This time of year is wonderful walking weather. Today we made it up the path from Ponte di Catagnana to Sommocolonia, scene of the last battle in the Garfagnana during WWII where lieutenant John Fox of the US ‘Buffalo’ forces died for Italy’s freedom.

This footpath is actually the old mulattiera (mule path) to Sommocolonia.

The path is beautifully engineered and graded: a ‘super highway’ of the mediaeval age.

This little chapel on the path is a lovely place to get one’s breath back.

The Buffaloes: Afro-American soldiers who helped so much to win the war in this part of Italy.

The views from this part of the path are spectacular: down the valley one can see the city of Barga

The memorial of the Martyrs of December 1944

Memorial plaque. Gerry’s attack almost synchronised with the battle of the bulge and was Nazi Germany’s last attempt to attack the Allies before its final defeat the following year

Lieutenant John Fox’s USA army memorial stone.

The church of San Rocco in Sommocolonia

Something more about the battle of Sommocolonia:

During the Second World War, on December 26, 1944, Sommocolonia was the scene of “Operation Wintergewitter”, a limited offensive conducted on the Gothic Line by the Italian-German forces against the US troops (92nd “Buffalo” Division), supported by the partisans of the XI zone.

There were over 150 casualties among the Allied forces (including John Robert Fox, awarded the US Medal of Honor) and 7 civilian victims, and over 50% of the buildings were destroyed by the bombings. The last large bomb dropped by a US plane was found unexploded near the Rocca in the 1980s. The last devices, two American Mk2 hand grenades, were removed and detonated in July 2009, near the “Campeglio” location.

On February 19, 2010, a delegation of American soldiers from the Camp Darby base (PI), visited the town and the sites of the battle of Christmas 1944. They were subsequently hosted by the local town committee for refreshments and a visit to the small but very well-kept museum that collects the war material found and the collective memory of Sommocolonia.

On July 6, 2010, Lieutenant Richard Neumeister of the 4th Alpine Battalion, who launched the attack on Sommocolonia on December 26, 1944 during the “Winter Storm” operation, asked to visit the town and the small museum, accompanied by his family. Arriving there, he cried when he saw those places again. Subsequently, numerous delegations of American soldiers from the nearby American base of Camp Darby went to Sommocolonia to visit the battle sites.