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In case you’ve been to the holm and oak grove reserve , perhaps you might enjoy visiting the “English war cemetery”, the Sangro River War Cemetery, preserving the memory of young soldiers come from the Commonwealth countries. The cemetery is also known as the Canadian cemetery or the Ortona front cemetery . The soldiers of the Eighth Allied Army who, during World War II, lost their lives on the shores of the river Sangro while fighting against the backing-off Germans. In the winter of 1943, the destinies of these young men intertwined with those of the local populations, who were spoilt by the misery of the war, exhausted by a winter of bombings and reprisals, but still eager to share some soup with the liberators who came from afar to write some important pages of modern history. On the hill of Sentinelle di Torino di Sangro there are the tombs of 1790 British soldiers, 357 New Zealand soldiers and as many Indian soldiers along with others coming from Africa and Australia, but in smaller numbers. 2619 tombstones commemorate these soldiers without distinction of rank, race or religion, in a symbolic embrace with mother nature, designed by the architect Louis De Soissous. Two open arms facing south and creating an amphitheatre that follow the natural slope of the hill. The top is crowned by the Croce del Sacrificio (Sacrifice Cross), blessing the eternal rest of the soldiers and war prisoners who sought freedom. A simple cross, with an octagonal base, decorated only with a bronze sword chosen by architect Reginald Blomfield to avoid any Gothic sentimentalism.
The cimitero inglese (English cemetery), built in accordance with the typical Anglo-Saxon  architecture style with beautiful gardens, is entrusted to the Commonwealth War Grave Commission. Impressive is the difference from the Italian cemeteries which much more complicated and more decorated.You can appreciate the quiet and peace of this place, with its gates always open. Nowadays, the historical friendship with the British continues in a different, tourist version thanks to the distance being shortened by the low cost airlines and the Abruzzo airport.
 
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