To join our society and receive our newsletters please contact our secretary at info@montecassinosociety.co.uk
If you have any questions or information about relatives who fought in Italy, then please contact us below. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Hi my father served in the British Eighth Army in Monte Cassino and I am trying to locate his service records. His name was Ismail Hassan and he was born in Cyprus. My son is visiting there tomorrow. Do you have any advice on how we might find these? Thank you
Hello
I have a photo of Dad’s which is of the troops gathering to hear Mr Churchill’s speech at 3pm on VE Day. Dad wrote on the back that this was at Alexander Barracks, Maddaloni, where he was stationed, presumably. I can find the town but there appears to be no record of the location of the barracks online. Do you know where it was located in the town? Thanks so much.
Hi Jeanie.
Thanks for your enquiry. I have found a photo on the Imperial War Museum website. The photo is captioned ‘Mrs.Whateley is met by Brigadier J.H. Woods, CBE.,DAG.,GHQ., 2nd Echelon, at the Alexander Barracks in Maddaloni.’, so that proves that it exists. I will do more research to see if I can locate it.
This is the link for the photo: 
CHIEF OF THE A.T.S. IN ITALY Image: IWM (NA 25847)
Regards
Des James
Good morning
I am looking to bring my Partner to memorial service at National Arboretum in May .
Do we need to book ?
Many thanks
Is this Society restricted only to British veterans of this Battle? I noticed on your site that there are no other veterans of other Allied forces. My father was a Polish veteran fought & wounded at the Battle of Monte Cassino. He wrote down his personal memoirs of his entire journey from when he was sent to Siberia, released after the amnesty, joined the Polish army in Russia, went to Iran and the Middle East where he trained along side the 8th British Army, fought throughout the Italian Campaign, to when he immigrated after the war to Canada. Would this be something the Society would be interested in?
Dear society.
My family comes from a little village near Cassino, and I have always been passionate about the story of what happened there.
Being able to connect with veterans, transcribe their testimonies, and honor the memories of those who lost their lives would greatly contribute to expanding this memorial. Even something as simple as a date of birth, a place of death, the name of a unit, or a photograph of a soldier would be incredibly valuable to my work.
I sincerely thank you for taking the time to consider my request, and I remain at your disposal for any questions or additional information you may wish to share.
Thank you once again for your attention and support.
Hi,
I am researching my family tree and am trying to find out some more information about my paternal grandfathers war service (Warrant Officer John Sutherland Campbell Stirling). He served in the Royal Engineers from 1939 and was evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940. Subsequently, he served in North Africa and the Middle East then in the Italy campaign (after being seconded to the US 5th Army as an engineer. He was mentioned in dispatches for something he did during the battle of Monte Cassino but we have never been able to find out what he did (he didn’t talk about his war when he was alive and died relatively young in 1974 aged 58. Just wondering if you have any pointers on where I can find out more information on his service? Many thanks, John
John.
If you could post his full name, and Regimental Number if you know it, I will have a dig around.
Regards
Frank
Hi Frank
That’s great. His full name was John Sutherland Campbell Stirling and his regimental number was 1913429.
Many thanks
John
John.
His Regimental Number is from the batch allocated to the Royal Engineers so that is correct. Your best bet is to go to http://www.gov.uk and look up ‘How to I obtain a Service Record’. That will secure you his Service Record and all will be revealed about where he went and with which Field Company or Field Squadron.
Regards
Frank
I am desperately trying to buy an 80th anniversary pin badge but am having no success…. My great uncle John Walker died there on 13th May 1944 and I have memories of going to his memorial every year in Budworth Cheshire…if you can help at all I would be thrilled … many thanks..Christine Mercer X
I am writing to you as a result of a photo a friend took last month of my father’s gravesite in the Cassino cemetery. Beside the site (P J Dudman) was a message from your society stating that you had recently held a remembrance service in the cemetery to mark the 80th anniversary of the battle, and that those present had each selected a gravesite to stand by. I was very moved. I have also stood at the gravesite, in 1998, and my brother previously. We were born in England in1941 and 1942, so had no memory of our father. My father’s family was indeed doomed – my grandparents and my aunt were killed in the Blitz in 1940, their youngest son Tony was killed at El Alamein in 1942, my father in 1943 and his twin brother, Jim, shot down over Paris on June 11th, 1944. I thank you from my home in Auckland, New Zealand, for this gesture your society made this year. My friend, Peter Charlesworth, a fellow Italian student, took the photos and made the visit on my behalf. i am now 82, but as long as I live, the sacrifice of my family will never be forgotten. And, as I well know, they were surely just the tip of the shocking iceberg. Thankyou again
Maureen Rutledge
Hi
My name is Marc Kirsten
I thought you might like this short interview I did for the RLB about my father who fought at the Battle of Monte Cassino, which was posted on their fccebook page on Saturday.
All the best
Marc
I have just read about the society,my father was in the 2nd battalion london irish rifles as was you sec.what if anything can i contribute.
John.
Come out to Cassino and see what 2 London Irish did in the Fourth Battle of Cassino. As part of 78 Infantry Division, they were ordered to push up the valley right underneath and in full view of Point 593, Point 575 and the monastery. It was quite an ask.
Regards
Frank
I was talking to mark Smith at Temple at War on Saturday .
Asked him why the Battle of Monti Cassino was never pubisised as much as D Day and that my father Oliver Douglas Barnard fought there with the 8th Army .
He told me of the Monti Cassino Society .
So here I am wishing to join you all .\
Olivia.
As a battlefield guide for the Italian Campaign, I am immensely frustrated that Normandy and NW Europe get so much more of the media attention than Italy. Part of it is because Normandy was so much easier to get to after the war but with the arrival of Easyjet, Wizz and Ryanair it is now possible to reach the Italian battlefields at far less cost. I am hoping that this will improve the public’s understanding of what exactly the troops in Italy endured from Sep 43-May 45.
Diary of Harold Brand. I found his account very moving. My father had fought in the previous Monte cassino Battles. He was attatched now to the “Fifth Indian”. At one timr he took a unit of troops through the ruins of Cassino and up to Castle Hill. He also fought the German assault from the castle ruins. There is a possibility that he is the Sergeant mentioned in Mr. Brands account.
John.
I am confused by where your father would have been. Are you saying that he was in 5th Indian Brigade, 4th Indian Division. If so, that would place him on or near Snakeshead Ridge for the Second Battle of Cassino in Feb 44.
Is this correct? What unit was he serving in at the time?
Regards
Frank
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