Wikipedia

Gothic Line order of battle

Gothic Line order of battle is a listing of the significant formations that were involved in Operation Olive, the Allied offensive on the Gothic Line in northern Italy, August–September 1944, and in the subsequent fighting in the central Apennine mountains and on the plains of eastern Emilia–Romagna up to April 1945.

Allied Forces Headquarters Mediterranean

Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean:

General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson (until 12 December 1944)
Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander (from 12 December 1944)

Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean:

Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers (until September 1944)
Lieutenant General Joseph T. McNarney (from September 1944)

Chief of Staff

Lieutenant-General Sir James Gammell (to 12 December 1944)
Lieutenant-General Sir John Harding (from 12 December 1944 to 6 March 1945[1])
Lieutenant-General William Morgan (from 6 March 1945)[1]

Allied Armies in Italy (until 12 December 1944)

Commander-in-chief: General Sir Harold Alexander
Chief of Staff: Lieutenant-General Sir John Harding

Allied 15th Army Group (from 12 December 1944)

Commander: Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark (promoted to full general 10 March 1945)
Chief of Staff: Major General Alfred Gruenther

U.S. Fifth Army

Commander:

Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark (until 16 December 1944)
Lieutenant General Lucian Truscott (from 16 December 1944)
U.S. II Corps
Major General Geoffrey Keyes
U.S. IV Corps
Major General Willis D. Crittenberger

* Order of entry into battle

British XIII Corps (transferred to British Eighth Army in January 1945)
Lieutenant-General Sidney Kirkman (until 25 January 1945)
Lieutenant-General John Harding (from 25 January 1945)
Independent units under Army HQ
  • Brazilian Expeditionary Force (General Mascarenhas de Moraes) (from November 1944)
  • U.S. 92nd Infantry Division (Major-General Edward M. Almond) (from November 1944)

British Eighth Army

Commander:

Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese (until 1 October 1944)
Lieutenant-General Sir Richard L. McCreery (from 1 October 1944)
British V Corps
Lieutenant-General Charles Keightley
British X Corps (until December 1944 and from February 1945)
Lieutenant-General Sir Richard McCreery (until 6 November 1944)
Lieutenant-General John Hawkesworth (from 6 November 1944)
British XIII Corps (transferred from U.S. Fifth Army January 1945)

see listing above under U.S. Fifth Army)

Canadian I Corps (until February 1945)
Lieutenant-General E. L. M. Burns (until 10 November 1944)
Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes (from 10 November 1944)
  • First Canadian Army Group Royal Canadian Artillery
  • Canadian 1st Infantry Division (Major-General Chris Vokes until 1 December 1944 then Major-General H. W. Foster)
    • 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade
    • 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade
    • 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade
  • Canadian 5th Armoured Division (Major-General Bert Hoffmeister)
    • 5th Canadian Armoured Brigade
    • 11th Canadian Infantry Brigade
    • 12th Canadian Infantry Brigade
  • British 7th Armoured Brigade
  • British 21st Tank Brigade
  • British 4th Infantry Division (Major-General Dudley Ward) (from September to October 1944)
  • 2nd New Zealand Division (Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg. Major-General C. E. Weir acting commander 3 September to 17 October 1944) (September to October 1944)
  • 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade (Colonel Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos) (from September to October 1944)
Polish II Corps
Lieutenant-General Władysław Anders
  • Army Group Polish Artillery
  • Polish 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division (Major-General Bolesław Bronisław Duch)
    • 1st Carpathian Rifle Brigade
    • 2nd Carpathian Rifle Brigade
  • Polish 5th Kresowa Infantry Division (Major-General Nikodem Sulik)
    • 5th Wilenska Infantry Brigade
    • 6th Lwowska Infantry Brigade
  • Polish 2nd Armoured Brigade (Brigadier-General Bronislaw Rakowski)
Other Units

German Army Group C

Commander:

Field Marshal Albert Kesselring (until 25 October 1944, from January 1945 until 9 March 1945)
General Heinrich von Vietinghoff (from 25 October 1944 until January 1945 and from 9 March 1945)

Tenth Army

Commander:

General Heinrich von Vietinghoff (until 25 October 1944)
Lieutenant-General Joachim Lemelsen (from 25 October 1944 to 15 February 1945)
Lieutenant-General Traugott Herr (from 15 February 1945)

LXXVI Panzer Corps

Lieutenant-General Traugott Herr (until 26 December 1944)
Lieutenant-General Graff Gerhard von Schwerin (from 26 December 1944 to 25 April 1945)
Major-General Karl von Graffen (from 25 April 1945)
  • 1st Parachute Division (Lieutenant-General Richard Heidrich until 18 November 1944 then Brigadier Karl-Lothar Schulz)
  • 5th Mountain Division (Major-General Max-Günther Schrank to 18 January 1945, then Brigadier-General Hans Steets)
  • 71st Infantry Division (Major-General Wilhelm Raapke) (until December 1944)
  • 162nd Infantry Division (Major-General Ralph von Heygendorff)
  • 278th Infantry Division (Major-General Harry Hoppe)

LI Mountain Corps

Lieutenant-General Valentin Feurstein until March 1945 and then Lieutenant-General Friedrich-Wilhelm Hauck
  • 44th Reichsgrenadier Division Hoch und Deutschmeister (Major-General Hans-Günther von Rost) (until November 1944)
  • 114th Jäger Division (Brigadier-General Hans-Joachim Ehlert to 15 April 1945 then Brigadier-General Martin Strahammer)
  • 232nd Infantry Division (Lieutenant-General Eccard Freiherr von Gablenz)
  • 305th Infantry Division (Lieutenant-General Friedrich-Wilhelm Hauck until Dec 1944 then Brigadier-General Friedrich von Schellwitz)
  • 334th Infantry Division (Major-General Hellmuth Böhlke)
  • 715th Infantry Division (Brigadier-General Hanns von Rohr) (until January 1945)
  • Italian 1st "Italia" Bersaglieri Division (Major-General Mario Carloni)

Fourteenth Army

Commander:
Lieutenant-General Joachim Lemelsen (to 24 October 1944 and from 17 February 1945)
Lieutenant-General Frido von Senger und Etterlin (October 1944)
Lieutenant-General Heinz Ziegler (24 October to 22 November 1944)
Lieutenant-General Traugott Herr (22 November to 12 December 1944)
Lieutenant-General Kurt von Tippelskirch (from 12 December 1944 to 16 February 1945)

I Parachute Corps

Lieutenant-General Alfred Schlemm (to 30 September 1944)
Lieutenant-General Richard Heidrich (from 1 November 1944 to 23 January 1945)
Major-General Hellmuth Böhlke (from 23 January 1945 to 7 February 1945)
Lieutenant-General Richard Heidrich (from 7 February 1945)
  • 4th Parachute Division (Major-General Heinrich Trettner)
  • 356th Infantry Division (Major-General Karl Faulenbach to October 1944)
  • 362nd Infantry Division (Major-General Heinz Greiner)

XIV Panzer Corps

Lieutenant-General Frido von Senger und Etterlin
  • 26th Panzer Division (Major-General Eduard Crasemann to 29 January 1945 then Brigadier-General Alfred Kuhnert to 19 April 1945 then Major-General Viktor Linnarz)
  • 65th Infantry Division (Major-General Hellmuth Pfeifer)
  • 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS (SS-Gruppenführer Max Simon until 24 October 1944 then SS-Brigadeführer Otto Baum)

Army Group Liguria

Commander: General Rodolfo Graziani
  • 42nd Jäger Division (Major-General Walter Jost)
  • 34th Infantry Division (Major-General Theobald Lieb)
  • Italian 3rd "San Marco" Marine Division (Major-General Amilcare Farina)
  • Italian 4th "Monterosa" Mountain Division (Colonel Giorgio Milazzo)

Army Reserve

  • 29th Panzergrenadier Division (Major-General Fritz Polack)
  • 20th Luftwaffe Field Division re-designated 20th Luftwaffe Sturm Division in June 1944 (Brigadier-General Wilhelm Crisolli until 1 June 1944 then Brigadier-General Erich Fronhöfer)

Independent Units

LXXV Corps (Italian–French border)

Lieutenant-General Hans Schlemmer
  • 148th Reserve Division (Major-General Otto Schönherr) (to August 1944)
  • 90th Panzergrenadier Division (Major-General Ernst-Günther Baade to 9 December 1944 then Lieutenant-General Gerhard von Schwerin to 26 December 1944 then Brigadier-General Heinrich Baron von Behr)
  • 157th Mountain Division re-designated 8th Mountain Division in February 1945 (Major-General Paul Schricker)

Adriatic Coast Command

  • 94th Infantry Division (Major-General Bernhard Steinmetz)
  • 188th Mountain Division (Major-General Hans von Hößlin)

Notes

  1. ^ a b Jackson (1988), p. 196.
  2. ^ Jackson (1987), p. 225.

References

  • 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.
  • Houterman, Hans; Koppes, Jeroen. "World War II unit histories and officers". Retrieved 2007-07-23.
  • Jackson, General Sir William & Gleave, Group Captain T.P. (2004) [1st. 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) [1st. 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.
  • "Orders of Battle.com". Archived from the original on 2007-07-17. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
  • "ALLIED ORDER OF BATTLE". Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  • "GERMAN ORDER OF BATTLE". Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  • Montemaggi, Amedeo (2002). LINEA GOTICA 1944. La battaglia di Rimini e lo sbarco in Grecia decisivi per l'Europa sud-orientale e il Mediterraneo. Rimini: Museo dell'Aviazione.
  • Montemaggi, Amedeo (2006). LINEA GOTICA 1944: scontro di civiltà. Rimini: Museo dell'Aviazione.
  • Montemaggi, Amedeo (2008). CLAUSEWITZ SULLA LINEA GOTICA. Imola: Angelini Editore.
  • Montemaggi, Amedeo (2010). ITINERARI DELLA LINEA GOTICA 1944. Guida storico iconografica ai campi di battaglia. Rimini: Museo dell'Aviazione.
  • Orgill, Douglas (1967). The Gothic Line (The Autumn Campaign in Italy 1944). London: Heinemann.
  • Wendell, Marcus. "Axis History Factbook: German army order of battle". Archived from the original on 2006-10-29. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by its online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information, please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.

Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.