Convento dell'Incontro is a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery that sits on the highest hill top south west of Florence in

Bagno a Ripoli Bagno a Ripoli is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italy, Italian region Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence. The International School of Florence has its primary school campus in the comune.

. It was the site of the Battle of Incontro on 8 August 1944 when the 2nd Battalion

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a Light infantry, light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd ( ...

plus attachments took the position against fierce opposition from a German

Panzergrenadier (), abbreviated as ''PzG'' (WWII) or ''PzGren'' (modern), meaning ''Armoured fighting vehicle, "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier"'', is the German language, German term for the military doctrine of mechanized infantry units in armoured fo ...

Regiment. The

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

described in the battle is now demolished. See also Northern Irish Horse articles (they provided support in their

Churchill tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple Bogie#Tracked vehicles, bogies, its ability to ...

s). The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry were awarded a

Battle Honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or Military operation, operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In ...

, probably the only occasion this has been awarded to a single battalion. It was also describe as "a textbook example of a battalion attack". Ref: Obituary of

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

. After the battle the Germans retreated north of the

River Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a sout ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Convento Dell'incontro Monasteries in Tuscany