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bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany  > The MTO > After Rome > North Apennines, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 14 Jun 2025

During the fall of 1944 and the following winter, German defenses in northern Italy bent but did not break.
The Fall  1944 Allied Advances Through and Beyond the Gothic Line
 As the accompanying map shows, the Allies penetrated the Gothic line in the Fall of 1944 but lacked the strength to achieve a breakout into the Po Valley.
  • In the east, the Canadian Corps spearheaded much of the British Eighth Army drive up the Adriatic coast. This offensive eventually stalled due to German river defenses and heavy fall rains.
  • In the center north of Florence, II Corps of the US Fifth Army penetrated the Gothic Line but eventually stalled in front of the northernmost German positions in the Apennines.
Combat subsided during the winter as the Allies replenished and waited for the final spring offensive.
The Gothic Line, August 1944
The Gothic Line, August 1944
Fall 1944 Advances on the Gothic Line
Northern Italy, Fall 1944
During this period, Allied combat units continued to be removed from Italy:​
  • The Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) fought in Italy from June to September 1944 before transferring to northeastern France. It returned to Italy in March 1945.
  • In the early fall, as the German army withdrew from Greece, British units were sent from Italy to Greece to curtail civil war and ward off Russian influence.
  • Finally in February 1945, the Eighth Army's Canadian Corps was sent to northwestern Europe to join the Canadian First Army.
Throughout the battles in the Northern Apennines, the US Fifth Army controlled two corps:
  • IV Corps on the left flank.
  • II Corps, which did most of the heavy lifting.
Within these corps were Fifth Army's veteran 1st Armored Division and 34th, 85th, 88th and 91st Infantry Division.

From 17 August 1944 to 18 January 1945, British XIII Corps was assigned as Fifth Army's right flank. 

Additions to the US Fifth Army during this period included:​​
  • The South African 6th Armoured Division - beginning 22 August 1944.
  • The African-American 92nd Infantry Division - elements went into line beginning 23 August 1944.
  • The 10th Mountain Division - elements went into line 8 January 1945.
  • The 1st Brazilian Division - elements went into line September 1944.

                                         ██   Allied Order of Battle - Northern Apennines   ██
    ██  Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The MTO > After Rome > Northern Apennines webpage  ██
General Sources (CMH = US Army Center for Military History, these sources generally contain good maps): Other Sources (C/O = Courtesy of):​​