Indian Army Memorial At Cassino:
During his four-day visit to the UK and Italy, Indian Army Chief Manoj Naravane will inaugurate the Indian Army Memorial at Cassino in Italy, about 140 km away from Rome.
- The memorial commemorates over 3,100 Commonwealth servicemen who took part in the effort to liberate Italy in World War II.
- Apart from this, 900 Indian soldiers were also commemorated on this memorial.
- Under Benito Mussolini, Italy had joined Nazi Germany in 1936 and in 1940 it entered WWII (1939-1945) against the Allies.
- But in 1943, Mussolini was overthrown and instead, Italy declared war on Germany.
- The invasion of Italy by the Allies coincided with an armistice that was made with the Italians.
- Indian Army was the largest volunteer force during WWII, with over 2.5 million Indians participating.
- These troops fought the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) as part of the Allies.
- Three infantry divisions of the Indian Army took part in the Italian campaign. These were the 4th, 8th and 10th Indian Divisions.
