British Forces

In front of Apennines

Imperial War Museum

Unusual view of a beautiful airplane. A ground crewman helps a pilot of No. 601 Squadron RAF into the cockpit of his Supermarine Spitfire Mark IX at Venafro, Molise, Italy, 12 May 1944, before an offensive sweep in support of Operation Diadem. Diadem, or Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino, is the operation undertaken by the U.S. Fifth and British Eighth Armies launched on 11 May 1944 night to break the German defenses on the western half of the Winter Line and open up the Liri Valley, the main route to Rome. The result was the collapse of the German Gustav Line. The No.601 Squadron was based at Venafro from 23 April until 12June 1944. Beyond the Spitfire the typical landscape of the Central-Southern Italy’s Apennines with bleak and harsh mounts. The town of Venafro, at the foot of Monte Santa Croce, can be seen to the right. Victor Sierra