Barbara Line
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| Italian Campaign |
|---|
| Invasion of Sicily – Invasion of Italy – Armistice with Italy – Winter Line – San Pietro – Anzio – Monte Cassino – Gothic Line |
During World War II, the Barbara Line was a series of German military fortifications in Italy, some ten to twenty miles south of the Gustav Line, and a similar distance north of the Volturno Line. Near the eastern coast, it ran along the line of the Trigno river. The line mostly consisted of fortified hilltop positions.
General Albrecht Kesselring, commander of the German forces in Italy, ordered his forces to retreat to the Barbara Line on 12 October 1943 after the Allies crossed the Volturno River, breaching the Volturno defensive line.
By the end of October the Barbara Line on the Tyrrhenian Sea side of the Apennine Mountains had been breached by U.S. 5th Army, and the Germans retreated to the Bernhardt Line. On the Adriatic front British 8th Army (British V and British XIII Corps) attacked across the Trigno river on November 2. It took until the nearly the end of November before they had fought their way to face the Sangro river and the formidable Gustav defensive positions overlooking the river from the ridge tops on the far side.
[edit] Bibliography
- Col. Kenneth V. Smith (1944). CMH Online bookshelves: WWII Campaigns, Naples-Foggia 9 September 1943-21 January 1944. Washington: US Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 72-17.
- Unknown (1944). CMH Online bookshelves: From the Volturno to the Winter Line 6 October-15 November 1943. Washington: US Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 100-8.
