A look at the background of the Forte Family

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History Pages

At the end of the first millenium, raids by the Visigoths, the Lombards, the Saracens and the Ungari had made it difficult... 

At just over 100 km south-east of Rome and nestling midway up a mountain range close to Cassino, you will find the town of Casalattico...

Although in Roman times, the current municipality of Casalattico did not exist, the area was definitely frequented by the Empire...

© 2011 Paul Forte

It is said that the first to leave was Pacifico Forte, who like many of the other contadini set off in the 1880s to find his fortune.  But what happened to Pacifico and others?

Whilst riding beyond the village confines in 1861, 12 year old Costantino fell into the hands of brigands and was taken to a hiding place on...

Packed with Italian internees, SS Arandora Star left Liverpool on 1 July 1940 bound for Canada.  Tragically, its journey was cut short the following day when a German U-Boat...

There are many theories regarding the origins of the Forte Family. Some trace our ancestors back to Spain, some to Portugal and others...

On 10 June 1940, Mussolini  joined forces with Hitler and declared war on Britain.  The next few months proved difficult particularly for Italians in the UK and many were interned on the...

With dissatisfaction amongst the people of Italy, a declining economy and rising unemployment, all was not well in Italy during this period.  Benito Mussolini and his blackshirts...

From 17 January to 18 May 1944, the Gustav defences were assaulted four times by Allied troops. The cost was great, not just in human terms but also to the Abbey of Montecassino...

The war continues but by mid 1943 there is growing dissatisfaction with Mussolini and the Allies invade the Italian mainland shortly after Mussolini is deposed...

From 17 January to 18 May 1944, the Gustav defences were assaulted four times by Allied troops. The cost was great, not just in human terms but also to the Abbey of Montecassino...

First-hand accounts of the hardships suffered by the Mortalese after Italy joins the Allies. A group is taken prisoner and sent to Dachau.  Paolino Forte is shot... 

Rodolfo Angelo Antonio Forte was the son of Massimino and Pacetta Forte.  This is the report on how he lost his life on 21st January 1944 serving his country...

The war draws to a close, but it is not until September 1945 that the four Mortalese return home safely from their long and tough ordeal in Germany...

On 5th March 1944, the Mortalese people are rounded up like cattle and are forcibly taken to a German prisoner camp at Cesano, north of Rome...

Typhus has spread to Mortale, the men hide from the Germans in the mountains and the Battle of Montecassino rages nearby...

Joseph Forte (Bristol) was the first to return to Mortale from the UK  in September 1944.  He wrote these two moving letters on his return home...

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