The last battles in Italy: the 2nd New Zealand Division in Operation Buckland, April 1945
Le ultime battaglie in Emilia-Romagna: la Seconda Divisione neozelandese nell’Operazione Buckland, aprile 1945
La Seconda Divisione neozelandese rientrò al fronte il 2 aprile,
sostituendo la 56^ Divisione britannica sul fiume Senio, e occupando un tratto di
sponda di circa 11 chilometri fra Felisio e Cotignola.
La sera del 9 aprile 1945, dopo un martellamento incessante, prima aereo e
poi con l’artiglieria ed i lanciafiamme, sugli argini del Senio, lungo l’intero
fronte, la fanteria neozelandese della 5^ e 6^ brigata (due battaglioni
ciascuna), con il 2^ Corpo polacco sul fianco sinistra e l’8^ Divisione indiana
sul fianco destro, assalì l’argine vicino. Il primo ad attraversare il fiume fu
il 28^ Battaglione Maori, seguito rapidamente dagli altri tre battaglioni. Entrambe
le Brigate completarono la traversata prima dell’alba.
Il giorno10 aprile, il 24^ Battaglione liberò Barbiano e Lugo, mentre il 27^,
più a nord, fu mandato a mettere in sicurezza Cotignola, già liberata dagli
Indiani. La fanteria attraversò il canale di Lugo e raggiunse il fiume Santerno,
dietro il quale trovò un’ansa del vecchio letto del fiume, anch’esso con i suoi
grandi argini. L’attacco attraverso il Senio trovò il nemico stordito e
disorganizzato, incapace di resistere all’offensiva. Entro l’alba dell’11 aprile
la Divisione aveva superato il fiume Santerno. Nel corso della stessa giornata,
la Divisione avanzò combattendo oltre Sant’Agata sul Santerno e liberò la
cittadina di Massa Lombarda, una roccaforte del nemico ancora difesa con
tenacia.
Al fiume successivo, il Sillaro, il nemico si era raggruppato e rafforzato
con carri armati Tigre, costringendo le truppe neozelandesi ad attaccare. Il
primo attacco, lanciato il pomeriggio del 12 aprile dalla 5^ e 6^ Brigata, fu
respinto. Il secondo assalto, effettuato durante la notte dalla 6^ e 9^ Brigata,
riuscì e il giorno 13 aprile fu stabilita una stretta testa di ponte sull’argine
più lontano. Dopo 36 ore di duro combattimento, le forze nemiche crollarono.
La Divisione si spinse oltre Medicina – liberata dagli Indiani (i Gurkha)
il 16 aprile – fino all’ostacolo successivo, il fiume Gaiana, ancora difeso
dalle truppe fanatiche della 4^ Divisione tedesca dei Paracadutisti, già
incontrate a Cassino. Il 17-18 aprile, la Divisione neozelandese combatté la
sua ultima battaglia pianificata attraverso il Gaiana, distruggendo le
formazioni nemiche. Fu una vittoria di grande significato, ma al costo di una
carneficina spaventosa, persino per i veterani della battaglia di Cassino.
I Neozelandesi si aspettavano ulteriore resistenza al fiume Idice, invece
il nemico era svanito. Le avanguardie della Divisione attraversarono l’Idice il
20 aprile, quasi senza combattere. In appena dodici giorni, le truppe
neozelandesi avevano coperto i cinquanta chilometri fra Faenza e Bologna,
superando cinque barriere-fiume importanti e numerosi altri canali e torrenti,
mettendo il nemico in fuga. Fu un’impresa prodigiosa.
La velocità ed il successo della 2^ Divisione neozelandese nell’offensiva in Emilia-Romagna della primavera del '45, la proiettarono in un ruolo chiave. La fanteria neozelandese aveva superato ogni pronostico, le forze alleate sui fianchi, e persino il proprio sostegno armato. La 2^ Divisione neozelandese divenne la punta di diamante dell’avanzamento dell’VIII Armata britannica verso il Po. Il nemico avrebbe offerto ancora qualche resistenza, e preso altri prigionieri e vite alleate, ma ormai era in fuga.
*****
In Italy, in the winter of 1944-45,
the front had stagnated in the central Apennines just south of Bologna, and on
the Senio River, northwest of Faenza, beyond which the enemy still had control
of the important road axis, Route 9, the Via
Emilia. Bologna had not yet been taken, and the rich industrial north was
still in German hands. In the context of the British Eighth Army front, which
stretched some 70 km inland from the Adriatic coast, the 2nd New
Zealand Division occupied 11 km of the Senio River stop-bank, from Felisio to
Cotignola. Before Bologna, they still had five more rivers to cross – the Senio, the Santerno, the Sillaro, the Gaiana,
and the Idice, as well as numerous seasonal torrents and minor streams,
canals and irrigation channels, all of which had to be bridged.
The Division moved back into the line on 2 April 1945, and the days before the attack were spent in patrols and reconnoitring. D-Day for everyone (including the American Fifth Army who would be attacking across the Apennines from the south) was 9 April. The men of the 2nd New Zealand Division were ready. The ‘hated Senio’, the nightmare of the past winter, would soon be behind them.
.jpg)
The
real assault began on 9 April with a vast air attack, first on the German
artillery and reserve areas on the Eighth Army front, then on their defences,
and finally on their positions on the flood-banks on the far side of the Senio.
That same day, at 1920 hours, 8th Indian and 2nd New
Zealand Divisions launched the main attack across the Senio. The men of 28 Māori
Battalion were first across, and within 40 minutes all four leading battalions had
crossed the river. By daylight, the entire New Zealand 5th and 6th Brigades were across.
On 10 April, 24 Battalion liberated Barbiano and Lugo. In Barbiano, the soldiers of 24 Battalion were greeted with cheers and offers of food and wine, but there was no time to dally. The Division pressed on across the fields and along minor provincial roads towards the ancient town of Lugo (just reached by the Indians): Meanwhle, further north, 27 Battalion was sent to clear the town of Cotignola.
Italian civilians greet
New Zealand soldiers in Barbiano, 10 April 1944 (Ref. WH2-2ItaP037a)
The Rocca of Lugo, a medieval castle now the seat of
the municipal administration
The infantry crossed the Lugo canal
and reached the Santerno River, beyond which was the loop of the old riverbed
with more stop-banks. At that time, the Santerno was about 3 metres wide and
muddy, and in most places too deep to wade across, but the infantry forged on.
The engineers had to work frantically to provide bridges in record time for the
supporting armour. The assault across both the old and new stop-banks, preceded
by the usual artillery barrage, found the enemy disorganized and unable to
withstand the surge. By dawn on 11 April, the Division
had crossed the Santerno. The same day, the Division fought its way past
Sant’Agata sul Santerno and liberated the town of Massa Lombarda. An enemy
stronghold which was still heavily defended, with German supply depots and an
HQ in the vicinity, the town had been heavily bombed by Allied aircraft before
the Division arrived. Despite the heavy bombardment, the town was taken only
after hard battles against several Tiger tanks which were covering the enemy
withdrawal. The elation of 21 Battalion who entered the town at midnight on 14
April 1945, quickly faded. “Massa Lombarda itself had all the signs of a
town which had just passed out of the front line. There was the stench of
death, of dead troops lying unburied in the ditches and dead mules in the
roadways and dead civilians under the ruins of bombed houses. Smoke and dust
still rose from the houses which had been hit all along the main street of the
town the day before, when we had bombed the retreating enemy. Smashed carts,
papers, and equipment lay around. Telephone lines were broken and trailing; and
the streets were chill and empty, as if an icy wind blew.” Geoffrey Cox, The
Race for Trieste)
 |
16
Platoon of 24 Battalion on the Santerno (Ref. WH2-24BaP034a) |
 |
The old Santerno riverbed, seen from the stopbank |
The Division pressed on westward, across a chequerboard of fertile fields of wheat, potatoes, corn and other crops, grapevines and fruit trees strung out along taut wires, interrupted only by the scattered stone case and outbuildings of the farms. When the Division reached the Sillaro River on 11 April, the enemy had regrouped and brought in some fearsome Tiger tanks to protect them. It took two full-scale attacks, and 36 hours of bitter fighting with two brigades, to drive the enemy off the Sillaro stop-banks. The Division was across the river on 13 April. On 14 April, in view of these successes, Eighth Army Commander, Lt. General McCreery, decided to reinforce the Division and moved it from 5th to 13th Corps, which included 6th Armoured Division, 43rd Gurkha Brigade and some armoured units
An unimpressive Sillaro, its narrow bed dwarfed by the huge
stop-banks
Immediately across the Sillaro, 27 Battalion encountered heavy resistance at the village of Sesto Imolese, another strong German defence position. But the Division surged on from river to river, blasting stop-banks, building bridges, and flushing out the enemy from every village and casa, always ahead of their objectives and frequently off their maps. The enemy defence was clearly folding, and the shattered German forces were on the run, or surrendering in droves. After passing through the town of Medicina, which had been liberated by the Ghurkas, they reached the next river obstacle, the Gaiana River, In a week the Division had advanced 20 miles (32 km) and taken prisoners amounting to half of the total number of prisoners taken by the entire Eighth Army). Waiting for them behind the Gaiana River was the Division’s old foe from Cassino, the German 4th Paratroop Division. This time the cards were stacked in favour of the Division. On 17-18 April, the Division fought its last set-piece battle across the Gaiana and smashed the enemy formations. It was an important victory, though the price was a carnage that shocked even the veterans of Cassino.
The peaceful Emilian countryside today at La Fantuzza, near Sesto
Imolese
Men of 19 Battalion at
Villa Fontana, near the Gaiana (Ref.
WH2-19BaP035c)
According to Freyberg’s Intelligence Officer, Geoffrey Cox, the battle of the Gaiana River was of no mean importance. “…we can claim, I believe, that few nails were driven into the coffin of Nazism more thoroughly than this. On the Gaiana we were able to bring down such a blow on to the best German infantry on the Italian front that from then on, with steadily increasing speed, the way to the Po and the Alps opened up”. (The Race for Trieste)
On 18 April, the same day as the New Zealanders
crossed the Gaiana, the Poles were able to make good use of the New
Zealand-built bridges and reach Bologna. In fact, the city had already fallen
to the partisans, and a few hours after the Poles, the first American troops
arrived from the south.
Another stand was expected at the
Idice River, but the enemy had dissipated. The spearhead of the Division
crossed the Idice virtually without a fight on 20 April. The five rivers south
of the Po had been crossed in record-breaking time and the Division found
itself in the lead. Its infantry had outstripped all predictions, forging ahead
of the Allies on its flanks and its own armoured support. It had been a
prodigious feat.
The enemy was in disarray. The German forces would still offer pockets of resistance, and still take Allied prisoners and lives, but the chase was about to begin. The 2nd New Zealand Division had become the spearhead of the Eighth Army thrust to the Po.
The far stop-bank of the Idice River, which the Division found undefended
Commenti
Posta un commento