DK - World War II Map by Map

Gulf of

Venice

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Lake

Garda

Lake

Como

Po

Arno

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SWITZ s

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LIECHTENSTEIN

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R E A T E R

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E R M A N Y Y U G O S

L A

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Civitavecchia

San

Marino

Villach

Innsbruck

Salzburg

Florence

Pistoia

Ravenna

Imola Lugo

Argenta

Forlì

Modena

San Remo

Bologna

Marzabotto

Brenner

Pass

Bregenz

Kempten

Terni

Fermo

Fano

Pesaro

Rimini

Grosseto

Viterbo

Zürich

Gaeta

Cassino

Terracina

Livorno

Geneva

Ancona

Novara

Mondovì

Pescara

Treviso

Ferrara

Mezzegra

Perugia

Verona

Brescia

Salò

Arezzo

Trieste

Trento

Genoa

Pavia

Venice

Ostiglia

Como

Parma

Piacenza

Alessandria

Vercelli

Vaduz

Rome

Anzio

Udine

Fiume

Bastia

Milan

Turin

Siena

Volterra

Cecina

Pula

Pisa

Carrara

Barga

Sant’Anna

di Stazzema

Piombino

La Spezia

Padua

Rovigo

Argenta

Gap

British 8th Army

Sep 13–24, 1944

Dec 5, 1944

Aug 4,

1944

15th Army

Group

US 5th

Army

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Sep 26, 1944 Italian partisans

operating with US troops

temporarily seize Monte Battaglia,

north of the Gothic Line.

Mar 21, 1945 Allied air

forces launch Operation

Bowler against Axis

shipping in the port

of Venice.

Apr 21, 1945

Polish forces

help secure

Bologna.

Aug 12, 1944 Nazi

troops massacre 560

people in Sant’Anna

di Stazzema village in

an anti-partisan

operation.

Dec 26–28, 1944

Axis forces

temporarily take

control of the hill

town of Barga.

Sep 29–Oct 5, 1944 Some 770

residents of the village of Marzabotto

are massacred by Nazi troops in

reprisals for aiding partisans.

Nov 25, 1944 Brazilian

forces fighting with the

Allies begin a three-

month battle to take

Monte Castello, a

German stronghold in

the northern Apennines.

△ US forces in Bologna

An M24 Chaffee light tank of the US 1st Armored Division

drives along a war-ravaged street near Bologna, after

the city’s liberation by Polish and other Allied forces

on April 21, 1945.

Apr 27, 1945 Allied

forces begin their

occupation of Austria.

THE FATE OF MUSSOLINI

APRIL 25–28, 1945

Following his overthrow, arrest, and subsequent

rescue by German commandos in 1943, Mussolini

had at Hitler’s behest run a puppet regime—

known as the Republic of Salò—in Axis-controlled

northern Italy. Forced to flee by advancing Allied

forces, he headed for Switzerland disguised as a

German soldier, but was captured. He and his

mistress Clara Petacci were executed by partisans.

5

Remaining Republic of Salò territory

by Apr 9, 1945

Base of puppet regime in Salò

Site of Mussolini’s execution, Apr 28, 1945

THE FINAL OFFENSIVE APRIL 9–MAY 2, 1945

On April 9, Allied troops launched a major push in

the east from Ravenna toward Ferrara through

the Argenta Gap. Bologna fell to US and Polish

forces on April 21. Driven north beyond the Po

River, German commanders realized their position

was untenable and sued for peace. On April 29,

they signed a surrender that came into effect three

days later. The long Italian campaign was over.

4

Allied advances, Apr–May 1945

Battle

FINAL STRUGGLES IN ITALY 241

Apr 25, 1945 After years of underground

resistance, Italy’s partisan organization, the

Committee of National Liberation, announces

a general uprising against the Nazi occupation.

US_240-241_Finale_of_war_in_Italy.indd 241 22/03/19 12:14 PM