Editing Volturno Line (section)

==Eighth Army on the River Biferno (Battle of Termoli)==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2005-0103-505, Albert Kesselring.jpg|left|thumb|German supreme commander in Italy—[[Generalfeldmarschall|''Generalfeldmarshall'']] [[Albert Kesselring]] (1940).]]
{{main|Operation Devon}}
As a response to the increasing Allied pressure on the Adriatic front, on October 1 the German supreme commander in Italy—[[Generalfeldmarschall|''Generalfeldmarshall'']] [[Albert Kesselring]]—ordered the [[16th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|16th Panzer Division]] to switch to the Adriatic front. Elements of the [[78th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|British 78th Infantry Division]]'s [[11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East|11th Brigade]] infantry crossed the Biferno at dawn on 3 October 1943 following an amphibious landing at Termoli by [[British Commandos]] at 02:15.<ref>Ford, p116</ref> By late morning, the two elements had linked up and that night 78th Division's [[36th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|36th Brigade]] were able to be landed by sea at [[Termoli]]. However, logistical problems had prevented the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] building a heavy duty bridge across the Biferno and when the bulldozed fords were made unusable after 5 tanks had crossed, there was no way to get more tanks across the river to support the infantry. A lighter weight FBE bridge was built to allow artillery, reconnaissance, and other vehicles to cross. The move east of [[16th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|16th Panzer Division]] presented a major and unforeseen threat to the unsupported Allied infantry. As news of the German armour's arrival came in on 4 October, 78th Division's commander— [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] [[Vyvyan Evelegh]]—demanded priority from [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|British Eighth Army]], under [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] [[Bernard Montgomery]], for bridging equipment.<ref>Ford, p130</ref> As more German armour arrived, the Allied troops across the Biferno were forced onto the defensive. By the afternoon of 5 October, they had been squeezed back to within {{convert|.5|mi|km|abbr=on}} of Termoli.<ref>Ford, p 136</ref> However, at the same time frantic round the clock efforts by engineers had resulted in a heavyweight [[Bailey bridge]] being completed, allowing Canadian and British armour to cross the Biferno. That evening, 78th Division's [[38th (Irish) Brigade]] arrived by sea at Termoli and the German attack the following morning was narrowly repulsed in desperate fighting. By late morning on 6 October, the Allies were on the attack and by late afternoon the Germans had started to fall back to the next prepared defences on the [[Trigno|River Trigno]], the [[Barbara Line]].<ref>Ford, 9137-141</ref>