CASSINO MEMORIAL, Italy

The Cassino Memorial is situated within Cassino War Cemetery, which lies in the Commune of Cassino, Province of Frosinone, 139 kilometres south-east of Rome. Above it, at a distance of 1 kilometre, is the dominating hill on which stands the Abbey of Monte Cassino. Take the autostrada A2 from Rome to Naples and leave it at the Cassino exit. At the junction of this exit and the road into Cassino, is the first of 6 clearly visible signposts to the cemetery and Memorial. The Memorial consists of pillars of green marble which rise approximately 5 metres on either side of an ornamental pool and a formal garden. The names of over 4,000 men with no known graves are inscribed on these pillars, representing nearly one-tenth of over 49,000 members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the fighting in Italy. On the walls above the stairways which lead up from the main road to the Cemetery, the following words, in English and Italian, are inscribed: 1939 - WITHIN THIS CEMETERY STAND MONUMENTS WHICH BEAR THE NAMES OF SOLDIERS OF THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH AND EMPIRE WHO FELL IN THE ASSAULTS UPON THE SHORES OF SICILY AND ITALY OR IN LATER BATTLES TO FREE ITALIAN SOIL AND TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED A KNOWN AND HONOURED GRAVE. AROUND THEM ARE THE GRAVES OF THEIR COMRADES WHO DIED FIGHTING IN THESE PARTS TO OPEN THE WAY TO ROME AND THE NORTH - 1945