page_title: 78th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)
section_title: Sicily and Italy
hierarchical_section_title: 78th Infantry Division (United Kingdom) / History / Sicily and Italy
caption_attribution_description: English: The British Army in Italy 1945 Infantry of 17 Platoon, 'H' Company, 2nd London Irish Rifles hurl hand grenades during an attack on a German strongpoint on the southern bank of the River Senio, 22 March 1945.
context_page_description: The 78th Infantry Division, also known as the Battleaxe Division, was an infantry division of the British Army, raised during World War II that fought, with great distinction, in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy from late 1942–1945.
context_section_description: The 78th Division was initially held in reserve in North Africa for the Allied invasion of Sicily and spent the time bringing units up to strength with reinforcements, and training for future operations. However, Montgomery's Eighth Army, facing stiff German resistance, requested reinforcements and the 78th landed in Sicily in late July 1943, where it became part of Lieutenant General Sir Oliver Leese's XXX Corps. The division fought with distinction in Sicily, in particular at the Battle of Centuripe in August, earning the praise of the Army commander. The division then, after a short rest after the fighting in Sicily was over, went on to fight in the Italian Campaign, landing in Italy in late September 1943, transferring back to Lieutenant General Allfrey's V Corps. Notable engagements in Italy (where, from December 1943 onwards the division was commanded by Major General Charles Keightley)) include the assaults on the Viktor Line (Battle of Termoli), the Moro River Campaign, the Barbara Line and the Winter Line as well as the Battle of Monte Cassino–where Fusilier Frank Jefferson of the 2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers earned the division's third and final VC of the war–and the Trasimene Line.
  After this the 78th Division was, in July, withdrawn to the Middle East for a rest. The 78th Division gained notoriety when on rest in Egypt, in mid-1944, by starting the Cairo riots. Some divisional signs are known to have included 'Cairo' as a mock battle honour. However, the rest did not last long and the division, now commanded by Major General Donald Butterworth (soon replaced in October by Major General Keith Arbuthnott), soon returned to Italy, fighting around the Gothic Line, under the command of Lieutenant-General Sidney Kirkman's XIII Corps once again, which was then under the command of the U.S. Fifth Army. The division's second Italian winter was spent in the mountains, where morale was low. XIII Corps, stationed in the Apennine Mountains, suffered the highest desertion rate in Italy, with over 1,100 men going missing, more than 600, over half, coming from the 78th Division. The division transferred back to the Eighth Army, now commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Richard McCreery, in January 1945, coming under the command of V Corps, now under Lieutenant General Keightley, the 78th Division's former commander. The division's final battle was in the Battle of the Argenta Gap, part of the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy where the division ended the war in Austria.
caption: Infantrymen of the 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles hurl hand grenades during an attack on a German strongpoint on the southern bank of the River Senio, Italy, 22 March 1945.
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