15 June 2006

Visit to Anzio "Sbargo Museo"

On Tuesday we went into Anzio to go to the museum for the WWII beachhead landing that occurred at Anzio and nearby Nettuno on January 22, 1944. This is a privately-run museum housed in the 17th century Villa Adele, which also houses municipal offices and an archeological museum (closed for festival). There was a gentleman at the front desk and Valerie him told that a friend of ours’ father had been involved in the landing, and so he wanted to give us a certificate of appreciation for this father but we did not have his complete name. We now have the full name and will need to go back and obtain this certificate and forward it to the US.

The museum contains artifacts from the area landings as well as items donated by individual veterans and veteran groups. There were various uniforms and weapons from American, English, Italian and German units as well as maps and news clippings of the time. It was interesting to see photos of the damage to the center of Anzio as we become more familiar with this area ourselves.

Tuesday was also the local festival day for Anzio in honor of St. Anthony of Padua, which meant the post office and municipal offices were closed. There were plans that night for a boat flotilla in the harbor and fireworks but we decided not to attempt the bus ride into town as we could not find out the specific time schedule for these events.

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