Cassino to the Alps - US Army Center Of Military History

THROUGH THE WINTER
whose valley Highway 64, one of the
two main routes leading to Bologna on
the Fifth Army's front, runs. (Mal) J 0)
Dominating the region were two ridges
whose highest peaks rose between three
thousand to nearly five thousand feet.
Known to American troops as the Riva
Ridge, the first of the two overlooked
the mountain division's left flank and
dominated routes of approach to the
second: the Monte Belvedere-Monte
della Torraccia Ridge.
The Riva Ridge paralleled the left
APENNINES, IV CORPS SECTOR
427
flank of the division's zone of operations
for four miles. The side of the
ridge facing the division was a cliff,
rising in some places almost 1,500 feet
above the valley floor. Since the ridge
would have to be cleared before the
main attack could move toward Monte
Belvedere, the mountain troops would
have to scale that cliff. Once the Monte
Belvedere-Monte della Torraccia ridge
was in hand, the division was to open a
second phase of the attack to continue
northeastward about four miles and