Crossing the Po River, April 1945
Po River, April 1945
bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley, © 2024 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 18 Aug 2024.
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​​Operation Grapeshot, known in US Army history as the Po Valley Campaign, was the final WWII Allied campaign in Italy. It officially began on 9 Apr 1945 and combat ended with the German surrender in Italy on 2 May 1945.
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🔗 👁  🖐 Po Valley:   April 1945 Beakthrough   Advance to the Po   Beyond the Po
Almost done as of 18 August 2024

About this Webarea

On-line documentation for Operation Grapeshot is sketchy and the official US Army history even contains some errors. Thus I am providing a fuller summary than usual herein.

Background - Northern Italy

Northern Italy
Northern Italy
The core of northern Italy is a large plains area, which lives between the Northern Apennine Mountains to the south and the ranges of the Italian Alps to the north and west.
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Most of this plains area lies within the Po River drainage. The Po, by far the largest river in Italy, flows in a generally eastward direction into the Adriatic Sea between Venice and Ravenna.
Major Itallian Rivers
Major Italian Rivers
Axis forces had prepared defense lines along the Po and Adige Rivers. Neither line held up the Allied advance during Operation Grapeshot.

Operation Grapeshot - The Military Context

The Allied advance northward in Italy stalled, in October 1944 for the US Fifth Army and then in December for the British Eighth Army. Operations were shut down due to stiff German resistance, mud, and general exhaustion. In early April 1945 the Allied front lines had remained nearly unchanged for three months for the Eighth Army and five months for the Fifth Army.
  • Major components of the US Fifth Army were near the northern edge of the Northern Apennines, in places almost within sight of Bologna
  • The British Eighth Army lay on the Romagna Plains in the Faenza and Ravenna areas, blocked by the Senio River and, near the Adriatic, the lower Reno River.​
Picture
Shown in blue, the winter 1944–45 line in northern Italy (The line changed little before April, although the Allied units did change considerably.)
Scalable Version
The Front Line, 1 April 1945
The Front Line, 1 April 1945 (the dashed line)
Full Scalable Version
At the beginning of April 1945:
  • Allied forces were now rested and had robust logistical support. However, some Allied combat units had been withdrawn from the 15th Army Group and sent to the ETO and to Greece. Seventeen divisions remained, along with a number of smaller combat units, most of which are not listed below.
  • Axis logistical support was failing, due to demands on other fronts and the impact of Allied air power on lines of communication.

Operation Grapeshot - The Allied Plan

Operation Grapeshot called for a series of coordinated attacks. (See the preceding map.)
  • First the British Eighth Army would attack northwest from the area between Faenza and Ravenna.
  • Then the US Fifth Army would attack north along and west of the highways which enter Bologna from a southerly direction.
  • Once the Allies broke through the German defenses shown as the Genghis Khan Line, they would encircle remaining Axis front-line troops, advance to the Po River, and continue onward.
  • British Eighth Army's advance units would dash for Trieste in extreme northeastern Italy.
  • US Fifth Army would seal off Alpine passes, thus preventing German retreat into the Alps.
Po Valley Campaign as of 20 April 1945
The Po Valley Campaign as of 20 April 1945
Full Scalable Version
Unlike most military operations of such a large scope, Operation Grapeshot was generally implemented according to plan.
👁 Po Valley:   April 1945 Beakthrough   Advance to the Po   Beyond the Po

              ██  Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - WWII Germany > The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley  ██ ​​​02-02 - WWII Germany> The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley: (seven dead, updated 4 Oct 2023)
† Dryer, Arthur L., SN 37-112-204, US Army, Page Co. & Howell Co., MO (WWII-DryerArthurL)
  • 755th Tank Bn., Fifth Army; KIA 13 Apr 1945 near Argenta, Provincia di Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna; The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley.
  • Note: I haven't found any record of  of US troops in the Argenta area.
† ​Erickson, Gordon Dale, SN 37-698-140, US Army, Audubon Co.
  • Co. E, 87th Mtn. Inf. Regt., 10th Mtn. Div., IV Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 20 Apr 1945 Mt. Avezzano, Italy W of Bologna; hit by machine gun fire while crossing from the west to north slope of Mt. Avezzano; The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley.
† Hildebrand, Gilbert Dean, SN 37-126-329, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • Troop E, 81st Cavalry Recon. Sqdn., 1st Armored Div., IV Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 25 Apr 1945, Colorno, NE of Parma & south of the Po, Emilia-Romagna, Italy; The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley.
† Lewis, Harold Joseph, SN 37-698-156, US Army, Audubon Co.
  • Co. E, 85th Mountain Inf. Regt., 10th Inf. Div., IV Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 15 Apr 1945 near Castel d’Aiano, 25 miles SW of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy; The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley.
  • Notes: Killed during the Fifth Army breakout from the northern Apennine Mountains into the Po River Valley; Bob Dole, later senator from Kansas and also from the 85th Inf. Regt., was seriously wounded the previous day.
† Kyhnn, George Russell, SN 37-698-181, US Army, Audubon & Marshall Cos.
  • Co. B, 473rd Inf. Regt., 92nd Inf. Div., IV Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 13 Apr 1945 Hill 366, near Carrara, Tuscany, Italy; Operation Second Wind - The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley.
† Moore, Walter Arthur, SN 37-467-084, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • Co. A, 14th Armored Inf. Bn., 1st Armored Div., IV Corps, Fifth Army; WIA & DOW 25 Apr 1945 near Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, shrapnel; The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley.
† Shaffer, Leo Ellison, SN 37-446-441, US Army, Harrison Co.
  • Co. E, 363rd Inf. Regt., 91st Inf. Div., II Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 17 Apr 1945 S of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy; The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley.

                                                    ██   Allied Order of Battle - The Po Valley   ██
                                                                
I am attempting to show both the Allied order of battle at the beginning of the campaign, and major changes as the campaign progressed.
​◼ ​US Fifth Army (Truscott)
Under direct US Fifth Army control:
  • US ​92nd Infantry Division (Almond); from US IV Corps 3 April 1945; advanced up the Italian west coast; east of Turin in northwest Italy 2 May 1945
  • US 85th Infantry Division (Coulter); to US IV Corps 17 April 1945
later additions to direct US Fifth Army control:
  • US 10th Mountain Division (Hays); from US IV Corps 28 April 1945; near Lake Garda are in north Italy 2 May 1945
⏶ US IV Corps (Crittenberger); on Fifth Army left wing
  • Brazilian Expeditionary Force (de Morais/Mascarenhas);  at Susa west of Turin in northwest Italy 2 May 1945
  • US 10th Mountain Division (Hays); to US Fifth Army 28 April 1945
  • US First Armored Division (Prichard); north and east of Milan 2 May 1945
later additions to US IV Corps:
  • US 85th Infantry Division (Coulter); from US Fifth Army to IV Corps right flank 17 April 1945; to US II Corps 30 April 1945
  • US 34th Infantry Division (Bolte); from US IV Corps near Modena 23 April 1945; near Brescia 2 May 1945
​⏶ US ​II Corps (Keyes); on Fifth Army right wing
  • South African 6th Armoured Division (Poole); near Treviso and transferred to US Fifth Army 30 April 1945; en route to garrison duties in Milan 2 May 1945
  • US 88th Infantry Division (Kendall); in the Dolomite Mountains in northeast Italy 2 May 1945
  • US 91st Infantry Division (Livesay); attached to British Eighth Army 1 May 1945; near Treviso north of Venice 2 May 1945
  • US 34th Infantry Division (Bolte); to US IV Corps 23 April 1945
later additions to US II Corps:
  • US 85th Infantry Division (Coulter); from US IV Corps 30 April 1945; near the Piave River in northeast Italy 2 May 1945. 
​◼ British Eighth Army (McCreery)
Under direct British Eighth Army control:
  • British 6th Armoured Division (Murray), served with British V Corps
  • British 46th Infantry Division (Weir); returned to Italy from Greece 11 April 1945; to British V Corps 5 May 1945
​⏶ British XIII Corps Harding) (inactive as beginning of campaign)
  • 10th Indian Infantry Division (Reid)
​⏶ British XIII Corps (Harding) (during the campaign); about 14 April 1945, XIII Corps was inserted between Polish II Corps and British V Corps; (British X Corps, now in reserve, took over some rear area duties)
  • 10th Indian Infantry Division (Reid); squeezed out  ? April; in Minerbio area northeast of Bologna 2 May 1945
  • British 6th Armoured Division (Murray); from British V Corps 23 April 1945; in Dolomite foothills 2 May 1945
  • 2nd New Zealand Division (Freyberg); from British V Corps 14 April 1945, reached Trieste 2 May 1945
​⏶ British X Corps (Hawkesworth); placed in reserve at unknown date; disbanded June 1945
  • initially no division-sized components
  • 10th Indian Infantry Division (Reid); from British XIII Corps late April 1945; in Minerbio northeast of Bologna 2 May 1945
​⏶ Polish II Corps (Anders); withdrawn from combat 22 April 1945 after capture of Bologna
  • 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division (Duch)
  • 5th Kresowa Infantry Division (Kulik)
​⏶ ​British V Corps (Keightley)
  • 2nd New Zealand Division (Freyberg); to British XIII Corps 14 April 1945
  • British 78th Infantry Division (Arbuthnott); in reserve until 12 April 1945
  • 8th Indian Infantry Division (Russell); near the Adige 2 May 1945
  • Italian Cremona Battle Group
  • British 56th Infantry Division (Whitfield); in Venice area 2 May 1945
V Corps reserve:
​V Corps additions after the Po Valley Campaign began:
  • British 6th Armoured Division (Murray); on left wing of British 78th Infantry Division 19 April 1945; to British XIII Corps 23 April 1945
  • British 46th Infantry Division (Weir); from direct British Eighth Army control 5 May 1945

              ██  Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The MTO > Italy > The Po Valley webpage  ██ General Sources for this webpage (CMH = US Army Center for Military History)
  • Po Valley: 5 April-8 May 1945, by Thomas Popa, 26 pp. [CMH #72-33]
  • Cassino to the Alps, by Ernest F. Fisher Jr., 1989, 584 pp. [CMH #6-4] (RAC: There appear to be several errors in the latter chapters.)
  • The Final Campaign across Northwest Italy, 14 April–2 May 1945, Headquarters, IV Corps U.S. Army Italy, 1945, 119 pp. with following maps, https://mtmestas.com/pdfs/finalcampaign.pdf
  • http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/operation_grapeshot_spring_offensive.html
  • http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/operation_buckland_argenta.html
  • http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/operation_craftsman_bologna.html
Other Sources:​

Additional Photos