At War on the Gothic Line
At War on the Gothic Line

Author: Christian Jennings

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2016-03-08

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1466871733

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Christian Jennings's At War on the Gothic Line tells the little-known story of the Allied effort to break the German defenses in Northern Italy—told through the eyes of the multi-national force that fought it. In the autumn of 1944, as Patton’s army paraded through Paris, another Allied force was gathering in southern Italy. Spearheaded by over 100,000 American troops, this vast, international army was faced with a grim task—break The Gothic Line, a series of interconnected German fortifications that stretched across the mountains of northern Italy. Striving to reach Europe’s vulnerable underbelly before the Red Army, these Allied soldiers fought uphill against entrenched enemies in some of the final and most brutal battles of the Second World War. In At War on the Gothic Line, veteran war correspondent and historian Christian Jennings provides an unprecedented look inside this unsung but highly significant campaign. Through the eyes of thirteen men and women from seven different countries, Jennings brings history to life as he vividly recounts the courageous acts of valor performed by these soldiers facing overwhelming odds, even as many experienced discrimination at the hands of their allies and superiors. Witness the courage of a young Japanese-American officer willing to die for those under his command. Lie in wait with a troop of Canadian fur trappers turned snipers. Creep along mountain paths with Indian warriors as they assault fortified positions in the dead of night. Learn to fear a one-armed SS-Major guilty of some of the most atrocious war-crimes in the European theater. All these stories and more pack the pages of this faced-paced, action-heavy history, taking readers inside one of the most important, and least discussed, campaigns of World War Two.

Gothic Line 1944–45
Gothic Line 1944–45

Author: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-08-18

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1472853385

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This is the history of how the mighty Gothic Line was defeated by American air power, in one of the most pivotal but least-known air campaigns of World War II. By late 1944, the Italian Campaign was secondary to the campaigns in France, and Allied forces were not strong enough to break the Germans' mighty Gothic Line. These fortifications were supplied by rail through the Alps, with trains arriving hourly and delivering 600,000 tons of supplies a month, enough to keep the German Army going forever. But in the bitter winter of 1944–45, the mighty Gothic Line would be defeated by American air power in one of the most pivotal but least-known air campaigns of World War II. It would not be a direct assault; instead Operation Bingo would ruthlessly cut the Germans' supply lines and leave them starved. However, it would not be easy. The rail routes were defended by a formidable array of heavy flak, and every raid was expected. Conditions were freezing, and even in electric flying suits, men suffered both hypoxia and frostbite. By the end of February, the previous eight-hour rail journey took the Germans 3-4 days on the wrecked railroad, and soon supplies were barely enough to keep the army alive. On April 12, the Allied ground attack began, and within ten days the German command in Northern Italy sued for surrender, the first German force in Europe to do so. Packed with first-hand accounts and rare photos from the 57th Bomb Wing Archives, this book is a fascinating history of the most successful US battlefield interdiction campaign in history, immortalized in the writing of bombardier Joseph Heller, in his novel Catch 22.

Gothic Line 1944–45
Gothic Line 1944–45

Author: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-08-18

Total Pages: 97

ISBN-13: 1472853393

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This is the history of how the mighty Gothic Line was defeated by American air power, in one of the most pivotal but least-known air campaigns of World War II. By late 1944, the Italian Campaign was secondary to the campaigns in France, and Allied forces were not strong enough to break the Germans' mighty Gothic Line. These fortifications were supplied by rail through the Alps, with trains arriving hourly and delivering 600,000 tons of supplies a month, enough to keep the German Army going forever. But in the bitter winter of 1944–45, the mighty Gothic Line would be defeated by American air power in one of the most pivotal but least-known air campaigns of World War II. It would not be a direct assault; instead Operation Bingo would ruthlessly cut the Germans' supply lines and leave them starved. However, it would not be easy. The rail routes were defended by a formidable array of heavy flak, and every raid was expected. Conditions were freezing, and even in electric flying suits, men suffered both hypoxia and frostbite. By the end of February, the previous eight-hour rail journey took the Germans 3-4 days on the wrecked railroad, and soon supplies were barely enough to keep the army alive. On April 12, the Allied ground attack began, and within ten days the German command in Northern Italy sued for surrender, the first German force in Europe to do so. Packed with first-hand accounts and rare photos from the 57th Bomb Wing Archives, this book is a fascinating history of the most successful US battlefield interdiction campaign in history, immortalized in the writing of bombardier Joseph Heller, in his novel Catch 22.

The Gothic Line
The Gothic Line

Author: Mark Zuehlke

Publisher: D & M Publishers

Published: 2009-07-01

Total Pages: 594

ISBN-13: 1926685814

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Like an armor-toothed belt across Italy’s upper thigh, the Gothic Line was the most fortified and fiercely defended position the German army had yet thrown in the path of the Allied forces. On August 25, 1944, it fell to I Canadian Corps to spearhead the famed Eighth Army’s major offensive, intended to rip through it. The 1st Infantry and 5th Armored Divisions advanced into a killing ground covered by thousands of machine-gun, antitank gun positions, and pillboxes expertly sited behind minefields and dense thickets of barbed wire. Never had the Germans in Italy brought so much artillery to bear or deployed such a great number of tanks. For 28 days, the battle raged as the Allied troops slugged an ever deeper hole into the German defences. The Metauro River, the Foglia River, Point 204, Tomba Di Pesaro, Coriano Ridge, San Martino, and San Fortunato became place names seared into the memories of those who fought there. They fought in a dust-choked land under a searing sun which by battle's end was reduced to a guagmire by rain. But they prevailed and on September 22 won the ground overlooking the Po River Valley, opening the way for the next phase of the Allied advance.

Italy's Sorrow
Italy's Sorrow

Author: James Holland

Publisher: HarperCollins UK

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 133

ISBN-13: 0007176457

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James Holland's ground-breaking account expertly documents the German advance to the stalemate of the Gothic line and a segment of Italian history that has been largely neglected. The war in Italy was the most destructive campaign in the west as the Allies and Germans fought a long, bitter and highly attritional conflict up the mountainous leg of Italy during the last twelve months of the Second World War. While the Allies and Germans were slogging it out through the mountains, the Italians were fighting their own battles, one where Partisans and Fascists were pitted against each other in a bloody civil war. Around them, civilians tried to live through the carnage, terror and anarchy while, in the wake of the Allied advance, beleaguered and impoverished Italians were forced to pick their way through the ruins of their homes and country and often forced into making terrible and heart-rending decisions in order to survive.

The Forgotten Front in Northern Italy
The Forgotten Front in Northern Italy

Author: Robert H. Schmidt

Publisher:

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13:

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A U.S. Army Signal Corps combat photographer, the author spent the winter of 1944-45 documenting the Gothic Line campaign, the Florence to Bologna to Bolzano operation that held in check 20 or so crack German divisions. He focused particularly on the brutal infantry battles in the Apennies, the desperate fighting of the Fifth Army in the Po Valley, and the severe weather and terrain that challenged the Allied troops. His memories and photographs of the operations reveal the harsh fighting and sometimes poignant moments of the men engaged in a battle that was overwhelmed by events at war's end and has been largely forgotten by history.

Assault on the Gothic Line 1944
Assault on the Gothic Line 1944

Author: Pier Paolo Battistelli

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-03-16

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13: 1472850130

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Enjoy a detailed examination of Operation Olive as US, British, Commonwealth and Allied forces seek to smash through the last German defensive line in Italy. The Italian theatre of operations post-summer 1944 was often (and incorrectly) surmised at the time as a quiet sector of World War II, populated with troops who were relieved not to find themselves fighting in North-West Europe. Yet the true nature of the hard fighting that took place here was soon revealed when the Allies began their assault on the Axis Gothic Line defences, known as Operation Olive. In this book, Italian military historian Pier Paolo Battistelli documents the dual Allied offensive spearheaded by American and British units to smash through what was supposed to be the final Axis defensive line in Italy before the Alps. The overall strategic aims of both the Axis and Allied leaders are explored, together with the organization of the forces committed. The expertly researched maps and 3D diagrams guide the reader through the progress of the phased battles in challenging terrain. Photographs and specially commissioned artworks show the soldiers that fought on both sides, including American, Canadian, Indian, Brazilian, Polish, New Zealander, British, German and Italian troops, as well as the materiel they employed. The result is an essential illustrated guide to a fascinating and complex late-war campaign.

Fatal Decision
Fatal Decision

Author: Carlo D'Este

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2009-06-02

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 0061942472

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Fatal Decision is a powerful, dramatic, moving, and ultimately definitive narrative of one of the most desperate campaigns of World War II. In the winter of 1943-44, Anzio, a small Mediterranean resort and port some thirty-five miles south of Rome, played a crucial role in the fortunes of World War II as the target of an amphibious Allied landing. The Allies planned to bypass the strong German defenses along the Gustav Line and at Monte Cassino sixty miles to the southeast, which were holding up the American and British armies and preventing the liberation of Rome. By taking advantage of Allied command of the sea and air to effect complete surprise, infantry and armored forces landing at Anzio on January 22 were expected to secure the beachhead and then push inland to cut off the two main highways and railroads supplying the German forces to the south, either trapping and annihilating the German armies or forcing them to withdraw to the north, thus opening the way to Rome. But the reality of one of the most desperate campaigns of World War II was bad management, external meddling, poorly relayed orders, and uncertain leadership. The Anzio beachhead became a death trap, with Allied troops forced to fight for their lives for four dreadful months. The eventual victory in May 1944 was muted, bitter, and overshadowed by the Allied landings in Normandy on June 6. Mixing flawless research, drama, and combat with a brilliant narrative voice, Fatal Decision is one of the best histories ever written of a World War II military campaign.