Identity
Person No.
23430
Service No.
31542
Last Name
First Name
Alexander Mather
Initials
A M
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
25
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,778
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action. In the North Italian village of Carpane on 27 September 1944 the Germans executed 16 Allied soldiers captured fighting with Italian partisans in that area. Escaped with other South Africans from a nearby POW camp and joined up with local partisans to carry on fighting the Germans. They became such a thorn in the flesh of the Germans that a special operation was mounted in the Monte Grappa region to capture them. They were eventually captured and murdered by the Germans. Every year on this day since the end of the war the villagers of Carpane have held a memorial service at this spot by the side of the road where they were killed. For many years the identity of the 16 was not known and the monument was simply inscribed to "16 unknown". It was only about 4 or 5 years ago that their identity was uncovered by Sonia Residori, an Italian academic researcher
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Unknown
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Unit History
Role at time of death
Mounted Rifles, later Armoured Car
Status
Active Citizen Force (Reserve)
Formed 21 September 1899 as the Imperial Light Horse (Second Boer War). Volunteer unit in the Transvaal Volunteers 1902-1913, then transferred to the Active Citizen Force as "5th Mounted Rifles (Imperial Light Horse)" in 1913. Reformed as an armoured regiment 1949; split into 1 LHR/2 LHR 1975 (Border War era), reamalgamated 1997. Renamed Johannesburg Light Horse Regiment 2019.
Notes
Son of Mather and Nellie Smith, of Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa. Born in Barberton. A clerk. He was unmarried. ***CWGC needs to amend headstone
Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories
No stories have been added yet.
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.