Editing Bernhardt Line (section)

==Background==
Following the [[Allied invasion of Italy]] in September 1943, the Italian government had surrendered, but the German Army continued to fight. The [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[15th Army Group]], commanded by [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] Sir [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|Harold Alexander]], conquered southern Italy, but by early October, it had come up against the [[Volturno Line]], the first of two lines (the next being the [[Barbara Line]]) was used to delay the Allied advance to buy time to prepare the most formidable defensive positions, which formed the Winter Line. Alexander had three possible alternatives to reach the [[Italy|Italian]] capital of [[Rome]]. On the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic Front]], he could advance to [[Pescara]] and then use Highway 5 (the old Roman [[Via Valeria]]) which traversed the country to Rome on the other coast. Alternatively, on the other side of the Apennines, Highway 7 (the old Roman [[Appian Way]]) followed along the west coast but south of Rome ran into the [[Pontine Marshes]], which the Germans had flooded. Finally, Highway 6 ran in the same direction, but further inland, through the [[Liri]] Valley.

===Order of battle===
The German forces in Italy were commanded by Field Marshal (''[[Generalfeldmarschall]]'') [[Albert Kesselring]]. The defence of the Winter Line was the task of the German 10th Army (''10. Armee'') under the temporary command of [[Lieutenant general|Lieutenant-General]] (''[[General der Panzertruppe]]'') [[Joachim Lemelsen]] (in the absence of General (''[[Generaloberst]]'') [[Heinrich von Vietinghoff]], who was in Germany on sick leave). The German 10th Army had [[Traugott Herr]]'s [[LXXVI Panzer Corps]] (''LXXVI Panzerkorps'') deployed on the eastern side of Italy, from the [[Apennine Mountains]] to the Adriatic, and [[Frido von Senger und Etterlin]]'s [[XIV Panzer Corps]] (''XIV Panzerkorps'') on the western side, from the mountains to the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]].

The new [[Supreme Allied Commander]] of the [[Mediterranean Theater of Operations]] (MTO) was General [[Henry Maitland Wilson|Sir Henry Maitland Wilson]], replacing [[General (United States)|General]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], who had moved to command of the Allied forces preparing for [[Operation Overlord]], the Allied [[invasion of Normandy]]. The [[Allied Armies in Italy]] (AAI), formerly designated the 15th Army Group, were commanded by General Alexander. Under his command were two [[field army|field armies]]. To the left, on the western side of Italy, was the [[United States Army North|UD Fifth Army]], commanded by [[Lieutenant general (United States)|Lieutenant General]] [[Mark W. Clark]]. To the right, on the eastern side, was the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|British Eighth Army]], commanded by General Sir [[Bernard Montgomery]]. The Fifth Army consisted of American, British and French units. The Eighth Army, with British, [[British Raj|Indian]], [[New Zealand]], [[Canada|Canadian]] and [[Poland|Polish]] units, was from early January 1944 commanded by [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] Sir [[Oliver Leese]] after General Montgomery was, along with General Eisenhower, also recalled to [[England]] to prepare for Operation Overlord.