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JEEP PASSING A TRAFFIC CONTROL POINT in the northern Apennines. Rigid supervision of transportation over the crowded mountain roads was necessary if proper supply was to be made, tactical movements carried out, and vehicles conserved. To accomplish this, traffic control points were set up. Road movement approval was required for all convoys of ten or more vehicles. The traffic posts also served as a check on unnecessary or unauthorized use of military vehicles. Military police operated “chain points” where vehicles going into the mountains were stopped and beyond which the use of chains was mandatory.

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RESTACKING HOWITZER AMMUNITION. German air activity by this time was so slight that dumps a few miles behind the front were not camouflaged. (Ammunition for 155-mm. howitzer.)

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SIGNAL CORPS MEN checking wires outside the telephone exchange in a cave at Livergnano.

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MAN CARRYING HOWITZER AMMUNITION to a battery high in the hills. These men were members of a division especially trained for mountain fighting. On 18 February 1945 this division, together with the Brazilian division under Fifth Army command, started an assault on German positions in the Monte Belvedere area west of Highway 64. The Monte Belvedere area dominated about ten miles of this highway. After severe fighting that lasted until 5 March 1945, the mountain mass was in Allied hands. (Ammunition for 75-mm. howitzer.)

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REINFORCEMENTS MOVE UP toward the fighting in the Monte Belvedere area. The men are equipped with M1 rifles and carbines, special shoes, and rucksack type pack.

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EVACUATING WOUNDED FROM MONTE BELVEDERE. As vehicles could not negotiate the mountain trails, stretcher bearers had to carry the wounded. Casualties from mines were numerous as the enemy had been in position on this dominating hill for several months and had mined and booby-trapped every likely avenue of approach as well as many of the farmhouses on the mountain slopes.

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RED CROSS GIRL writing letter for wounded soldier. In addition to performing duties such as this, the American Red Cross operated clubs and motion picture theaters for the soldiers. The clubs served coffee, doughnuts, and ice cream, and sponsored musical programs, vaudeville shows, and dances. All was free of charge. The estimated attendance at the Red Cross clubs in the Arno Valley during February 1945 was 896,000.

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SOLDIERS DURING A LULL IN THE FIGHTING on Monte Grande which was taken on 20 October 1944 after a tough two-day fight. The city of Bologna was only about nine miles away and could be plainly seen from the summit. Because of its commanding position, the Germans made several local attacks during the winter to recapture the mountain but were repulsed each time.

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INFANTRY COLUMN passing a supply-transfer point in the Monte Grande area east of Highway 65, February 1945. Supplies were transferred from trucks to the tracked Weasels at this point. Higher in the mountains the mule pack train took over from the tracked vehicles.

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Members of an American Engineer Company working on a trail in the vicinity of Monte Grande. An Indian pack mule convoy is returning after taking supplies to the front line.

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BRIDGING EQUIPMENT. “Ark” with end sections of treadway in raised position (top). Medium tank M4, crossing canal on Ark (bottom). With a total span of 54 feet, the treadway would span a canal about 45 feet wide. After November 1944, when the offensive in the mountains bogged down, most of the armor with the Fifth Army was gradually withdrawn to the Arno Valley where training for the spring offensive took place. New methods and techniques were developed and tried. The Ark above was constructed by an ordnance company for use in crossing canals in the Po Valley.

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SIGNAL CORPS LINEMEN stringing communication wire in preparation for the coming spring offensive. During the winter stalemate many new lines were strung and hookups were made to the Italian state underground cable system. Circuits linked all units of the Fifth Army and an eight-mile line containing eight open-wire circuits was started in February 1945 from Filigare on Highway 65 near Monghidoro to the village of Lagaro Highway 6620.

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SOLDIERS IN LIVERGNANO watch the shelling of the village by the enemy, March 1945. Livergnano was taken on 14 October 1944 after a five-day fight along Highway 65 in an attempt to break through into the Po Valley. The advance was halted a few miles beyond this village. (Garand M1, .30-caliber rifle.)

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INFANTRY ACTION during the attack toward Monte della Spe. The soldier in the foreground is covering the house with his rifle while the other members of his squad approach it. A few minutes after this picture was made the house and the knoll behind it were taken, netting 57 German prisoners. Monte della Spe, west of Highway 64, was taken on 5 March 1945.

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MONTE DELLA SPE AREA, looking toward the east. Highway 64 parallels the Reno River (in distance). The village of Vergato is shown on the west bank of the river. Monte della Spe is the rounded hill in foreground. It was taken on 5 March 1945 during an attack to secure a suitable jumping off place for the spring offensive. Vergato, which was an enemy strong point, and most of the surrounding territory remained in enemy hands after the capture of Monte della Spe. The main offensive, the attack toward the Po Valley, started from here on 14 April 1945 and by the 20th Allied troops had broken into the valley.

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EASTER SERVICE 1 APRIL 1945.

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RETURNING PATROL. As the spring offensive became imminent, patrol activities increased.

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SOLDIERS MOVING UP into the line a few days before the start of the attack toward the Po Valley.

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SELF-PROPELLED GUNS of a South African armored unit firing a mission a few days before the attack to break into the Po Valley. These vehicles are American Sherman tanks modified by the British as self-propelled guns. Prior to the jump-off, the units along the Fifth Army front had been engaged in a series of deceptive artillery fires.

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NEGRO SOLDIERS FIRING HOWITZERS in support of the Nisei who were making an attack northward along the mountain ridges toward the towns of Massa and Carrara. The attack started on 5 April 1945. The Nisei were American soldiers of Japanese ancestry. (75-mm. howitzers.)

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BODIES OF AMERICAN INFANTRYMEN killed during the opening of the spring offensive. Note stretcher bearer in background looking for casualties. The infantry was making an attack across the mountains toward Massa and Carrara on the west coast.

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TANK DESTROYER speeding along Highway 1 through the town of Querceta during the spring offensive. The main effort of the army was along Highways 64 and 65.

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BRINGING IN THE FIRST PRISONERS taken at the start of the main drive to reach the Po Valley. On 14 April at 0945 the offensive was started by U. S. mountain troops in the hills west of Vergato on Highway 64.

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PIANORO ON HIGHWAY 65, looking south toward the hills occupied by the Allies for almost six months. Pianoro, at lower left, was one of the keys of the German defense systems barring entrance to Bologna and the Po Valley. The fight for Pianoro started on 16 April. Entering what was left of the town on the evening of the 18th, the infantry found it booby-trapped.

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SOUTH AFRICAN ARMOR waiting along Highway 64 for a U. S. infantry division to pass on its way to the Po Valley, 20 April. On this date the troops in the U. S. zone broke through the mountains into the Po Valley just west of Bologna. The two highways in this area, 64 and 65, became congested with troops and vehicles in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. (Sherman medium tanks.)

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U. S. ARMY MOTION-PICTURE CAMERAMAN photographing the first tank of the South African armored force to cross the Reno River southwest of Bologna, 20 April. The practice of infantrymen riding on tanks while advancing was included in training for armored units in the United States early in 1944. (Sherman M4A3 tank with British 17-pounder; camera: PH-330 (Sig C), Eyemo, Bell, and Howell, 35-mm., three lenses mounted in turret.)

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WEARY U. S. TROOPS IN BOLOGNA on the morning of 21 April. The city, entered from the south by U. S. forces and from the east by Poles of the Eighth Army, fell that day. Pressing forward the troops pursued the fleeing Germans.

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ITALIAN PARTISANS WATCHING FOR SNIPERS. During the winter of 1944–45 Allied officers, arms, and ammunition were dropped behind the enemy lines to assist partisans in the Po Valley. Although partisans, armed with equipment obtained from Italian arsenals or seized from the Germans, first appeared north of Rome, it was not until the Allies reached Bologna that they met the efficiently organized groups from the Po Valley. As troops entered the city, where the Germans were numerous, the partisans struck, seizing government agencies and public utilities.

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THE PANARO RIVER BRIDGES near Bomporto. After the breakout into the Po Valley, the next objective was the Po River. The area south of this river is broken by small streams and numerous canals. Most of the bridges had been destroyed by the Allied air forces during the winter. Later air reconnaissance found these undamaged bridges at Bomporto. A task force, sent to secure them, passed through the fleeing and disorganized enemy. So sudden was its appearance that, by 1600 on 21 April, it captured the bridges before the Germans could detonate previously laid demolition charges.

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TREADWAY BRIDGE ACROSS THE PO RIVER at San Benedetto. Opened on the afternoon of 25 April, it was the first bridge across the river. The infantry had started to cross in this area on the morning of the 23d in assault boats under heavy machine gun, mortar, and rifle fire as well as fire from enemy antiaircraft guns lowered to fire airbursts on a flat trajectory. Casualties were high, but by 1745 a bridgehead of 2,000 square yards had been established on the north bank of the Po. The bridge above is 915 feet long. (Floating treadway bridge M2, class 18.)

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ACTION DURING THE PO RIVER CROSSING at Ostiglia, 24 April. A 57-mm. antitank gun firing in support of an infantry assault across the railroad bridge to the north bank of the river. (The British 6-pounder was the forerunner of the 57-mm. gun. It was adapted for U. S. use and also manufactured for other United Nations under the lend-lease agreement as the 57-mm. antitank gun.)

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INFANTRY CROSSING PO RIVER UNDER FIRE, Ostiglia railroad bridge, 24 April. The crossing in this zone was opposed by enemy machine guns and 20-mm automatic weapons. The patrol above worked its way to the other side and knocked out enemy guns and crews. The railroad bridge was partially demolished and unfit for vehicles.

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“ALLIGATORS” ABOUT TO CROSS PO RIVER near Ostiglia. Developed by the U. S. Navy, the first shipment of these amphibian tracked vehicles arrived in December 1944 and training was begun. Great secrecy surrounded them and they were kept thoroughly camouflaged before the dash to the Po. They were armored and each had socket mounts at four locations for either .30-or .50-caliber machine guns. A stern ramp could be lowered to take on a vehicle. Maximum capacity was 8,000 pounds and a crew of three. (LVT(4).)

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FERRYING EQUIPMENT ACROSS THE PO in support of the infantry assault, Ostiglia, 25 April. The large vehicle is a 76-mm. gun motor carriage M18, designed for tank destroyer use. It was a full track-laying type, using a torsion bar independent suspension, and was front-sprocket driven. The vehicle was lightly armored, had a low silhouette, and was highly mobile.

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PONTON BRIDGE under construction across the Po River near Ostiglia. This bridge was opened on 25 April. (M2 treadway bridge.)

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INFANTRY ACTION AT VICENZA, in the foothills of the Alps. The advance of the Allies across the plain was too fast for the Germans to halt, reorganize, and make a determined stand behind either the Po or the other rivers in the Po plain. Speedy thrusts by infantry-armor columns split the enemy forces and severed communications. After the crossing of the Po, the action on both sides developed into a race to the Alps, the enemy hoping to escape into Germany, the Allies determined to prevent them. Many isolated pockets of resistance developed behind the advancing columns and special task forces were organized on 23 April to deal with them.

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TANK DESTROYER on the shore of Lake Garda blocking one of the escape routes to Brenner Pass. Heavy fighting took place in the demolished tunnels on the road along the east shore of this lake, but on 30 April the area was under Allied control.

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GERMAN PRISONERS and their equipment captured on the Po plain. For the first time in the Italian campaign, the enemy was retreating over terrain suitable for swift pursuit. Since the Germans lacked vehicles and gasoline, they had to rely to a great extent on horse-drawn transportation. They retreated across an open valley having a fine network of roads for mechanized forces and were forced to cross wide rivers by ferries and ponton bridges under constant attack by Allied air forces. The retreat became a rout.

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PRISONERS WERE CAPTURED by the tens of thousands in the Po Valley and marched to the rear, often unguarded, or guarded only by one or two men. On 2 May 1945, the Germans signed the terms of the unconditional surrender of their forces in Italy. One week later the war in Europe was concluded with complete victory for the Allies. The Italian campaign had been a bitter one, lasting 607 days (3 September 1943 to 2 May 1945). Casualties of the Fifth Army, including all nationalities serving with that army, totaled 188,546. United States losses were 19,475 killed, 80,530 wounded, and 9,637 missing.