The offensive of spring 1945 on the Italian front, codenamed Operation Grapeshot (“machine gun” in Italian), was the joint attack of the U.S. Fifth Army and British Eighth Army launched on April 6, 1945, which broke the Gothic Line and resulted in Po Valley through the Emilia-Romagnato Lombardy and Veneto. The attack led to the collapse of the Italian Social Republic and the liberation of the entire northern Italy from German occupation sanctioned by the surrender of Caserta.

PremiseThe Allies had launched their offensive on the previous Gothic Line in August 1944 with the British Eighth Army attacked along the Adriatic coastline and the U.S. Fifth Army, who tried to break through the central portion of the Apennines.

Even if the attacks were able to overcome the Gothic Line the Americans were unable to break through and result in the Po Valley before the rigors of winter arrived at the Apennines. The Americans are attested on uncomfortable positions reached and spent a winter in harsh conditions and launched preparations for the spring offensive.

Changes at the top died on Nov. 5, 1944 British General Sir John Dill, head of the British mission in Washington, was promoted to his place Sir Henry Wilson. Harold Alexander was promoted to general, and he replaced Wilson as Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean (Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean) on December 12.

The general corps (lieutenant general) Lucian Truscott replaced Alexander as commander of Allied forces in Italy (renamed once more 15th Army) without being promoted. Lucian Truscott, who had been commander of U.S. VI Corps in the Anzio bridgehead during the fall of Rome and was then stationed in Alsace after the operation Dragoon, went back to Italy to take command of the Fifth Army U.S.

The Spring Offensive also changed the vertices in the Wehrmacht. On March 23, Albert Kesselring was appointed Commander in Chief of the Army Group West. In place of General Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, Heinrich von Vietinghoffreturned from the Baltic area to replace Kesselring. At the same time, Traugott Herr, commander of the expert LXXVI Panzer Corps of the German Tenth Army, assumed command of the entire Tenth Army, Joachim Lemelsen, who had temporarily taken the power to that of XIV German Army.

Quotas And Alignments

With the approach of spring the issues of succession to the allied contingents continued. The 4th Indian Infantry Division was, in fact, sent to Greece in November (1944) from the 4th Infantry Division as part of the British 46th Infantry Division UK, following them into the rest of December 46th in conjunction with the 3rd Brigade of the Greek mountains. At the end of January (1945), the Canadian Corps and the British 5th Infantry Division were moved to the front northwest, leaving the British Eighth Army Mc Creery sized to only seven divisions.

In contrast, the American Fifth Army was reinforced from September until November with the arrival of the Brazilian Expeditionary Corps (25,000 men) and in January 1945 with the arrival of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division. The allied forces then numbered 17 divisions and 8 independent brigades, including the 87 ° Infantry “Friuli,” for a total equivalent to just fewer than 20 divisions. In total, the Fifteenth Group had 1,334,000 men, of whom 632,980, 266,883 Eighth Army, and the American Fifth Army.

Against them were arrayed the least significant 21 German divisions, a total of 21 Italian, and 4 divisions of CSR, for a total of 25 divisions. Three of the four Italian divisions were deployed in Liguria under the command of Rodolfo Graziani, framed Armata Liguria guarding the western side which faced France, while the fourth framed the fourteenth army in an industry that was supposed to have less chance of being attacked.

Plan Of Attack

Clark designed his plan on March 18. His goal was “ to destroy as many enemy forces south of the Po, to force the crossings of the river and capture Verona.”

In “Phase I,” the British Eighth Army had crossed the river Senio and Santerno and then divided along two lines, one along the Via Emilia towards Budrio, the other along the Adriatic main road through the narrow strip between Bastia and Argenta through the flooded land of Comacchio. Amphibious operation and launch of paratroopers would put pressure on the side and would have contributed to the fall of Argenta.

Depending on the success, even relative, of these actions, it would be decided if the primary objective of the Eighth Army would be or remain Budrio Ferrara. Meanwhile, the American Fifth Army was entrusted with the launch of its main forces within 24 hours after the second day of the attack to break through the British Eighth Army front and break into the Po Valley. The capture of Bologna was assigned as a secondary objective.

In “Phase II,” the Eighth Army would move to the northwest to capture Ferrara and Bondeno, blocking potential routes of retreat across the Po The U.S. Fifth Army was driven with force towards the north, leaving Bologna behind them and rejoining the ‘Eighth Army in the Bondeno by completing the encirclement of German forces south of the Po Americans in the street, they also pushed west through to the Po Ostiglia on the way to Verona.

“Phase III” should have been creating bridgeheads along the crossing of the Po and then using the motor from these to the whole north of the Po Valley.

The plan of attack on the British Eighth Army would have to do with the solid initial difficulties for the crossing of the Senio (Operation Buckland) defended by artificial spurs from 6 to 12 meters high built honeycombed with tunnels and bunkers front and rear. The 5th Corps would attack the salient formed by the river near Cotignola.

Leading the attack was the 8th Indian Division on its left, flanked by the 2nd New Zealand Division, in a classic pincer movement. To the left of V Corps, the II Polish Corps would attack all along the line of the Senio towards Bologna to widen the forehead.

Once across the Senio, assault divisions were to pass the Santerno. Only the latter crossed the river the 78h Division British would resume its role as a spearhead (as in Cassino), to pass through the bridgehead held by the Indians and New Zealanders and go to Bastia and Argenta.

The 78th Division would continue along the thin (4.8 km) strip of land through the Valleys of Comacchio. Simultaneously with this, there was the amphibious assault of the 56th Infantry Division along the Valli of Comacchio. New Zealanders would have protected the west side of Argenta, advancing to the left of the Valleys of Comacchio and leaving the division Indian reserve.

The plan of attack of the U.S. Fifth Army (Operation Craftsman) provided an initial push by the body along the highway Porrettana IV (SS 64) to reinforce the front of American and German forces from the area, draining the state of Futa (SS 65). The U.S. II Corps would then attack along the road heading towards Bologna, the Futa.

Finally, the weight of the attack would again be moved west to break into the Po Valley by passing Bologna.BattleIn the first week of April, were launched diversionary attacks on the far right and far left of the Allied front to divert forces from the impending German attack on the primary grid.

This included the operation Roast, led an assault by 2 Commando Brigade supported by the partisans of the British 28th Brigade Garibaldi “Mario Gordini” to capture the isthmus between Comacchio and Porto Garibaldi and capture the north side of the valleys of Comacchio. Meanwhile, Bowler was affected by the operation of transport infrastructure and the river port of Venice, where the Axis forces were forced to rely on the uselessness of railways and roads.

Preparations for the main assault began on April 6, 1945, with a heavy artillery bombardment of the defenses of the Senio. In the early afternoon of April 9,825 heavy bombers, followed by fighter-launched cluster bombs in the rear of the Senio. From 15:20 to 19:10, 5 were fired barrages of artillery, each lasting 30 minutes, punctuated by attacks by fighter-bombers.

The 8th Indian Division, the 2nd New Zealand Division, and the 3rd Carpathian Division (on the front of the II Polish Corps on SS 9) attacked at dusk. In the fighting, members of the 8th Indian Division, which is a well-earned second Victoria Cross, reached the river at dawn on 11 April Santerno than 5.6 km.

The 5th and 6th Company of the 87th Friuli was attacked at the beginning of April 10, surpassing the Senio and reaching the homes of Cuffiano. The New Zealanders had already gone the Santerno the night of April 10 and managed to cross it at dawn, 11. The Poles came to Santerno on the night of 11 April.

In the late morning of April 12, after a night of continuous assaults, the 8th Indian Division was established on the opposite bank of the Santerno. The British 78th Division began to cross it to attack Argenta. Meanwhile, the British 24 Guards Brigade, part of the 56th Division (London) British infantry, had launched an amphibious assault across the water and mud of the lagoons at Argenta. Although they succeeded in reaching the opposite bank, on the night of April 14, they were stranded at the position of the Fossa Marina. The 78th Division British stopped the same night on the Rhine near Bastia.

The Fifth U.S. Army began its assault on April 14, after the bombing of 2,000 heavy bombers and 2,000 artillery pieces, with the attacks of the IV Corps (American Expeditionary Force in Brazil, 10th Mountain Division, and 1st Armored Division American) on the left. This was followed on the night of April 15 by the II Corps offensive, which struck with the 6th South African Armoured Division and 88th Infantry Division.

They advanced on Bologna in the SS 64 and SS 65. The 91st and 34th Infantry Divisions followed along with the SS 65. Progress against the formidable resistance of the Germans was slow. Still, eventually, the superiority of fire of the Allies and the lack of reserves of the Germans meant that on April 20, both the U.S. Army Corps broke through the defenses in the Apennines and the Po Valley. The 10th Mountain Division was redirected to bypass Bologna and leave it on his right hand, pressing northward. The U.S. II Corps would remain to take care of Bologna together with the British Eighth Army advancing on their right.

By April 19, the British Eighth Army front, the block of Argenta, was forced. The 6th Armored Division marched through the British left-wing dell’avanzante British 78th Division to run northwest along the Rhine to Bondeno. They met with the U.S. Fifth Army in order to complete the encirclement of Bologna and trap the Germans defended on the afternoon of April 20th.

The “Friuli” stands for Idice's last defense of Bologna. On the whole, the German reason was desperate but still determined. Nevertheless, Bondeno fell on April 23. The British 6th Armored Division joined with the 10th Mountain Division, part of the American IV Corps, the next day in Finale Emilia Bondeno 8 km upstream of the river Panaro.

On the morning of April 21, the I Battalion of the 87th “Friuli” entered Bologna, advancing along the Via Emilia (SS 9), led by the Commander of the regiment, was the first town liberated by a contingent Italian, together with the 3rd Division of Carpathian (II Polish Corps), followed after a couple of hours from the U.S. II Corps, which came from the south.

The U.S. IV Corps continued its advance northward and reached the Po at San Benedetto Po on April 22. The river was crossed the next day and continued the advance north to Verona, which was released on April 26. To the right of the Fifth Army (British Eighth Army on the left) the British XIII Corps crossed the Po near Ficarolo on April 22. The British V Corps crossed the Po on April 25 and headed for the last line of German resistance (Venetian Line) built along the Adige.

As soon as the Allies began to push and cross the Po, the Brazilian contingent and the 34th Infantry Division with the 1st Armored Division of the IV Corps, located on the left wing of the army, catapulted to the west along the SS 9 (Via Emilia), Piacenza and crossed the Po to cut the escape route through the Po Valley to Switzerland and Austria through the Lake Garda and the Brenner Pass.

On 27 April, the 1st Armored Division entered Milan, liberated by partisans on April 25. The commander of IV Corps, Crittenberge, entered the city on April 30. On April 28, south of Milan on the Brazilian contingent bottled 148 º Grenadier (grenadiers) and an entire German division of Italian Bersaglieri captured a total of 13,500 prisoners.

On the far right of the Allied British V Corps, encountering little resistance, crossed the symbolic line Venetian, and in the early hours of April 29 came to Padua to discover that the partisans had already captured the entire German garrison of 5,000 soldiers.