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Map of Allied offensive in Po Valley
The
Spring 1945 offensive in Italy , codenamed
Operation Grapeshot , was the final
Allied attack during the
Italian Campaign in the final stages of the
Second World War .
[1] The attack into the
Lombard Plain by the Allied
15th Army Group started on 6 April 1945 and ended on 2 May with the
surrender of German forces in Italy .
Allied Forces Headquarters Mediterranean
Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander
Mark Wayne Clark as a lieutenant general
Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theatre
Field Marshal
Sir Harold Alexander
Deputy : Lieutenant General
Joseph T. McNarney
Chief of Staff : Lieutenant-General
William Morgan
[2]
Air Commander-in Chief
Mediterranean Allied Air Forces : Lieutenant General
John K. Cannon
Allied 15th Army Group
General
Mark Wayne Clark
Chief of Staff: Major General
Alfred M. Gruenther
US Fifth Army
Lt. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott
Lieutenant General
Lucian K. Truscott
Army troops
85th Infantry "Custer" Division
Major General
John B. Coulter
Infantry: 337th, 338th, 339th Infantry Regiments
Artillery–105mm: 328th, 329th, 910th Field Artillery Battalions
Artillery–155mm: 403rd Field Artillery Battalion
92nd Infantry "Buffalo Soldiers" Division (Colored)
[a]
Major General
Edward M. Almond
Infantry:
370th (Colored) ,
442nd (Nisei ) ,
[b]
[c]
473rd
[d] Infantry Regiments
Artillery–105mm: 597th, 598th, 599th, 600th Field Artillery Battalions (all Colored)
Armor–Tank: 758th Light Tank Battalion, 760th Tank Battalion (less two companies)
Armor–TD: 679th, 894th Tank Destroyer Battalion (less two companies)
Corps deployed west to east:
IV Corps
Lieutenant General
Willis D. Crittenberger
Corps troops
365th Infantry Regiment
[e]
371st Infantry Regiment
[f]
751st Tank Battalion (plus one company 760th Tank Battalion)
701st Tank Destroyer Battalion (plus elements 894th Tank Destroyer Battalion)
1st Armored Division
Major General
Vernon Prichard
Armor: 1st,
4th , 13th Tank Battalions
Infantry: 6th, 11th, 14th Armored Infantry Battalions
Artillery: 27th, 68th, 91st Armored Field Artillery Battalions
10th Mountain Division
Major General
George Price Hays
Infantry:
85th ,
86th ,
87th Infantry Regiments
Artillery: 604th, 605th, 616th Field Artillery Battalions
Armor: 10th Mountain Antitank Battalion
Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB)
General
Mascarenhas de Morais
1st Brazilian Infantry Regiment
6th Brazilian Infantry Regiment
11th Brazilian Infantry Regiment
Mountain Infantry Battalion
II Corps
Major General
Geoffrey Keyes
Corps troops
Combat Group "Legnano" (
Italian Co-Belligerent Army )
68th Infantry Regiment "Legnano"
Special Infantry Regiment "Legnano"
752nd, 757th Tank Battalions
804th, 805th Tank Destroyer Battalions
34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division
Major General
Charles L. Bolté
Deputy: Brig. Gen. Harry B. Sherman
Infantry:
133rd ,
135th ,
168th Infantry Regiments
Artillery–105mm: 125th, 151st, 175th Field Artillery Battalions
Artillery–155mm: 185th Field Artillery Battalion
88th Infantry "Cloverleaf" Division
Major General
Paul W. Kendall
Deputy: Brig. Gen.
James C. Fry
Infantry:
349th , 350th,
351st Infantry Regiments
Artillery–105mm: 337th, 338th, 913th Field Artillery Battalions
Artillery–155mm: 339th Field Artillery Battalion
91st Infantry "Wild West" Division
Major General William G. Livesay
Deputy: Brig. Gen.
Raymond E. S. Williamson
Infantry: 361st, 362nd, 363rd Infantry Regiments
Artillery–105mm: 346th, 347th, 916th Field Artillery Battalions
Artillery–155mm: 348th Field Artillery Battalion
6th South African Armoured Division
Major-General
Evered Poole
11th South African Armoured Brigade
12th South African Motorised Brigade
13th South African Motorised Brigade
British Eighth Army
Lieutenant-General Sir
Richard McCreery
Lt-Gen Sir Richard McCreery
Army troops
7th Hussars (amphibious tanks)
12th Lancers (armoured cars)
16th Army Group Royal Engineers
20th Army Group Royal Engineers
22nd Army Group Royal Engineers
Army Reserve
6th Armoured Division
Major-General
Horatius Murray
26th Armoured Brigade
1st Guards Brigade
61st Infantry Brigade
25th Armoured Engineer Brigade (less detachments with assault divisions)
2nd Parachute Brigade
Axis forces in Italy
Gen. Heinrich von Vietinghoff
Army Group C
Generaloberst
Heinrich von Vietinghoff (to 29 April)
General der Infanterie
Friedrich Schulz (from 29 April to 2 May)
Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff (from 2 May)
West: Army Group Liguria
Marshal
Rodolfo Graziani
Corps Lombardia
Lieutenant-General
Kurt Jahn
3rd Marine Infantry Division "San Marco" (Major-General Amilcare Farina)
Battle Group Meinhold
Fortress Brigade 135
Elements of the
4th Alpine Division "Monterosa"
LXXV Corps
General der Gebirgstruppe
Hans Schlemmer
2nd Grenadier Division "Littorio" (Major-General
Tito Agosti )
4th Alpine Division "Monterosa" (bulk of) (Colonel Giorgio Milazzo)
5th Mountain Division (Generalmajor
Hans Steets )
34th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant
Theobald Lieb )
Center: Fourteenth Army
GnlLt Joachim Lemelsen
Generalleutnant
Joachim Lemelsen
XIV Panzer Corps
Generalleutnant
Frido von Senger und Etterlin
8th Mountain Division (Major-General
Paul Schricker )
65th Infantry Division (Major-General
Hellmuth Pfeifer )
94th Infantry Division (Major-General Bernhard Steinmetz)
LI Mountain Corps
Generalleutnant
Valentin Feurstein until March 1945 and then Lieutenant-General
Friedrich-Wilhelm Hauck
1st Bersaglieri Division "Italia" (Major-General
Mario Carloni )
114th Jäger Division (Brigadier-General
Hans-Joachim Ehlert to 15 April 1945 then Brigadier-General
Martin Strahammer )
148th Reserve Division (Major-General
Otto Fretter-Pico )
232nd Infantry Division (Major-General
Eccard Freiherr von Gablenz )
334th Infantry Division (Major-General
Hellmuth Böhlke )
East: Tenth Army
GnlLt Traugott Herr
Generalleutnant
Traugott Herr
LXXVI Panzer Corps
Lieutenant-General
Gerhard Graf von Schwerin (to 25 April 1945)
Major-General
Karl von Graffen (from 25 April 1945)
42nd Jäger Division (Major-General
Walter Jost )
98th Infantry Division (Major-General
Alfred-Hermann Reinhardt to 11 April 1945 then Brigadier-General Otto Schiel)
162nd Turkoman Division (Major-General
Ralph von Heygendorff )
362nd Infantry Division (Brigadier-General
Alois Weber )
I Parachute Corps
Lieutenant-General
Richard Heidrich
1st Parachute Division (Brigadier-General
Karl-Lothar Schulz )
4th Parachute Division (Major-General
Heinrich Trettner )
26th Panzer Division (Brigadier-General
Alfred Kuhnert to 19 April 1945 then Major-General
Viktor Linnarz )
278th Infantry Division (Major-General
Harry Hoppe )
including the 1st Italian Assault Company "Forlì" (
Pier Vittorio Riccardi )
305th Infantry Division (Major-General
Friedrich von Schellwitz )
LXXIII Corps
Lieutenant-General
Anton Dostler
[g]
Minor units watching the coast between the
Po and Venice
LXXXXVII Corps (transferred to
Army Group E in Yugoslavia on 10 April)
General of the Mountain Troops
Ludwig Kübler
[h]
188th Mountain Division (Major-General
Hans von Hößlin )
237th Infantry Division (Major-General
Hans von Grävenitz until late April then Colonel
Karl Falkner )
Army Reserve
29th Panzergrenadier Division (Major-General
Fritz Polack )
155th Infantry Division (Brigadier-General
Georg Zwade )
Army Group Reserve
90th Panzergrenadier Division (Brigadier-General
Heinrich Baron von Behr )
Notes
^ I.e., all black
^ Japanese-American
^ Attached 30 Mar 1945
^ Attached 24 Feb 1945
^ Detached from 92nd Infantry Division
^ Detached from 92nd Infantry Division
^ Executed by US for war crimes
^ Executed by Yugoslavia for war crimes
References
^ Jackson, p. 253
^ Jackson (1988), p. 196.
Sources
Print
Blaxland, Gregory (1979). Alexander's Generals (the Italian Campaign 1944-1945) . London: William Kimber & Co.
ISBN
0-7183-0386-5 .
Carver, Field Marshal Lord (2001). The Imperial War Museum Book of the War in Italy 1943-1945 . London: Sidgwick & Jackson.
ISBN
0-330-48230-0 .
Jackson, General Sir William & Gleave, Group Captain T.P. (2004) [First. pub.
HMSO :1987].
Butler, Sir James (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume VI: Victory in the Mediterranean, Part 2 - June to October 1944 . History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press.
ISBN
1-84574-071-8 .
Jackson, General Sir William & Gleave, Group Captain T.P. (2004) [First. pub.
HMSO :1988].
Butler, Sir James (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume VI: Victory in the Mediterranean, Part 3 - November 1944 to May 1945 . History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press.
ISBN
1-84574-072-6 .
Kay, Robin (1967).
"Appendix VII — Fifteenth Army Group — Order of Battle as at 9 April 1945" .
Italy Volume II : From Cassino to Trieste . The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945. Wellington, New Zealand: Historical Publications Branch.
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