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- 30 - brid.gohead across the Metauro. On 25 .~ug one company occupied tho hamlet Pilone {S.154649) one kilometre south-east of Borge Lucrozia. (1 Cdn Inf Div Ops Message Log, Serials 14908, 14943, 25 Aug 44) 53. During the early evening of 25 Aug enemy shelling and mortaring •increased over the divisional area. (Ibid, Serials 14956-7-8-9, 25 Aug 44). The shelling was not, fiowever, on a scale sufficiently extensive or intensivo to suggest that tho enemy realized that a full-sco.le attacl{ was being mounted against him. Ho may have assumed that some redisposal of troops was taking place ( such as a relief of 2 Polcorps, which had had a long and hard fight up the coast), because more than three days had elapsed since the south side of the River Motauro had been cleared, and the only subsequent activity of the Polos had been active patrolling c.nd the establishment of a rninor bridgehead on the far side. Three days is sufficiently long for enemy agents to pick up information from Italian gossipers. For instance, H.C.R. reported on 24 Aug seeing reflections of a glass from the church tower at Mombaroccio (S.084673) (in onomy territory) and answering reflections from a church towek in our own urea at Montemaggiore. (Ib1d Serial 14885, 2~ Aug 44· ). Prisoners of war of 211 Gr taken' on 26 Aug statod thc.t they lmew that Co.nadians were opposite them on the evening of 25 f,ug two hours before the atto.ck went in. (Hist Sec filo Italy: 1944/1 Cd.n Corps/L/F, Docket I: • Intrep l, 1'730B hrs, 26 i.ug 44) 54. The weight of evidence which lator be co.me avc.ilable, however• points to tho fact that the enemy was not aware of the .',llied regrouping, and that tho Eighthiu'ln:f's offensive gained complete surprise (24/0ff Hist Skotch/1: Comments by Field Marshal Si:r Harold Alexander, 9 May 47) • .t.n exar.1ination of captured Germv.n War diaries confirms this fact (Italy 1944/Eighth Army7C/F, Dockot IIIt t.ttaek of Eighth Arnry: in Metauro Ri vor Area 25 26 Au 44, Information taken 3:'rom German War Diaries in Washington y Ca.pt teiger, Historical Section, D.N.D.). This reveals that when the attack of the Eighth Army begin, 76 Corps was already engaged in a withdrawal to the forefield of tho Gothic Line - a withdrawal that had boli sug3ested to Tenth Army Headquarters in an order issued on 20 Aug • ( (G.M.D.s. - 61437/7, f.ppx 437a to War Diary, A.O.K./10, --------·----------------------·------k On 26 Aug morse flashes from a heliogr~ph were observed coming from tho church tower of Orciano (S.165559) • An investigation resulted in a raid on the tower and two Italians were captured in the act of hiding bineculars, maps and a mirror. 11 These two we:re presumably responsible for tho leakage of information on the night 25/26 Aug and for the direct hits on the command post of the Regiment below the church. 11 (17 Fd Regt R.C.A.) (1 Cdn Corp:3 Int Sv.mm.ary No. 95, 27 Aus 44). It should be notod that the War Diary of 17 Fd Regt for 26 and 27 Aug which mentions this incident suggests that it occurred at Montema~giore. Id: Information from War Di~ry Armed Forces High Command: The withdrawal of 10 Anny to the fore .. f'ield of the II Green-line 11 began on 22 Aug and was oarriod out according to plan. In order to free 5 Mount Div for tho :,lpine front, 76 Corps was taken back on 26 ::mg. - 31 - 20 l.tig 44 • . There aro no indications that tho Germans woro aware of: .D;:py ui;iu;,l°µdl build-up of tho forces of Eighth Army; tho di visiora merely roP,bj'.tod ho.rassing fire of a routine nature on their asse,;nbly positions and vehicle traffic. Not until tho afternoon of 26 L.ug .did the Chief of Staff, _Tenth i.rrrry, learn of the Canadian move to_.the t.driatic. General Won_tzoll hastily reported tho matter to Field Marshall Kossolrine;, and tho following telephone conversation ensued: Wontz_ell: It scorns that it is going to bo qui to an affair on tho l.drio.tic coast. Tho English hnve Qppeared on tho tro~t of 7l Div c.nd at this very moment I havo received the report that the Canadians havo appeared at the joint botweon 1 Para and 71 Inf Div, Kossolrins: What is tho ·s1_tus.tion and what do you mako of it? .Wentzell: I fool tho.t we have boon lucky with our withdrawal stnco it preserved us fro~ being caught in tho DEtillory barrage. I oxpoct that he will follow with strong forces& (G,M,D.S. - 61437/8, I.pp 572 to War Die.ry J:•• O.K. 10, 26 Lug) ,55. Tho German withdrawal to stronger positions may well have beon' inspired by the gone:z;,e.l si tu2c tion which confr_ontod tho Fuehrer, .. .. .. for the Ge_rmo.ns wore ba:rd:-prossod in their central European strong- -· hold both in the west o.nd in tho eo.st. Tho so were greo,t days for tho_ arm~ bf the Lllios • . On 23 1.ug, Mr. f.nthony Edon, the British Fo:reign .$e,c_reta:ry, announced that tho French- For cos pf tho Interior had lfoo·raj;ed Pari-s, -even as the forces under General Eisenhower werQ pounding at the western gates. On 25 .:~ug, General De Gaulle . entered the French Cupi tal. On 25 ;,us Marseilles was liberated o.nd tho ;,.mer:l:can Seventh Lrmy was rea ching towards Grenoble. On 25 Aug the qb.pi tula tion of Ruraanio. wr,s 2.nnounced and on tho same do.y Russian patrols _crossed the frontiers of East Prussia. (Tho Times, 25-28 Aug 44) 25 Lug wp.s then a propitious day on which to launch tho us saul t 2.gainst the Gothic Line. · 56. The stage was now set for bo.ttle. Before °the action began a personal message from the Army Commo.nder was read to all tro..ops:. You have won great victories. To advance 220 miles from Cassino to Florence in three months i~ a notable achievement in the Eighth Lrmyts history. To eo.ch one of you in the Eighth 1-.rmy . and in the Desert Lir Force, rrry grateful thanks. Now we b\egin,.the last lap. Swiftly and secretly, once again, we have moved rie;ht across Italy an Army ·of immense strength and striking power - to break tho Gothic Line. Victory in the coming battles means the beginning of the end for the German armies in Italy. LEI' EVERY lliLN DO HIS UTMOST, AND AGAIN SUCCESS WILL BE OURS. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL. (W.D., G.S., H,Q. ·1 Cdn Corps, ·1,ugust 1944; Appx 43) - 32 - . Victocy would yield tontalizing, perhaps t:romondous,fruits. :'.hoo.d miFt lie the 11 bog1nning of the end for tho German urmies in Italy , a.hoed wore the Plains of Lombardy, o.nd perhaps the . · end of tho Eighth Army's long slugging up the morieiless b.ackbone of Italy - a trek begun on 3 Sep at the Straits of Messina and continued 11 not without dust und hoatt1 dUJ;>in6 a long yoar. Tho garland was at hand. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RIVER METAURO BRIDGEHEL,D, 25/26 AUG 5?. 1 Cdn Inf Div again omorgod from anonymi~J when unit flanhos and divisional patches were put up in tho eaply evening of 25 Aug. Tho night was cloudless, warrt\o.nd unusually quiet; evon tho enomy 1 s guns were silent. The moon was just going down as tho four infantry battalions movod severally frora their battalion areas to the forming up places. Thence, between 2235 hours and 2315 hours, tho battalions crossed tho Motauro River quito according to their time schedule and to plan. No opposition was met; the water gap in the river was only a few yards wide and the water nowhere more than throe feet deep. By 2359 hours the assaulting companies had reported ~t their various chock points along Via Flaminia and were in reediness for the initiation of the artillery programme. The satisfying noiso of tho guns signalled the start of the infantry's advance to tho final bridgehead objectives, tho beginning o;f bridging operations by tho Engineers and the. opening of battle across tho entire Army front. The village of So.ltara (1163) was occupied at 0100 hours by the R.C.R. (W,D., R.c.R., 26 i.ug 44), and the high village of Serrungaria (0962). at 0355 hours by P.P.C.L,I. (W.D., P.P.C.L.r.~ 26 Aug 44) - both without opposition. The final bridgehead objectives of both 1 and 2 Cdn Inf Bdes were "snug" ey 0400 hours • . (1 Cdn Inf Bde: 11 0LIVE 11 ; Italy: 1944/l Cdo Corps/C/G: Map trr-.ce of positions for nigm"2'5/26 1mg 44). The enemy were conspicuous by their absence - only a handful of prisoners wero taken, sufficient to identify members of 71 Inf Div. According to theso, 71 Inf Div, knowing of tho impending operation, had withdrawn at 2300 hours 25 J...ug to a line in front of the i.rzilla River and Mombaroccio (0768) - tho lino was specified as running Isola Del Piano - Monte Della Morcia ~ Monte Della Mattera - Point 393, ( i.e., Convento Bea.to Santo)• (l Cdn Corps Int Summary No.94, 26 Aug 44).