8 replies to this topic

[delta]

http://news.bbc.co.u...ent/9522135.stm

[TRAJAN]

Thank you for that link! The only CWG site I knew of in Italy was the WWII one in Rome...

Trajan

[MartinBennitt]

a well-written and moving piece

thanks for the link

cheers Martin B

[Rockdoc]

The piece begins at 23.30 into the podcast.

Keith

[Mark Hone]

A very good piece, well-informed and nicely judged, I thought. Bravo, Andrew Martlew.

[seadog]

Interesting but a little pointless, what does he mean by “forgotten” there are many cemeteries on the Western Front which receive few visitors. As for comparing the Italian cemeteries with those in France and Belgium I would have thought that the obvious reason why the Italian ones receive so few visitors is the distance from the UK meaning that only those with a reason to visit say a relative buried there would make the not inconsiderable efforts required to undertake the journey. Just to reiterate none of the soldiers buried or commemorated by the CWGC are “Forgotten”.

Norman

[philgb]

Very interesting article, my grandfather served with the 17th Manchester regiment from 1915. Following the Passchendaele ridge battle of 1917 transferred to the 21st Manchester regiment and was sent to Italy he then fought at Piave and Asiago plateau.

I have to thank the members of the Manchester pals forums for supplying me with all the detailed information, absolutely brilliant these guys are.

[MikeMeech]

I do wonder what 'Forgotten' actually means in the media.  Has the British Forces in Italy been 'forgotten'.  Just looking at my bookselves there are:
'The British Army in Italy 1917-1918' by John and Eileen Wilks, Leo Cooper 1998.  
'The Forgotten Front - The British Campaign in Italy 1917-1918' by George H. Cassar, The Hambledon Press 1998.
(Not to mention 'Offensive Patrol' by Norman Macmillan for the RFC/RAF out there).
Obviously 'Not Forgotten' in 1998.  What is actually meant, I think, is 'lesser known' which is probably bound to happen as the overwelming majority of the British Forces were on the Western Front.  There is plenty of material available on the campaigns of the Great War, however, people need to have an 'interest' in it to bother to look for it.
Back to media terms; I think it was Jeremy Clarkson who presented a documentary on the St Nazaire raid of 1942 ( it was quite good), this was however talked of as 'forgotten', despite there having been a documentary on TV just over a year before!
So 'Forgotten' is a very loose term in 'mediaspeak' and should not be taken at face value, it may just be the production team did not know anything about the subject (sadly probably not an uncommon occurrence).
Thats the end of the 'rant' of the day, sorry.

Mike

[Heid the Ba']

+1

See also "Unknown"  for example "Messines, the unknown battle."