9. The Gothic Line, North Apennines, Italy, September 1944 – April 1945
After the capture of Rome the American and British Armies continued to slug their way up the Italian boot, fighting primarily German troops, who withdrew from one line of prepared fortifications to another. The defensive line known as the Gothic Line (which German commander Kesselring renamed the Green Line) consisted of a line ten miles deep of fortifications, pillboxes, machine gun nests, tank traps, and artillery positions. It ran from La Spezia through the Apennines Mountains (themselves a formidable barrier) to the Adriatic. In September 1944 American troops attacked its western flank while British troops separately attacked on the Adriatic side. At the same time Italian partisans, supported by OSS and SOE agents, harassed the Germans behind the Gothic line’s defenses. It quickly became clear to the Americans that the line would not be breached before the onset of winter.
The Americans advanced through the Italian country to reach the main section of the Gothic Line by the end of September, by the end of the first week of October it was clear that heavy fighting and the terrain itself ensured heavy casualties would be the result of any advance. General Mark Clark continued to push his 5th Army forward. In mid-October the Americans prepared for an assault to capture the city of Bologna. The fighting remained heavy and forward progress was slow. By December the Americans had still not managed to dislodge the Germans from their defensive positions. The fighting in the Apennines cost the Americans 8,486 dead, fighting to penetrate what Churchill had once called the “soft underbelly” of the Axis.