The 2nd New Zealand Division crosses the Po River - Anzac Day 1945

 A 26 Battalion transport convoy waiting to cross the Po (Ref. WH2-26BaP037)

La Seconda Divisione neozelandese e ’attraversamento del Po – il 25 aprile 1945

Dopo la battaglia dei fiumi in Emilia-Romagna, la Seconda Divisione neozelandese si diresse al nord verso il Po. Muovendosi sempre come un fronte, con la Quinta Brigata a destra e la Sesta a sinistra, bypassando San Giorgio di Piano e San Pietro in Casale, ancora occupati da forze nemiche, la Divisione si spinse fino all’ansa settentrionale del Fiume Reno. Minimizzando ostacoli e perdite, le due brigate di fanteria poterono avanzare in parallelo verso la grande barriera del Po. Lungo tutto il loro percorso, i bordi delle strade erano disseminati di relitti di mezzi di trasporto, incendiati o distrutti, e di attrezzature ed armi abbandonate. Fu una scena di devastazione tale che I soldati neozelandesi non vedevano dai tempi di El Alamein.

La mattina del 24 aprile 1945, le due brigate neozelandesi attraversarono il Reno mediante dei ponti Bailey, la Quinta Brigata verso Poggio Renatico, e la Sesta qualche chilometro più ad ovest, verso Passo Barchetta. Una volta al di là del fiume, trovarono altre forze alleate che avevano attraversato il fiume più a sud – i Sudafricani (con gli Americani) a sinistra, e Britannici a destra. Infatti, quello stesso giorno, truppe dei due eserciti si erano incontrate a Finale di Emilia, circa 20 chilometri ad ovest.

Per l’avanzata sul Po, la Quinta Brigata partì da Bondeno, mentre la Sesta Brigata, trovandosi più ad ovest, dovette prima affrontare il Fiume Panaro. Fu così che i soldati di tre battaglioni, arenati sulla sponda sud del Panaro in attesa della costruzione di ponti, ebbero un’inattesa giornata di ‘libertà’.  Questa sosta forzata permise loro di rendersi conto dell’enormità del danno inflitto dall’aviazione alleata e della disfatta del nemico. Permise loro altresì di passare una giornata da civili, fra civili. Tutti cercarono di salvare o recuperare qualcosa fra le rovine, e non solo oggetti. Vagavano per la pianura anche centinaia di cavalli che alcuni riuscirono a catturare e cavalcare, per poi ‘vendere’ ai civili italiani.  I soldati riuscirono perfino ad organizzare una corsa di cavalli. Per i soldati, furono delle ore surreali, quando la guerra sembrò lontana.

Le prime unità della Divisione ricoprirono gli ultimi 10 chilometri fino alla riva sud del Po nella stessa giornata del 24 aprile, attraversando un paesaggio desolante, e non solo per loro. Il nemico, senza né ponti né imbarcazioni, non aveva scampo. Più di 100,000 soldati tedeschi attendevano di arrendersi sull’argine sud del grande fiume.

Il 25 aprile, la Seconda Divisione neozelandese cominciò l’attraversamento del Po poco a valle di Quatrelle, verso Stiente. Così i Neozelandesi festeggiarono il giorno solenne di commemorazione dei caduti della Prima Guerra Mondiale (ANZAC Day) con questa storica impresa. E non c’erano solo loro: soldati alleati di ogni nazionalità convergevano sul Po per fa parte dell’attraversamento fluviale forse più grande e spettacolare mai visto. A nessuno sfuggì il significato del superamento di questa grande barriera naturale, che permise a due Armate di rovesciarsi sulla pianura del Nord Italia, dove un nemico diminuito e sconfitto si ritirava in fretta. La fine era vicina. Ancora non lo sapevano, ma tutto si sarebbe svolto nel giro di una settimana.

Mentre gli ingegneri si misero a costruire un ponte barche capace di trasportare I mezzi corazzati, il resto della Divisione attraversò il fiume con mezzi d’assalto, di sbarco, o anfibi. Una zattera sorretta da due motoscafi poteva traghettare in una volta due carri armati, oppure un carro armato e due jeep, Non c’è dubbio che questa ‘Regata dell’ANZAC Day’, come la chiamavano i soldati neozelandesi, fu un evento spettacolare e indimenticabile.

Entro il 27 aprile, l’intera Divisione (20.000 uomini e 4.500 mezzi) aveva attraversato il Po e le prime unità stavano già attraversando l’Adige.  La corsa a Trieste era avviata. 

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After the successful surge across the rivers of Emilia-Romagna in the springf of 1945, the plan for the Division was to cut across Route 64 north of Bologna and then turn north to the Po. With the two forward brigades, 5th Brigade on the right and 6^th Brigade on the left, the Division headed northeast along the Bologna-Ferrara railway, bypassing the towns of San Giorgio di Piano and San Pietro in Casale, which were known to be still occupied by enemy troops, and up to the arc of the Reno River, the last natural barrier before the Po.

This minimized delays and losses and allowed the two forward brigades (travelling at that time on approximately parallel roads) to keep abreast in their push to the Po River. The roadsides were strewn with wrecked and burning vehicles and abandoned equipment, a scene of destruction such as the men had not seen since El Alamein.

Both brigades crossed the Reno by Bailey bridges on the morning of 24 April, 5th Brigade to the town of Poggio Renatico, and 6th Brigade to Passo Barchetta, a few kilometres further west. Immediately across the Reno, they found other Allied troops who had crossed the river further south, the South Africans (with the Americans) on the left and the 6th British Lancers on the right,  In fact, that very day, the pincer of American Fifth Army and British Eighth Army forces had closed: on 24 April 1945, some 20 km to the west, British and American forces had met at Finale di Emilia

For the advance to the Po, 5th Brigade concentrated east of Bondeno. For them there would be no other obstacle before the Po. Further west, however, 6th Brigade (which included 24, 25, and 26 Infantry Battalions) had first to cross the Panaro River, an emissary of the  as well, before reaching the Po. Stranded on the banks of the Panaro River awaiting bridges, 26 Battalion - had an unexpected ‘day off’ in which the men were able not only to absorb the enormity the situation and mingle with the civilians.

Bondeno, 5th Brigade's departure point for the advance to the Po

“In every direction there was burnt-out and abandoned enemy equipment—hundreds of vehicles, field guns of all descriptions, light tanks, armoured cars and all the other equipment of an army. It was striking evidence of the rout of the enemy and the damage inflicted by the Allied air force. The troops, with time on their hands, mingled with civilians, all bent on salvaging something of value from the wreckage. Some of the hundreds of horses roaming about were rounded up and the men enjoyed the unexpected pleasure of an afternoon's ride. Bartering went on with the civilians as horses were sold and then resold. After tea impromptu race meetings were held. The war seemed far away.” (Frazer D. Norton, 26 Battalion)

The Po River from the south bank, near Quatrelle

The first units of the 2^nd New Zealand Division covered the last 10 km to the south bank of the Po River the same day. The Division’s journey continued to cross a landscape of unspeakable desolation, destruction and death. To temper the joy of the Allies, there was also the desperation and dull resignation of the defeated enemy, caught in their own trap with nowhere to run.  With no bridges or boats by which to cross the river, over 100,000 German soldiers were waiting to be rounded up on the south bank.  It was LIke a ‘hundred local Dunkirks’, as Intelligence Officer Geoffrey Cox commented : “…the approaches to the river were littered with the abandoned material of an army, some blown up and destroyed, and some just left, mile upon mile of it…Trucks, horse-drawn wagons, cars, caravans, guns lay abandoned or burnt on the roadside, tipped into ditches, run into fields. Hundreds of supply and artillery horses roamed the fields, the magnificent draught horses of Hungary and Germany.” (Geoffrey Cox, The Race for Trieste)

In remarkable contrast to this apocalyptic scene, the romantic description of this part of the journey recorded by 21 Battalion ‘s historian seems to be in another country. “The convoy reached the Po after a drive across country that was still flat, but with longer intervals between canals. The roads were lined with poplars, and there were occasional plantations of oak and pine trees. In every direction and at every distance the pointed spires of village churches showed above the trees. Clouds of light yellow dust were reminiscent of desert days as the trucks swung through the Italian countryside, lovely in the first spring clothing of lucerne and wheat. Every ditch was gay with yellow buttercups, white daisies and blue snapdragons, every field fenced with mulberry, poplar, elm, chestnut and oak trees, all supporting grape vines in full leaf. The populace waved to the speeding trucks or crowded around with flowers and wine at the frequent and unpredictable halts” (J. F. Cody, 21 Battalion)

When the first units arrived at Quatrelle on 24 April, they had reached the Po so fast that they were ahead of air intelligence and were even strafed for a while by Allied aircraft! According to the officer and private of 21 Battalion who reconnoitred the river in an assault boat on 24 April, it was “as formidable a barrier as they had expected: a deceptive river, smooth-flowing yet full of swirls and eddies, 300 yards wide and very deep, with banks rising to thirty feet”. (Army Board publication, One More River)

In the last week of April 1945, a stretch of some 50 km of the vast riverbank was the scene of the most extraordinary concentration of military units, vehicles and equipment, as two great armies queued up to cross the river (the New Zealand Division alone had 4,500 vehicles), by every means possible.

The road running along the top of the south levee

Quatrelle, huddled against the great south levee of the Po

The Division began crossing the Po on 25 April slightly downstream of Quatrelle, towards Stienta. Allied troops of every nationality were converging on the Po, for what must have been the greatest river crossing ever seen. There was no escaping the significance of the crossing of this great natural barrier, which allowed the Allied armies to debauch into the huge Po plain.  Before them the defeated and diminished enemy forces were withdrawing in haste. The end was near.

While the New Zealand engineers set about furiously building a pontoon bridge capable of carrying the heavy armour across the river, the rest of the Division crossed using assault boats, landing craft and amphibious vehicles. A pontoon ferry formed by two motor-powered boats could carry at one time two tanks or a tank and two jeeps. This Anzac Day regatta, as the soldiers called it, must have been an awesome and unforgettable sight. By 27 April, the whole Division had crossed over and the forward units were already crossing the Adige River.

New Zealand Artillery crossing the Po River (Ref. WH2-2ItaP040a)

At Ficarolo, on the far side, the Division was greeted by white flags and cheering civilians. An officer, who climbed a pylon to search for artillery targets, reported the same scene as far as he could see.  The race to Trieste had begun.

Ficarola on the north bank seen from the top of the south levee