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Road to Rome – After the success of last year’s tour following the slog up Italy of our famous D-Day Dodgers Barely three weeks before D-Day a lone Polish flag fluttered from the ruinous mountainous rubble of Monte Cassino. The preceding battles had involved the armies of 18 nations and 74,000 casualties. At last the Road to Rome had been opened up yet victory in the campaign remained a long slog away. Our tour studies the fighting for Cassino, The Liri Valley, The Garigliano River, The Anzio Landings and Beach head before crossing the disputed spine of Italy to discover the smaller hilltop actions that typified the campaign, through veteran’s accounts, contemporary records and exploring the ground this tour sets out to provide a greater understanding of the achievements and sacrifices made during the Italian campaign.
Day 1 - Fly from UK Airport to Rome and transfer to the Hotel La Pace, Central Cassino.
Day 2 - A full day study of the Monte Cassino battles begins on the slopes of Mount Trocchio Walk 1 – The St Angelo Crossing, we follow the 36 Texan Division crossing of the Rapido River & a visit to the spectacular Cassino War Cemetery in the shadow of the abbey. The afternoon starts with a visit to the Sherman tank in Cassino town before making our way to Caira and the large German War Cemetery. Finally we visit the abbey itself via Castle Hill & Monastery Hill before ending the day on Snakeshead Ridge and Point 593.
Day 3 We first visit the Amazon Bridge site that opened access to the Liri Valley before learning the story of the Lancashire Fusiliers and their VC action. A visit to the Garigliano River crossing and Minturno War Cemetery complete our morning. After lunch we travel to Anzio and our hotel.
Day 4 - Full day study of the Anzio fighting, with a visit to the immaculate Sicily Rome American War Cemetery before looking at Operation Shingle the Beach Landings, visits to the Anzio Museum, and Anzio Town Cemetery follow.
Walk Two – Wadi Country, this walk includes a visit to the Beach Head Cemetery and the site of the infamous “flyover” on the road to Aprilia.
Day 5 - Leaving Anzio we make our first stop at the German Cemetery before reaching Orvieto. Here we discover the stories behind the men in the cemetery before Walk Four – Montegabbioni; here we have the opportunity to study a classic unit action of the 5 Northants and Wiltshire Yeomanry. We then return to Rome for an early evening flight back to London.
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