Battle of Garfagnana

The Battle of Garfagnana () was known to the Germans as Operation Winter Storm (Unternehmen Wintergewitter) and nicknamed the "Christmas Offensive" (Italian: Offensiva di Natale).

It was an attack of Axis forces on the western sector of the Gothic Line during World War II. It happened in December 1944 in the north Tuscan Apennines, near Massa and Lucca.

In late December 1944 the German 14th Army under General Kurt von Tippelskirch attacked the left side of the U.S. Fifth Army in the Serchio valley. He wanted to make the U.S. forces stay there.

The Allies had ordered two brigades from Indian 8th Infantry Division to be moved to help the U.S. 92nd Infantry Division. By the time they had arrived the Germans and Italians had captured Barga. U.S. soldiers had intended to retreat to Lucca. The German / Italian force stopped the attack and withdrew.

Barga was recaptured one week later by the New Year. The western Gothic Line remained in place until late March 1945.

Historical background

Benito Mussolini and his Defense Minister, Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, wanted to create an Italian Army. They did not want this army to be under German control. They wanted some of the newly created Italian Divisions to attack the Allies in the Italian peninsula.

They planned an attack in Garfagnana for two of their new Divisions. There would be 40,000 men and airplanes. Their goal was recapturing Lucca, Pisa and Livorno in Tuscany from the Allies. But the Italians lacked arms, tanks and airplanes.

The Germans created their own attack,
With 9,000 soldiers (mostly Italians), they attacked in Garfagnana a small area of the Gothic Line. They wanted to move the Allies back .

Groups from the U.S. 92nd Infantry Division moved near Garfagnana sector in November 1944. They did not
capture Castelnuovo di Garfagnana.

The battle
Following the Ardennes Offensive in mid-December, the Allies thought the Axis might try an attack in Northern Italy.
The 19th and 21st Brigades of the Indian 8th Infantry Division were moved to help the U.S. 92nd Infantry Division in front of Lucca.

On 26 December, several RSI military did the "Operation Winter Storm" (Wintergewitter) attacks with three German battalions. This was a German and Italian attack against the American 92nd Infantry Division. A total of 9,100 Axis troops (of which 66% were Italians), with 100 artillery pieces but no tanks attacked. There were 18,000 Allied troops with 140 artillery batteries and 120 tanks.

Their goal was to capture the small towns of Barga, Sommocolonia, Vergemoli, Treppignana, Coreglia, Fornaci di Barga, Promiana, Castelvecchio and Calomini. These were all north-west of Lucca. By 27 December the attack was over. In the morning, the German troops entered Pian di Coreglia.

The next morning, the Axis troops occupied Piano di Coreglia. The Axis troops got more than 25 kilometres inside the Allies lines.

References

Category:European battles of World War II
Category:1944 in Italy