page_title: Battle of San Marino
section_title: Entry into San Marino
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of San Marino / Battle / Entry into San Marino
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Battaglia di Monte Pulito – Paesaggio del fronte, sullo sfondo il Titano English: Battle of Monte Pulito aka Battle of San Marino
context_page_description: The Battle of San Marino was an engagement on 17–20 September 1944 during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War, in which German Army forces occupied the neutral Republic of San Marino, and were then attacked by Allied forces. It is also sometimes known as the Battle of Monte Pulito.
  San Marino had declared its neutrality earlier in the war, and had remained broadly unaffected by events in Europe until 1943, when Allied forces had advanced a sizable distance up the Italian Peninsula. A major German defensive position, the Gothic Line, ran across the peninsula a short distance south of the Sammarinese border, and in late June, the country was bombed by the Royal Air Force, killing 35 people, in the belief that the German Army had taken up positions on its territory. In Operation Olive, launched in late August, a strong Allied force attacked at the very eastern end of the line, aiming to pass through Rimini—just east of San Marino—and break out onto the plains north of the city. Whilst San Marino was southwest of Rimini, the plan was for it to be bypassed entirely.
context_section_description: The 46th Division took Montescudo on the 15th, and on the next day the 56th Division entered the town of Mulazzano, directly north of Montescudo and equally close to the border. The fighting pressed westward from here, with the 56th Division on the northern flank and the 46th on the south; both were held back by strong German resistance.
  In early September, the German Army had sent a strong force into San Marino to defend it against the Allies; this would also give them control of one of the major roads in the area, and allow artillery observers to occupy the mountain peaks. The defending force was drawn from the 278. Infanterie-Division, whilst the 4th Indian Division was assigned to attack it on the 17th.
  The leading elements of the division—the 3rd/10th Baluch Regiment—crossed the Marano River on the eastern border on the night of the 17th, with the 1st/9th Gurkha Rifles moving through them to attack Points 343 and 366 near Faetano. These small hills—just behind the river—were held by two battalions of the 993rd Grenadier Regiment. The first—Point 343—was taken at 05:00, but the force occupying Point 366 had to fall back after running low on ammunition. Rifleman Sher Bahadur Thapa was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for holding the crest of the hill single-handed for two hours, allowing two companies to withdraw in safety, before being killed whilst trying to rescue another wounded Gurkha.
  Point 343 was held through the 18th, however, though with the loss of 63 men; by the evening, a force of tanks had managed to come up and stabilise the position with the aid of artillery support. The 4th/11th Sikh Regiment moved around the Gurkhas to the north, covering the northern flank of the San Marino heights, and the division's 11th Brigade passed through them to help encircle the city. On the evening of the 19th, the 2nd Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of 11th Indian Infantry Brigade began to push into the outskirts of the city from the north, but early on the morning of the 20th were held back by defensive positions in the north-west of the city, where the road to the upper part of the city, situated higher on the mountain, began. Tanks moved into the suburbs, whilst a company of the Camerons moved uphill toward the summit in heavy rain. The city was secured by the early afternoon, with only 24 casualties among the attackers, and 54 prisoners taken.
  On the 21st, the local defence forces were enlisted to help mop up straggling German troops, and the 4th Indian Division pressed onward through a heavy gale and passed out of the country.
caption: British soldier observing German positions near San Marino
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