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 Axis forces in Italy .
Map of Allied offensive in Po Valley
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) [lower-alpha 1]
Major General Edward M. Almond
Infantry: 370th (Colored) , 442nd (Nisei ) ,[lower-alpha 2] [lower-alpha 3] 473rd [lower-alpha 4] 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[lower-alpha 5]
371st Infantry Regiment[lower-alpha 6]
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"
11th Field Artillery Regiment
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
Gen. Heinrich von Vietinghoff
Detached from 92nd Infantry Division
Detached from 92nd Infantry Division
Executed by US for war crimes
Executed by Yugoslavia for war crimes
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.