Gradara War Cemetery is situated in the Commune of Gradara in the Province of Pesaro. It is located about 1.5 kilometres south of the SS16, midway between Pesaro and Riccione. Take the autostrada A14 (Bologna-Taranto) exiting at Cattolica or Pesaro, then go along the SS16 either east from Cattolica or west from Pesaro. Cemetery address: Via Pesaro s.n - 61012 Gradara (PU) Marche. GPS Co-ordinates: Latitude: 43.941062, Longitude: 12.782378.
On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on the Allied side. Following the fall of Rome to the Allies in June 1944, the German retreat became ordered and successive stands were made on a series of defensive positions known as the Trasimene, Arezzo, Arno and Gothic Lines. The site for the cemetery was chosen in November 1944 and it contains the graves of casualties incurred during the advance from Ancona to Rimini, which broke the German's heavily defended Gothic Line, and in the heavy fighting around Rimini, which was taken by the Allies on 21 September 1944. Gradara War Cemetery contains 1,191 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War. There is also one Belgian war grave.
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