The War Cemetery lies in the rural locality of Tavernelle, in the Commune and Province of Ancona, 3 kilometres south of the town of Ancona. Leave the Autostrada A14 at Ancona Sud and take the SS16 towards Ancona. After approximately 3 kilometres (via Pietro Filonze) turn right to pass in front of the wholesale fruit market and under a railway line. Then at the next junction turn left and you will find the cemetery approximately 2 kilometres past the Stadio del Conero, the local football stadium. Cemetery address: Frazione Passo Varano - 60131 Ancona (AN) Marche. GPS Co-ordinates: Latitude: 43.586764, Longitude: 13.522829.
On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on the Allied side. Following the fall of Rome to the Allies in June 1944, the German retreat became ordered and successive stands were made on a series of defensive positions known as the Trasimene, Arezzo, Arno and Gothic Lines. The cemetery at Ancona reflects the Allied progress up the Adriatic coast in August and September 1944. The cemetery site was chosen in September and graves were brought in from a wide area round about, extending from Pescara, 80 kilometres farther south, to Pesaro, over 48 kilometres north of Ancona. They include those of casualties from the first attacks on the eastern sector of the German defensive Gothic Line, near Fano and Pesaro, at the end of August and early in September. Ancona itself had been taken by the Poles on 18 July 1944 and, being little touched by the war, served as the main port for supplies for the attack on the Gothic Line and for the final break through the following spring at Argenta. Ancona War Cemetery contains 1,019 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.
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