Officials and veterans gathered at the Polish War Cemetery in Loreto on Wednesday to pay tribute to soldiers from the wartime 2nd Polish Corps led by Gen. Władysław Anders.
The ceremony was part of events to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Adriatic port city of Ancona by Polish soldiers.
Lech Parell, head of Poland’s Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression, told those at the ceremony that "the liberation of Ancona and other towns in Italy's Marche region was an operation planned and executed from beginning to end by the Polish Armed Forces in the West."
More than 1,000 Polish soldiers were killed during the 2nd Corps’ Adriatic campaign, which began in June 1944, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency has reported.
They were all laid to rest at the Polish war cemetery in Loreto.
Polish troops commanded by Gen. Anders liberated a host of cities across Italy’s eastern Marche region as part of their Adriatic campaign. These included Ancona, which was captured after heavy fighting on July 18, 1944.
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Source: IAR, PAP
