Air Force Combat Units of WWII

APPENDIX 11-THEATERS AND CAMPAIG ;NS 48 1possible to move strong reinforcements.By 17 August 1943 the Allies were in possessionof the island, but they had notbeen able to prevent a German evacuationacross the Strait of Messina.Naples-Foggia: 18 August 1943 to 21January 1944. After Allied bombardmentof communications and airfields in Italy,Montgomery crossed the Strait of Messinaon 3 September 1943 and started northward.Five days later Eisenhower announcedthat the Italian Government hadsurrendered. Fifth Army, under Clark,landed at Salerno on g September andmanaged to stay despite furious counterattacks.By 18 September the Germanswere withdrawing northward. On 27September Eighth Army occupied the importantairfields of Foggia, and on IOctober Fifth Army took Naples. As theAllies pushed up the peninsula, the enemyslowed the advance and brolJght it to ahalt at the Gustav Line.Anxio: 22 January to 24 May 1944. Onu January 1944, in conjunction with afrontal assault, the Allies attempted to turnthe Gustav Line by landing troops atAnzio. But the frontal attack failed, andthe Allies were unable to break out of thebeachhead at Anzio until the Gustav Linewas breached in May 1944.Rome-Arno: 22 January to g September1944. The unsuccessful attempt to breakthe Gustav Line on 22 January was followedby another unsuccessful effort inMarch when the infantry failed to pushthrough after bombers had endeavored toopen the line at Monte Cassino. Alliedair power then began a vigorous campaignagainst railroads, highways, and shippingthat supported German forces in Italy.With supply lines strangled, the Germanscould not repulse the new drive launchedby the Allies in May. German resistancecrumbled. By 4 June 1944 the Allies hadtaken Rome. But the advance ground toa halt against a new defensive line theenemy established along the Arno River.Southern France: 15 August to 14 September1944. While the Germans wereretreating in Italy in the summer of 1944,the Allies diverted some of their strengthin the theater to the invasion of SouthernFrance. After preliminary bombardment,a combined seaborne-airborne force landedon the French Riviera on 15 August.Marseilles having been taken, SevmthArmy advanced up the Rhone Valley andby mid-September was in touch withAllied forces that had entered France fromthe north.North Apennines: 10 September 1944to 4 April 1945. In Italy during the falland winter of 1944-1945 the Allies usedtheir air power against the enemy’s communicationsas ground forces beat againstthe Gothic Line north of the Arno.Although little progress was made on theground, the action in the Apennines tieddown a large German army at a time whenthose troops could have been used in decisivecampaigns being directed againstGermany by the Allies in the west andthe Russians on the east.Po Valley: 5 April to 8 May 1945. Theeffectiveness of interdiction in northern