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gun pits, concrete bunkers, turreted machine-gun emplacements, barbed-wire and minefields. It was the strongest of the German defensive lines south of Rome. The western part of the line, centred around Monte Cassino, was called the Gustav Line, and was protected by the Bernhardt Line a few miles to the south.
Following the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, the Italian government had surrendered, but the German Army continued to fight. The Allied armies succeeded in conquering the southern part of Italy, and the Germans retreated to a prepared defensive position called the Winter Line. About 15 German divisions were employed in the defence.
The Allies' immediate objective was the liberation of Rome. The most obvious approach to Rome was the Liri Valley (just north of Monte Cassino), and the Winter Line would prevent the Allies advancing to there.
The German forces were commanded by Field Marshal Albrecht Kesselring. The defence of the line itself was commanded by General Heinrich von VietinghoffHeinrich von Vietinghoff during World War II, was a General of the German Wehrmacht who commanded the 10th Armee in Italy. See also: Gustav Line Operation Shingle. of the 10th Armee .
The plan called for the US Fifth Army to smash though the line at Monte Cassino and into the Liri Valley. It also called for amphibious landings ( Operation ShingleOperation Shingle ( January 22, 1944), during the Italian Campaign of World War II, was an Allied amphibious landing against Axis forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. The operation was commanded by General John P. Lucas and was intended to outf) at AnzioAnzio ( 2003 pop. 36,400) is a city and resort on the coast of the Latium region of Italy, south of Rome. Well known for its beautiful seaside harbor setting, it is a fishing port popular with tourists and a departure point for a ferry and hydroplanes to, behind the Gustav Line, so as to bypass it and either draw troops away from the line or make a quick assault on RomeRome ( Italian and Latin Roma is the capital city of Italy, and of its Lazio region. It is located on the lower Tiber river, near the Mediterranean Sea, at 41°50'N, 12°15'E. The Vatican City State, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman.
In January 1944 the Allied forces began to close on the Gustav Line. The new Supreme Commander, Mediterranean Theatre of Operations was Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland WilsonField Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson of Libya ( 5 September 1881 31 December 1964), better known as Jumbo Wilson was a senior British General during World War II. He saw active service in the Boer War and the First World War. In 1939 he b who's Headquarters was designated AFHQ, he replaced the American General Dwight Eisenhower who return to the UK to take command of SHAEF. The armies involved were the US Fifth Army, commanded by General Mark W. Clark, consisting of both US and British units, and the British Eighth Army now commanded by General Oliver Leese as General Bernard Montgomery had also been recalled to Britain to prepare for Normandy. The Fifth Army occupied the left (western) flank and the Eighth Army the right.
Throughout January the U.S. 34th Division of the Fifth Army attempted to establish a bridgehead over the Rapido river in the region of Monte Cassino. Generalfeldmarschall Kesselring reinforced the Gustav Line with the 29th and 90th Panzergrenadier division s (which had been in Rome). Although the Allies managed to cross the Rapido several times, determined counterattacks forced them back each time. They finally succeeded on January 30th, reaching to within a few hundred yards of the monastery walls, but were unable to capture it. On February 12th the exhausted Americans at Monte Cassino were replaced by fresh New Zealand and Indian divisions. These new divisions made further assaults but also suffered heavy casualties and were unable to capture the monastery. Withdrawing these divisions in turn the Allies halted the attacks and spent a month regrouping.
The Allied forces around Anzio came under constant and heavy counterattack by Kesselring, who realised that if he drove the Allies off the beach there he could reinforce the Gustav line. The Allies held their ground, but were unable to advance out of the beachheads. On May 11 the Allies renewed the frontal assault on the Gustav Line, with twelve fresh divisions against the defenders' 6. Progress was made everywhere except around Monte Cassino, and the Free French broke through into the valley of the Austente River. The Germans fell back to their next defensive position, which the Allies rushed to reach before the line could be established. However, General Clark ordered his units to switch their objective to Rome. This ensured its early liberation (on June 5th 1944) and was a major publicity coup, but it allowed Kesselring time to set up his next line of defence, the Gothic Line. Monte Cassino was finally captured on May 18 by the Polish II Corps.
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