Cemetery at Avellino, Italy

Dear Mr. Ragolia,

Thank you for posting your request to History Hub!

The disposition of the remains originally buried at the temporary military cemetery in Avellino  varies on a case by case basis. The remains of non-Americans, both allies and enemies, were relocated to appropriate cemeteries based on their national origin. See the German War Graves Commission for information about German military cemeteries. For American personnel buried overseas, the next of kin were contacted and given the option of having the remains shipped to the United States for reinterment in the private or national cemetery of their choice. In cases where the next of kin chose to not have the remains repatriated, they were relocated to permanent United States military cemeteries designed and managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). Of the two cemeteries located in Italy, the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, dedicated in 1956 is the closest to the location of the former cemetery in Avellino. A search online did find an example of a soldier initially buried at Avellino and reburied at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery. However, we also found an example of a soldier who was reburied in the Ardennes American Cemetery. Therefore if you are looking for a specific soldier, we recommend using such services as the ABMC Burials and Memorializations register, the National Cemetery Administration’s Grave Locator, and Find a Grave. You also may request the burial case files for the soldier. Burial case files from 1915-1976 are in the custody of the National Archives at St. Louis, ATTN: RL-SL, P.O. Box 38757, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. For access to these records, please contact RL-SL via email at stl.archives@nara.gov.

In addition, we searched multiple record series in the Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General (Record Group 92) and the Records of the American Battle Monuments Commission (Record Group 117) but were unable to determine the specific date that the cemetery at Avellino was disestablished. For more information about these records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.

Also, the War Department published a “Plan for Repatriation of World War II and Establishment of Permanent United States Military Cemeteries at Home and Abroad,” dated 8 September, 1945 that may be of interest. We also located a history of the 3044th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company that had responsibility for the cemetery at Avelliono.

We hope this information is helpful. Best of luck with your research!