Our trip to Solarolo Italy
September 10, 2022With my wife and daughter as fellow travellers the end of May saw us settled in a hotel onthe outskirts of Bologna. We had 7 days to relax and explore. One day however stood out distinctly and that was our planned trip to Solarolo to meet local historian Marco Dalmonte. Not far from Solarolo runs the river Senio at Felisio. At this location towards the East ,less than 2 kilometres away is the small hamlet of Cassanigo. Around this huddle of houseson the morning April 9th 1945 were stationed elements of 7th Armoured Brigade including Ibelieve my Grandad. Marco was…
The path to new friends
A force for good The internet can be both a force for good or bad . On the bad side we have the addiction caused by social media. Associated there is the conflict voiced between individuals born from polarized opposing…
Time to book some leave
Time to book some leave It looks like next year my trip to Italy will become a reality. I’m hoping to visit Emilia-Romagna, specifically Faenza and the surrounding area. This will place me geographically in the correct area to explore…
Spring Time in Italy
New year 1945 Tracking the events that preceded the start of the new year 1945 I can take a geographical pot shot that Grandad was at this time somewhere around the Emilia-Romagna town of Faenza. At this location the river…
The road to Faenza
On September 18th when my Grandfather’s service record documents him joining 7th Armoured Brigade in Italy, this unit had been in action for about 3 weeks as part of Operation Olive. This was the Allied forces Autumn drive to break…
A welcome arrival
A Welcome arrival After many months of waiting the postman has finally delivered the much anticipated war records of my late Grandfather. The Army Personnel Centre way up in Glasgow has done its bit to make good the offer of…
The lost medals
The lost medals Like all serving members of the armed forces who participated in the Second World War after the conflict concluded Grandad would have been awarded a set of campaign medals and a general service medal. I would love…
All plans on hold ?
All plans on hold? April 2020 and the usual isn’t what it was . Much of life is now on hold until this crisis is over. This includes my plans . It’s now pushing on 8 months since I applied…
Grandad’s war-what I know so far (November 2019)
Back in August I made reference to the fact that I had contacted the Military Records Department to make a request for Grandad’s war records . It’s now November 22nd and I have not received any reply . I am…
My own little time capsule
A collection from the past One tatty brown dog eared old wallet . Not much to look at really . In most cases it would be dismissed with a quick cursory glance . Just another tired old jumble sale curiosity. …
An Airgraph from world war 2
I highlighted in a previous post some of the art work I believed Grandad had produced during his world war two service time. I initially thought that these were just ordinary letters? They turned out to be something more interesting…
