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First Day of Diadem

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Title
First Day of Diadem
Description
It was apparent that only a bold stroke would get the costly Allied offensive in Italy rolling again. General Alphonso Juin, commander of the French Expeditionary Corps, convinced Mark Clark to accept his plan for a new spring offensive, to be codenamed "Diadem". Forces of the Fifth Army would assault …
Publisher
Date
1944-05-12
Scenario#
251
A089
Scenario Description
It was apparent that only a bold stroke would get the costly Allied offensive in Italy rolling again. General Alphonso Juin, commander of the French Expeditionary Corps, convinced Mark Clark to accept his plan for a new spring offensive, to be codenamed "Diadem". Forces of the Fifth Army would assault the area around Cassino and cross the Rapido, while Juin's French Colonial troops attacked the mountain positions around Monte Majo anchoring the German line. Juin, knowing that success demanded surprise and an aggressive pace, ordered the elite Tirailleurs, Goums and Spahis of his corps to "Grab the hilltops and don't stop". At Monte Faito, savage fighting resulted in the 8th Tirailleurs Regiment taking the heights. But at 0900, a German battalion, following an intense shelling of the hill by heavy mortars, launched a strong counterattack.
Location
Castelforte, Italy
Battle Name
Battle Narrative
Operation Diadem, also referred to as the Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino or, in Canada, the Battle of the Liri Valley, was an offensive operation undertaken by the Allies of World War II (U.S. Fifth Army and British Eighth Army) in May 1944, as part of the Italian Campaign of World War II. Diadem was supported by air attacks called Operation Strangle. The opposing force was the German 10th Army. The object of Diadem was to break the German defenses on the Gustav Line (the western half of the Winter Line) and open up the Liri Valley, the main route to Rome. General Sir Harold Alexander, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies in Italy, planned Diadem to coordinate roughly with the invasion of Normandy, so that German forces would be tied down in Italy, and could not be redeployed to France. Four corps were employed in the attack. From right to left these were the Polish II Corps and the British XIII Corps, of the Eighth Army, and the Free French Corps (including Moroccan Goumiers) and the U.S. II Corps, of the Fifth Army. The Fifth Army also controlled the U.S. VI Corps in the Anzio beachhead, some 60 miles northwest. Diadem was launched at 23:00 pm on 11 May 1944 by elements of the British 4th Infantry Division and 8th Indian Infantry Division, with supporting fire from the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade. They made a successful strongly opposed night crossing of the Garigliano and Rapido rivers. This broke into the heart of the German defenses in the Liri valley against strong opposition and drew in German theater reserves, reducing pressure on the Anzio beachhead. The Free French Corps pushed through the mountains to the left on 14 May, supported by U.S. II Corps along the coast. On 17 May, Polish II Corps on the right attacked Monte Cassino.
Narrative Source
Combatants
German
French
Additional Information
Scenario Type = Standard
Collection:

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