to join this forum hoping to establish with all of You a strong and long collaboration in keeping the Commando's memory alive, not only in UK or in USA, but even in Italy :)...as the Commando Memorial reports "United We Conquer"!

P.s.
I apologize for the poor English