Sangro River War Cemetery

The Sangro River War Cemetery is the main historical attraction in Torino di Sangro and one of the most powerful memorials in the entire Trabocchi Coast. It is located in Contrada Sentinelle, on the hills south of the Sangro River, and holds the graves of 2,617 Commonwealth soldiers who fell during World War II: 1,768 British, 355 New Zealanders, 335 Indians, 74 South Africans, as well as Australians, Canadians, and 75 unknown soldiers.

The cemetery was established following the fierce fighting of the fall and winter of 1943, when the British Eighth Army and Allied forces broke through the German defensive line along the Sangro River—a sector of the so-called Gustav Line. The site was chosen by the 5th Army Corps and became the final resting place for those who fell in the battles of November–December 1943 and the subsequent period of stalemate, as well as the remains of some Allied prisoners of war who died while attempting to reach friendly lines.

The design is by the Franco-Canadian architect Louis de Soissons, one of the most important designers for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in the postwar period. De Soissons arranged the marble headstones in the shape of a sloping amphitheater, drawing inspiration from classical Greco-Roman architecture: an avenue of magnolias leads to the Cross of Sacrifice, while a row of hawthorns leads to the Gate of Remembrance.

Within the cemetery is also the Sangro River Cremation Memorial, one of three Italian memorials dedicated to Indian soldiers whose remains were cremated according to Hindu rites—517 are commemorated here. The other two are located in Forlì and Rimini.

The site is impeccably maintained by the CWGC: a neatly mowed lawn, seasonal flowers, and symmetrical rows of white headstones engraved with the name, regiment, age, and—when requested by the family—a brief epitaph. It is a pilgrimage destination for people from across the Commonwealth. Every November, on Remembrance Day (the second Sunday in November), an official ceremony is held in the presence of British authorities.