The River Battles - Italy 1944

An interactive map of the Hussars’ journey is available here.

Introduction

After a grand trip to the tiny country of San Marino, my daughter Rachel and I were back on the trail of Uncle Norm Kightley of the 8^th Hussars in the River Battles that raged from mid September 1944 until the Canadians were recalled to Europe in February 1945.

After fighting their way through the mountains for the entire Italian Campaign, once Rimini was taken it was supposed to be great tank country in the flat lands of the Po River Valley. Unfortunately, the optimistic view of Senior Leadership did not turn into reality as the Valley was criss-crossed with Rivers and canals and low-lying areas that forced all vehicles to operate on roads or River dikes only. So, the planned Armoured assault turned into yet another start and stop campaign where every waterway became an anti-tank ditch and the infantry was forced to cross the water and establish a bridgehead large enough to allow the engineers to prepare a crossing for the tanks.

This photo of the Perth Regiment crossing the Monotone River is an example of the effort required to cross each waterway. The infantry crossed the river first, either by wading, or by small boat, always under fire then moved forward to establish a zone deep enough to protect the engineers from direct fire.

The engineers then built a crossing, always under fire, plowing down the dikes that surrounded every river and establishing a bridge on pontoons for small vehicles to cross to reinforce the far side of the waterway. They then built a Bailey Bridge so the tanks could cross the water and start the process all over again.

Battle of Rimini

After the fall of Coriano, the Allies advanced on Rimini. Rimini had been heavily bombed since late 1943 with over 400 bombing raids, so the town was almost completely destroyed, only 2% of the buildings were not damaged.

The attacking Allied force consisted of the 1^st Canadian Infantry Division and the 5^th Armoured Division, the 3^rd Greek Mountain Brigade, the 2^nd New Zealand Division and British Armoured Divisions all under Canadian Command. The Battle raged from 13-21 September 1944.  Allied forces pushed toward the Rimini Line but heavy rain and mud slowed the armour advance as the infantry crossed the Marano River south of Rimini.

German paratroopers and infantry mounted strong resistance on ridges south of Rimini and it took several days for the Canadians and Greeks to seize the high ground while British and Commonwealth units cleared remaining strongpoints on the Rimini Line. The expected German counterattacks failed to halt the advance. On 19 September, the 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade and Canadian units entered Rimini after intense urban fighting with Rimini falling on 21 September. The Allies suffered approximately 14,000 casualties, largely infantry losses during the assault on fortified positions and in close‑quarters fighting. The Germans suffered approximately 9,000 casualties, including killed, wounded, and captured.

British Commander, Lieutenant‑General Oliver Leese described Rimini as one of the hardest battles fought by the Eighth Army, comparable to El Alamein and Cassino.

Although this was a multinational effort, the Greek Mountain Brigade accepted the surrender of Rimini by the Mayor, held a victory parade through the city and raised the Greek flag at city hall. The British commanders had sanctioned the parade to give credit to the efforts of the Greeks, but the 1^st Canadian Infantry Division, who considered the Greeks more a hinderance than a help due to difficulties in communication and coordination, were incensed that the headlines read “GREEKS LIBERATE RIMINI”, even in Canadian papers. By nightfall a Canadian Flag was raised beside the Greek Flag to placate the battle weary Canadians.

Our Tour

Our first stop was the Bailey Bridge at San Vito that the Hussars crossed on 27 September. The Hussars were out of the front line for a few weeks after their battering at Coriano and started to move North after the Battle of Rimini. After our traffic challenges at the Gothic Line, I revisited our stop points so we would have somewhere easy and safe to pull over to avoid the ire of impatient Italians.

The bridge across the Uso River.

As is the case with the rivers in this area, the normal river is a small stream that could easily be waded. There is a wider channel carved out by the river in the rainy season, and dikes along each bank of the river, built up since Roman times, to prevent flooding. The rivers are originated in the mountains and can quickly go from a brook to a raging torrent after a few days of rain. In the background is the modern road bridge.

The high banks are evident in this photo. The cross-supports in the railings are shown as well.

These days, the remaining Bailey Bridges form part of the walking/cycling paths in the region.

There has been a bridge in this location since Roman times, as this road was commissioned by Emperor Augustus in 2 BC. There are remains of a bridge just behind the Bailey Bridge, which was claimed until a few decades ago to be the remains of the Roman Bridge. Modern analysis has determined that the remains are from medieval times based on types of bricks and construction types, but many of the larger stones were reused from the original Roman bridge.  The arches always remain. This picture shows how the bed of the ancient bridge matches the current road bridge.

The map the location of the ancient bridge at San Vito on the Roman Road from Rimini to Savignano, straightened by Augustus, showing the location of the Augustian milestone.

The church of Saints Vitus and Modestus is visible in the background of the following picture. The Saints were martyrs during the persecution of Catholics by Emperor Diocletian in 300 AD (Diocletian of the Castle in Split, Croatia fame). A church was started in 1351 on the current site. The church was restored and embellished in 1597.

In the courtyard of the church is a memorial which says:

               San Vito to the fallen of all Wars.

Beside the memorial is a photo of a tank crossing the Bailey Bridge. The caption says:

Defensive System of the Gothic Line. Brunhild Line. Units that faced each other on 23/24/25 September 1944 for the capture of the town of San Vito. The units named include the Royal Westminster Regiment Motorized Battalion, the unit of Wine Bob’s father and uncle.

Based on the War Diaries, Uncle Norm would have driven across this bridge on 27 September. It is very moving to be able walk across the bridge Uncle Norm drove across almost 82 years earlier.

The base of the picture is labelled San Vito Bailey Bridge 26 September 1944.

The next stop was another Bailey Bridge also on the Uso River. The Uso runs straight north from San Vito to I Love Uso Village, the next bridge crossing about 8 km further North.

This bridge is also on a walking/cycling path, and the bridge railings have been covered over. The cover is an excellent habitat for wasps, causing a little fancy footwork across the bridge.

The stream is slightly wider here, and there are trails on either side of the riverbanks. Since the ground was so marshy and low-lying, the tanks could only travel on the roads or raised riverbanks, making them prime targets silhouetted again the background. The other problem was the banks were quite narrow, so if a tank was taken out, the only way to get by was shove the disabled tank off the bank.

Side view of the bridge.

Crossing the Rubicon

A short historical detour.

The phrase "crossing the Rubicon" has become a universal saying for passing a point of no return. Its historical significance lies in the fact that it triggered the end of the Roman Republic and the birth of the Roman Empire.

In 49 BC, the Rubicon was a small river in Northern Italy that served as the boundary between the province of Cisalpine Gaul (where Julius Caesar was governor) and Italy proper. Roman law strictly forbade any governor from leading standing armies into Italy. Doing so was considered an act of high treason (maiestas) and a declaration of war against the State. When Caesar led the Thirteenth Legion (Legio XIII Gemina) across the river, he was knowingly committing a capital offense. This is where he famously reportedly said, "Alea iacta est" (The die is cast).

The Roman Republic was built on a system of "checks and balances" designed to prevent any one man from seizing absolute power. Caesar’s term as governor was ending, and his political enemies in the Senate, led by Pompey the Great, demanded he disband his army and return to Rome to face trial for previous legal irregularities. Caesar realized that returning as a private citizen meant political (and likely physical) ruin (sound familiar?). By crossing the Rubicon, he chose military insurrection over legal submission. This effectively proved that the Republic's institutions were no longer strong enough to control its own generals.

The crossing immediately ignited a bloody civil war that spanned the Mediterranean, from Italy and Greece to Egypt and North Africa. Caesar’s eventual victory at the Battle of Pharsalus left him as the undisputed master of Rome. He was soon named Dictator Perpetuo (Dictator in Perpetuity), centralizing all power within himself.

While Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC by senators hoping to restore the Republic, the "Rubicon moment" had already broken the old system beyond repair. The war demonstrated that the Roman military's loyalty had shifted from the State to their individual commanders. Caesar's grand-nephew and heir, Augustus, would eventually use the power vacuum left by these wars to become the first Roman Emperor. The crossing of the Rubicon was the physical act that began this irreversible slide from a representative government to an autocracy.

The Rubicon is not a very impressive boundary.

The Hussars had a harder time than Caeser crossing the Rubicon. From Douglas How, “The 8^th Hussars – History of a Regiment”.

The river rolled profanely before the tanks, and there was no crossing it.

They churned and lashed the mud in the fields, only vaguely aware, only vaguely interested that here before them was a link out of history itself. For this was believed to be the river--once the Rubicon---which Julius Caesar had immortalized 20 centuries past by the simple crossing of it. Centuries later Napoleon too had crossed it. To have crossed the Rubicon would have been an historic, if limited, parallel. But the river now was a turgid, muddy torrent 30 feet wide. There was no crossing. There was no historic parallel.

Instead, along the twisting banks of this inflated stream, the 5th Division front lurched to a halt. Even as C Squadron and the Irish were fighting there, B Squadron and the Highlanders were ranged along the fields on a flank. For days that's where they remained. The rains were reaching their peak. The enemy supplemented them with shells and mortars and snipers' bullets. For days the Hussars sat there, unable to do much more than the odd shoot at houses looming through the murk and the rain across the river. Enemy bazookas struck back and knocked out two tanks. A third had to be evacuated for repairs from the effects of the shellfire. The shellfire was such at times that even when the supply lines brought up hot food and the crews were told it was there; they didn't get out to get it. And in the mud, the farmhouses, the fields, the infantry put their heads down and took it, and the casualties grew.

It was a sallow, humble time.

Rachel contemplating conquering Rome.

Battle of Ravenna

The Battle of Ravenna took place in December 1944. It was a key operation for the Allied forces, specifically the 1st Canadian Corps, as they pushed through the German "Gothic Line" defenses toward the Po Valley.

By late 1944, the Allied advance in Italy had slowed significantly due to the rugged terrain and the onset of a harsh winter. The Germans, under Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, used the numerous rivers and canals of the Romagna region as natural defensive barriers. Ravenna, an ancient city near the Adriatic coast, was a vital objective for the British Eighth Army to secure its right flank for a further push north.

Ravenna was liberated on December 4, 1944. The operation involved a combination of conventional military force and local resistance.

The 5th Canadian Armoured Division led the assault. Canadian troops bypassed some of the strongest German defenses to the south, threatening to encircle the city. The 28th Garibaldi Brigade, a local Italian partisan unit led by Arrigo Boldrini (codenamed "Bulow"), played a unique role. Unlike many other Italian cities where partisans fought inside the streets, Boldrini’s men worked closely with the Canadian command, providing intelligence and securing the city's outskirts to prevent the Germans from destroying its historic Byzantine monuments and mosaics.

Facing the threat of being cut off by the Canadian advance, the German forces withdrew from the city toward the Lamone River to the north, leaving Ravenna relatively intact.

After taking Ravenna, the Canadians immediately faced the Lamone River. An initial attempt to cross on December 4th failed with heavy casualties.

The Canadian Corps badly needed a rest, and the Hussars pulled back to Cervia on 29 October, another beach resort. The town had been little damaged, and the quarters were the best the Hussars had seen in Italy. The Hussars stayed in place until December and life went back to normal, parading, training and relaxing on the sunny beaches. The Maritime boys said the beaches remind them of the sandy beaches of a place called Shediac on the Northumberland Strait. (Where our cottage is located).

Our last Bailey Bridge was across the River Uniti, just south of Ravenna. The Hussars had been out of the front line for an extended period and were moving up to press the attack on the Lamone River.

This Bailey Bridge is part of the road network and is driveable.

This is an extensive bridge, built upon pre-existing pylons. You can see the doubled sidewalls for extra strength.

Since this was the only Bailey Bridge that was driveable, we of course had to follow Uncle Norm’s path and drive across it as well. It was a one lane bridge and we had seen several cars drive over it but Rachel was a bit reluctant, mostly because of the two large pillars placed distressingly close together. I told her tanks drove across the bridge and she replied they probably didn’t worry about scratching their tanks the way she did about the rental car. All went well, and I have video evidence if required.

Lamone River

Due to the shortage of infantry, the Hussars were temporarily unmounted and s served as infantry. They felt very vulnerable outside their tanks. One squadron remained as armour, and the other two squadrons became infantry. One troop also had 105 mm guns on their tanks and acted as artillery, so the regiment was a Frankenstein mix of infantry, armour and artillery. Fortunately, this configuration only lasted for this one battle. The Hussars took off from Ravena on 12 December, crossing the river with their Frankenstein force and pushed forward with little resistance until reaching the Naviglio canal and had taken out an estimated 80 Jerries while suffering a single casualty. At 2230 the Jerries counterattacked with intense shelling and machine gun fire. The dismounted Hussars dug deeper slit trenches than the most experienced infantry battalion.

Denti di Drago

The Germans were expecting an amphibious attack on the Port of Ravenna so they built a substantial defensive system including bunkers, anti-aircraft defences and Denti di Drago (Dragon’s Teeth) anti-tank defences. There is a preserved strip of land just before the beaches that contain a number of defensive positions.

Bunkers and anti-aircraft positions.

One of the bunkers had a number of old photos showing the bunkers in action.

After crashing the defensive lines, we ended up on the beach. It was not prime season yet, but things were being readied. Most of the coastline from Rimini to Ravenna is wonderful beach territory and jammed in the summer, mostly with Germans. Our airport shuttle driver didn’t speak English but was fluent in German.

As an army marches on its stomach, we stopped for a wonderful sea-side seafood pizza.

Rachel was a little less hangry after lunch.

Cemeteries

Ravenna War Cemetery

The Ravenna War Cemetery has 988 burials, including 438 Canadians, 120 Indians, 33 Jewish Brigade Volunteers and 33 World War One burials moved in from other cemeteries.

It appears that the Indian burials are in a separate section, but according to the War Graves Website this is because the burials were reinterred by Division.

8^th Hussar Burials

There are 3 Hussars buried in Ravenna War Cemetery.

Davies, Tulk, Jardine

Lancaster Crash

There are also 7 aircrew buried together, an indication that they were killed in an aircraft crash on 24 October 1942. The Crew was flying a Lancaster Mk I Serial W4251. The crew was part of 57 Squadron out of Scampton, Lincolnshire and their mission was a daring daylight mission to Milan. A total of 88 Aircraft flew over France before crossing the Alps.

The operation took the city completely by surprise with the warning sirens not going off until the bombing was well underway. Only light flak was encountered and the Italian fighter aircraft ineffective.  450 buildings were damaged and at least 171 people killed on the ground. This was early in the Bombing Campaign and a wide range of cities were targeted to demonstrate that nowhere was safe from attack.

Their Lancaster was hit by flak and crashed at Segrate, near Milan. Their bodies were buried in Segrate Communal Cemeteries as Unknowns and commemorated on the Air Force Memorial to the missing at Runnymede. In 1952 the bodies of the crew were identified and moved to Ravenna Cemetery. Fraser, the Flight Engineer, was Australian, Hamilton, the Navigator, was Canadian, Smith the Wireless Operator was from Newfoundland and the other four crew members from the UK.

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Fraser (Aus), Hamilton (Can), Heffernan (NFLD), Miles, Smith, Taylor, Wakelin

Villanova War Cemetery

The Villanova cemetery was begun on the battlefield itself during the Battle of the Lamone in December 1944. The burials are almost exclusively from the 5^th Canadian Armoured Division with 206 of the 212 burials being Canadians.

The cemetery has widely spaced headstones, as if they were expecting to have many additional burials.

The breakdown of Burials:

Regiment	Number of Burials	Notes
Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment	52	Heavy losses during the Naviglio Canal fighting, 12–15 Dec 1944
4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards (PLDG)	34	Suffered major casualties in the same canal assaults
Perth Regiment	34	Fought through Borgo Villanova and toward the Naviglio
Irish Regiment of Canada	25	Reserve unit committed after the Lamone crossing
Westminster Regiment	14	Heavy losses during the Naviglio Canal fighting, 12–15 Dec 1944
Cape Breton Highlanders	14	Fought in the initial Lamone crossing and capture of Villanova
8th Hussars	3	Fought in the initial Lamone crossing and capture of Villanova
Other Canadian units (various)	30	Includes artillery, engineers, service corps, and unidentified
United Kingdom (various regiments)	6	Small number of RAF and Army personnel
Total	212

The Hussar Burials:

Davies, Tulk, Jardine

Across the road from the Villanova cemetery are a number of memorials. Rachel inspecting a Bailey Bridge Section.

The plaque describes the use of the Bailey Bridge. The picture is of the bridge across the Lamone.

There are memorials for the Governor General’s Horse Guard and the Lanark and Renfrew Highland Regiment.

Also in the same area is a memorial to the Italian partisans killed during the fighting.

The design is very typical of post‑war Italian civic memorials:

Glass pyramid → symbolizes protection and transparency.

Intertwined hands → unity, liberation, and the bond between civilians and partisans

Italian tricolour → national mourning and pride

Open plaza with benches → a place for annual ceremonies on 25 April (Liberation Day)

The Senio River

Our final stop was at the Senio River, the furthest point of Advance for the Canadians. Yet another river crossing.

The height of the banks can be seen in this picture. The banks are more than 30 feet above the village below.

At this location there are two plaques.

The top plaque honours the partisans who fought here in April 1945. The translated text is below.

AGAINST THE NAZI FASCIST TYRANNY

THE WHOLE PEOPLE ROSE UP AND ON

10 APRIL 1945 HERE ON

THIS

MARTYRED SENIO THE HEROES OF THE

CREMONA

COMBAT GROUP AND OF THE 28 GARIBALDI

BRIGADE, BREAKING THROUGH THE GERMAN FRONT,

FIGHTED AND FELL FOR

THE FREEDOM OF THE COUNTRY

AND OF HUMAN

REASON

FUSIGNANO 10 APRIL 1959 - XIV OF THE LIBERATION

The lower plaque honours the Allies who liberated the region.

FUSIGNANO 10 APRIL 1959 - XIV OF THE LIBERATION THE MEMORY ON THE STONE

OF THE FIGHTERS

OF ENGLAND OF CANADA OF ISRAEL

FROM AUSTRALIA FROM INDIA FROM PAKISTAN FROM SOUTH AFRICA FROM NEW ZEALAND FOR ITALY

FUSIGNARO FREE

HE WANTED ENGRAVED

ON THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION

X-IV ICMLXV

Sant Angelo

Instead of settling in for the winter, the Allies decided it was necessary to straighten the line up to Sant Angelo to prevent the Germans from resupplying via the Adriatic and threatening Ravenna. The Hussars were to fight as an Armoured brigade for the first time since the Liri Valley. The attack was delayed until the ground was frozen to allow the tanks to operate off road, and many of the tanks were equipped with track extensions that doubled the surface contact with the ground.

The tanks pressed forward, successfully handling all enemy resistance. The fields were lined with trees and between the trees the steel wires hung thick among the thickness of the vines. They were lucky at times to be able to see 40 yards ahead. The squadron bucked ahead, blazing away spasmodically at each house and each haystack and any other potential enemy position.

The Hussars made it to the Bonifica canal with the bridge miraculously intact. As they fought through the obstacles a lone Jerry raced across the bridge dodging machine gun fire. He made it across, ducked under the bridge and lit the fuse to the already placed charges. He raced back across the bridge and was cut down by machine gun fire, but the bridge was destroyed. After a day long firefight, the Germans withdrew and the Cape Breton Highlanders set up a bridgehead on the far side of the canal to allow the Engineers to rebuild the bridge.

The next day twin armoured thrusts pushed the Germans from Sant Alberto, and the winter line was solidified. In four days of action, the Hussars had taken 199 prisoners, killed and wounded more than 200 Germans, knocked out two Panthers and seven anti-tank guns, captured a Panther and 25 bazookas and destroyed seven 3-cwt. trailers. It was a worthy climax to the months in Italy.

The Hussars were gradually pulled out of the line. They left 5 Shermans dug in, sandbagged and sheltered as defensive strongpoints. They went back to Cervia, cleaning up, resting, training, partying, being inspected, going on leave to Florence and Rome, preparing for study sessions and for a rash of athletics. On 28 January, they held a memorial service for the 42 Hussars who had been killed in Italy. Into the heart and mind and into the eyes of every man standing there in his country's uniform, some now with the ribbons of acknowledged gallantry, there mounted the memories of the yesterdays that had taken all these men away, memories of the swift and violent scenes of their going and the raw, tender sadness of their loss and, back beyond that, of the happy, laughing times they had shared.

The Hussars expected to rest and reorganize for the next big push in the spring, but that was not to be. In early February, they received notice they were being redeployed so they traversed the country once again, leaving from Leghorn to Marseilles then on to Belgium to join the final push in Europe.

Bailey Bridges

We spent so much time looking at Bailey Bridges that I thought it would be worthwhile to provide some details. The Bailey Bridge was crucial to the Allied advance through Italy. An incredible 2,832 Bailey Bridges were constructed by the Allies throughout the Italian Campaign. The bridges represented over 55 miles of Bridging assembled in combat conditions across rivers, ravines and destroyed infrastructure.  The map shows the location of key bridges. Note the heavy concentration in Northern Italy.

The longest bridge constructed in Italy was 1,126 feet over the Sangro River in December 1943.

Donald Bailey

The Bailey Bridge was invented by Donald Bailey, a bridge designer, in response to an army requirement in WW2.

The bridge was built in 6-foot sections weighing 500 pounds and could be carried into position by 4 men. Each section was connected with pins that were sledgehammered into place, so the bridge components could be manually assembled and the sections carried on regular transport.

As each section was assembled, the bridge was pushed out on rollers until it reached the far bank. The bridge could span most streams with no support and could be installed on existing pylons or pontoons.

The maximum unsupported span was 200 feet. Additional trusses were used on the decking depending on the span and the load the bridge was supposed to carry. Larger spans would have a triple truss base, and a double high panel for maximum strength.

The Germans blew virtually every bridge as they withdrew. Fortunately, they often just blew the bridge decking, so the existing pylons were used to span larger rivers.

Final Thoughts

Another emotional day following Uncle Norm and the Hussars. The Bailey Bridges really emphasize the difficulties the Canadians had pushing the Germans back throughout Italy. Walking and driving the ground always gives you a much better understanding of what our troops had to fight through. We were only fighting the Italian drivers and not many of them were firing on us.

In comparison to places like Normandy, there are very few unit or national memorials. It is a shame since although the Italian campaign didn’t get the press or appreciation of the European campaign, the fighting was just as brutal and those killed just as dead.

The Canadian Losses Were Substantial.

Period	Casualties	Killed
25 Aug -21 Sep Gothic line and Battle of Rimini	4500	1016
29 Oct-28 Feb 45 The River Battles	5300	887

The only surprise of the brutal fighting is that the Canadian Losses are not much higher. The Germans were content to pick a strong defensive position, inflict the maximum damage on the Allies then withdraw to the next defensive line.

My biggest regret is that I wasn’t interested in the war when the participants were still around. I wish that I had been able to talk to them about the conflict and how it shaped their lives. Most combatants didn’t like to talk about the battles but I think this trip helped Rachel and I understand a small portion of what they went through.