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Castiglion Fiorentino is a small, walled city in eastern Tuscany, in the province of Arezzo, between the cities of Arezzo and Cortona. It is well known for its annual festivals and Etruscan archeological site. In 1849 Garibaldi passed through on the way from Cortona to Arezzo and he and his four thousand men rested and ate in the main square; this square is now known as Piazzale Garibaldi.
Castiglion has many festivals throughout the year including the famous “Palio dei Rioni” on the third Sunday of June. Similar to the festival in Siena, the Palio dei Rioni is a horse race around Piazza Garibaldi, including a colourful and energetic display of the ancient custom of flag-waving, which dates back to the 13th century. (Source: Wikipedia).
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Unique ID: |
1528
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Missing fourth roadwheel on left side. Shell case fixed on superstructure front. Painted overall with camouflage scheme of green stripes over desert sand.
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This is an early production Ausf G model. It has a plaque fitted to the right side of the superstructure that reads:
| ‘FERREA MOLE – FERREO CUORE’ | ‘IRON HULL IRON HEART’ |
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MONUMENTO DEDICATO AL CARRISTI CADUTI IN TUTTE LE GUERRE
CANNONE D’ASSALTO TEDESCO
MARCA STURMGESCHUTZ III
ANNO DI COSTRUZIONE 1940
LA CARCASSA E’ STATA RECUPERATA IN LOCALITA’ ‘LE CAPANNACCE’ IN DATA 27 APRILE 1991.
LE ALTRE PARTI SONO STATE RIGOSTRUITE FEDELMENTE
DALLA LOCALE ASSOCIAZIONE CARRISTI, CON LA FATTIVA COLLABORAZIONE DELLA DITTA MENCI S.P.A. DI MONTECCHIO di CASTIGLION FIORENTINO E DI ALCUNI SUOI DIPENDENTI
E’ STATO INAUGURATO IN DATA 30 MAGGIO 1993 | MONUMENT DEDICATED TO ALL FALLEN TANK CREW OF ALL WARS
GERMAN ASSAULT GUN
MODEL STURMGESCHUTZ III
YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION 1940 [sic*]
THE WRECK WAS RECOVERED IN THE LOCATION ‘LE CAPANNACCE’ ON 27 APRIL 1991.
THE OTHER PARTS HAVE BEEN FAITHFULLY RECONSTRUCTED
BY THE LOCAL TANK CREW ASSOCIATION, WITH THE ACTIVE COLLABORATION OF MENCI S.P.A. OF MONTECCHIO OF CASTIGLION FIORENTINO AND SOME OF ITS EMPLOYEES
IT WAS INAUGURATED ON 30 MAY 1993 |
*Note that this particular model of Sturmgeschütz did not enter production until 1943.
In the early summer of 1944 a retreating German column had an accident – the bridge at Capannacce yielded under the weight of its armoured vehicles and one fell through. They were constantly harassed by Allied forces and under attack by enemy aircraft so there was no time to attempt recovery of the vehicle or repair of the bridge. The commander of the column ordered the other vehicles to drive over the wedged vehicle and so they continued their retreat north. After the war and over the years many external parts were removed from the vehicle and vegetation grew up around it. It remained hidden until it was recovered from the riverbed through the intervention of the local tank crew association, Menci and the Italian Ministry of Defence. The latter provided information and drawings to aid the restoration, primarily recreation of the complete superstructure above the level of the hull, including the gun and mantlet, plus other missing parts such as the tracks. Internally all that remains are the torsion bars and some of the drivetrain. (Source: Historia Militaria, Axis History). This vehicle probably originally belonged to the Hermann Goering Division (source: DVaC). It has a used shell case fixed with brackets to the left front of the superstructure.
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