Battle of Rapido River
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small}
The Battle of Rapido River was fought from 20 to 22 January 1944 in the course of the Battle of Monte Cassino, part of the Italian campaign, during World War II. Despite its name, the battle occurred on the Gari river.[3]
Lieutenant General Mark Clark, commanding general of the United States Fifth Army, in an attempt to break through the German defences of the Gustav Line, tried to cross the Gari river, south of Monte Cassino, with two regiments of the U.S. 36th Infantry Division, commanded by Major General Fred Walker. After crossing the river in boats, his forces were the target of enemy fire from elements of the 15th Panzergrenadier Division stationed on the west bank of the river. The Americans suffered very high losses and were counterattacked. After two days of fighting the survivors went through the river; two regiments were destroyed and the attack had to be interrupted.
Controversy followed the American defeat, with Clark criticizing his subordinates, which in turn polemicize with the commander of the Fifth Army for his tactics. The battle of the Rapido River was one of the heaviest tragedies suffered by the U.S. Army during World War II and, after the war, was the subject of an investigation in 1946 by Congress to establish responsibility for the disaster.[4]
Background
In late 1943, the Italian campaign had reached a turning point; after the decisions made during the Tehran Conference, the Supreme military and political leaders of the Allied nations finally decided to give top priority to the opening of the Western Front in Europe and thus reduce the importance of operations in the Italian peninsula. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, left the Mediterranean Theater in December 1943 and returned to the United Kingdom to plan for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. Shortly afterwards, General Bernard Montgomery gave command of the British Eighth Army to Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese and returned to Great Britain also; seven veteran Anglo-American divisions were withdrawn from the Mediterranean, waiting to be transferred to take part in the Normandy landings, which were scheduled for June 1944.
Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, continued to assign great importance to the Italian campaign on the other hand and despite having shared in general plans for a second front, he considered it essential (strategically and politically), to achieve a great victory in Italy. He hoped to destroy the German armies there and build on the success in the direction of Southeast Europe to anticipate the arrival of the Soviet Red Army. Churchill also ordered the Allied Armies in Italy to, despite the weakening of their strength, commit pressure on the enemy and attain important strategic objectives and propaganda blows; this included Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, commander of the U.S. Fifth Army, who was absolutely determined to achieve victory by securing Rome first.
See also
References
- citations
- ↑ http://www.historynet.com/rage-over-the-rapido.htm
- ↑ http://www.historynet.com/rage-over-the-rapido.htm
- ↑ 1944: la battaglia di S.Angelo in Theodice e la confusione tra i fiumi Rapido e Gari, 1944: the Battle of St. Angelo in Theodice and the Confusion between Rapido and Gari rivers.
- ↑ http://www.historynet.com/rage-over-the-rapido.htm
- Sources
- Schultz, Duane (2012). "Rage Over the Rapido".
Coordinates: 42°21′00″N 14°24′00″E / 42.3500°N 14.4000°E