The Campaigns of Alexander of Tunis 1940-1945 by Adrian Stewart

Author:Adrian Stewart
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781783460595
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2013-06-01T07:00:00+00:00

Notes:

1

Operation GIANT had been the code word given to the Division’s original mission to seize the Volturno River bridges.

2

The Division’s third regiment was dropped behind the German lines at this time, in an attempt to disrupt their communications, but it was widely scattered and had little, if any, effect.

Chapter 7

Deadlock

Since he had taken over the post of Commander-in-Chief, Middle East in August 1942, the men under Alexander’s leadership had steadily occupied more and more enemy or enemy controlled territory: the western part of Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Tunisia, Sicily, southern Italy. Now everything changed. Now gains were limited to a few miles at best, often only a few hundred yards. Across the narrowest part of Italy, from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean, the crooked curve of the Gustav Line barred the Allied advance on Rome.

Construction of this had begun in the autumn of 1943 and from November onwards had been the personal concern of Hitler. Based on natural features such as mountains or rivers, it consisted of a series of dugouts and pillboxes, protected by steel and concrete, linked by trenches and frequently by underground passages. Nor did these form only a single ‘line’; instead there were a whole number of such connected positions, one behind the other, the rear ones cleverly sited so as to enable counter-attacks to be made on any advanced posts that had been lost. Existing buildings were strengthened and incorporated into the defences if possible, so that many mountain villages became formidable fortifications in their own right. Equally, any buildings which blocked fields of fire were ruthlessly removed. The approaches to the front line were liberally covered with barbed wire and, as always, a profusion of anti-personnel mines and booby traps could be counted upon to take a hideous toll of any number of attackers.

On the Adriatic coast, the outlying parts of the line had fallen to the Eighth Army’s advance over the Sangro and Moro Rivers, but new defences had been established beyond the ground gained, while positions such as Orsogna which Eighth Army had failed to capture, were strengthened still further. Beyond Orsogna, the Gustav Line ran south-westward through the Abruzzi region, past Monte Amaro, at 9,170 feet one of the highest peaks of the Apennines, to Monte Cairo, 5,500 feet, and its outlying spur Monte Cassino, 1,700 feet. Here, where the mountains ended suddenly and dramatically, the Gustav Line had to be sited on low ground, the valley of the Liri River, but on the southern edge of this, a smaller but still difficult range, the Aurunci Mountains, provided natural strength to the last stretch of the defences leading down to the Mediterranean.

It was in this area that the two most likely lines of advance on Rome were to be found, both of them dating from a time when that city was mistress of most of the then known world: Route 7, the famous Via Appia, followed the coast, but it was hemmed in by the Aurunci range; and Route 6, the Via Casilina, seemed a better prospect.

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