battle of comacchio ww2

It was only after Wally's repeated and anguished requests to me to ‘Think of Players, Sidney. "2 April 1945 Battle of Comacchio 43 RM Cdo against strong opposition, successfully achieved objectives during a Brigade attack, under fire they crossed a river in dinghies. Our objective was the main bridge across the canal, the Fossa Marina, together with the surrounding buildings and the irrigation pumping station that formed the hamlet of De Bando, which was at that time some two miles behind the enemy front line. This Archive is dedicated to the memory of those that have worn the Commando Green Beret, Read some frequently asked questions here, Major Anders Frederick Emil V. LASSEN, VC., MC. What transpired is that No. The Allied troops were exhausted from months of fighting in late 1944, and the first four months of 1945 were marked by intensive efforts to rebuild combat strength and morale. Between 1520 and 1910 hours, 1,500 artillery pieces bombarded German positions five times. The US 15th Air Force conducted its final bombing mission in Italy. 2 Commando. British 56th Infantry Division attacked German positions near Lake Comacchio in northern Italy. No. US Fifth Army in Italy made contact with French forces near the Italo-French border. ww2dbaseWest of Lake Comacchio, British V Corps launched Operation Impact Plain after sundown on 10 Apr 1945 to widen the area between the southern tip of Lake Comacchio and Fossa di Navigazione, also known as "The Wedge", expanding the territory gained with Operation Roast. That evening No. 9 Commando were to cross the lagoon from the southwest, to points around the middle of the spit. 9 Commando initially made good progress until No. The breakthrough on the British Eighth Army's front was to be made through the Argenta Gap, crossing the Rivers Senio and Santerno towards the Po at Ferrara and releasing armour to swing left and race across country to meet the advancing U.S. Fifth Army completing the encirclement of the German divisions defending Bologna. US 5th Army broke through German defensive lines and reached the Po River Valley north of Bologna, Italy. The loading order for Fantails was such that the platoon commander was at the rear in order to release the ramp and be first out with two section leaders. The respective Commandos cleared all positions up to the Valetta Canal. With the arrival additional troops, the bridehead was expanded by another 900 meters on the following day. nb. 40 Royal Marine Commando and No. Highly secret negotiations began in Switzerland between Allan Dulles of the US Office of Strategic Services, Colonel General Heinrich von Vietinghoff of the German Army, and Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff of the German SS for the possible early surrender of German troops in Italy. 2 Commando, Lake Comacchio. First, it is aiming to offer interesting Having lost track of time I can only say sometime during the afternoon three Typhoons appeared and proceeded to beat the place up. General Mark Clark established the goal of the Allied offensive in Italy in spring 1945 to be 'to destroy the maximum number of enemy forces south of the Po [River], force crossings of the Po and capture Verona'. 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division of Polish II Corps captured Bologna, Italy with assistance from US 34th Division. The ensuing operations by all the Commando units present resulted in all their ‘specified’ objectives being achieved, with the whole enemy forces south of Porto Garibaldi being captured or destroyed. ww2dbaseOn 16 Apr, British troops finally crossed the Fossa Marina canal east of Argenta, establishing a bridgehead only 800 meters deep and holding against German counterattacks. My fire order of ‘Let ’em have it, Sarge!’ is not to be found in any training manual. Probably an AP shot — there was no explosion, just a hole. These messages were added to this story by site members between June 2003 and January 2006. The fact that the day, 13 April, was also a Friday did little to encourage the more superstitious among us. For any other comments, please Contact Us. However, we had an ample supply of cigarettes so the tension relaxed. Against them were 21 German divisions (some of which were under-strength) and 4 Italian divisions; Axis fighting troops totaled about 400,000. ww2dbaseBritish 8th Army launched its attack first. A moment later we were hit. It was not until 5:00 a.m. the next morning that they landed on the opposite shore, approached the enemy from the rear and engaged in an attack on everything in a German uniform. 43 Commando (RM), earned a posthumous Victoria Cross for conspicuous Gallantry. British advances in northern Italy were held up at Bastia and the Fossa Marina canal, frustrated by the German 15th Panzergrenadier Regiment. having just spent the previuos year behind enemy lines assisting the partisans and andartes,it was made clear to us that we were no longer required.So with one half of my unit fighting the Elas (our former allies) in Athens,I had gone back to Yugoslavia raiding down the island chain of Dalamatia.But once again the British were NLR.While we waited in Zara,the brains were working out where we should go next. Then I got back to Ronnie Horton. I made my way back to the Fantails in an attempt to assemble any others, but I found only dead and wounded. The final offensive in Italy had been in progress for some three days. On seeing this, my immediate thought was, I never realised an elbow joint was so complicated — something that has stayed vividly with me. Battle of the Argenta Gap, Lake Comacchio, Italy, launched on the 1st April 1945 involving the whole of 2 Commando Brigade. It was essentially a plan to draw German reserve forces away from the main offensive to be launched across to the East. Among the wounded was my friend and fellow platoon commander Ronnie Horton. US Fifth Army moved up to the Brenner Pass on the Italo-Austrian border. The operation carried the frontline forward seven miles. They laid smoke, and conducted a bayonet charge, from the southeast. 2 Commando advanced north on the lagoon side, the western flank, while No.43 Commando moved along the eastern flank, the Adriatic side. After dawn on the 14th, since most of our group could not swim Wally sent me back to retrieve a damaged assault boat that we could see floating near by. I'm sure that I was not the only one who could not face the inevitable meat and vegetable stew for breakfast at 3.30am. WW2 People's War Homepage Archive ... Embarking across Lake Comacchio. Anders Lassen a Danish soldier of the SBS was also awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions during Operation Roast on 8 April 1945 at Lake Comacchio. Unfortunately, it did not have its usual effect. In Italy, Brazilian troops captured Montese. those of the BBC. This was a battlefield cemetery started by the 78th Division, which was later extended to include UK and Commonwealth dead from the final offensive in Italy. British Eighth and US Fifth Armies linked up near Padua, Italy, which had just been liberated by Italian partisans who surrounded the 5,000-strong German garrison. I did not require two guesses to know what that meant! http://www.geocities.com/vqpvqp/nih/narrative/italy36.html. In the following very cold months war never came to an end.

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