There are places you must visit if you are a WWII addict, but even if you are moderately interested in what happened in this area 75 years ago. One of these places is the Gustav Line Garigliano Front Museum in the little medieval village of Castelforte. This area was the scene of the Battle for Rome and in particular the so called “Fourth Battle of Montecassino” or Operation Diadem, regarding several nationalities, on the Allied and on the Axis side.
This museum was created only about one year ago, by a group of enthusiastic and passionate people of a local Association, after a long period of studies, reconnaissances on the local battlefields and researches on the memorabilia still existing in the area. The museum is organised in many fantastic “tableau vivant“, showing visitors scenes of normal military life in the bunkers and in the headquarters of both sides of the war. Hundreds of original materials are shown all along the museum, fantastic and well-preserved uniforms, weapons, shells, mines, but even helmets and army dog tags found in the area, that allowed the Museum Association to understand the stories of the soldiers that owned them.
In the museum is also possible to watch some videos about the discovery of several memorabilia, in the battlefields and in the river, showing visitors how difficult but emotional it is to find these traces of the past forgotten after 75 years.The museum is little, only about 100 squares meters, but you will see really a piece of surviving history coming alive. Just ask me to be your tour guide, and we will visit it and we will know a little more about the Garigliano crossing and the Diadem Operation in this area. My tours are organized in German, French, English and Spanish.