WEEK 2

DAY 9 Sunday 29 May 2005

Ravenna

Breakfast at 0700, departed at 0930 while one wheelchair and the last remaining door key were located.

Drove south around the Laguna, but found ourselves caught in slow-moving traffic despite this being a Sunday morning. Apparently two factors caused the traffic delays - roadworks (as usual) and this being the first really fine and hot Sunday of the summer (so EVERYBODY was heading for the beaches).

We stopped at Romona Abbey for a rest and drinks and perused the hawkers stalls beside the road, then on to Ravenna township for lunch. We found a small cafe down a side lane and had toasted sandwiches with ham, cheese and tomato. Then back to the buses for Ravenna Cemetery.

Ravenna Cemetery

This cemetery took some finding, not helped by wrong directions from the local Police. Ravenna is another immaculately kept CWGC site.
The entrance gates to Ravenna are set back from the road along a grassy walk
The entrance gates
The Cross and general view of Ravenna
NZ headstones at Ravenna
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Roll of Honour of 22nd Battalion interred at Ravenna

Surname Names Rank Age Date of Death Number Plot Row Grave
BRANSGROVE CHARLES WILLIAM VINCENT Private 34 23/09/1944 504392 V D 24
CARRINGTON FOLLETT ALVAN Private 22 3/10/1944 630701 V D 27
CLARKE PHILIP CHISHOLM Lance Corporal 26 1/10/1944 553900 V  D 29
COPE NORMAN KEITH Second Lieutenant 25 21/09/1944 800309 V  B 3
GILLON ARTHUR ALEXANDER Private 35 22/09/1944 547169 V  B 2
HANDLEY EDWARD ALBERT Private 21 25/09/1944 276718 V  D 25
HART WALTER CHARLES Lieutenant 34 21/09/1944 6514 V  B 11
HILL CECIL RAYMOND Private 21 29/09/1944 454288 V  D 6
LEALAND NORMAN PEREY Private 36 22/10/1944 546602 V  A 24
LEWIS JAMES Private 44 22/09/1944 583980 V  B 1
MILHAM FRANCIS KEITH Private 22 3/10/1944 442125 V  D 28
WALLACE JOHN JAMES Private   22/09/1944 70441 V  B 10

Faenza Cemetery

From Ravenna we headed for Faenza
A panorama view of Faenza Cemetery looking back to the Cross and the entrance

There were also several graves of 22nd Battalion men that we searched for.
The Cross near the entrance gate
The stone memorial that is set into the wall of each of the cemetery entranceways
Faenza
The headstone of J.D. Bedingfield, one of the 22nd Battalion men
Haddon Donald examining the grave of one of his 22nd Battalion men, Lt K.J. McCorkindale
Conferring over a headstone

Faenza Cemetery had particular significance to others in the tour as they were able to find the graves of close relatives and leave a brass plaque and photographs on the plot. The group gathered while the Ode was recited and more poppies laid on the headstone.
Reciting the Ode at Faenza

Roll of Honour of 22nd Battalion interred at Faenza

Surname Names Rank Age Date of Death Number Plot Row Grave
ADAMS, EDWARD Lance Corporal 25 19/04/1945 76701 VI. E. 17
ANDREWS, FREDERICK ALFRED Private 28 18/04/1945 43764 IV. E. 20
BARRATT, ERIC FRANCIS Private 25 21/12/1944 459019 IV. B. 12
BEDINGFIELD, JOHN DEIGHTON Lieutenant 24 15/04/1945 218698 VI. G. 20
BROWN, IVAN WAINHOUSE Lance Corporal 34 19/04/1945 273675 IV. E. 21
COLLINS, SYDNEY REEVE Private 22 15/12/1944 434979 III. G. 2
COOPER, JAMES KINNEAR Private 36 23/12/1944 588872 IV. D. 3
DAVIDSON, GEORGE Private 22 21/12/1944 442170 IV. D. 4
DEMPSEY, STANLEY JOHN Private 23 14/12/1944 425884 III. F. 2
KENNARD, DESMOND CHARLES Private 23 28/11/1944 439204 I. B. 22
MASON, GORDON JOHN Private 23 24/12/1944 619025 IV. B. 20
McCORKINDALE, KEITH JAMES Lieutenant 24 16/04/1945 800128 IV. F. 3
McHARDY, GEORGE FORBES Second Lieutenant 38 28/11/1944 553241 I. C. 12
MORGAN, IVAN GODFREY Private 21 23/12/1944 444615 IV. B. 21
MULLANY, JOHN VERE Private 25 26/11/1944 280445 I. B. 21
SANDILANDS, ERNEST BRUCE Private 21 17/04/1945 443197 IV. E. 19
STONEHAM, DONALD FRANCIS Private 24 30/11/1944 49604 I. C. 13

Forli Cemetery

Despite it now being late in the afternoon we continued on to Forli Cemetery. Forli is a small cemetery atop a narrow ridge, but here too were graves of colleagues and relatives. Our supply of red plastic poppies, brought all the way from New Zealand, was running low. To satisfy the need to place these as a mark of remembrance on headstones, I jumped over the fence and collected a handful of real Flanders poppies growing beside a nearby field. These were much appreciated.
Neat rows of stones at Forli
The Sherratts laying a poppy on a grave

Roll of Honour of 22nd Battalion interred at Forli

Surname Names Rank Age Date of Death Number Plot Row Grave
ALDERSLEY, JOSEPH HENRY Private 30 15/04/1945 70961 VIII, B, 4
BRANDFORD, THOMAS OSBORNE Private 23 15/12/1944 435826 VI, B, 1
BROWN, FRANK ROBERT Lance Corporal 22 15/04/1945 443527 VIII, B, 23
CAVE, KEITH HYLTON Lieutenant 33 14/04/1945 615432 VIII, B, 19
CHRISTIAN, WILLIAM JOHN Private 30 15/12/1944 49533 VI, A, 23
EVANS, HENRY ROBERT Private 32 18/04/1945 253341 VIII, D, 4
FOWKE, BRUCE HERBERT Serjeant 29 15/12/1944 6735 VI, B, 2
GOMER, THOMAS GRAHAM Lance Corporal 23 15/04/1945 455084 VIII, B, 22
LUDDON, JAMES WALTER Private 22 14/04/1945 439215 VIII, B, 21
McDONALD, IAN STEWART Corporal 22 15/04/1945 622314 VIII, B, 5
McFARLANE, WILLIAM Private 24 21/10/1944 284506 II, A, 11
PEARCE, WILLIAM STEVEN Private 31 19/10/1944 455362 II, A, 1
ROUGH, ROWLAND JAMES WO Class II 33 18/04/1945 71069 VIII, D, 5
SIRETT, ARTHUR GEORGE Private 35 14/04/1945 44789 VIII, B, 18
WHITE, GEORGE LAURENCE Private 27 2/12/1944 72873 II, A, 3
YOUNG, STANLEY ROY Private 22 19/04/1945 444017 VI, B, 22

Hotel at Riccione

We finally arrived at Riccionne, on the Mediterranean coast at 1930 and we were herded straight into the dining room for dinner. The hotel was threatening not to feed us at all if we did not dine immediately.

Our hotel rooms looked straight out onto the beach. By the time dinner was over it was dark and all we could see were the bright lights of the street and hotels. Photos by night and then by day reveal the view.
The view to the NW from our hotel room - night
The view to the SE from our hotel room - night
The Hotel at Riccione by day
The view to the NW from our hotel room - day
The view to the SE from our hotel room - day
A closer view of all of those sun chairs and bronzed bodies

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Last updated: 21/09/2010