Paglia | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | Italy |
Physical characteristics | |
Mouth | Tiber |
• coordinates | 42°41′40″N12°11′45″E / 42.6945°N 12.1959°E |
Basin features | |
Progression | Tiber→ Tyrrhenian Sea |
The Paglia is an Italian river and a tributary of the Tiber.
It rises on the southern slopes of Monte Amiata (1,738 m) on the Plain of Rena near the town of Abbadia San Salvatore. It flows through the provinces of Siena, Viterbo and Terni, and flows into the Tiber to the south-east of Orvieto. It is approximately 86 km long and its flow is highly seasonal. Its largest tributary is the Chiani.
On 28 January 1944, during World War II, the Orvieto North railway bridge that crosses the Paglia at Allerona was the site of the inadvertent bombing by the American 320th Bombardment Group of a train filled with Allied prisoners. [1] Most of the POWs had come from Camp P.G. 54, Fara in Sabina, 35 kilometres to the north of Rome, and had been evacuated in anticipation of the Allied advance. One of the men on the train, Richard Morris of the U.S. Army, had been captured at Venafro, imprisoned at Frosinone, sent to P.G. 54 [2] and had been put on the train, which was presumably heading to Germany. In his memoirs, Morris wrote that the train was halted on the bridge over the river when the Allied bombs started to fall, and that the German guards fled the train, leaving the prisoners locked inside. Many, including Morris, escaped through holes in the boxcars caused by the bombing, and jumped into the river below. [3] Anglo-American historian Iris Origo wrote in her diary, War in Val d'Orcia , that "some of the carriages plunged into the river: there were over four hundred dead and wounded." [4]
Umbria is a region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the River Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Apennine Peninsula. The regional capital is Perugia.
The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a 415 km (258 mi) railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma. It was built from 1940 to 1943 by civilian laborers impressed or recruited by the Japanese and prisoners of war taken by the Japanese, to supply troops and weapons in the Burma campaign of World War II. It completed the rail link between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma. The name used by the Japanese Government was Tai–Men Rensetsu Tetsudō (泰緬連接鉄道), which means Thailand-Burma-Link-Railway.
GeneralfeldmarschallAlbert Kesselring was a German military officer and convicted war criminal who served in the Luftwaffe during World War II. In a career which spanned both world wars, Kesselring became one of Nazi Germany's most highly decorated commanders.
The 1st Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was formed in late 1941 during the Second World War, after the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, demanded an airborne force, and was initially under command of Major-General Frederick A. M. "Boy" Browning. The division was one of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during the war, with the other being the 6th Airborne Division, created in May 1943, using former units of the 1st Airborne Division.
The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv Jews from Mandatory Palestine and commanded by Anglo-Jewish officers. It served in the latter stages of the Italian Campaign, and was disbanded in 1946.
The 6th South African Armoured Division was the second armoured division of the South African Army and was formed during World War II. Established in early 1943, it was based on a nucleus of men from the former 1st South African Infantry Division who had returned to South Africa after the Second Battle of El Alamein in late 1942. The division was initially transferred to Egypt for training, after which it served in the Allied campaign in Italy during 1944 and 1945. In Italy, the division was initially deployed as part of the British Eighth Army, under command of Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese, and was then transferred to the U.S. Fifth Army, under Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, for the remainder of the Italian Campaign. The division operated as a strongly reinforced division and was frequently used to spearhead the advance of the Corps and Army to which it was attached. They returned home after the end of the war in Italy and were disbanded in 1946. The division was also briefly active after the war from 1 July 1948 to 1 November 1949.
The Battle for Caen is the name given to fighting between the British Second Army and the German Panzergruppe West in the Second World War for control of the city of Caen and its vicinity during the larger Battle of Normandy. The battles followed Operation Neptune, the Allied landings on the French coast on 6 June 1944 (D-Day).
Acquapendente is a city and comune in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio (Italy). Acquapendente is a centre for the agricultural production of vegetables and wine, and has a tradition of pottery craftsmanship. Its frazione of Torre Alfina is a member of the I Borghi più belli d'Italia association.
During the latter stages of World War II, Pforzheim, a town in southwestern Germany, was bombed several times. The largest raid, one of the most devastating area bombardments of the war, was carried out by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on the evening of February 23, 1945. Some 17,600 people, or 31.4% of the town's population, were killed. About 83% of the town's buildings were destroyed, two-thirds of the complete area of Pforzheim and between 80% and 100% of the inner city.
Allerona is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Terni in the Italian region Umbria, located about 50 km southwest of Perugia and about 60 km northwest of Terni. It is a member of the I Borghi più belli d'Italia association. The town consists of Allerona Alta, the hill town, and Allerona Scalo, the more populated town with a few bars, restaurants, grocers, and other services. The land is a mix of sand and clay soils, representing an ancient coastline where fossilized seashells can be found dating back a million years in the ancient sand dunes. Along the river that meanders on the valley west of the Autostrada, is an ancient Roman road. The fog settled in the valley quite often, leaving the hilltop village visible at a distance.
The 320th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force District of Washington. It is stationed at Bolling AFB, District of Columbia. The 320 AEW may be activated or inactivated at any time.
The following events occurred in August 1944:
The spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack in the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on April 6, 1945 and ended on May 2 with the surrender of German forces in Italy.
This is a timeline of events that occurred during 1944 in World War II.
San Marino – United Kingdom relations date back to 1899, when the United Kingdom and San Marino signed an extradition treaty.
The General de la Rey Regiment is an reserve infantry regiment of the South African Army.
The Val di Chiana, Valdichiana, or Chiana Valley, formerly Clanis Valley, is a tectonic valley of central Italy, whose valley floor consists of important alluvial residues filled up since the 11th century, lying on the territories of the provinces of Arezzo and Siena in Tuscany and the provinces of Perugia and Terni in Umbria.
The Florence–Rome railway is part of the traditional main north–south trunk line of the Italian railway network. The line is referred to by Ferrovie dello Stato as the Linea Lenta to distinguish it from the parallel high-speed line. The Linea Lenta is now mainly used for regional services, for the InterCity services — rather than the faster Le Frecce trains — between Florence and Rome and for the majority of freight trains. Some types of passenger train are routed on the line to serve smaller stations not served by the high-speed line or in order to improve traffic flow during peak periods or other periods of congestion.