Coriano Ridge War Cemetery

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Coriano Ridge War Cemetery
Italian: Cimitero di guerra inglese
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Coriano cimitero inglese1.JPG
The cemetery viewed from the entrance, April 2015
For Allied soldiers deceased in 1944
EstablishedApril 1945 (1945-04)
Location 43°59′6.95″N12°36′11.66″E / 43.9852639°N 12.6032389°E / 43.9852639; 12.6032389
Via Piane 4

near 
Coriano, Emilia-Romagna
Designed by Louis de Soissons
Total burials1,939
Unknowns
c. 50
Burials by nation
  • United Kingdom: 1,413
  • Canadian: 427
  • New Zealand: 52
  • South Africa: 28
  • India: 8
  • Australia: 1
  • Russia: 1
  • Other countries: 3
  • Unidentified: 7
Burials by war
World War II: 1,939
1939 – 1945 The soil of this cemetery was donated by the Italian people for the eternal rest of the sailors, soldiers, and aviators whose memory is rendered honour here (in Italian)

The Coriano Ridge War Cemetery, locally known as the English War Cemetery (Italian : Cimitero di guerra inglese), [1] [2] is a Commonwealth military cemetery in Coriano, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, [3] for Allied soldiers who died in the Second World War during the Allied advance through the Valconca and the battles of Coriano and Rimini. [1] [4] [5]

Contents

Managed by the Rome office of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, [3] [6] the cemetery numbers 1,939 burials, [1] of which approximately 50 are unidentified. [4] It is among Coriano's most notable tourist attractions. [7] [8]

History

In September 1944, the battles of Coriano and Rimini, from which many of the burials derive, [1] [4] marked the opening stages of the Allied assault on the Gothic Line. [9] [10] In the Battle of Coriano, the British Eighth Army engaged the Wehrmacht from 4 to 13 September. [11] Oliver Leese, the Eighth Army's commander, called the advance to liberate Rimini "one of the hardest battles of the Eighth Army ... comparable to El Alamein, Mareth, and the Gustav Line (Monte Cassino)". [12] Within 37 days of the Battle of Rimini, over 10,000 soldiers had died between the Allied and Axis forces. [13]

Inscription at the cemetery's entrance, April 2015 Coriano cimitero inglese.jpg
Inscription at the cemetery's entrance, April 2015

Coriano Ridge War Cemetery was constructed in April 1945, [5] [9] using land ceded by the Italian government to the United Kingdom's War Graves Commission, [1] [2] on the road between Rimini and Coriano. [5] Soldiers who had been buried in surrounding battlefields were reinterred in the cemetery, [5] [9] notably including 576 soldiers initially buried in Montescudo who were moved due to the soil's subsidence. The cemetery collected war dead from Rimini, Coriano, coastal settlements, and the Valconca. [5]

The cemetery was renovated in the late 1950s. In its post-war history, the cemetery has hosted several ceremonies commemorating the battles in the area, which have been attended by foreign dignatories and ambassadors. In September 1979, the 35th anniversary ceremony included a visit by Nilde Iotti, President of the Chamber of Deputies, and on 15 May 1980, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, visited the ceremony as president of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), [5] which manages the cemetery. [3] [6] The cemetery has often been included in veterans' tours of Italy, [5] but since the September 11 attacks in 2001, the visits of family members and veterans are no longer publicised due to the risk of terrorism. [5]

Layout

The cemetery measures 30,000 square metres (320,000 sq ft) in size, [1] [2] on a sloping hill, [5] [6] and exhibits a long, rectangular shape. The main entrance is a double gate, with the grass sloping downhill towards the graves. [9] The cemetery was designed by Louis de Soissons. [5]

The cemetery is divided into sectors, the first of which each consist of 84 tombs, with the last four sectors containing the burials from Montescudo. [5]

The site includes a chapel with a register of buried soldiers. [1] A memorial cross is located at the furthest point from the entrance, [9] and features a downwards-pointing bronze sword on an octagonal base. [2] [5] The cemetery includes a tool store and a memorial shelter, [9] in which visitors can leave messages that are later sent to the CWGC through the British Embassy in Rome. [5]

Burials

An unknown soldier's grave in the cemetery, April 2015 Coriano cimitero inglese3.JPG
An unknown soldier's grave in the cemetery, April 2015

Coriano Ridge War Cemetery numbers 1,939 burials, [1] [9] of which 1,413 are British, [1] [5] 427 are Canadian, 52 are New Zealander, 28 are South African, 8 are Indian, 1 is Australian, [1] [5] [6] 1 is Russian, [6] [5] 3 are of other nationalities, [1] and 7 are unidentified. [1] [5] 50 graves are unidentified. [4]

Notable burials

Access

The cemetery is always open, [3] [1] and served by Start Romagna SpA's route 20 bus between Rimini and Coriano. [6] A gravel-and-stone car park outside the main entrance includes parking bays for coaches. [9]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Cimitero di guerra inglese" [English War Cemetery]. Terre di Coriano (in Italian). Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Da Ravenna a Coriano, scolaresche in visita al Cimitero di guerra inglese" [From Ravenna to Coriano, school groups visit the English War Cemetery]. San Marino RTV (in Italian). 9 May 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Cimitero di Guerra Inglese Coriano: mappa, orari, contatti" [English War Cemetery]. Romagna.net (in Italian). Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "I Cimiteri di Guerra tra Romagna e Marche" [The War Cemeteries between Romagna and the Marche]. La Città Invisibile (in Italian). Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Zaghini, Paolo (19 May 2020). "I cimiteri di guerra in Romagna: Le vicende del Coriano Ridge War Cemetery" [The war cemeteries in Romagna: The case of the Coriano Ridge War Cemetery]. E-Review: Rivista degli Istituti Storici dell'Emilia-Romagna in Rete (in Italian). 7. doi: 10.12977/ereview285 . ISSN   2282-4979.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Cimiteri di guerra britannici" [British war cemeteries]. Rimini Turismo (in Italian). 30 March 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "Ciclabili e percorsi da scoprire nella nuova Carta del territorio di Coriano" [Cycle paths and routes to discover in the new map of the Coriano area]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 28 January 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  8. ↑ "Il marchio "Terre di Coriano" si amplia: realizzati quattro nuovi cartelloni" [The "Terre di Coriano" brand expands: Four new billboards created]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). 25 February 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Coriano Ridge War Cemetery". Commonwealth War Graves . Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  10. ↑ Montemaggi, Amedeo (1997). "Le due battaglie di Coriano: un altro significativo avvenimento sul fronte della Linea Gotica nel Settembre 1944" [The two battles of Coriano: Another significant event on the Gothic Line front in September 1944](PDF). lineagotica.eu (in Italian). Parma: Storia Militare. p. 42. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  11. ↑ "Coriano celebra l'Anniversario della Liberazione: il programma della giornata" [Coriano celebrates the Anniversary of the Liberation: The program of the day]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 19 April 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  12. ↑ McKelvey Cleaver, Thomas (10 May 2016). The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Bomb Wing. Simon & Schuster. p. 156. ISBN   978-1-62157-543-6.
  13. ↑ "I Cimiteri di Guerra tra Romagna e Marche" [The War Cemeteries between Romagna and the Marche]. La Città Invisibile (in Italian). Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  14. ↑ "Lieutenant Colonel Shane Edward Robert O'Neill". Commonwealth War Graves Commission . Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  15. 1 2 "Private John G. Watson". Commonwealth War Graves Commission . Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  16. ↑ "Watson Peak". British Columbia Geographical Names. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
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