M onte A C 75th assino
or B ust !
Anniversary Ride
For as long as he can remember, Mike Leahy witnessed
his mother and grand-mother collect for the British Pop-
py appeal. It cemented a commitment that one day he
too would do something special, something that would
honour those who have given so much so that the rest of
us could live in relative peace and freedom.
Back living where he grew up, Steventon, Oxfordshire
in the United Kingdom, Mike knew that the time had
come to honour his wishes and so began plans for a mo-
torcycle ride that was a little different to most; Mike will
be riding a seventy five year old WWII dispatch riders'
BSA WM20 to the seventy fifth anniversary of the battle
of Monte Cassino, Italy to commemorate the 75,000 casu-
alties of all nations of the battle there.
The ride of over 5,000 kilometres will be as Mike puts
it, “frustratingly low speeds on a bike with little or no
suspension”. He concedes the bike has a reliability that
can only be described as “dubious” and will take two
weeks.
The battle for Monte Cassino took place on the slopes
of a mountain leading to a Benedictine monastery on the
defensive 'Winter Line' or 'Gustav Line' in the highlands
of central Italy, around 160 kilometres south of Rome,
and 110 kilometres north of Naples.
“It’s a ride to commemorate those from all sides, both
service personnel and civilians, who lost their lives sev-
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