Capture of Forli

Discussion in 'Italy' started by Ramiles, Oct 29, 2022.

  1. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

  2. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

  3. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Events

    Editing in progress ;-)

    Monday 30th October 1944... 30d10m1944...

    The British Eighth Army reached Forlì. The Allied advance in Italy had slowed considerably in recent days and time was running out to realize the objective of taking Bologna before winter.
    The U.S. Third Army completed the capture of Maizières-lès-Metz.
    Finnish forces captured Muonio in northern Finland.
    The Greek government banned the leftist militia group ELAS.

    FIFTH ARMY : TRANSPORTATION IN THE MUD
    NA19818 : Object description - Original wartime caption: American transport carrying supplies, moves slowly along Route 6531. Photographer: Sergeant Curtis.

    Tuesday 31st October 1944... 31d10m1944...

    GENERAL ALEXANDER GIVES WAR RESUME
    NA19804 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Using a huge map of Italy, General Alexander explains the progress made during the various stages of the campaign in Italy. Photographer: Captain Tanner.


    Wednesday 1st November 1944

    EIGHTH ARMY : ACROSS THE RIVER RONCO
    NA19850 : Object description - Original wartime caption: While men and supplies ford the Ronco, Indian Sappers start to build a bridge. Photographer: Sergeant Loughlin.

    Thursday 2nd November 1944

    Friday 3rd November 1944


    Saturday 4th November 1944

    9th Lancers -
    Regimental-Histories_1936-1945 Bright_269.jpg - The Royal Lancers Museum at Derby

    20221103_102026.jpg

    FIFTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    NA19950 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Guardsmen climbing up the track through the mountains. Photographer: Sergeant Hunter.

    Sunday 5th November 1944

    9th Lancers - Regimental-Histories_1936-1945 Bright_271.jpg - The Royal Lancers Museum at Derby

    20221105_100303.jpg

    EIGHTH ARMY : CORPS COMMANDER ATTENDS FLAMETHROWER DEMONSTRATION
    NA19960 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Lieut.General Keightley (centre) and Brigadier Heber-Percy discussing the demonstration. Photographer: Sergeant Meyer.

    Monday 6th November 1944

    ITALY : FIFTH ARMY : REPAIRING ARMY SUPPLY ROUTE
    NA19980 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Transport held up while the road is repaired, but supplies still have to go through. Mule teams are seen passing the waiting transport, some of which became bogged as the day wore on. Photographer: Sergeant Johnson.


    Tuesday 7th November 1944


    FIFTH ARMY : GENERAL ALEXANDER VISITS 78 DIVISION H.Q.
    NA19970 : Object description - Original wartime caption: General Alexander with senior Allied officers at a forward height overlooking enemy territory. Included in the party are 13 Corps Commander, Lieut. General Kirkman (in light macintosh); U.S. Army General Lemnitzer; 6th Armoured Division Commander Major General Morray (in tam o'shanter) and Brigadier A. Scott. Photographer: Sergeant Wooldridge.

    ITALY : EIGHTH ARMY : MUSSOLINI'S BIRTHPLACE AND CASTLE
    NA19985 : Object description - Original wartime caption: The scene in the bomb-damaged library. Photographer: Sergeant Lambert.

    ITALY : EIGHTH ARMY : MUSSOLINI'S BIRTHPLACE AND CASTLE
    NA19986 : Object description - Original wartime caption: From the top of the castle tower, used as a British O.P., the German positions can be seen. Photographer: Sergeant Lambert.

    ITALY : EIGHTH ARMY : MUSSOLINI'S BIRTHPLACE AND CASTLE
    NA19992 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Predappio, a street scene in the town where Italy's ex-leader was born.

    Wednesday 8th November 1944

    EIGHTH ARMY : CROSSING OF THE RIVER RABBI
    IWM NA20046 : Object description - Original wartime caption: An MP on duty in S. Martino, taken by the Eighth Army on 8th November 1944.
    Photo taken by Sergeant Lambert. Catalogued 9th November 1944.


    Thursday 9th November 1944

    EIGHTH ARMY : ENTRY INTO FORLI
    NA19993 : Object description - Original wartime caption: British armoured vehicles pass into Forli. Photographer: Sergeant Dawson.

    EIGHTH ARMY : ENTRY INTO FORLI
    NA19996 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Italian women citizens of Forli posting notices of liberation on a Sherman tank. Photographer: Sergeant Dawson.

    EIGHTH ARMY : ENTRY INTO FORLI
    NA19998 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Before the Germans left Forli, they posted observation men in civilian clothes, equipped with complete mobile transmitting sets. This man was captured soon after the Black Watch entered the town, and he is seen here in the jeep of the Intelligence Officer, 12 Bde before being taken to a POW cage. Photographer: Sergeant Dawson.

    THE BRITISH ARMY IN ITALY 1944
    NA20000 : Object description - Churchill ARK bridgelaying tanks passing through Forli, 9 November 1944. Photographer: Sergeant Dawson.

    EIGHTH ARMY : CROSSING OF THE RIVER RABBI
    NA20040 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Infantry in Bren carriers cross the River Rabbi at S. Martino, S.W. of Forli. Photographer: Sergeant Lambert.

    EIGHTH ARMY : CROSSING OF THE RIVER RABBI
    NA20045 : Object description - Original wartime caption: After the Infantry had crossed the River Rabbi, tanks of the 2nd Armoured Brigade (Queen's Bays) followed to give support. Photographer: Sergeant Lambert.

    Friday 10th November 1944

    FIRST SNOW IN ITALY
    NA20061 : Object description - Original wartime caption: "C" Coy., 2nd Rifle Brigade 'brew up' in the snow on Monte Loro. Photographer: Sergeant Wooldridge.

    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    NA20062 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Following the capture of Forli, our troops advanced to the South bank of the River Montone. An OP was set up in a house on the riverside road. Cpl. A. Windsor of Southampton mans a sniping rifle in one of the rooms of the house. Photographer: Denis Lupson - IWM AFPU Portrait photographs


    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    NA20063 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Tank destroyers on one of the runways on the S.W. side of Forli airfield. Photographer: Sergeant Lupson.

    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    NA20064 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Wrecked aircraft and hangar on Forli airfield, bombed by Allied Air Forces. Photographer: Sergeant Lupson.

    FIFTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    NA20067 - Object description - Original wartime caption: A typical stretch of mountain road, between Palazzuolo and Castagna (1st. Br. Div.Sector). Photographer: Sergeant Best.

    Monday 13th November 1944

    THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AFRICA, SICILY, ITALY, THE BALKANS AND AUSTRIA 1942-1946

    IWM NA20209 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Fighting beyond Forli, a Churchill tank of 142 R.A.C. , 25 Armoured Brigade, ran into trouble and was knocked out by a concealed German tank. In the foreground is a jeep which was hit by mortar fire. Photographer Sergeant Lupson. Catalogued 13d11m1944.

    Tuesday 14th November 1944

    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    IWM NA 20138 : Object description - Original wartime caption: German prisoners taken N. of Terra Del Sole at 138 Brigade HQ.
    Photo taken by Sergeant Lambert. Catalogued 14d11m1944.

    Wednesday 15th November 1944

    Screenshot_20221115-183222_YouTube.jpg

    Thursday 16th November 1944


    EIGHTH ARMY : AFTER THE FLOODS
    NA20150 : Object description - Original wartime caption: The view from the main road onto what were once pretty gardens surrounding the cottages in Savio. Photographer: Sergeant Bowman.

    Monday 20th November 1944

    8TH ARMY CARRIER PIGEON SERVICE

    IWM NA20175 : Object description - Original wartime caption: General view of the new type of mobile loft at a site in the 8th Army area. Rimini.

    Tuesday 21st November 1944

    BRITISH AMBASSADOR VISITS FIFTH ARMY FRONT

    IWM NA20201 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Lieut. General Kirkman and Sir Noel Charles in conversation at 13th Corps HQ at Scarperia. The picturesque castle at Scarperia can be seen in the background.

    Wednesday 22nd November 1944

    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    IWM NA20288 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Men of "A" and "C" squadrons, 51st Royal Tank Regiment, enjoying a game of rugby football before moving across the river Cosina into battle. Photo taken by Sergeant Levy. Catalogued 22/23d11m1944.


    Thursday 23rd November 1944

    Screenshot_20221115-183736_YouTube.jpg


    Friday 24th November 1944

    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    NA20221 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Two dead Italians were discovered in a farmhouse laid on a mattress. Members of their family are seen carrying one of the bodies into a house.


    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    NA20222 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Sherman tanks prepare for a shoot on the road about 1/4-mile from Faenza.

    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    NA20223 : Object description - Original wartime caption: Faenza, seen from the window of an OP just outside the town. The Sherman tanks in the foreground are shooting up German positions in and around Faenza.

    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    NA20225 : Object description - Original wartime caption: A German M. IV Special tankm hit first by A/Tk fire, and then by a bomb, lying in a crater on the road to Faenza.

    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    NA20226 : Object description - Original wartime caption: A group of men of 16 Btn. Durham Light Infantry who crossed the river Rio Cosina, enjoy a well-earned rest.

    Saturday 25th November 1944

    9th Lancers...

    FB_IMG_1668362460906.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 29, 2022
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  4. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    HyperWar: US Army in WWII: Cassino to the Alps [Chapter 23]

    Has...

    The Capture of Forli
    For the Forli operation, General McCreery planned to employ only two of his four corps, the British 5 and the Polish 2. The remaining corps, the Canadian 1st Corps and the British 10 would be given an opportunity to rest, the former eventually to be used against Ravenna and the latter to be moved before the end of the year to Greece, together with the British 4th and 46th Divisions and the Indian 4th Division, to enhance the British role in the escalating civil strife in that recently liberated country.
    Since 27 October, through a series of limited-objective operations, the 5 Corps had managed to improve its position along the Ronco. The most important of these, on 31 October, had been the 4th Division's crossing of the river east of Forli and the 10th Indian Division's crossing of the Ronco at Meldola, six miles southeast of Forli. The latter division, after crossing the river, turned northwest and made its way as far as Collina, halfway to Forli. On 2 November
    --394--
    the British 46th Division came forward to relieve the Indian division and to join the 4th Division in a final converging assault on Forli from the southeast and the east. (Since both British divisions were slated eventually for duty in Greece, McCreery wanted to make full use of them before their relief.)
    On the 5 Corps' left in the Apennines foothills south of Highway 9, the 2 Polish Corps, meanwhile, prepared to resume its advance in the direction of Faenza, thirteen miles northwest of Preddapio Nuova where the corps had halted on 27 October. General McCreery had assigned the Poles the task of clearing high ground south of the highway between Forli and Faenza, eight and a half miles northwest of Forli.
    A period of clear, cold weather moved into the area on 6 November, and the fighter-bombers of the DAF emerged in force to support the Eighth Army across its entire front. As the bombs rained down on the enemy lines, the 4th Division initiated the 5 Corps' main attack from the vicinity of Carpena, just southeast of the Forli airport, a little over two miles from the city. On the division's left, the 46th Division attacked from a point about two miles south of Forli. As a diversion to these two operations, a brigade from corps reserves, the 56th Division, launched a holding attack along Highway 9. Southwest of the 5 Corps the Polish 5th Kresowa Division had reached Monte Maggiore and the village of San Zeno in Volpinara, two and a half miles northwest of Predappio Nuova. This advance outflanked the Forli sector to the south and gravely threatened the integrity of the German defense of Forli. Now threatened on three sides, the Germans in Forli broke contact and withdrew during the night of 8 November to the line of the Montone River where it turns northward some three miles northwest of the city. The 4th Division entered Forli early on the 9th.
    When the British attempted to exploit beyond the city, however, they were checked briefly by the Germans who, in the meantime, had established themselves behind the flooded Montone. Nevertheless, by the 12th the British managed to cross the river at Ladino, four miles southwest of Forli. Two days later they overran Villagrappa two miles northwest of the bridgehead. But by the 16th growing enemy resistance had brought the 5 Corps' advance to a halt seven miles southeast of Faenza, the corps' next objective.
    Forli and the high ground immediately southwest of it were now in Allied hands. This had been an important gain for the Eighth Army. Located at the junction of Highway 9 and Highway 67, Forli, in Eighth Army control, would open up the Florence-Forli road and thereby facilitate lateral communications with the Fifth Army.
    Meanwhile, six miles northeast of Forli, the 5 Corps' flanking unit, the 12th Lancers, aided by local partisans, had routed the Germans from Coccolia, their last stronghold along the Ronco on 15 November. Eight miles northeast of Coccolia, Task Force Porter, which held the former Canadian sector, occupied the Ravenna airport, despite local flooding caused by the enemy's opening the flood-gates of the Uiumi Uniti Canal. With the line of the Ronco
    --395--
    breached at three places, the Germans northeast of Forli would have no choice but to fall back on the Montone, which parallels the Ronco two to three miles to the west and forms the last possible defense line before Ravenna.
    Since Eighth Army's growing threat to Ravenna might cause the Germans to shift units from the Faenza sector to protect their northeastern flank, McCreery decided to take advantage of this shift by mounting a set-piece attack on Faenza. On the west bank of the Lamone River, ten miles northwest of Forli, Faenza, an ancient center of ceramic manufacturing, still lay unscathed behind its 15th century ramparts when on 18 November General McCreery issued his orders for an attack on the city. As they had during the operation against Forli, the 5 Corps' 4th and 46th Divisions would avoid a frontal assault on the city and attempt to invest it from the Apennines foothills to the south. On the corps' left flank this maneuver was extended as the 2 Polish Corps' 3d Carpathian Division sent patrols as far as Modigliana, ten miles southwest of Faenza where contact was made with the Fifth Army's 13 Corps. As before, the 4th and 46th Divisions were to make a converging attack, the former advancing south of Highway 9 and the latter astride the highway. On the 5 Corps' right a holding attack would be set in motion by the 10th Indian Division, which had, meanwhile, replaced the 12th Lancers. For the present the British 56th Division remained in corps reserve.
    By 21 November the 5 Corps had completed preparations for the assault on Faenza. On that day clear skies permitted 500 aircraft, including medium bombers, to roar into the air above the front to bomb and strafe enemy positions on the Faenza sector over the next two days. Shortly before the divisions began to move corps artillery opened fire across the front.
    In spite of this firepower the Germans clung to the line of the Montone until nightfall on the 23d. Under the concealment of darkness they broke contact and fell back three miles, first to the line of the Marzeno, then an additional three miles to the Lamone.
    On the 25th the 5 Corps pulled up to the Lamone on a broad front. The next day heavy rain began to fall, flooding the river and tributary streams. Despite the fact that southwest and northeast of Faenza the 4th and 46th Divisions were now within easy assault distance of the city they could do little until the weather cleared and the rains abated. In the interval the corps commander, General Keightley, relieved the 4th Division with the 2d New Zealand, which, after several weeks in reserve, would be comparatively fresh for the next phase of the offensive.
    Meanwhile, to 5 Corps' left, General Anders' Polish corps had made good progress on the 16th in the valley of the Marzeno southwest of Faenza.
    Capturing Montefortino, the high ground northeast of Modigliana, the 5th Kresowa Division lost it to a counterattack on the following night. On the 18th the 3d Carpathian Division relieved the 5th Kresowa Division and went on to recapture Montefortino on the 21st. On the Polish corps' left a screening force entered Modigliana on the 15th. Over the next nine days this force patrolled beyond Modigliana as
    --396--
    far as the upper Lamone. On the 24th the patrols probed to within six miles southwest of Faenza.
     
  5. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

     
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  6. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 188 [Main Title]

    Including...

    Full description
    III. 'ITALY.' British artillery teams fire camouflaged 155mm heavy field guns at German positions near an unidentified Italian medieval hill town. A British M4 Sherman tank (three piece nose) drives along a dusty Italian road past a dump for spent artillery shells. Members of the 4th Indian Division armed with Lee-Enfield Mk III .303-inch rifles move with caution across rugged Italian terrain. An Indian infantryman throws a Mills No 36M hand grenade into a suspected enemy foxhole position, taking cover prior to its explosion. German prisoners of war walk along a country road guarded by British infantrymen armed with Lee-Enfield Mk III rifles. Italian civilian refugees pass down a road in an ox-drawn cart that is laden with personal possessions and has white flags flying from it. A caterpillar tractor is used to pull an Ordnance QF 25-pounder howitzer with limber along a very muddy mountain track. The commentary outlines the increasing problems of movement and communication inherent in the changing weather situation with the onset of the Italian winter. Eighth Army infantrymen attempt to push a bogged-down artillery tractor from cloying mud, others shore up a road against torrential rain using logs. A party of British infantrymen drag a wounded colleague over muddy terrain on an improvised sled. British Eighth Army Gurkha troops ford the River Ronco (Ravenna-Forli) in the environs of the village of Meldola. Italian civilians hold guide-ropes to assist the Gurkhas in the crossing of the fast-flowing Ronco, swollen by heavy winter rains.

    Regimental-Histories_1936-1945 Bright_278.jpg - The Royal Lancers Museum at Derby

    Screenshot_20221104-171011_Samsung Internet.jpg
     
  7. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    9th Lancers...

    Regimental-Histories_1936-1945 Bright_276.jpg - The Royal Lancers Museum at Derby

    FB_IMG_1668358582209.jpg

    Screenshot_20221113-164040_Samsung Internet.jpg

    ----- x ----- x -----

    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    IWM NA20138 : Object description - Original wartime caption: German prisoners taken N. of Terra Del Sole at 138 Brigade HQ. Photo taken by Sergeant Lambert. Catalogued 14d11m1944.

    Screenshot_20221113-170536_Samsung Internet.jpg


    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    IWM NA20139 : Object description - Original wartime caption: This Sherman tank went into a ditch while moving up the narrow road at night. The crew are seen at their meal as they wait for a recovery vehicle. Photo taken by Sergeant Lambert. Catalogued 14d11m1944.

    EIGHTH ARMY : VARIOUS
    IWM NA20140 : Object description - Original wartime caption: This pontoon bridge over the River Montone was washed away. The bridge on the lest was erected to replace it.
    Photo taken by Sergeant Lambert. Catalogued 14d11m1944.
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2022

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