Generale infos...
The Florence War Cemetery today contains 1,632 Commonwealth burials from the Second World War. The site for the war cemetery was selected in November 1944 for burials from hospitals established in and around Florence, but most of those buried here lost their lives in the fighting in this area from July to September 1944. After the war, 83 graves were transferred to the cemetery from the Arrow Route Cemetery when it proved impossible to acquire the site in perpetuity. Most of these burials came from the fighting in the Apennines during the winter of 1944-1945.
The cemetery, designed by architect Louis de Soissons, was built at the end of the Second World War to accommodate the graves of soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the Commonwealth forces who fell during the Italian campaign, between September 8, 1943, and April 25, 1945. The creation and maintenance of this sacred site are entrusted to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which continues to care for it to this day.
Access
The cemetery is accessed via a monumental staircase with two symmetrical flights, clad in travertine and yellow sandstone. Beneath the staircase is a small chapel, hidden from view at the entrance, open towards the cemetery. The burial area extends flat to the bank of the Arno River and hosts rows of white headstones, grouped into sections of various sizes. Here rest 1,637 fallen soldiers of the Commonwealth's Eighth Army, of whom 18 remain unknown.
Aligned with the entrance stands a white marble cross on an octagonal pedestal. Further ahead, there are two arched portals clad in yellow sandstone and, beyond them, a white marble altar.
Geographical position
The Florence War Cemetery is located along the Tosco-Romagnola state road, near the Florence-Rome railway line, at the edge of the Fiesole municipality and close to the eastern outskirts of Florence. To the south, the bank of the Arno River borders the cemetery, visually connecting it to the hilly landscape on the other side of the river. This area has been granted for perpetual use by the Italian state.2 .
Cemetery Address:
Via Aretina 34
50014 San Jacopo Al Girone FI (Comune di Fiesole)
The Battle of San Michele a Torri and the New Zealanders Buried at "Girone War Cemetery"
In the summer of 1944, on the Val di Pesa side of the Scandicci hills, one of the bloodiest battles for the Liberation of Italy took place: the Battle of San Michele. Also known as the "Little Cassino," this fierce clash saw two of the strongest divisions of the Allied armies and the Wehrmacht face off: the Second New Zealand Division and the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division. Historians, after six decades, have reconstructed the events of those days through archival documentation and photographs. The final toll was devastating, with over 1,700 dead and wounded, most of whom were New Zealanders. These events have been recounted in the book by Claudio Biscarini. San Michele, the Forgotten Battle, Centrolibro. For decades in Italy, that battle was seen as one of the many fights between the Allies and the Germans, but in New Zealand, the sacrifice of the soldiers commanded by General Freytag is remembered during San Michele Day.
The New Zealand soldiers fought for fifteen days against the German troops engaged in the "aggressive defense" strategy ordered by Commander Kesselring. This strategy aimed to slow down the Allied advance to allow for the construction of the Gothic Line in the Apennines. The battle was characterized by hand-to-hand combat and air attacks, but in the end, the New Zealand troops managed to prevail. This victory paved the way for the Allied troops towards Scandicci, which was liberated on August 4, 1944, and towards Florence, where the Nazi-fascists were definitively defeated on August 11. The Battle of San Michele, although long forgotten in Italy, represents a crucial moment in the summer 1944 campaign in Tuscany.
Today, at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Il Girone, about 350 New Zealand soldiers who fought in the Val di Pesa are buried. This cemetery is a place of remembrance where, every year, the fallen of the Battle of San Michele are commemorated. Only recently, with a ceremony, have these soldiers been honored, highlighting their sacrifice and the crucial role they played in the liberation of Florence. The cemetery, meticulously maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, provides a place of reflection and remembrance for all who visit, keeping alive the memory of those tragic and valiant days.
