Military Cemetery

Sir: Recently my wife and I travelled to the eastern coast of Italy, south of Pescara. The Sangro River Military Cemetery is the last resting place of approximately 4,000 Commonwealth and British soldiers. It is very important to my family as my wife’s uncle rests there. Lieutenant David Murray, a tank commander with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, was killed in December 1943 during the Battle of Orsogna. Lieutenant Murray was a graduate of Otago University MA and an outstanding rugby player having played for Otago province 1933 to 1939. He was selected for the 1938 All Blacks trial to select the team to travel to South Africa in 1939. This tour was cancelled.

The campaign to recapture Italy is well documented in Christopher Pugsley’s book The Bloody Road Home and highlights the sacrifice made by Britain and the Commonwealth countries in all phases of war. —

G.J. MACKENZIE, MANGAWHAI, NEW ZEALAND.