Richard Doherty details the last big push to bring an end to the war in Italy.
Spring of 1945, Britain’s illustrious Eighth Army was pitted against elite German defenders in a climactic operation to secure the Po Valley.
The morning of April 9, 1945, was a warm, bright day in the historic Romagna region of northern Italy, but the quiet was soon to be shattered. The Allied soldiers occupying their frontline positions quietly withdrew some 500 yards into sheltered trenches, while overhead the squadrons of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces sortied aircraft, as per usual.
Everything was being done to assure the Germans that this was just another routine morning. That had all changed by the afternoon. Between 1.45 and 2.20pm, in an overwhelming display of power, 825 B-17 Fortress and B-24 Liberator heavy bombers, accompanied by 234 B-25 Mitchell light bombers, flew over the front to drop more than 1,500 tons of bombs, mostly 20lb fragmentation devices with 100lb weapons mixed in. Plastered all over German positions, the bombers’ purpose was to disrupt, which they did effectively by destroying communication lines.
However, there was more for the airmen to do, with both American XXII Tactical Air Command an…
