South African forces in Italy

[Hanno Spoelstra]

A pic of South African forces in Italy, just because there are not a lot of pictures of Commonwealth forces in Italy around (
source)

Colonne della 6ª Divisione corazzata sudafricana avanzano su strade disseminate di relitti a fine aprile 1945. La foto è stata scattata a fine aprile a Vaccarino (Padova), sulla Strada nazionale 47, non distante dal fiume Brenta. La guerra è praticamente finita, si guarda al futuro: i contadini hanno ripreso il lavoro nei campi (archivio Daniele Guglielmi)

[Bob Potter]

It has been ages since I have checked in with the MLU crew, and I was pleased to find this pic. You are right that photos of 6th SAAD troops are right ojn the ground. When I was in Siena in 2001 the city was mounting an exhibition regarding the liberation of the city. In the city musuem, I purchased a photo collection which contains some photos of 6SAAD troops, including some rolling equipment.

I also spent some time in Assisi. One chilly morning I walked down the hill to the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. There are a number of Springboks buried there. There was much to contemplate there. I have a photo of three gravestones hanging in my homeroom.

Bob Potter