Belvedere Winston Churchill

Viewpoint of the Miraria Belt from which in the summer of 1944 British Prime Minister Winsotn Churchill observed the advance of the 8th Army commanded by General Leese.

On August 26, at 10:45 AM, British Prime Minister Churchill had a dramatic meeting with General Anders at the Polish headquarters located in the Vallone area of Senigallia. From there, at 11:45 AM, he departed with General Alexander for Montemaggiore al Metauro, from whose walls he would observe the advance of the 8th Army commanded by General Leese. Churchill himself mentions his visit in his Memoirs: "...From the ancient battlements, there was a truly magnificent view: one could survey the entire front of the Eighth Army's offensive... At this point, news arrived that the troops had advanced two or three kilometers beyond the Metauro. The defeat of Hasdrubal on its banks had sealed Carthage's fate; so I suggested that we too should go beyond the river...." Furthermore, there are significant testimonies from local citizens regarding his visit:

Parish Priest of Montemaggiore, Don Fortunato Minardi, whose diary entry for August 25 (the date does not coincide with that of historians who agree on August 26) describes: "...two distinguished guests: on Friday, August 25, prominent personalities arrived incognito in luxurious cars, among whom were identified Churchill, the British Prime Minister, and Alexander, Chief of Staff, followed by secret police."
Ms. Maria Scarpetti: "Our house was located on a hill called Monte Pulito, from which one could observe the entire Metauro valley. It was August 1944, and nothing serious had happened until then. The Germans had chosen our house to camp... A few days before the British launched their offensive, the Germans left... Once the Germans were gone, one morning an English jeep arrived. From a distance, I saw two generals accompanied by soldiers; one of them was very tall, I later learned he was General Alexander... At a certain point, another jeep arrived. The generals stood up, went down the stairs, and met a rather large gentleman, with a cigar and a big hat on his head..."
Partisan Nello Iacchini, in a letter dated December 18, 1974, addressed to the national president of ANPI, Arrigo Boldrini, recounts the episode for which he had earned the Patriot's Certificate signed by General Alexander: "...At dawn on August 26, the armored troops and Allied infantry began to advance rapidly, but bombs continued to fall on the main road just outside Saltara; at first, we thought it was a German counteroffensive, but soon we located the point from which the bombs were coming. Surrounding the area, we found, in the middle of a vineyard, a completely isolated German soldier, equipped with a mortar and ammunition. We captured him and handed him over to a British officer... we saw two jeeps arrive, which stopped 50 meters from us; from the first, three Canadian officers got out and approached us, weapons in hand. One of them, politely and in perfect Italian, told us that our task was finished and disarmed us. When the second jeep passed us, we recognized General Alexander and Winston Churchill on it, who waved to us, much to our astonishment since we were still bitter about being disarmed.