Canadians Remembered In Villanova

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By Donna Maxwell, Contributor

It is said the Italian Campaign is the forgotten campaign and that the D-Day Dodgers were not given due recognition for their service and sacrifice. The Italian Campaign lasted from 1943 to 1945 and a total of 92,757 Canadians served their country, 5,764 died, 19,486 were wounded and 1,004 captured.
In the Commune of Bagnacavallo of Northern Italy lies the Villanova Canadian War Cemetery, selected as a final resting place by the 5th Canadian Armoured Division which is heavily represented there. Most of the Canadian war dead belong to one of four regiments: the Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment, the 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards, the Perth Regiment and the Irish Regiment.

In the Village of Villanova lives Rosalia Fontoni. As a small child she lived in fear and hunger as war raged on around her. Her father and uncle were hung by the SS just 2 weeks before Canadians liberated Villanova. Rosalia wanted to know all she could about Canadians, remembering the kindness and peace brought to her by these men. She wanted to understand the generosity that drove their actions. She has written a book called Casa lontano da casa (Home away from home) and feels strongly these men be not forgotten.

"The liberators, caked in mud and dust, made their way through villages of destroyed houses, schools full of evacuees and refugees, unusable railways; and in the background, the constant rumble of bombs, the grenades that wrought havoc on so much human life, artillery fire that made the walls shake and the air tremble,” Rosalia writes. “The memory of these days survives in its telling; and suffering, in its telling is like a great thaw - the thaw that turned the snow of Auschwitz to tears.  It is vitally important that we keep these memories alive."

The research group of Villanova/Bagnacavallo now wants to publish a book about the men buried in Villanova. They want to place a face to the name of these men and know something about them. They consider these boys as their own sons. Clearly these men have not been forgotten.

Anyone with a family member who was KIA in Italy November 1944 to January 1945 whose family may be in the Villanova War Cemetery and would like to contribute to this project can contact me by email:
dmaxwell7@shaw.ca or call  403-467-0001.