Gino: Child of War

85-year old Gino Farnetti-Bragaglia with Colonel Tony Battista (Ret'd) in the town of Torrice overlooking the Liri Valley.
Gino: Child of War
Publication Date 
27 Nov 2023

This is a story about the compassion and sensitivity shown by Canadian soldiers in the horror of war in Italy. It starts just after the battles of Monte Cassino and the Liri Valley when a small orphan named Gino was found hiding in the rubble of his village overlooking the battlefields. Gino stayed with those men until the end of their time in Italy before moving on to continue the fight in Holland and Germany. Bear in mind, by June 1944, many of these these men had fought from the shores of Sicily to the outskirts of Rome, walking and marching most of the way.

Recently, after two decades of extensive research, interviews and documentation, Gino's inspiring story and that of his Canadian ‘guardian angels’ has been captured in a docu-drama film premiering in Toronto at an exclusive dinner-show-Q&A on 1 December at the Royal Canadian Military Institute and on 4 December at the Royal Theatre.  

As to the quality of this film and the story it tells, it has been nominated for TIFF in 2024. Colonel Tony Battista (Ret'd), the driving force behind this effort, will be at both events. In April 2024, Gino, now 85 years old, will visit Ottawa for a screening of his story at the National Arts Centre.  
For more details on the story and the film, Google "Gino, A Child of War" and take it from there.
See the trailer here https://combinedforces.ca/combinedforces.ca/bambino/index.html