Editing Bernhardt Line (section)

==Fifth Army Bernhardt Line offensive==
It had taken Lieutenant General Mark Clark's Fifth Army in deteriorating weather, as the torrential autumn rains broke, from mid-October to early November to fight their way across difficult terrain and through skillful and determined rearguard defences from the Volturno Line positions to the Bernhardt Line.

In the centre of the Fifth Army front lay the Mignano Gap, which, because of the marshy conditions on the coastal plain, represented the only realistic path to the mouth of the Liri Valley, the route to Rome.

[[Image:MignanoGapNov1943.jpg|thumb|left|Area of the Fifth Army offensive in the autumn of 1943.]]
Flanking and overlooking Highway 6 through the Mignano Gap and its villages ([[San Pietro Infine]], San Vittore Del Lazio and Cervaro) are, successively, Monte Camino, Monte Lungo, Monte Porchia and Monte Trocchio on the left and Monte San Croce, Monte Corno, Monte Sambúcaro<ref name=Sammucro group=nb>This name usually appears as "Sammucro" on Allied military maps of the period.</ref> and Monte Maio on the right. Monte Sambúcaro normally appears as Monte Sammucro on Allied maps of the time. On reaching the Bernhardt positions, an immediate attack was launched by the [[22nd Guards Brigade|201st Guards Brigade]], which was attached to the [[56th (London) Infantry Division]], part of Lieutenant-General [[Richard McCreery|Sir Richard McCreery]]'s [[X Corps (United Kingdom)|British X Corps]] on Monte Camino on 6 November, which was beaten back by the [[15th Panzergrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)|15th Panzergrenadier Division]] (''15. Panzergrenadierdivision''), with some 600 losses to the 201st Guards Brigade. By mid-November, it was clear that after having sustained 10,000 combat casualties since the Volturno Line offensive, the Fifth Army needed to pause, reorganise and regather its strength.<ref>Carver, p90</ref>

The Fifth Army resumed its attack on 1 December. The first attack, [[Operation Raincoat]], was delivered after an intensive artillery and air bombardment, by the British X Corps on the left (comprising the [[46th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|46th]] and 56th Infantry Divisions) and elements of the [[II Corps (United States)|U.S. II Corps]], commanded by [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] [[Geoffrey Keyes]], including the [[First Special Service Force|1st Special Service Force]], under [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Robert T. Frederick]], on the right against the formidable Camino hill mass. The dominating peak on Monte Camino, Hill 963, is crowned by a monastery. Two slightly lower peaks, Monte la Defensa, [[Monte la Difensa]] (Hill 960) as it appeared on the military maps during the war, and Monte la Remetanea (Hill 907), lie less than {{convert|2|mi|km}} north of Camino. At the upper end of the Camino feature are the numerous peaks of Monte Maggiore. The entire hill mass is about {{convert|6|mi|km}} long and four miles (6.5&nbsp;km) wide. On the east and northeast, and the slopes rise steeply to the heightsamd then fall away gradually to the west toward the [[Garigliano]] River. It took until 9 December before the Camino mass was secured from the 15th Panzergrenadier Division.

Meanwhile, on the Fifth Army's right flank, the [[VI Corps (United States)|US VI Corps]], commanded by Major General [[John P. Lucas]] and composed of the [[34th Infantry Division (United States)|34th]] and [[45th Infantry Division (United States)|45th Infantry Divisions]], had attacked into the mountains but made little progress until reinforced by the mountain troops of the [[French Expeditionary Corps (1943–44)|French Expeditionary Corps]] (CEF), recently arrived in Italy;<ref>Carver, p104</ref> they attacked again on 15 December.

On 8 December the US [[3rd Infantry Division (United States)|3rd]] and the [[36th Infantry Division (United States)|36th Infantry Divisions]] and the 1st Special Service Force of II Corps launched the attack on Monte Sambúcaro<ref name=Sammucro group=nb/> and into the Mignano Gap. By the night of 10 December, the peaks had been taken, which threatened the German positions in the gap. However, the German [[Battle of San Pietro Infine|positions at San Pietro]] in the valley held firm until 16 December, when an attack launched from the Camino mass took Monte Lungo. The Germans could no longer expect to hold San Pietro when the dominating ground on both flanks, Monte Lungo and the Sambúcaro<ref name=Sammucro group=nb/> peaks, was in II Corps' possession. Under the cover of a counterattack, the German forces withdrew to positions about {{convert|1|mi|km}} to their rear, in front of San Vittore. Several attacks were made in the next few days, and Morello Hill, overlooking the San Vittore positions from the north, was captured on 26 December.

On the US VI Corps front, progress was made but proved very difficult over the mountainous terrain as the weather deteriorated further with the onset of winter. In December, the Fifth Army suffered 5,020 wounded, but total admissions to hospital totaled 22,816, with [[jaundice]], fevers and [[immersion foot|trench foot]] prevalent.<ref>Fifth Army at the Winter Line, p87</ref>

At the end of December, the Fifth Army had to pause once again to reorganise, replace its losses and gather itself for a final push to reach the Gustav Line defences. The US VI Corps was taken into reserve to train and prepare for the [[Battle of Anzio|Anzio landings]] (codenamed [[Battle of Anzio|Operation Shingle]]) with the French troops, by this time at corps strength, taking over their front.<ref>Fifth Army at the Winter Line, p91</ref>

The II Corps returned to the attack on 4 January 1944, with attacks parallel to Highway 6 north and south of it. The northern attack took San Vittore, and by 7 January the overlooking height of La Chiaia. On the south side, the attack was made from Monte Lungo and captured Monte Porchia. Meanwhile, on their left, the British X Corps had attacked from positions on the Camino mass to take on 8 January Cedro Hill, which with Monte Chiaia and Monte Porchia had formed a strong defensive line in front of Monte Trocchio.<ref>Fifth Army at the Winter Line, pp106-107</ref>

The last offensive to clear the enemy in front of the Gustav defences started on 10 January. [[Cervaro]] was taken on 12 January and the overlooking hills to the north on 13 January. Thar opened up the northern flank of Monte Trocchio, and a heavy assault was planned for 15 January. However, the German XIV ''Panzer'' Corps considered the position to be untenable and withdrew across the Rapido. When the II Corps moved forward on 15 January, it hurts encountered no resistance.<ref>Fifth Army at the Winter Line, p112</ref>