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118-863: The Italian Co-belligerent Army was the result of the Allied armistice with Italy on 8 September 1943; King Victor Emmanuel III dismissed Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister in July 1943 following the Allied invasion of Southern Italy, and nominated Marshal of Italy ( Maresciallo d'Italia ) Pietro Badoglio instead, who later aligned Italy with the Allies to fight the Social Republic's forces and its German allies in Northern Italy . The Italian Co-belligerent Army fielded between 266,000 and 326,000 troops in

236-774: A puppet state , the Italian Social Republic led by Mussolini. The king, the Italian government and most of the Navy fled to southern Italy under the protection of the Allies. An Italian resistance movement emerged in German-occupied Italy. After the surrender of the Axis powers in North Africa on 13 May 1943, the Allies bombed Rome on 16 May, invaded Sicily on 10 July and prepared to land on

354-465: A logistical nightmare. Although they were out of the hills, the plains were waterlogged and the Eighth Army found themselves confronted, as they had the previous autumn, by a succession of swollen rivers running across their line of advance. Once again, the conditions prevented Eighth Army's armour from exploiting the breakthrough, and the infantry of British V Corps and I Canadian Corps (joined by

472-737: A mortar company armed with British ML 3 inch mortars and an anti-tank company armed with British QF 6 pounder guns. The artillery regiments consisted of four artillery groups with British QF 25 pounder guns, one anti-tank group with British QF 17 pounder guns and one anti-air group armed with British versions of the Bofors 40mm gun. In addition to the Combat Groups the Italian Co-belligerent Army included eight Auxiliary Divisions ( Italian : Divisioni Ausiliarie ) for labour, support and second-line duties. At its peak

590-557: A plan which was against his inclination and judgement and Harding was persuaded to change his mind. Operation Olive—as the new offensive was christened—called for Leese's Eighth Army to attack up the Adriatic coast toward Pesaro and Rimini and draw in the German reserves from the centre of the country. Clark's Fifth Army would then attack in the weakened central Apennines north of Florence toward Bologna with British XIII Corps on

708-679: A standstill on the route to Imola suffering 2,105 men killed and wounded — roughly the same as the whole of the rest of II Corps during the actual breaching of the Gothic Line. The fighting toward Imola had drawn German troops from the defence of Bologna, and Clark decided to switch his main thrust back toward the Bologna axis. U.S. II Corps pushed steadily through the Raticosa Pass and by 2 October, it had reached Monghidoro some 20 mi (32 km) from Bologna. However, as it had on

826-502: A three-month re-fit in Egypt . Gradual progress was made against stiffening opposition as German 14th Army moved troops from the quieter sector opposite U.S. IV Corps. By 9 October, they were attacking the massive 1,500 feet (460 m) high sheer escarpment behind Livergnano which appeared insuperable. However, the weather cleared on the morning of 10 October to allow artillery and air support to be brought to bear. Nevertheless, it took until

944-489: The 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade ). Like the Eighth Army, the Fifth Army was considered to be strong in armour and short on infantry considering the terrain they were attacking. In the front line facing Clark's forces were five divisions of Joachim Lemelsen 's German 14th Army (20th Luftwaffe Field Division, 16th SS Panzer Grenadier Division (16. Panzergrenadierdivision ), 65th and 362nd Infantry Divisions and

1062-410: The 20th Luftwaffe Field Division )—was caught and killed by partisans as he returned from a conference at corps headquarters. Construction of the defences was also hampered by the deliberately poor quality concrete provided by local Italian mills whilst captured partisans forced into the construction gangs supplemented the natural lethargy of forced labour with clever sabotage. Nevertheless, prior to

1180-560: The 4th Parachute Division ) and two divisions on the western end of von Vietinghoff's German 10th Army ( 356th and 715th Infantry Divisions ). By the end of the first week in September, the Luftwaffe Field Division and the 356th Infantry Division had been moved to the Adriatic front along with (from army reserve) the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division and the armoured reserve of 26th Panzer Division . The 14th Army

1298-549: The 85th Infantry Division ) to exploit XIII Corps success. Attacking on 17 September, supported by both American and British artillery, the infantry fought their way onto Monte Pratone, some 2–3 mi (3.2–4.8 km) east of the Il Giogo pass and a key position on the Gothic Line. Meanwhile, U.S. II Corps renewed their assault on Monte Altuzzo, dominating the east side of the Il Giogo Pass. The Altuzzo positions fell on

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1416-669: The Allied Forces . The first formation of the Co-belligerent Army was the I Motorized Grouping ( Italian : I Raggruppamento Motorizzato ) created on 27 November 1943 in San Pietro Vernotico near Brindisi . The units for the I Motorized Grouping were drawn from the 58th Infantry Division "Legnano" and 18th Infantry Division "Messina" . Some of the soldiers who joined the unit had managed to evade capture and internment by German forces . The unit

1534-474: The Alps , officially to help defend Italy from Allied landings but really to control the country. Three Italian generals (including Brigade General Giuseppe Castellano ) were separately sent to Lisbon to contact Allied diplomats. However, to open the proceedings, the Allies had to determine who was the most authoritative envoy, and the three generals had started to quarrel about who had the highest authority. In

1652-704: The Axis "underbelly". This would have required the U.S. Fifth Army under Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark to commit most of his Anzio forces to the drive east from Cisterna , and to execute the envelopment envisioned in the original planning for the Anzio landing (i.e., flank the German 10th Army , and sever its northbound line of retreat from Cassino). Instead, fearing that the British Eighth Army , under Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese , might beat him to

1770-546: The Battle of Filottrano  [ it ] in July 1944 the Italian government proposed to increase the number of Italian troops fighting on the Allied side. The proposal was accepted and in September 1944 the CIL was taken out of the line and sent to the rear to be equipped with British material, including British Battledress uniforms and helmets . On 24 September 1944, the CIL was disbanded and its personnel and units used to form

1888-558: The Brazilian Expeditionary Force ); in the centre was U.S. II Corps , under Major General Geoffrey Keyes , (with the U.S. 34th , 85th , 88th and 91st Infantry Divisions supported by three tank battalions under command); and on the right British XIII Corps , under Lieutenant-General Sidney Kirkman , (composed of the British 1st Infantry and 6th Armoured Divisions , the 8th Indian Infantry Division and

2006-495: The British Eighth Army and the U.S. Fifth Army against the German 10th Army (10. Armee ) and German 14th Army (14. Armee ). Rimini , a city which had been hit by previous air raids, had 1,470,000 rounds fired against it by allied land forces. According to Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese , commander of the British Eighth Army: "The battle of Rimini was one of the hardest battles of Eighth Army. The fighting

2124-563: The Fragheto massacre on 7 April. By September 1944, German generals were no longer able to move freely in the area behind their main lines because of partisan activity. Generalleutnant Frido von Senger und Etterlin —commanding XIV Panzer Corps ( XIV Panzerkorps )—later wrote that he had taken to travelling in a little Volkswagen "(displaying) no general's insignia of rank—no peaked cap, no gold or red flags...". One of his colleagues who ignored this caution— Wilhelm Crisolli (commanding

2242-675: The Kingdom of Italy became the Italian Republic . In a similar manner, what had been the royalist Co-Belligerent Army simply became the Italian Army (Esercito Italiano). The Italian Liberation Corps suffered 1,868 killed and 5,187 wounded during the Italian campaign; the Italian Auxiliary Divisions lost 744 men killed, 2,202 wounded and 109 missing. Some sources estimate the overall number of members of

2360-465: The Strait of Messina and began landing in the southernmost tip of Calabria during Operation Baytown . The day after the armistice had been made public, 9 September, the Allies made landings at Salerno and at Taranto . The Allies failed to take full advantage of the Italian armistice and were quickly checked by German troops. In terrain that favoured defence, the Allied forces took 20 months to reach

2478-502: The heel of Italy , to sail for Malta . At 02:30, on 9 September, the three battleships Roma , Vittorio Veneto , and Italia "shoved off from La Spezia escorted by three light cruisers and eight destroyers". When German troops, who had stormed into the town to prevent the ships from sailing, became enraged by the ships' escape, "they rounded up and summarily shot several Italian captains who, unable to get their vessels underway, had scuttled them". That afternoon, German bombers attacked

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2596-572: The royal family and Badoglio, fled Rome on the early morning of the 9th and took shelter in Brindisi , in southern Italy. Their initial intention was to move army headquarters out of Rome with the King and the Prime Minister, but few staff officers reached Brindisi. Meanwhile, the Italian troops, without instructions, collapsed and were soon overwhelmed. Some small units decided to stay loyal to

2714-596: The " Green Line " ( Grüne Linie ) in June 1944. Using more than 15,000 slave labourers , the Germans created more than 2,000 well-fortified machine gun nests , casemates , bunkers , observation posts and artillery fighting positions to repel any attempt to breach the Gothic Line. Initially, this line was breached during Operation Olive (also sometimes known as the Battle of Rimini ), but Kesselring's forces were consistently able to retire in good order. This continued to be

2832-520: The "Instrument of Surrender of Italy.", which General Campbell had presented to another Italian general, Zanussi in Lisbon. Zanussi, who had also been in Cassibile since 31 August, for unclear reasons had not informed Castellano about them. Nevertheless, Bedell Smith explained to Castellano that the other conditions would have taken effect only if Italy had not taken on a fighting role in the war alongside

2950-593: The 2nd New Zealand Division) had to grind their way forward while von Vietinghoff withdrew his forces behind the next river beyond the Marecchia, the Uso, a few miles beyond Rimini. The positions on the Uso were forced on 26 September, and Eighth Army reached the next river, the Fiumicino, on 29 September. Four days of heavy rain forced a halt, and by this time V Corps was fought out and required major reorganization. Since

3068-652: The 370th received reinforcements from other units ( 365th and 371st ), to ensure the Fifth Army left wing sector at the Ligurian Sea . On Fifth Army's far right wing, on the right of the British XIII Corps front, 8th Indian Infantry Division fighting across trackless ground had captured the heights of Femina Morta and British 6th Armoured Division had taken the San Godenzo Pass on Route 67 to Forlì , both on 18 September. At this stage, with

3186-470: The 50th Infantry Division Regina on the island of Kos , who were shot in early October 1943 after the Germans captured the island. Only on the islands of Leros and Samos , with British reinforcements, would the resistance last until November 1943, and in Corsica , Italian troops forced the German troops to leave the island. In other cases, individual Italian units, mostly more minor, remained loyal to

3304-601: The Adriatic and by 25 October were closing on the Ronco river, some 10 mi (16 km) beyond the Savio, behind which the Germans had withdrawn. By the end of the month, the advance had reached Forlì, halfway between Rimini and Bologna. Cutting the German Armies' lateral communications remained a key objective. Indeed, later Kesselring was to say that if in mid-October the front south of Bologna could not be held, then all

3422-473: The Adriatic coast behind LXVI Corps. In addition, Kesselring had in his Army Group Reserve the 90th Panzer Grenadier Division ( 90. Panzergrenadierdivision ) and 26th Panzer Division ( 26. Panzerdivision ). The British Eighth Army crossed the Metauro river and launched its attack against the Gothic Line outposts on 25 August. As Polish II Corps, on the coast and I Canadian Corps, on the coastal plain on

3540-434: The Adriatic coast, the weather had broken and rain and low cloud prevented air support while the roads back to the ever more distant supply dumps near Florence became morasses. On 5 October, U.S. II Corps renewed its offensive along a 14-mile (23 km) front straddling Route 65 to Bologna. They were supported on their right flank by British XIII Corps including British 78th Infantry Division , newly returned to Italy after

3658-552: The Adriatic front would not be available for at least a day. Now, the weather intervened: torrential rain turned the rivers into torrents and halted air support operations. Once again movement ground to a crawl, and the German defenders had the opportunity to reorganise and reinforce their positions on the Marano river, and the salient to the Lombardy plain closed. Once more, the Eighth Army was confronted by an organised line of defence,

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3776-671: The Allied request for a meeting to be held in Sicily , which had been suggested by the British Ambassador to the Vatican . To ease communication between the Allies and the Italian government, a captured British Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent, Dick Mallaby , was released from Verona Prison and secretly moved to the Quirinale . It was vital for the Germans to remain ignorant of any suggestion of Italian surrender, and

3894-400: The Allies' attack, Kesselring had declared himself satisfied with the work done, especially on the Adriatic side where he "...contemplated an assault on the left wing....with a certain confidence". The Italian Front was seen by the Allies to be of secondary importance to the offensives through France , and this was underlined by the withdrawal during the summer of 1944 of seven divisions from

4012-599: The Allies. On the afternoon of the same day, Badoglio had a briefing with the senior commanders of the Regia Marina (Italy's Royal Navy) and the Regia Aeronautica (Italy's Royal Air Force), with the War Ministers and with the King's representatives. However, he omitted any mention of the signing of the armistice and referred only to ongoing negotiations. The day the armistice entered into force

4130-484: The Allies. A bombing mission on Rome by 500 airplanes was stopped at the last moment and had been Eisenhower's inducement to accelerate the procedure of the armistice. Harold Macmillan , the British government's representative minister at the Allied Staff, informed Winston Churchill that the armistice had been signed "without amendments of any kind". That evening Castellano met with Allied officers to discuss what

4248-705: The Ausa river and into the Lombardy Plain and 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade entered Rimini on the morning of 21 September as the Germans withdrew from their positions on the Rimini Line behind the Ausa to new positions on the Marecchia. However, Kesselring's defence had won him time until the onset of the autumn rains. Progress for the Eighth Army became very slow with mud slides caused by the torrential rain making it difficult to keep roads and tracks open, creating

4366-466: The Axis powers. Many of the units formed the nucleus of the armed forces of the puppet Italian Social Republic . Both the Regio Esercito (Italian Royal Army) and the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) virtually disintegrated with the announcement of the armistice on 8 September. The Allies coveted the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy), with its 206 ships in total, including

4484-594: The Axis troops on its sector to the north beyond the Highway 12 towards Gallicano ; and the Brazilian 6th RCT, which took Massarosa , Camaiore and other small towns on its own way north. By the end of the month, the Brazilian unit had conquered Monte Prano and controlled the Serchio valley region without suffering any major casualties. In October, it also took Fornaci with its munitions factory, and Barga ; while

4602-565: The British 56th Division captured Croce. With progress slow at Gemmano, Leese decided to renew the attack on Coriano. After a paralyzing bombardment from 700 artillery pieces and bombers, the Canadian 5th Armoured Division and the British 1st Armoured Division launched their attack on the night of 12 September. The Coriano positions were finally taken on 14 September. Once again, the way was open to Rimini. Kesselring's forces had taken heavy losses, and three divisions of reinforcements ordered to

4720-469: The Coriano ridge positions by driving westwards toward Croce and Gemmano to reach the Marano valley which curved behind the Coriano positions to the coast some 2 mi (3.2 km) north of Riccione. The Battle of Gemmano has been nicknamed by some historians as the "Cassino of the Adriatic". After 11 assaults between 4 and 13 September (first by British 56th Division and then British 46th Division), it

4838-635: The Council, held on 25 July 1943, a majority vote adopted the "order of the day", and Mussolini was then summoned to meet the King and dismissed as prime minister. Upon leaving the meeting, Mussolini was arrested by carabinieri and spirited off to the island of Ponza . Badoglio became President of the Council of Ministers or the Prime Minister of Italy . However, Grandi had been told that another general of more significant personal and professional qualities ( Marshal Enrico Caviglia ) would have taken

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4956-655: The Fascist Directorate and Minister of Culture, and Galeazzo Ciano (the 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari), the second most powerful man in the Fascist Party and Mussolini's son-in-law. The conspirators devised an "Order of the Day" for the next meeting of the Grand Council of Fascism ( Gran Consiglio del Fascismo ), which contained a proposal to restore direct control of politics to the King. After

5074-484: The German 10th Army units downstream to pull back towards Bologna. Paradoxically, in one sense, this helped Kesselring because it shortened the front he had to defend and shortened the distance between his two armies, providing him with greater flexibility to switch units between the two fronts. Continuing their push up Route 9, on 21 October British V Corps crossed the Savio river which runs north eastward through Cesena to

5192-464: The German ally. From 8 to 12 September, the German forces occupied all of the Italian territory that was still not under Allied control, except Sardinia and part of Apulia , without meeting organized resistance. In Rome, an Italian governor, with the support of an Italian infantry division, nominally ruled the city until 23 September, but in practice, the city was under German control from 11 September. On 3 September, British and Canadian troops crossed

5310-518: The German defences to open up the route to the northeast through the "Ljubljana Gap" into Austria and Hungary . Whilst this would threaten Germany from the rear, Churchill was more concerned to forestall the Russians advancing into central Europe. The U.S. Chiefs of Staff had strongly opposed this strategy as diluting the Allied focus in France. However, following the Allied successes in France during

5428-487: The German positions east of Bologna "were automatically gone." Alexander and Clark had decided therefore to make a last push for Bologna before winter gripped the front. On 16 October, the U.S. Fifth Army had gathered itself for one last effort to take Bologna. The Allies were short of artillery ammunition because of a global reduction in Allied ammunition production in anticipation of the final defeat of Germany. The Fifth Army's batteries were rationed to such an extent that

5546-557: The Germans' determination to continue fighting. Nevertheless, it was fortunate for the Allies that at this stage of the war the Italian partisan forces had become highly effective in disrupting the German preparations in the high mountains. On 2 April 1944, partisans belonging to the Eighth Garibaldi Brigade managed to occupy Sant'Agata Feltria ; their ambush of a German detachment sent to round up partisans led to

5664-486: The Gothic Line to cut Route 9 (and therefore Kesselring's lateral communications) at Faenza . The transfer of 356th Infantry Division to the Adriatic weakened the defences around the Il Giogo pass which was already potentially an area of weakness, being on the boundary between 10th and 14th Armies. During the last week in August, U.S. II Corps and British XIII Corps started to move into the mountains to take up positions for

5782-553: The I Motorized Grouping (now 16,000 men strong) assumed the name Italian Liberation Corps ( Italian : Corpo Italiano di Liberazione , or CIL) and was divided into two brigades. The CIL was augmented with the 6,000 men strong 184th Infantry Division "Nembo" . The CIL's commander was General Umberto Utili . In early 1944, a 5,000-man force of Italians fought on the Gustav Line around Monte Cassino and acquitted itself well. The Italians once again suffered heavy casualties. After

5900-469: The II Giogo Pass by attacking both the peaks of Monticello and Monte Altuzzo using the 91st Infantry Division in a bold attempt to bounce the Germans off the positions, but this failed. Progress at the II Giogo Pass was slow, but on II Corps' right British XIII Corps were making better progress. Clark grasped this opportunity to divert part of II Corps reserve (the 337th Infantry Regiment , part of

6018-573: The Italian Campaign, of whom 20,000 (later augmented to 50,000, though some sources place this number as high as 99,000) were combat troops and between 150,000 and 190,000 were auxiliary and support troops, along with 66,000 personnel involved with traffic control and infrastructure defence. On the whole, the Italian Co-Belligerent Army made up 1/8 of the fighting force and 1/4 of the entire force of 15th Army Group of

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6136-422: The Italian Government should do. General Harold Alexander presided over the meeting with Smith, Lowell Ward Rooks , and John K. Cannon (commander 12th Air Force USAAF), Brigadier General Patrick W. Timberlake (of Mediterranean Air Command), Strong, and General Lyman Lemnitzer (Deputy Chief of Staff, 15th Army Group ). Only after the signing had taken place was Castellano passed the long terms contained in

6254-419: The Italian capital of Rome , Clark diverted a large part of his Anzio force in that direction in an attempt to ensure that he and the Fifth Army would have the honour of liberating the city. As a result, most of Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring 's forces slipped the noose and fell back north fighting delaying actions, notably in late June on the Trasimene Line (running from just south of Ancona on

6372-424: The Italian mainland . In the spring of 1943, preoccupied with the disastrous situation of the Italian military during the war, the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini , removed several figures from the government whom he considered to be more loyal to Victor Emmanuel III than to the Fascist regime. To help the execution of his plan, the King asked for the assistance of Dino Grandi (1st Count of Mordano), one of

6490-404: The Italian regular forces killed on the Allied side as 5,927. Armistice with Italy Invasion of Italy Winter Line Gothic Line 1945 Spring Offensive The Armistice of Cassibile ( Italian : Armistizio di Cassibile ) was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 between Italy and the Allies during World War II . It was made public five days later. It

6608-417: The Marecchia valley running across the Eighth Army line of advance and running to the sea at Rimini. During the night of 19/20 September, Brigadier Richard W. Goodbody , commanding the 2nd Armoured Brigade , ordered (with many doubts) the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) to attack Pt 153 at 10.50. The German antitank gunners, using the renowned 88mm guns , had a field day. All but three Sherman tanks of

6726-466: The Poles' left, advanced towards Pesaro the coastal plain narrowed and it was planned that the Polish Corps, weakened by losses and lack of replacements, would go into Army reserve and the front on the coastal plain would become the responsibility of the Canadian Corps alone. The Germans were taken by surprise, to the extent that both von Vietinghoff, and the parachute division's commander— Generalmajor Richard Heidrich —were away on leave. They were in

6844-439: The Rimini Line. Meanwhile, with Croce and beyond it Montescudo secured, the left wing of the Eighth Army advanced to the Marano river and the frontier of San Marino . The Germans had occupied neutral San Marino over a week previously to take advantage of the heights on which the city-state stood. By 19 September, the city was isolated and fell to the Allies with relatively little cost. 3 miles (4.8 km) beyond San Marino lay

6962-441: The SOE was the most secure method under the circumstances. Badoglio still considered it possible to gain favourable conditions in exchange for the surrender. He ordered Castellano to insist that any surrender of Italy be conditioned on a landing of Allied troops on the Italian mainland. The Allies held only Sicily and some minor islands. On 31 August, Brigade General Castellano reached Termini Imerese , in Sicily, by plane and

7080-413: The U.S. Fifth Army to take part in the landings in southern France, Operation Dragoon . By 5 August, the strength of the Fifth Army had fallen from 249,000 to 153,000, and they had only 18 divisions to confront the combined German 10th and 14th Armies ′ strength of 14 divisions plus four to seven reserve divisions. Nevertheless, Winston Churchill and the British Chiefs of Staff were keen to break through

7198-527: The United Nations, and all Italian land, air, and naval forces must surrender unconditionally. The armistice signed at Malta was considered the Additional Conditions for the Armistice with Italy by the Italians, but for the Allies it was considered the Instrument of Surrender of Italy . Gothic Line [REDACTED]   United Kingdom Invasion of Italy Winter Line Gothic Line 1945 Spring Offensive The Gothic Line ( German : Gotenstellung ; Italian : Linea Gotica )

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7316-486: The acceptance of the Allied conditions. He had no written authorization from Badoglio, the head of the Italian government, who wanted to dissociate himself as much as possible from the forthcoming defeat of his country. The signing ceremony began at 14:00 on 3 September. Castellano and Bedell Smith signed the accepted text on behalf of Badoglio and General Eisenhower, respectively. The armistice includes that all Italian land, air, and naval forces must cease hostilities against

7434-419: The actions were to be conducted contemporaneously with the signing, not to precede it, as the Italians had wanted. The following day, Castellano was received by Badoglio and his entourage. Italy's Foreign Minister, Raffaele Guariglia , declared that the Allied conditions were to be accepted. Other generals, such as Giacomo Carboni , maintained that the Army Corps deployed around Rome was insufficient to protect

7552-456: The addition of the British 4th Infantry Division 's artillery. West of the Canadians was British V Corps with the British 46th Infantry Division manning the right of the corps front line and 4th Indian Infantry Division its left. In reserve were the British 56th Infantry and 1st Armoured Divisions and the British 7th Armoured and 25th Tank Brigades . Further to the rear was the British 4th Division, waiting to be called forward to join

7670-486: The armistice was announced by Allied radio on the afternoon of 8 September, German forces immediately attacked Italian forces by executing Operation Achse . Most of the Regio Esercito (Italian Royal Army) had not been informed about the armistice, and no clear orders had been issued about the line of conduct to be taken in the face of the German armed forces. Some Italian divisions that should have defended Rome were still in transit from southern France. The king, along with

7788-426: The battleships Roma , Vittorio Veneto , and Italia (known as Littorio until July 1943). There was a danger that some of the Navy might fight on, be scuttled, or (most concerningly for the Allies) end up in German hands. As such, the truce called for Italian warships on Italy's west coast, mostly at La Spezia and Genoa , to sail for North Africa and to pass Corsica and Sardinia and for those at Taranto , in

7906-408: The case up to March 1945, with the Gothic Line being breached but with no decisive breakthrough; this would not take place until April 1945 during the final Allied offensive of the Italian Campaign. Operation Olive has been described as the biggest battle of materials ever fought in Italy. Over 1,200,000 men participated in the battle. The battle took the form of a pincer manoeuvre , carried out by

8024-399: The centre, where most of his forces were already concentrated. It was the shortest route to his objective, the plains of Lombardy , and could be mounted quickly. He mounted a deception operation to convince the Germans that the main blow would come on the Adriatic front. On 4 August, Alexander met Lieutenant-General Leese, the British Eighth Army commander, to find that Leese did not favour

8142-427: The city because of the lack of fuel and ammunition and that the armistice had to be postponed. Badoglio did not pronounce himself in the meeting. In the afternoon, he appeared before the King, who decided to accept the armistice conditions. A confirmation telegram was sent to the Allies. The message, however, was intercepted by the Wehrmacht , the German armed forces, which had long since begun to suspect that Italy

8260-426: The city. Badoglio told the delegation that his army was not ready to support the landing and that most airports in the area were under German control. He asked for a deferral of the armistice of a few days. When General Eisenhower learned that, the landing in Rome of American troops was cancelled, but the day of the armistice was confirmed since other troops were already en route by sea to land in southern Italy. When

8378-415: The coast, Leese had Polish II Corps with 5th Kresowa Division in the front line and the 3rd Carpathian Division in reserve. To the left of the Poles was Canadian I Corps which had the Canadian 1st Infantry Division (with the British 21st Tank Brigade under command) in the front line and the Canadian 5th Armoured Division in reserve. For the opening phase the corps artillery was strengthened with

8496-514: The coastal plain, V Corps made an armoured thrust to dislodge the Coriano Ridge defences and reach the Marano river. This was to open the gate to the plain beyond which could be rapidly exploited by the tanks of British 1st Armoured Division, poised for this purpose. However, after two days of gruesome fighting with heavy losses on both sides, the Allies were obliged to call off their assault and reassess their strategy. Leese decided to outflank

8614-480: The corps. The left flank of the Eighth Army front was guarded by British X Corps employing the 10th Indian Infantry Division and two armoured car regiments, 12th and 27th Lancers . Prior to the attack the I Canadian Corps' front was covered by patrolling Polish cavalry units and V Corps by patrolling elements of the Italian Liberation Corps. In army reserve, also waiting to be called forward,

8732-644: The division fielded about 150,000-190,000. These auxiliary units were the following: On the whole the Italian Co-Belligerent Army made up 1/8 of the fighting force and 1/4 of the entire force of 15th Army Group of the Allied Forces . Not directly dependent from the Allied Headquarters in Italy the Co-Belligerent Army also deployed three Internal Security Divisions ( Divisioni di Sicurezza Interna ) for internal security duties: In 1946,

8850-590: The east coast, past the southern shores of Lake Trasimeno near Perugia and on to the west coast south of Grosseto ) and in July on the Arno Line (running from the west coast along the line of the Arno River and into the Apennine Mountains north of Arezzo ). This gave time to consolidate the Gothic Line, a 10 miles (16 km) deep belt of fortifications extending from south of La Spezia (on

8968-513: The end of 15 October before the escarpment was secured. On the right of U.S. II Corps British XIII Corps was experiencing equally determined fighting on terrain just as difficult. By the second half of October, it was becoming increasingly clear to Alexander that despite the dogged fighting in the waterlogged plain of Romagna and the streaming mountains of the central Apennines, with the autumn well advanced and exhaustion and combat losses increasingly affecting his forces' capabilities, no breakthrough

9086-425: The end of May and early June and wished for the Eighth Army to win the battle on its own. He suggested a surprise attack along the Adriatic coast. Although Harding did not share Leese's view and Eighth Army planning staff had already rejected the idea of an Adriatic offensive (because it would be difficult to bring the necessary concentration of forces to bear), General Alexander was not prepared to force Leese to adopt

9204-638: The end, Castellano was admitted to speak with the Allies at the British Embassy to set the conditions for the armistice of Italy . Among the representatives of the Allies were the British Ambassador to Portugal , Sir Ronald Hugh Campbell , and two senior officers sent by Dwight Eisenhower : major-general Walter Bedell Smith (US Army, Eisenhower's chief of staff) and brigadier Kenneth Strong (British Army, Eisenhower's assistant chief of staff for intelligence). On 27 August, General Castellano returned to Italy and, three days later, briefed Badoglio about

9322-418: The first combat groups: "Legnano" and "Folgore". Soon four more combat groups were formed: "Cremona", "Friuli", "Mantova", and "Piceno". These groups were equal in size to weak divisions. The established strength for each was 432 officers, 8,578 other ranks, 116 field guns, 170 mortars, 502 light machine guns, and 1,277 motor vehicles. The Combat Groups were given the names of old Royal Army divisions and followed

9440-495: The front. It was not until 28 August—when he saw a captured copy of Leese's order of the day to his army prior to the attack—that Kesselring realised that a major offensive was in progress, and three divisions of reinforcements were ordered from Bologna to the Adriatic front, still needing at least two days to get into position. By 30 August, the Canadian and British Corps had reached the Green I main defensive positions running along

9558-468: The large naval base of Taranto, it watched a flotilla of Italian ships sailing out of Taranto Harbour towards their surrender at Malta. An agreement between the Allies and the Italians in late September provided for some of the Navy to be kept in commission; however, the battleships were to be reduced to care and maintenance and effectively disarmed. Italian mercantile marine vessels were to operate under

9676-681: The leading members of the Fascist hierarchy who, in his younger years, had been considered the sole credible alternative to Mussolini as leader of the National Fascist Party . The King was also motivated by the suspicion that the Count of Mordano's ideas about Fascism might be changed abruptly. Various ambassadors, including Pietro Badoglio himself, proposed the vague possibility of succeeding Mussolini as dictator. The secret rebels later involved Giuseppe Bottai , another high member of

9794-582: The line of the Conca river . Fierce resistance from the Corps′ 1st Parachute Division—commanded by Heidrich (supported by intense artillery fire from the Coriano ridge in the hills on the Canadians' left)—brought their advance to a halt. Meanwhile, British V Corps was finding progress in the more difficult hill terrain with its poor roads tough going. On 3–4 September, while the Canadians once again attacked along

9912-434: The main assault on the main Gothic Line defences. Some fierce resistance was met from outposts but at the end of the first week in September, once reorganisation had taken place following the withdrawal of three divisions to reinforce the pressured Adriatic front, the Germans withdrew to the main Gothic Line defences. After an artillery bombardment, the Fifth Army's main assault began at dusk on 12 September. Keyes tried to flank

10030-481: The morning of 17 September, after five days of fighting. The capture of Altuzzo and Pratone as well as Monte Verruca between them caused the formidable Futa Pass defences to be outflanked, and Lemelsen was forced to pull back, leaving the pass to be taken after only light fighting on 22 September. On the left, IV Corps had fought their way to the main Gothic Line: notably the 370th Infantry Regiment , which pushed

10148-526: The northern borders of Italy. Some of the Italian troops based outside Italy, in the occupied Balkans and Greek islands , held out some weeks after the armistice. Still, without any determined support from the Allies, all had been overwhelmed by the Germans by the end of September 1943. On the island of Cephalonia , the Italian Acqui Division was massacred after it had resisted German forces. A similar fate awaited 103 Italian officers of

10266-703: The numbering system of older regiments to some extent. These groups were attached to various American and British formations on the Gothic Line . The following is the " order of battle " of the Italian Co-belligerent Army as of April 1945. The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces High Command was Marshal Giovanni Messe , while the Chief of Staff of the Army was Lieutenant General Paolo Berardi . Each infantry regiment fielded three infantry battalions,

10384-404: The plan. He argued that the Allies had lost their specialist French mountain troops to Operation Dragoon and that the Eighth Army's strength lay in tactics combining infantry, armour and guns which could not be employed in the high mountains of the central Apennines. It has also been suggested that Leese disliked working in league with Clark after the Fifth Army's controversial move on Rome at

10502-455: The position. On July 27, the new First Badoglio government began to undertook measures by banning all Fascist organizations throughout Italy as well as disbanding the National Fascist Party and it's other elements associated with it. The appointment of Badoglio did not change the position of Italy as Germany's ally in the war. However, many channels sought a peace treaty with the Allies. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler sent several divisions south of

10620-437: The process of pulling back their forward units to the Green I fortifications of the Gothic Line proper and Kesselring was uncertain whether this was the start of a major offensive or just Eighth Army advancing to occupy vacated ground whilst the main Allied attack would come on the U.S. Fifth Army front towards Bologna. On 27 August, he was still expressing the view that the attack was a diversion and so would not commit reserves to

10738-551: The remaining 4 miles (6.4 km) were over difficult terrain and were reinforced by three of the best German divisions in Italy—the 29th Panzergrenadier Division, 90th Panzergrenadier Division and the 1st Parachute Division—which Kesselring had been able to withdraw from the Romagna as a result of his shortened front. By late October, the Brazilian 6th RCT had pushed the Axis forces through province of Lucca to Barga, where its advance

10856-552: The ridges on the far side of the Foglia river. Taking advantage of the Germans' lack of manpower, the Canadians punched through and by 3 September had advanced a further 15 mi (24 km) to the Green II line of defences running from the coast near Riccione . The Allies were close to breaking through to Rimini and the Romagna plain. However, LXXVI Panzer Corps on the German 10th Army's left wing had withdrawn in good order behind

10974-413: The right wing of the attack fanning toward the coast to create a pincer with the Eighth Army advance. This meant that as a preparatory move, the bulk of the Eighth Army had to be transferred from the centre of Italy to the Adriatic coast, taking two valuable weeks, while a new intelligence deception plan (Operation Ulster) was commenced to convince Kesselring that the main attack would be in the centre. On

11092-527: The same general conditions as the Allies. In all cases, the Italian vessels would retain their Italian crews and fly Italian flags. The Armistice of Cassibile signed at Sicily was considered the 'shorter' version of the whole armistice. On 29 September, the longer version of the armistice was signed at Malta between Italy and the Allies. It was signed by Badoglio and Eisenhower aboard the British battleship HMS Nelson . The agreement included that Benito Mussolini and his Fascist officials must be handed over to

11210-483: The ships sailing without air cover off Sardinia and launching guided bombs . Several ships suffered damage, and Roma sank with the loss of nearly 1,400 men. Most of the remaining ships made it safely to North Africa "while three destroyers and a cruiser which had stopped to rescue survivors, docked in Menorca ". The Navy's turnover proceeded more smoothly in other areas of Italy. When an Allied naval force headed for

11328-573: The slow progress on the Adriatic front, Clark decided that Bologna would be too far west along Route 9 to trap the German 10th Army. He decided therefore to make the main II Corps thrust further east towards Imola whilst XIII Corps would continue to push on the right toward Faenza. Although they were through the Gothic Line, Fifth Army—just like the Eighth Army before them—found the terrain beyond and its defenders even more difficult. Between 21 September and 3 October, U.S. 88th Division had fought its way to

11446-611: The start of Operation Olive, Eighth Army had suffered 14,000 casualties. As a result, British battalions had to be reduced from four to three rifle companies due to a severe shortage of manpower. Facing the Eighth Army LXXVI Panzer Corps had suffered 16,000 casualties. As the Eighth Army paused at the end of September to reorganise Leese was reassigned to command the Allied land forces in South-East Asia and Lieutenant-General Richard L. McCreery

11564-442: The state of preparation of the Gothic Line: he feared the Allies would use amphibious landings to outflank its defences. To downgrade its importance in the eyes of both friend and foe, he ordered the name, with its historic connotations, changed, reasoning that if the Allies managed to break through they would not be able to use the more impressive name to magnify their victory claims. In response to this order, Kesselring renamed it

11682-671: The summer, the U.S. Chiefs relented, and there was complete agreement amongst the Combined Chiefs of Staff at the Second Quebec Conference on 12 September. The original plan of General Sir Harold Alexander , the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Allied Armies in Italy (AAI)—as formulated by his Chief of Staff , Lieutenant-General Sir John Harding —was to storm the Gothic Line in

11800-475: The time. The signing of the armistice was kept secret on that day, and was announced to the media on September 8th. Nazi Germany responded by attacking Italian forces in Italy , southern France and the Balkans , and freeing Benito Mussolini on 12 September. The Italian forces were forcefully disbanded in the north and centre of the country, with most of Italy being occupied by the Germans, who established

11918-506: The total rounds fired in the last week of October were less than the amount fired during one eight-hour period on 2 October. Nevertheless, U.S. II Corps and British XIII Corps pounded away for the next 11 days. Little progress was made in the centre along the main road to Bologna. On the right, there was better progress, and on 20 October the U.S. 88th Division seized Monte Grande, only 4 mi (6.4 km) from Route 9, and three days later British 78th Division stormed Monte Spaduro. However,

12036-452: The two squadrons that took part in the attack were destroyed. The Bays lost 24 tanks and, more important, 64 highly skilled tank crewmen. Fortunately for the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers , who had been ordered to pass through the Bays, their attack was postponed after strong representations had been made to higher HQ. On the right the I Canadian Corps on 20 September broke the German positions on

12154-776: The west coast) to the Foglia Valley , through the natural defensive wall of the Apennines (which ran unbroken nearly from coast to coast, 50 miles (80 km) deep and with high crests and peaks rising to 7,000 feet (2,100 m)), to the Adriatic Sea between Pesaro and Ravenna , on the east coast. The emplacements included numerous concrete-reinforced gun pits and trenches and 2,376 machine-gun nests with interlocking fire, 479 anti-tank, mortar and assault gun positions, 120,000 metres (130,000 yd) of barbed wire and many miles of anti-tank ditches. This last redoubt proved

12272-530: Was a German and Italian defensive line of the Italian Campaign of World War II . It formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring 's last major line of defence along the summits of the northern part of the Apennine Mountains during the fighting retreat of the Axis forces in Italy against the Allied Armies in Italy , commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander . Adolf Hitler had concerns about

12390-504: Was comparable to El Alamein , Mareth , and the Gustav Line (Monte-Cassino) ." After the nearly concurrent breakthroughs at Cassino and Anzio in spring 1944, the 11 nations representing the Allies in Italy finally had a chance to trap the Germans in a pincer movement and to realize some of the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill 's strategic goals for the long, costly campaign against

12508-649: Was composed of 295 officers and 5,387 men and was created to participate alongside the Allies against Germany and the Italian Social Republic in the Italian campaign . The unit was commanded by General Vincenzo Dapino , who led it during its first engagement in the Battle of San Pietro Infine in December of the same year. This action did much to remove the Allies' distrust of Italian soldiers fighting on their side. The unit suffered heavy casualties and

12626-529: Was going to occur before the winter weather returned. On the Adriatic front, the British Eighth Army's advance resumed on its left wing through the Apennine foothills toward Forlì on Route 9. On 5 October the 10th Indian Infantry Division —switched from British X Corps to British V Corps—had crossed the Fiumicino river high in the hills and turned the German defensive line on the river forcing

12744-544: Was halted. In early November, the buildup to full strength of the 1st Brazilian Division and some reinforcement of the U.S. 92nd Division had not nearly compensated the U.S. Fifth Army for the formations diverted to France. The situation in the British Eighth Army was even worse: Replacement cadres were being diverted to northern Europe and I Canadian Corps was ordered to prepare to ship to the Netherlands in February of

12862-572: Was in the process of relieving 5th Mountain Division . The 10th Army had a further five divisions in 51st Mountain Corps covering 80 mi (130 km) of front line on the right of LXVI Panzer Corps and a further two divisions— 162nd Infantry Division ( 162. (Turkoman) Infanterie-Division ) and 98th Infantry Division ( 98. Infanterie-Division ) (replaced by 29th Panzer Grenadier Division ( 29. Panzergrenadierdivision ) from 25 August)—covering

12980-537: Was judged to have performed satisfactorily. Following the service with the American Fifth Army and reorganization, command of the I Motorized Grouping was given to General Umberto Utili and the unit was transferred to the Polish II Corps on the extreme left of the British Eighth Army . In early 1944 the unit was reorganised and expanded into the Italian Liberation Corps. On 18 April 1944,

13098-509: Was linked to a planned landing in central Italy and was left to the Allies' discretion. Castellano still understood that the date was intended to be 12 September, and Badoglio started to move troops to Rome. On 7 September, a small Allied delegation reached Rome to inform Badoglio that the next day would have been the day of the armistice. He was also informed about the pending arrival of the American 82nd Airborne Division into airports around

13216-437: Was moved from commanding British X Corps to take over the army command. Clark's U.S. Fifth Army comprised three corps: U.S. IV Corps , under Major General Willis D. Crittenberger , on the left formed by the U.S. 1st Armored Division , the 6th South African Armoured Division and two Regimental Combat Teams (RCTs) , one of the U.S. 92nd Infantry Division the other the Brazilian 6th RCT (the first land forces contingent of

13334-557: Was not of the same quality as the 10th Army: it had been badly mauled in the retreat from Anzio and some of its replacements had been hastily and inadequately trained. Clark's plan was for II Corps to strike along the road from Florence to Firenzuola and Imola through the Il Giogo pass to outflank the formidable defences of the Futa pass (on the main Florence–Bologna road) while on their right British XIII Corps would advance through

13452-491: Was seeking a separate armistice. The Germans contacted Badoglio, who repeatedly confirmed the unwavering loyalty of Italy to its German ally. The Germans doubted his reassurances, and the Wehrmacht started to devise an effective plan, Operation Achse , to take control of Italy as soon as the Italian government had switched allegiance to the Allies. On 2 September, Castellano set off again to Cassibile with an order to confirm

13570-422: Was signed on September 3rd by Major-General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigade-General Giuseppe Castellano for Italy. The armistice's signing took place at a summit in an Allied military camp at Cassibile , Sicily , which had recently been occupied by the Allies . The armistice was approved by both Victor Emmanuel III and Marshal Pietro Badoglio , who was serving as Prime Minister of Italy at

13688-459: Was the 2nd New Zealand Division . Facing the Eighth Army was the German 10th Army's LXXVI Panzer Corps ( LXXVI Panzerkorps ). Initially, this had only three divisions: 1st Parachute Division facing the Poles, 71st Infantry Division ( 71. Infanterie-Division ) inland on the parachute division's right and 278th Division ( 278. Infanterie-Division ) on the Corps right flank in the hills which

13806-512: Was the turn of Indian 4th Division who after a heavy bombardment made the 12th attack at 03:00 on 15 September and finally carried and secured the German defensive positions. In the meantime, to the north, on the other side of the Conca valley a similarly bloody engagement was being ground out at Croce. The German 98th Division held their positions with great tenacity, and it took five days of constant fighting, often door to door and hand to hand before

13924-494: Was transferred to Cassibile , a town near Syracuse . It soon became evident that the two sides in the negotiations had adopted somewhat distant positions. Castellano pressed the request for the Italian territory to be defended from the inevitable reaction of the German Wehrmacht against Italy after the signing. In return, he received only vague promises, including launching a parachute division over Rome . Moreover,

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