70 years ago: a Fallschirmjäger and a Roman bridge

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The church of San Lorenzo in Strada here in a picture during the battle and today. On the afternoon of 5 september, the Canadian s of the Royal Canadian Regiment cross Riccione and arrive in front of the church of San Lorenzo in Strada transformed by parachutists of the 1st Falls. Div.o Heidrich in a fortress.
The Canadians are trying to take it alone with an attack from two directions, but the paratroopers did not make a surprise. From 5th to 7th September inside and around the church will be a hand to hand combat.... until the 15th september 1944 the Church of San Lorenzo in Strada will be the front at Rimini Airport....

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And a "sterbebild" without photo, of a young paratrooper: Helmut Bücher 17 years.

And it is very rare in the Volksbund find the place where our soldier is dead, but here we are lucky.... Helmut has fallen into the church the first day of combat: 5th september 1944....

Nachname: Bücher
Vorname: Helmut
Dienstgrad: Jäger
Geburtsdatum: 25.12.1926
Geburtsort: Otzenhausen
Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 05.09.1944
Todes-/Vermisstenort: S.Lorenzo

Helmut Bücher ruht auf der Kriegsgräberstätte in Futa-Pass (Italien) .
Endgrablage: Block 25 Grab 627

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writes Don Moltalti, the priest of the Church:
" a small cemetery containing 33 bodies of Allied soldiers was built behind the church and another containing a dozen of Germans was built near, and an even smaller one containing 6 greeks soldiers still near them ... then so many other dead buried little more far away ...... uffz. Franz Jager fell to San Lorenzo in Strada the 7th september 1944...

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and in memory of the Rpyal Canadian Regiment on the wall of the church ... The church is about a 1 km from the great Allied Cemetery of Coriano ...

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another death card and an important date near Rimini .... 15th September: it seems that Canadians are able to pass over San Lorenzo.......... the "Van Doos" in fact take San Martino Montellabbate and nothing seems to separate them more da Rimini .... but the paratroopers of Reinish, who have had many losses that day, taking advantage of an error of rotation between the Van Doos and Seaforty to reflect the positions of San Martino Montellabbate, and with seventy men survivors of 1st Btl of the !sr Regiment stop here the Canadians until the 18 september....... the center of german resistance is and around the Palazzo des Verges....

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Josef Meingaft "gefallen am 15 september 1944 bei Rimini".....

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and the Villa des Verges today .... a special location on Riccione hills for special events.......

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it is very difficult (compared to Cassino, 5-6 months later, the German Propaganda unit were virtually absent) find pictures of Fallschmirjager in action on the Adriatic coast............

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and another death card of San Lorenzo in Strada: died in a military hospital in Badia Polesine (over 100 km Nordh Rimini above the Po River) the 12th september 1944 following aserious injuries received th 8th september 1944, almost certainly around the church of San Lorenzo....

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and an interesting New Zealand map of San Lorenzo that makes perfectly the strategic inportance of the Church of San Lorenzo in Strada: it closes the road to the airport (Miramare) and Rimini) ... I have indicated in red San Lorenzo, while the two little sqaures blue poorly readable is written "Panther turret" ..

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and the two Panther turret in Rimini airport in september 1944...

the first....

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and two views of the second....

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Tis Fallschmirjager is fallen on 3 September 1944 in full breaching of the Gothic Line .... probably between "Tomba di Pesaro" e "San Giovanni in Marignano" .... so he was buried behind the front line (San Martino in Venti is near Rimini)

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September 3rd is a day of big confusion on the front ... the German paratroopers after resisting for 3-4 days against the Canadian Corps ( that have broken the Gothic Line in Tomba di Pesaro, today Tavullia the country of Valentino Rossi the motorbike champion) withdraw towards Riccione ...

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..... another two Panterturm in Tavullia...