10th Mountain Italian Route to WWII Victory

10th Mountain Italian Route to world war two Victory. Camp Hale. , 1945 , January , 10th Mountain Division deploys to Naples, Italy. , Throughout January, 10th Mountain regiments conduct reconnaissance and combat patrols in preparation for an assault on Riva Ridge , code name for Pizzo di Campiano, Mounts Cappel Buso, Serrasiccia, Mancinello, and Le Piagge , for better positioning to capture Mt. Belvedere. , 86th Division moves behind the lines to Lucca for the attack on Riva Ridge. , February , 700 men of the 86th make a daring night climb of Riva Ridge, taking German troops by surprise. German counter attacks jeopardize the 10th's achievement, but the 10th is successful in taking Riva Ridge. , As Riva Ridge is secured, six battalions prepare to attack Mt. Belvedere under orders that until first light, there were to be “no small arms fire... only grenades and bayonets.”, 10th troops capture Mt. Belvedere; casualty rate is high. , March , After losing ground, Germans retreat northward; the 10th objective becomes the hills near Castel d'Aiano; 10th forces succeed in taking Mt. della Spe. , For two-weeks, the 10th troops endure intensive shelling counterattacks, but succeed in cutting German supply and communication lines to the Po River Valley; 10th Armored Division moves north on newly secured highway. , 10th Mountain Division suffers high casualty rate. , April , 24 hours ahead of other Allied forces, the 10th assaults German positions on the hills north of Mt. della Spe; German troops are entrenched and prepared. Three days of intense fighting exact a heavy toll. , Securing Mt. della Spe, the 10th pursues the retreating German Army into the Po River Valley advancing northward along Lake Garda. , Adolf Hitler commits suicide. , May , 10th troops cross Lake Garda routing German resistance. The German Army in Italy unconditionally surrenders on May 2, 1945. , Germany surrenders on May 7, 1945. , A total of 19,780 men served in the 10th in Italy , of these men, 975 were killed in Action, 3,871 Wounded in Action, and 20 taken as Prisoners of War. , June–August , The 10th is ordered back to the U.S. for further training in preparation for the invasion of Japan in July 1945. , U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima August 1945. , Japan surrenders August 14, 1945. , , , , , . Battling to set up footholds in enemy held nations during 1945, Allied troops liberated Rome, Italy; two days later, D-Day, Allied troops stormed a fifty mile stretch of the Normandy coast commencing the liberation of France. D-Day dominated world attention, overshadowing the fierce ongoing battles in Italy. Deployed to this “forgotten front,” 10th Mountain troops wrested control from entrenched German troops. , After losing Rome, German forces fortified behind the Gothic Line , a defensive stronghold stretching from coast to coast across the Apennines Mountains. Before the arrival of the 10th, winter cold and summer heat had exhausted Allied attempts to penetrate enemy lines. The winter and mountain warfare training at Camp Hale positioned the 10th Mountain Division to alter this stalemate. , Over the course of two-and-a-half months, 10th Mountain regiments fought their way north across the Apennines Mountains, Po River Valley, and the southern Alps. They suffered one of the highest loss of lives in World War II, yet succeeded in forcing the retreat of the German army. Encircled on three fronts , France, Italy and Russia the German military surrendered on May 7, 1945. , [photo captions] , . Warren A. Bartlett sits in foxhole on Mt. Belvedere. , . Riva Ridge in Italy’s Apennines Mountains looms in the distance. , . 10th Mountain built Tramway on Riva Ridge. , . Hugh D. Klemme (87th) inspects a captured German machine gun.