20 personnel from the Combined Arms Manoeuvre School (CAMS) took part in Exercise GOTHIC RESOLVE 26. This battlefield study, led by Warrant Officer Class Two Rabin Yolmu, examined Operation OLIVE, the Allied offensive launched in September 1944 against the German Gothic Line.
The study also examined the Gurkhas’ contribution to breaching the Gothic Line, particularly at the Battle of Tavoleto, one of the campaign’s most fiercely contested engagements. Tavoleto, a heavily fortified hilltop village forming part of the German defensive system, was captured following intense close-quarters fighting by the 2nd Battalion, 7th Gurkha Rifles (The Duke of Edinburgh’s Own) (7GR), supported by other Allied formations. Despite determined resistance, minefields, machine-gun positions and repeated counterattacks, Gurkha soldiers fought house-to-house and street-to-street to secure the objective, sustaining heavy casualties but ultimately enabling the Allied advance to continue.
The exercise also explored the enduring connection between these wartime achievements and the modern Brigade of Gurkhas. The battle was one of the 7GR’s most distinguished actions during the Italian Campaign and in 2018 Training Support Company at Warminster was redesignated as Gurkha Company (Tavoleto), in recognition of the gallantry, sacrifice and fighting spirit displayed by the regiment during the battle.
The team also visited Faetano in the Republic of San Marino, where the Commanding Officer CAMS laid a wreath at the memorial to Rifleman Sher Bahadur Thapa VC of 1st Battalion, 9th Gurkha Rifles. It was in this area during the Battle of San Marino in September 1944 that Rifleman Thapa displayed the conspicuous gallantry for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Acting with complete disregard for his own safety, he repeatedly assaulted enemy machine-gun positions, saved wounded comrades and held back the enemy advance before being killed in action. His actions remain one of the most celebrated examples of Gurkha valour during the Second World War.
The study concluded with a visit to the Rimini Gurkha War Cemetery, where the team conducted a wreath-laying ceremony in remembrance of the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Italian Campaign.
