In Memory of
Henry Starling
Private
5956502
1st Bn. The Hertfordshire Regt., Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regt
who died on
Saturday, 2nd September 1944. Age 28.
Additional Information:
Son of Charles and Mary Ann Starling, of Bethnal Green, London.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery:
FLORENCE WAR CEMETERY,
Grave Reference/
Panel Number:
V. A. 2.
Location:
Take the A1 Rome to Milan road and exit at Firenze Sud. Follow the road SS 67 towards
Pontassieve and Arezzo. Florence War Cemetery stands on the north bank of the River Arno
about 5 kilometres east of Florence.
The cemetery is permanently open and may be visited anytime.
Historical Information:
Florence, which was taken by the Allied forces on 13th August, 1944, was the centre of the
Arno line and the point from which the attack on the German Gothic Line defences in the
Apennines was launched.
The site for the war cemetery was selected in November 1944, and the burials consist of
casualties from the hospitals established in and around Florence. The greater part of
those
who are buried in the war cemetery lost their lives in the fighting in this area from July
to
September, 1944.
There was, near Florence, another cemetery known as Arrow Route Cemetery. When it
proved impossible to secure that site permanently, the 83 graves were moved into Florence
War Cemetery; the men who lie in these graves were killed during the fighting in the
Apennines during the winter of 1944-1945.
There are now over 1,500, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these,
nearly 20 are unidentified.
Copyright The Commonwealth War Graves Commission