The Gothic Line

Today we visited some of the country side, travelling in valleys, and into the mountains. We reached a summit called the Gothic Line, later called the "green Line" by Adolph Hilter.

The principal combatants at Torricella in the period 14-22 September 1944 were the American 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th 'Red Bull' Infantry Division and the German 754th Grenadier Regiment, 334th 'Phalange Aphricaine' (African Phalanx) Infanterie Divisio.
"A reflection while still 100 meters below the top: "Now I can appreciate why it took the 1st Battalion five days to capture this bloody hill three times."

Gothic Line

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This article is about the fighting on the Gothic Line between August and the end of 1944, variously known as Operation Olive or the Battle of Rimini. For the fighting to capture the town of Rimini in September 1944, see Battle of Rimini (1944).

Gothic Line Offensive
Part of World War II, Italian Campaign
German defensive positions in Northern Italy, 1944
Date 25 August – 17 December 1944 Location Emilia-Romagna region, northern Italy Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
United Kingdom United States India Canada Poland New Zealand South Africa Brazil Italy/Italian Resistance Greece	Germany Italian Social Republic
Commanders and leaders
Harold Alexander Mark Clark Oliver Leese (until September 1944) Richard McCreery (from September 1944)	Albert Kesselring Heinrich von Vietinghoff Joachim Lemelsen Rodolfo Graziani Alfredo Guzzoni
Strength
U.S. 5th Army British 8th Army	German 10th Army German 14th Army Army Group Liguria
Casualties and losses
40,000[1]

[show] v t e Italian Campaign Invasion of Sicily Gela Invasion of Italy Armistice with Italy Four days of Naples Vatican Bombing Volturno Line Barbara Line Bari Raid Bernhardt Line Moro Ortona Monte Cassino Anzio Trasimene Line Ancona Gothic Line Battle of Garfagnana Spring offensive 1945 Argenta Gap

370th Infantry Regiment walking toward the mountains at north of Montignoso – April 1945

The Gothic Line (German: Gotenstellung; Italian: Linea Gotica) formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's last major line of defence in the final stages of World War II along the summits of the Apennines during the fighting retreat of German forces in Italy against the Allied Armies in Italy commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander.
Adolf Hitler had concerns about the state of preparation of the Gothic Line: He feared the Allies would use amphibious landings to out-flank its defenses. So, 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 the "Green Line" (Grüne Linie) in June 1944.
The Gothic Line was breached on both the Adriatic and the central Apennine fronts during Operation Olive (also sometimes known as the Battle of Rimini) during the autumn of 1944, but Kesselring's forces were consistently able to retire in good order, and no decisive breakthrough was achieved. This did not take place until the renewed offensive in the spring of 1945.
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 the British 8th Army and U.S. 5th Army against the German 10th Army (10. Armee) and German 14th Army (14. Armee). Rimini, a city which had been hit previously by air raids, had 1,470,000 rounds fired against it by allied land forces. According to Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese, commander of the 8th Army:

“

The battle of Rimini was one of the hardest battles of Eighth Army. The fighting was comparable to El Alamein, Mareth and the Gustav Line (Monte-Cassino).

”