| Additional Information: | Son of D. Stephen and Lucya Stewart, of O'Leary, Prince Edward Island, Canada. |
| Cemetery: |
CASSINO WAR CEMETERY, Italy
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| Grave Reference/ Panel Number: |
V. D. 14. |
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| Location: | Cassino War Cemetery lies in the Commune of Cassino, Province of Frosinone, 139 kilometres south-east of Rome. 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. Within the cemetery is situated the Cassino Memorial, commemorating over 4,000 men with no known grave, representing nearly one-tenth of over 49,000 members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the fighting in Italy. |
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| Historical Information: |
The site was originally selected for a war cemetery in January 1944, but the development of the battle during the first five months of that year made it impossible to use it until after the Germans had withdrawn from Cassino. During these early months of 1944, Cassino saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Italian campaign, the town itself and the dominating Monastery Hill proving the most stubborn obstacles encountered in the advance towards Rome. The greater part of the soldiers buried in the war cemetery lost their lives in the battles during these months. There are 4266, 1939-45 Commonwealth war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, 284 are unidentified. 2 Special Memorials have been erected to men who were originally buried in other cemeteries in the vicinity but whose graves have been lost. One commemorates 2 soldiers who were buried in Portella Military Cemetery, and the other, a soldier who was buried in Campobasso Military Cemetery. Also commemorated here is 1 Foreign National casualty and 2 non-world war casualties. A memorial which stands just south of the Cassino-Naples road in the village of Pastinelle, 3 kilometres east of Cassino, commemorates the visit of HM King George VI to the battlefield. It consists of a marble column upon which the Royal Coat of Arms has been carved in relief and above which is written in English and Italian:- "This path was walked on the twenty-second day of July, 1944 by His Majesty King George VI on the occasion of his visit to Cassino."
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