Gothic Line memories in Barga

This morning a dozen american WW2 jeeps containing soldiers fully armed and in battle readiness drove onto the Fosso and parked in a line facing Barga Vecchia. Closer inspection of these troops revealed some startling facts. Although they were all in original american army trucks and jeeps, and yes the uniforms did look more or less original, the average age of the troops seemed to hover around the late 50′s and early 60′s. Something was not quite right here.

Also what was a German General doing standing next to an American GI and what looked like an original member of the Devonshire Regiment British Army ? The answer was they were all involved in the third annual commemoration of the events along the Gothic Line during World War Two. Members of the Comitato Linea Gotica Vergemoli were here to lay a wreath at the Monument for the Fallen in memory of the 100s of civilians and soldiers killed during the second world war in this area during the battle between the Germans and Allied forces

The Gothic Line, also known as Linea Gotica, formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring’s last major line of defence in the final stages of World War II along the summits of the Apennines during the fighting retreat of Nazi Germany’s forces in Italy against the Allied Armies in Italy commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander.Hitler had concerns about the state of preparation of the Gothic Line: He feared the Allies would use amphibious landings to out-flank its defenses. So, to downgrade its importance in the eyes of both friend and foe, he ordered the name, with its historic connotations, changed, reasoning that if the Allies managed to break through they wouldn’t be able to use the more pretentious name to magnify their victory claims. In response to this order, Kesselring renamed it the “Green Line” in June 1944.The Gothic Line was breached on both the Adriatic and the central Apennine fronts during the autumn of 1944 but Kesselring’s forces were consistently able to retire in good order and no decisive breakthrough was achieved. This did not take place until the renewed offensive in the spring of 1945. On April 29 1945 Heinrich von Vietinghoff, Commander of German Army Group C signed an instrument of surrender and hostilities in Italy formally ceased on May 2. source