Senger’s purpose in defense was to buy time for Army Group C to coordinate a collapsing withdrawal along with Army Group G north of the Alps in France and Austria and Army Group E, retreating from the Balkans. Two more machine-gun nests went down in similar fashion. [7][8] The offensive began on 9 March, under General Carlo Geloso and started with heavy bombardment of Greek positions by artillery and aircraft. The remaining SBS men wiped the Germans out. Some content of the original page may have been edited to make it more suitable for younger readers, unless otherwise noted. In 24 hours, the 85th was north of the town of Piano di Venola, while elements of the 10th Mountain took Monte San Michele the following day. The attack into the Lombardy Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 April 1945, ending on 2 May with the formal surrender of German forces in Italy. [9] Next, the Allies would capture bridge across the Po and go north. German soldiers surrendered by the hundreds. The attack into the Lombardy Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 April 1945, ending on 2 May with the formal surrender of German forces in Italy. Transferred to southern France following the commencement of Operation Dragoon, its soldiers gained lasting fame during an operation to link up with the “Lost Battalion,” the 141st Infantry, 36th Division, in the Vosges Mountains. Times when the very landscape appears to shift. [2] The opening of the offensive was supervised by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini but ended a week later in complete failure. Determined to demonstrate their loyalty to the United States, many young Japanese American men considered service in the U.S. Army highly preferable to the restrictive boredom of internment. Fighting on Hill 913, 2nd Lt. Robert Dole, accompanied by two other infantrymen, set out in the darkness of the 14th to capture a German prisoner for interrogation. Crowds gathered to jeer and spit at the bodies. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. The majority of the 10th Mountain personnel were college educated and members of families that were at least affluent, often wealthy, and sometimes politically connected. On 29 April, the Germans surrendered. by Chuck B. General McCreery’s directive to the Eighth Army was much the same, and elements of both the V and XIII Corps crossed on the 24th. The Fifth Army breakthrough west of Bologna threatened to drive a wedge between the German Tenth and Fourteenth Armies. Vietinghoff had warned the high command in Berlin that the Eighth Army advance threatened to outflank his line along the Reno, and the commander of Army Group C requested permission to withdraw. Major Anders Lassen, Danish by birth, had participated in several clandestine operations previously and was nicknamed the “Terrible Viking” by his German adversaries. Amid some confusion, mistrust, and treachery, German diplomatic and military representatives eventually agreed that the cease-fire was to take effect at noon Greenwich Mean Time on May 2, 1945. Many of these Germans simply abandoned their equipment and endeavored to swim the Po River. During the next two days, the 442nd advanced 50 more miles to the west and entered Turin. XHTML: You can use these tags:
. He wanted destroy the maximum number of enemy forces, cross the Po and capture Verona.[8]. Prior to the opening of the general offensive, operations were conducted on both flanks of the Allied line. [7], Clark made his plan on 18 March. With the promotion of General Mark Clark to command of 15th Army Group in December 1944, General Lucian Truscott was elevated to command of the Fifth Army. A brand new division of infantry was a rare sight among the battle-weary soldiers of the Allied Fifth and Eighth Armies, and these fresh troops were already considered elite. Only 5,600 replacement troops reached Army Group C during January 1945, while nearly 14,000 casualties were incurred, including 1,300 killed and 7,700 ill with maladies ranging from frostbite to respiratory infections. It changed the world more than any other single event in history. Their “status” was not born of battlefield exploits. The operation was to be supported by a tremendous combined bombing and strafing effort from the Mediterranean Strategic Air Force, XII Tactical Air Command, and the Desert Air Force. The 78th Division passed through the ranks of the 8th Indian Division, advanced to the Reno River, and captured a key bridge by April 14. [11] Fierce fighting occurred on height 731, which was assaulted by the Italians at least 18 times. To the Germans’ backs, the ribbon of the Po River might allow for some delaying time when the Allies renewed their offensive in the spring, but the Po was too long to defend for an extended period. More than 2,000 bombers hit German positions supported by massed artillery. The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy was given the code name Operation Grapeshot. approximately one flamethrower vehicle every 64 metres along a 8 km long front, https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/w/index.php?title=Spring_1945_offensive_in_Italy&oldid=4962452. These ridge lines were in the sector of the recently arrived 10th Mountain Division, troops specially trained for combat in rugged terrain, and known to the soldiers as Riva Ridge and Monte Belvedere-Monte della Torraccia Ridge. Ski instructors and competitors from across the country volunteered. The way now open, the remainder of the company crossed the Senio and established its bridgehead. They were subsequently hung by the ankles in front of a garage. An isolated stand at the town of Pradalbino obliged the 87th Infantry Regiment to fight house to house, while armor of the 90th Panzergrenadier Division, desperately trying to stem the tide, was engaged in a tank versus tank battle with the 1st Armored Division. But there’s NEVER been anything like THIS before. The following day, Combat Command A of the 1st Armored Division rolled into Milan, and the 442nd RCT sprinted 40 miles to Allesandria, accepting the surrender of the 3,000 Germans there. The effort is worthy of the utmost respect. The British 78th Division moved to attack Argenta. In the final analysis, Allied victory in Italy appears to have been inevitable. They did not have to wait long for an answer. At 6:30 pm, when confirmation that the Germans had released the order was received, Alexander announced the cease-fire to Allied troops. On April 21, young 2nd Lt. Daniel K. Inouye lost his right arm while leading a company in the assault on Colle Musatello. After the war, he returned to his native Pakistan. There are moments in military history that forever alter the flow of human events. There were delays as they waited for the weather to clear before the main thrust began with attacks by 10th Mountain and 1st Armored Divisions on the 14th. Founded in 1999. Five days after the Eighth Army’s thrust, the Fifth Army began its drive into the Po Valley. Allied Spring Offensive of 1945. The liberation of Bologna was the crowning achievement of the Polish II Corps during World War II. He is the author of numerous books and articles on World War II and resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee. [15] U.S. IV Corps reached the river Po at on 22 April. On April 25, as Allied troops drew nearer, Benito Mussolini, the fascist former dictator of Italy, and his mistress, Clara Petacci, departed Milan for a rendezvous with an expected 3,000 loyal fascist soldiers at Como. [7], Although it failed, the Spring Offensive further exhausted the Greek Army which had been fighting a numerically larger power continuously for the past six months with significant British material support. On the Eighth Army front, General Richard McCreery assumed command from General Oliver Leese on December 31, 1944, and ordered the V Corps to eliminate the last two German bridgeheads on the east bank of the Senio during the first week of 1945. [9][7] Eleven infantry divisions attacked with the support of the 131st Armoured Division Centauro. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the. From 15:20 to 19:10, artillery was fired. Only a dozen men actually rallied to Il Duce for this final battle, and the small band instead began moving north with a German convoy. [5] It was the Allied attack by Fifth United States Army and British 8th Army into the Lombardy Plain. Tragically, Colonel Darby and several other men were killed on the 29th by a single German artillery shell. The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy was given the code name Operation Grapeshot. The goal was to draw German reserves away from the main attacks to come. The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War, launched by the 15th Allied Army Group, the Plain started on 6 April 1945, ending on 2 May with the formal surrender of German forces in Italy. In the annals of military history magazines, this is one of those moments.
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