DK - World War II Map by Map

FROM ANZIO TO THE GOTHIC LINE 167

Massa

Pisa

Livorno

Florence

Siena

Piombino

Arezzo

Perugia

Terni

Viterbo

Chiusi

Orvieto

Rome

Albano

Cisternadi Latina

Anzio

Gaeta

Monte Cassino

Pico

Terracina

Pescara

Ortona

Vasto

Ancona

Pesaro

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German Army

Group C

German 10th Army

15th Army Group

US 5th Army

Jan 24–Feb 12, 1944Feb 16–18, 1944Mar 15–23, 1944May 11–18, 1944

Jan 22–

May 24, 1944

British 8th Army

British

5th Corps

Canadian1st Corps

Polish

2nd CorpsBritish

13th Corps

British 10th Corps

French Expeditionary

Corps (FEC)

US 2ndCorps

US 6th Corps

German 14th ArmyGerman 14th Army

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Jun 14
As British forces
approach Orvieto, the Germans offer to make the city open, and so are allowed to pull back.
Jan 20–22
US 5th Army
suffers heavy casualties trying to cross the flooded Rapido River under German fire.
Jun 21–28
In the Lake
Trasimene region, the Allies drive back German units fighting a delaying action.
Jun 16–Jul 18 Polish troops capture the port of Ancona after a month-long battle.
Jun 24
Italian partisans
ambush German units on their way to the front at Arezzo, leading to savage German reprisals in the area.
Air strikes
Battles at Monte Cassino
THE ALLIES PUSH NORTH
JUNE 5–JULY 23, 1944The 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 13th Corps of the 8th
Army pushed along the Adriatic coast from around Pescara and through the eastern part of the Trasimene Line toward Ancona, while the
5th Army moved along the west coast. Inland, the FEC liberated Siena on July 4 and Pisa on July 23.
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Allied advanceAllied-held territory by Jul 23
Battles
PURSUIT TO THE ARNO JULY 23–AUGUST 11, 1944As the Allied armies neared Florence, the German
troops retreated to the north bank of the Arno River.
On August 4, the British 8th Army entered the south of the city; the Germans blew up every bridge except the Ponte Vecchio, which they blocked with rubble. On August 10–11, the German forces headed to the Gothic Line, where Kesselring was adding divisions from elsewhere, including the Eastern Front. He created a new strongpoint to delay Allied progress toward southern Germany.
6
German retreat toward Gothic Line
3
Allied advances
FEC advance
LIBERATION OF ROME
MAY 26–JUNE 5, 1944
The Allies reached Albano on May 26 and, with
the 8th Army advancing from the Liri Valley, hoped to capture the retreating German 10th Army as it moved north. However, the opportunity was lost, in part because General Mark Clark chose instead to lead the US 5th Army into Rome, which it liberated on June 4–5. The German 10th Army escaped to join the 14th Army’s units in a retreat toward the Gothic Line.
4
Allied advanceGerman 10th Army retreat
Allied-held territory
by Jun 5
COSTLY CASSINO
JANUARY 24–MAY 18, 1944The Allies mounted four bloody battles from January to May 1944 in an attempt to seize Monte Cassino. Their aerial bombardments and ground assaults failed on the first three occasions. Finally, on May 11–12, Polish forces and the French Expeditionary Corps (FEC), many of whom were North Africans, used mountain warfare skills to infiltrate and outflank the German lines. Their defense broken, the Germans retreated.BREAKOUT FROM THE LIRI VALLEY
MAY 22–25, 1944With the obstacle at Cassino cleared, the 15th Army Group pushed north on a broad front; the US 5th Army (2nd Corps) took Gaeta on May 19 and by May 22 had reached Terracina, and the FEC captured Pico. By May 25, elements of the US 5th Army had linked up with a reinforced 6th Corps, which had broken out from the Anzio beachhead, and advanced to Cisterna di Latina.
Jun 4–5 Rome is liberated.
US_166-167_From_Anzio_to_the_Gothic_Line.indd 167 22/03/19 11:48 AM