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12R E M E M B R A N C E D A Y S P E C I A LTRIDENT, NOVEMBER 1, 2004Fighting their way toward Rome;A Canadian veteran of the Italian campaign recalls the warBy Virginia BeatonTrident staffOn the walls of his room at theCamp Hill Veterans MemorialHospital, Percy Buzza has photostaken during the years of his militarycareer. As a 12-year-old drummerboy in Manitoba; with three friends,everyone in uniform; as a 19-yearoldtank commander posing with hiscrew in Italy; during his years in theNavy, wearing a hard-hat diving suit;and more recently, posing next toSpartan‚ the tank he commanded inLord Strathcona’s Horse during theItalian campaign in the SecondWorld War.“Right now that tank is inEdmonton.”As he describes the photo of histank crew, Buzza names each man.Sixty years after they fought theexhausting campaign through Italy,Buzza still remembers his comrades.“The fellow on the left is Ken Parsons,he came from northern Alberta.The one next to him is A. K.Williams. He was my gunner. Heblew his hand off when he picked upa booby trap. The fellow on my leftis A. K. Tompkins. He was an Americancitizen but he came up to Canadaand joined the Canadian Army.The little guy on the end is Bill Bellaand he was Maltese. I had a realUnited Nations in my tank.”Buzza was one of the thousands ofCanadian military personnel whomoved through Italy and in bloodyconflicts such as Melfa River,Ortona and Rimini, weakened theGerman forces and hastened theirultimate collapse.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba,Buzza was just 16 when he joinedthe Lord Strathcona’s Horse (RoyalCanadians) in October 1940. He hadpreviously been a drummer boywith the Queen’s Own CameronHighlanders of Canada and the RoyalWinnipeg Rifles. He qualified asa wireless operator in a tank. Thefirst tanks the regiment had beenissued were Renaud. “They weretwo-man tanks but it took three mento start one.”Arriving in Italy in 1943, Buzzarecalls “We spent three weeks inNaples and it poured down rain thewhole time there. We were in tentsand there was mud everywhere.They talk about sunny Italy, but itwas wrong.”From Naples they went to Natiraand were issued brand new Shermantanks and had to train withthem, “as a troop and then as asquadron and as a regiment and as abrigade. Once we were judged competentto go tank against tank intank warfare, we were declaredready to go to the front.”From there they went to Orsona,“which is about 30 kilometres insideof Ortona. Ortona was a terribleplace. The Three Rivers Regimentand the Seaforth Highlanders lost alot of men gaining Ortona. We wentthere after they had taken the placeand we stayed at Ortona for the winterof 1943.”The routine was that they would goup the line to Pescara, where the Germanline was. “We would stay forabout three weeks and come back toOrtona and get a bath and get yourtank repaired. The tanks were alwaysbreaking down. Then you’d go backup the line again to Pescara.”That winter of 1943 at Pescara, theGermans were observing the Alliesas carefully as the Allies watchedthem. The result was that not manypeople were killed, Buzza notes.They left Ortona and went to theLiri Valley, which was dominated bythe majestic hillside presence ofMonte Cassino, the abbey built bySt. Benedict in the sixth century. Thetown of Cassino and the Abbey werestrategically important, and as Buzzawrote in notes for a speech, theLiri Valley “formed a major partof the Hitler Line which Hitlerdemanded be held at all costs, by theGerman forces.”It was the spring of 1944 and theAllies had suffered terrible losses asthey tried to take the Abbey. In May,the 5th Canadian Armoured Divisionmoved into position. As Buzzawrote, “Lord Strathcona’s Horsetogether with infantry support by theWestminster Regiment was firstacross the Melfa River, a key objectivein clearing the Liri Valley.”It was May 24, 1944 and as aresult of the fierce and ultimatelytriumphant battle they wagedagainst the Germans, the Strathcona’sLieutenant Perkins would beawarded the Distinguished ServiceOrder, and the Westminster’s MajorMahoney would later be honouredwith the Victoria Cross, and PercyBuzza was promoted from wirelessoperator to sergeant, and was madea tank commander. He would commandhis tank, named Spartan, untilthe end of the war. Melfa was ahard-won victory, Buzza stillrecalls as he says “We lost 16 tanks,five men in each tank, and we lost alot of crew commanders. That’show I got promoted.”He remembers that when he wasfirst given command and they startedoff, “Everybody was firing atsomebody and I couldn’t see whatthey were firing at. I thought Ishould be firing too but I didn’tknow who to fire at. Eventually Isaw a flash off at the side and it wasan anti-tank gun that fired at us andmissed.” Buzza’s crew was able toreturn fire “and once that happenedI had more confidence.”The Canadians were well receivedby the Italian population, Buzzarecalls. “I remember we came intoone farmer’s yard-the farmer and hiswife and a bunch of kids had been intheir root cellar, hiding from theshelling. When they saw us get out ofour tanks they came over and said‘amico, amico‚’ [friend].Since there were many chickensrunning around the farmyard, Buzzathought he would ask for one for ameal. When the farmer insisted onbeing paid, one of Buzza’s men fireda pistol at the chickens and was startledwhen he took the head off one.“The farmer said that if he couldknock the head off a chicken at thatdistance, he could have it.The farmer’s wife cleaned thechicken for us and we had a chickendinner that night.”There were subsequent battles,such as the battle for Torrice Cross,which became a gathering point forthe Canadians and the Germans.“We had one hell of a battlebetween the Canadian tanks and theGerman tanks.”It was at the breaching of the Gothicline where Buzza lost GeorgeMills, his gunner.“George went on foot patrol with acolonel who wanted to see where theGerman tanks were situated. On theway back he ran into a patrol of Germansand they had been doing thesame thing, trying to see where ourtanks were. George stood up thereand he was killed.” The colonelescaped but Buzza notes “he said heset a record for crawling backwards.”Other horrific battle scenesinclude Coriano Ridge. “It was along ridge of high hills and the Germanswere at the top of the hill andas we were going up the hill they justpicked us off, like shooting fish in abarrel. We finally got to the top ofCoriano Ridge and we were in controlof the firepower because theywere down on the other side.”Battling with the German Tigertanks was difficult, according to Buzza,“We had to hit it from behindbecause the armour in the front couldwithstand our guns. Whereas theirgun was an 88 millimetre that couldpenetrate our armour at 2,000 yards.Our guns wouldn’t penetrate themuntil we got inside 1,000 yards. Sothere was a 1,000 yard gap and wewere at a disadvantage.”Buzza describes the tactic theCanadian tanks used. “Two tankswould go up alongside a GermanTiger tank. He had to pick one ofus.” The advantage the Canadianshad was that their tanks had powertraining, “whereas the Germans hadto turn and turn and turn. So he’dpick one tank and the other wouldWe Have A Home Ready For You Now!Call us today (902) 883-2266www.scotianhomes.comyourlifestylehomebuilderSatisfying Customers for Over 50 YearsAre You Thinking of a Career Change?Need help with Civilian Accreditation?Let me Assist youDavid B.M. 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R E M E M B R A N C E D A Y S P E C I A LTRIDENT, NOVEMBER 1, 2004 13get around behind him and fire ashot into the back of him. You’d killhis engine.”At Rimini, a flat open area, Buzzaparticipated in another ferocious tankbattle. “There were 52 tanks in ourregiment, 52 tanks in the 8th NewBrunswick Hussars. That’s 104 tanksat the start of the battle and the Germanshad somewhere in the order of50 or 60.”Again, Buzza believes that itwas the tank’s power training thatgave them the advantage overthe Germans.As they approached Rome, Buzzarecalls that the Canadians weresuddenly overtaken. In he speechhe wrote “When the 5th Divisionreached Frosinone (about 30 Kmssouth of Rome) the Canadians wereordered to pull over to the side of thehighway, in their beat-up and dustytanks, and the US 5th Army roaredpast us and into Rome in their shinyclean tanks and scores of photographersand “took” Rome! Hardly ashot was fired.”All in all, Buzza was in Italy fromthe spring of 1943 until the fall of1944. He would then travel to Marseillesin southern France, and acrossFrance to Belgium, joining otherCanadian troops for the final victoriouspush into Germany.When Buzza returned to Canadaafter the war he decided to attend university.Upon learning that the Navywould pay for higher education, hejoined the Royal Canadian Navy VolunteerReserve (RCNVR) and wasselected for officer training. Heserved with the Navy during theKorean conflict and during that timewas seconded to the United StatesMarine Corps. “I spent about fourmonths with them,” he recalls.Buzza retired from the Navy in1968 as a Lieutenant Commanderand received a commendation fromthe Flag Officer “for bringing a highlysophisticated submarine detectionsystem into operational use.”Five years ago, Buzza returned toItaly for the first time since the war.It brought back many memories andas Buzza says simply “It brought alump to my throat.”He visited the cemetery where hisfriend George Mills was buried, “inthe second row from the top.” Thevisitors were warned that they shouldonly attempt the climb if they were ingood shape. “But I had to go and seehis grave so I climbed the hill.”Buzza put a poppy on Mills’gravesite but it wasn’t until after hedescended that Buzza realized that hehadn’t taken a photo. “So I climbedup the hill again, took a picture andcame down.” He says emotionally“George would have thought thatwas funny.”Percy Buzza now resides atCamp Hill Veterans Memorial Hospital(CHVMH).At the hospital’s Candlelight Servicein the early evening of November10, he will give an address aboutthe Italian Campaign.Canadian Cemeteries and Memorials in ItalyVeterans Affairs CanadaCanada’s over 5,900 identifiedwar dead in Italy are buriedmainly in 17 Commonwealth WarCemeteries or commemorated on theCassino Memorial.The only Second World War cemeterythat is exclusively Canadian isthe Agira Canadian War Cemetery inthe heart of Sicily, 71 kilometresfrom Catania, where 490 Canadiansare buried.In Bari War Cemetery on Italy’sAdriatic coast, are 2,245 Commonwealthheadstones, of which 210 areCanadian.The Moro River Canadian WarCemetery, located about 5 kilometressouth of Ortona, contains1,615 graves, of which 1,375 arefor Canadians.The River Sangro War Cemetery,located at almost five kilometersbefore the River Moro Cemetery,contains the remains of two Canadianaviators buried amongst some2600 aviators of the British RoyalAir Force.Most of the Canadians who fell inthe Liri Valley are buried in twocemeteries in the area south of Rome:Caserta War Cemetery, where 98Canadian soldiers and one Canadianairman are buried, and Cassino WarCemetery, farther north and just offthe road to Rome. The latter is thelargest Second World War Cemeteryin Italy. Among the over 4,200 headstoneslocated here are those of 855Canadians who died during the battlesof the Hitler Line and theadvance towards Rome. Also foundin this cemetery is the CassinoMemorial, which lists the names of4,054 men who died in the Sicilianand Italian campaigns and have noknown grave, and includes the namesof 192 Canadians.At Beach Head War Cemetery inAnzio on Italy’s west coast, 68 Canadianslie among the 2,313 war dead.Rome War Cemetery has 22 Canadiangraves—those of administrativestaff and prisoners who died in captivity.In Florence War Cemetery,east of the city on the north bank ofthe Arno, the graves of 50 Canadianscan be found among those of 1,637Commonwealth soldiers who died inaction before the city was captured.Two cemeteries near the AdriaticSea were begun during the fighting tobreach the Gothic Line: Ancona WarCemetery, where over a thousandCommonwealth soldiers and airmenare buried, including 161 Canadians;and Montecchio War Cemetery, furthernorth and 13 kilometres inlandfrom Pesaro, where 289 graves, of atotal of 582, belong to Canadians.In Gradara War Cemetery, the1,192 Commonwealth headstones,including those of 369 Canadians,are mute testimony of the Allied sacrificein the advance from Ancona toRimini. Coriano Ridge War Cemeteryalso contains 1,940 graves ofthose killed on the advance to Rimini,including 427 Canadian graves.Atotal of 937 Commonwealth soldierswho died in the winter of 1944-45 are buried in Ravenna War Cemetery,including 438 Canadians.A half-hour drive from Ravenna isthe Casena War Cemetery where 307Canadian graves can be foundamong the 775 graves dating fromNovember 1944.In Villanova Canadian War Cemetery,206 of the 212 graves belong toCanadians. This cemetery has beendescribed as a memorial to the fallenof the 5th division as 85 members oftwo battalions of this division areburied here. 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