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{{refimprove|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Battle of Gemmano
|partof= the [[Gothic Line]] Offensive during the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian Campaign]] of [[World War II]]
|campaign=[[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian Campaign]]
| image= The British Army in Italy 1944 NA18394.jpg
| image_size = 300
|caption=Platoon commanders of 7th Battalion, [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry|Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry]], part of [[167th (1st London) Brigade|167th Brigade]] of [[56th (London) Division]], plan the attack on the village of Gemmano, 6 September 1944.
|date= 4–15 September 1944
|place=[[Gemmano]], [[Italy]]
| result = Allied victory
| combatant1 = {{flag|Nazi Germany|name=Germany}}
| combatant2 = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
* {{flag|British India}}
|commander1= {{flagdeco|Nazi Germany}} [[Traugott Herr]]
|commander2= {{flagdeco|UK}} [[Charles Keightley]]
|strength1=[[German LXXVI Panzer Corps]]
|strength2= [[V Corps (United Kingdom)|British V Corps]]
|campaignbox={{Campaignbox Gothic Line}}
{{Campaignbox Italy}}
}}

The '''Battle of Gemmano''' took place during [[World War II]], between the dates of September 4th, and September 15th of 1944. The battle occurred in the area of the [[Gothic Line]], near the [[Apennine Mountains]] in northern [[Italy]], which would soon turn out to be the last line of defense for the [[Axis Powers]] in Italy. The village of '''Gemmano''' was eventually captured on September 9th, 1944 by the invading [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)]], but two more subsequent attacks were needed to secure the area surrounding the village of '''Gemmano'''. Fighting was so fierce, similar to that of the famous battle of [[Monte Cassino]], that the battle was sometimes referred to as, “ The Cassino of the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]]”.

==Order of battle==
{|border="1" valign="top"
! style="background:gray"| '''Germany'''
! style="background:tan"| '''Britain and Empire'''
|- ! valign="top"
|
* '''[[71st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|71st Infantry Division]]'''
: 191st Regiment
: 194th Regiment
: 211th Regiment
* '''[[98th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|98th Infantry Division]]'''
: 117th Regiment
: 289th Regiment
: 290th Regiment
* '''[[5th Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)|5th Mountain Division]]'''
: 85th Regiment
: 100th Regiment
: 95th Mountain Artillery
* '''[[278th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|278th Infantry Division]]'''
: 992nd Regiment
: 993rd Regiment
: 994th Regiment
: 278th Rifle Battalion
|
* '''[[46th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|46th Infantry Division]]'''
: [[List of Royal Northumberland Fusiliers battalions in World War II#2nd Battalion|2nd]] [[Royal Northumberland Fusiliers]]
: [[128th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|128th Infantry Brigade]]
: [[138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade|138th Infantry Brigade]]
: [[139th (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire) Brigade|139th Infantry Brigade]]
: 9th [[Manchester Regiment]]
* '''[[56th (London) Division|56th (London) Infantry Division]]'''
: 6th [[Cheshire Regiment]]
: [[167th (1st London) Brigade|167th Infantry Brigade]]
: [[168th (2nd London) Brigade|168th Infantry Brigade]]
: [[169th (3rd London) Brigade|169th Infantry Brigade]]
* '''[[7th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|7th Armoured Brigade]]'''
: [[2nd Royal Tank Regiment]]
: [[8th Royal Tank Regiment]]
* '''[[25th Army Tank Brigade]]'''
: [[51st (Leeds Rifles) Royal Tank Regiment|51st Royal Tank Regiment]]
: [[North Irish Horse]]
: [[142nd Regiment Royal Armoured Corps]]
* '''[[4th Infantry Division (India)|4th Indian Infantry Division]]'''
: [[5th Indian Infantry Brigade]]
: [[7th Indian Infantry Brigade]]
: [[11th Indian Infantry Brigade]]
: [[6th Royal Tank Regiment]]
: [[12th Royal Lancers]]
|}

==Events==
===Tactics and strategy===
Under '''Operation Olive''', the objective for the British Eighth Army on the Adriatic Coast was to break the [[Germany|German]] defenses and enter the Po Plains. [[United States Army North|The US Fifth Army]] would then follow up with an attack north of [[Florence]], completing the German defeat.
The first assault, as well as the following ten, would prove to be futile for the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]. The final assault brought on by the [[4th Indian Infantry Division]], after heavy bombardment, would prove to be successful in the capture and securement of all German positions in Gemmano.

===Initial reconnaissance of Gemmano===
Two days before the first attack on September 4, a British Battalion sent a platoon of 30 men to determine the size and strength of the German defenses. The British made an unfortunate mistake, underestimating the size of the German forces as only one battalion.
The actual size of the German force was approximately three battalions or 4,500 men of the 100th [[Gebirgsjager]] that were overlooking the allied positions. The [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] left only one battalion to fight the battle at Gemmano because of their wrong estimation of the German forces.
These German battalions consisted of antiaircraft weaponry as well, which could also be used as artillery on the advancing allied infantry and armored vehicles.
<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jennings |first1=Christian |title=At War on the Gothic Line: Fighting in Italy, 1944-1945 |date=March 2016 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=9781466871731 |pages=181–182 |edition=First |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8zEoCgAAQBAJ&q=gemmano&pg=PA181}}</ref>

===General conditions===
As the numerous attacks on the village of Gemmano took place, heavy rainfall hindered the advance of [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] as well. This heavy rainfall caused roads to crumble, rivers to overflow, and mud to form, all of which made it difficult for movement and transportation. Slopes of mountains became slick and slippery and allowed for weapon malfunctions to occur.

Below are personal memoirs, testimony, and description of the battle by soldiers who were involved.

"All around the bullet-chipped cross on Pt.449, the dead, khaki and field-grey, lay heaped, unburied, in score upon score; at their center a soldier of the Lincolns whose hands were still frozen in death round the cross itself, which he had reached in his battalion's first attack. Few regiments of 8th Army had ever known fiercer fighting than that of Gemmano"

"Within twenty-four hours the only men left in the village of Gemmano... were the men who would never leave".

"They sat, wedged side by side, in the ruined cellars of the old stone houses; sprawled in piles on the doorways of barns; lay in untidy heaps in the little peasants' houses where they had crawled to die".

Holworthy (CO 4th Indian Div.) wrote in his diary :
"A good show. Gemmano full of dead and smells like another Cassino"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rickard |first1=J |title=Battle of Gemmano |url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_gemmano.html |website=History of War |accessdate=4 April 2022}}</ref> <ref>{{cite book |last1=Orgill |first1=Douglas |title=The Gothic Line |date=1967 |publisher=London Heinemann}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
===Casualties===
Casualties from both sides are not well documented, but according to British sources, Germans killed in action were more than 900. Lt.Col.Ernst also estimated more than 2,400 casualties of dead, wounded, and [[Missing in action|MIA]] of his regiment alone. British casualties were immense too: every battalion lost, on average, 100 to 150 men. More than 100 civilians were also killed during the battle, mainly due to the [[Royal Navy]] and its bombardment of Gemmano.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aries46.tripod.com/gemmoliv.htm|title=Gemmano 1944. Part 1 : The Gothic Line and the Operation Olive}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ossett.net/WW2/George_Jenkins.html |title = George Jenkins}}</ref>

===Medals and awards===
The German 100th Mountain Regiment, or [[Gebirgsjager]], under the orders from Lt. Col. Richard Ernst, earned the regiment 6 [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross|Ritterkreuz des Eisernes Kreuz]] for valor demonstrated during the battle of Gemmano as well as acts of bravery in combat far beyond the normal fulfillment of duty.

Ritterkruez awards were given to:

Lt. Col. Richard Ernst

Capt. Heinrich Hermann

Capt. Fritz Bachmaier

Ensign August Rappel

Corp. Lorenz Schmied

Lt. Karl Kurz

<ref>{{cite book |last1=Merriam |first1=Ray |title=Gebirgsjager-Germany's Mountain Troops |date=2007 |publisher=Merriam Press |isbn=978-1576381632 |pages=33}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography and external links===
* Gerhard Muhm : [http://www.larchivio.com/xoom/gerhardmuhm2.htm German Tactics in the Italian Campaign]
* Gerhard Muhm : La Tattica tedesca nella Campagna d'Italia, in Linea Gotica avanposto dei Balcani, (Hrsg.) Amedeo Montemaggi - Edizioni Civitas, Roma 1993

{{coord missing|Italy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}

[[Category:World War II operations and battles of the Italian Campaign|Gemmano]]
[[Category:1944 in Italy]]
[[Category:September 1944 events]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom|Gemmano]]
[[Category:Battles and operations of World War II involving India|Gemmano]]
[[Category:Battles in Emilia-Romagna|Gemmano]]

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Battle of Gemmano - Revision history

Bot at 22:53, 12 March 2022