Forli War Cemetery

• Country Italy
• Total identified casualties 734 Find these casualties
• Identified casualties from Second World War
• GPS Coordinates Latitude: 44.20514, Longitude: 12.01504

Location information

The cemetery is in Vecchiazzano, a small village very close to Forli. Take the autostrada A14 and exit at Forli. Follow the road signs for the hospital (ospedale) and to the first aid center (pronto soccorso). At the last roundabout after via Forlanini before the first aid center turn left and the cemetery will be on your right after 50m. If travelling by train, the nearest station is Forli, from which a taxi can be taken. Public transport may also be available. Cemetery address: via Caduti delle Forze Alleate, 47121 Forli. GPS Co-ordinates: Latitude: 44.205164, Longitude: 12.014418.

Visiting information

ARRIVAL

The route to the cemetery is not signposted.

PARKING

It is possible to park in a tarmac area approximately 50 metres north of the main entrance, alongside the access road, with space for numerous vehicles. There is also a large public car park directly across from the main road, approximately 100 m from the main entrance.

ACCESS, LAYOUT AND MAIN ENTRANCE

The cemetery is a large rectangular shape.

There is an entrance building located off the access road at the mid-point of the cemetery. Visitors pass through the building to access the cemetery.

There are 8 stone steps leading up to the entrance building from the roadside.

There is a double set of tall metal gates that open inwards, approximately 2 metres wide. On either side of the gates are matching decorative metal sections that are fixed.

Inside the building is a stone bench, with the Register box and shelf directly opposite.

Leading into the cemetery from the entrance building is a small drop down to grass level.

The Cross of Sacrifice stands centrally in the cemetery.

The internal paths of the cemetery are grass and flat.

There is a timber bench located at the far right of the cemetery facing towards the Cross of Sacrifice.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The cemetery is permanently open.

History information

On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on the Allied side.

Following the fall of Rome to the Allies in June 1944, the German retreat became ordered and successive stands were made on a series of defensive lines. In the northern Appenine mountains the last of these, the Gothic Line, was breached by the Allies during the Autumn campaign and the front inched forward as far as Ravenna in the Adratic sector, but with divisions transferred to support the new offensive in France, and the Germans dug in to a number of key defensive positions, the advance stalled as winter set in.

The cemetery site was selected soon after the Eighth Army took Forli in November 1944 and graves were brought into it from the surrounding battlefields. Many of those buried there lost their lives in the heavy fighting between Rimini and Ravenna which took place in appalling weather in October-December 1944.

Forli War Cemetery contains 738 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 4 of which are unidentifed.