Spring 1945 offensive in Italy

Operation Grapeshot
Part of the Italian Campaign of the Second World War

British troops of the 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, part of 11th Brigade of 78th Division, pick their way through the ruins of Argenta, 18 April 1945.
Date6 April 1945 – 2 May 1945
Location
Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Piedmont, Lombardy and the Veneto regions, Northern Italy
Result

Allied victory

Belligerents

 United Kingdom

 United States
 Poland
Kingdom of Italy Italy
Vargas Era Brazil
 New Zealand
 South Africa
CLNAI		  Germany
 Italian Social Republic
Commanders and leaders
United Kingdom Harold Alexander
United States Mark Clark
United States Lucian Truscott
United Kingdom Richard McCreery		 Nazi Germany H. von Vietinghoff Surrendered
Nazi Germany Traugott Herr  Surrendered
Nazi Germany J. Lemelsen  Surrendered
Italian Social Republic Benito Mussolini Executed
Italian Social Republic Rodolfo Graziani Surrendered
Units involved

United Kingdom 15th Army Group

Nazi Germany Army Group C

Strength
Total: 1,333,856[2][nb 1]
5th Army:
266,883 fighting strength[2]
Eighth Army:
632,980 fighting strength[3]

Total: 585,000[4]

  • 394,000 fighting strength[4]
  • 100,000 local police units[4]
  • 91,000 lines of communication and AA troops[4]
Casualties and losses
16,258 casualties[nb 2]
incl. 2,860 killed [5]		 30–32,000 casualties[nb 3]

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.[6] The attack in the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 April 1945 and ended on 2 May with the surrender of all Axis forces in Italy.

  1. ^ "Royal Artillery". www.heritage.nf.ca. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b Jackson, p. 230.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jackson223 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d Jackson, p. 236.
  5. ^ a b c Jackson, p. 334
  6. ^ Jackson, p. 253


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