Moro River Campaign - Eighth Army Reorganises To Intensify The Attack

Eighth Army Reorganises To Intensify The Attack

With the Indian Division committed, Montgomery decided to raise the stakes further by bringing the British 5th Infantry Division from the relatively tranquil XIII Corps front in the high mountains on the left wing of the 8th Army and insert them between the New Zealand and Indian Divisions. This would allow the Indian division to narrow and concentrate their attack and give Montgomery four divisions to continue the attack between Orsogna and the sea. By 12 December, the British 17th Infantry Brigade—the first of 5th Division's brigades—was in place and under the New Zealand division's command. Once 5th Division headquarters and its other brigades had arrived, these two left hand divisions were to be organised under the command of XIII Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey.

To the left of the Canadian division, the Indian 21st Brigade had by 13 December established a solid bridgehead around the "Impossible Bridge". That night, a second 8th Indian Division brigade—the 17th Indian Infantry Brigade—passed through and attacked towards Caldari. The 1st Battalion Royal Fusiliers stormed the village in a wild night's fighting while the 1st Battalion 5th Gurkha Rifles seized Point 198 nearby, holding it against determined counterattacks, including from tanks in the afternoon of 14 December. That evening, 1st Battalion 12th Frontier Force Regiment attacked on the left of the Gurkhas and established positions on the lateral road between Ortona and Orsogna running parallel to the Moro some 1,000 yd (910 m) north of the "Impossible Bridge". On the evening of 15 December, the 1st/5th Battalion Essex Regiment from the Indian Division's 19th Indian Infantry Brigade, which had been held in reserve, was committed on the left flank of the Frontier Force Regiment to advance in the direction of Crecchio and overran a number of German positions. By the end of 16 December, further attacks from the 15th Punjab Regiments 3rd Battalion had secured positions on the lateral road, ensuring that the 8th Indian Division was firmly embedded in the main German defences.

Meanwhile, at 01:00 on 15 December, the New Zealand Division—electing not to make a further frontal assault on Orsogna—launched their 5th Brigade in Operation Florence, a new flanking attack to the right of the village. By that afternoon, 5th Brigade was well established on the Orsogna to Ortona lateral road and had driven a shallow salient into the German forward defensive line. Although they had exhausted nearly all their reserves, divisional headquarters was optimistic for the prospects for the next day, given the heavy casualties they had inflicted that day.

However, the Germans launched a counterattack at 03:15 on 16 December, throwing in men from the 6th Parachute Regiment, sent by Herr to the 26th Panzer Division to relieve the exhausted 9th Panzergrenadier Regiment. These troops had arrived late that evening after a long journey. Supported by tanks, they attacked the right-hand New Zealand positions held by the 21st NZ Battalion, but were held off and had retired by daylight. Meanwhile, even before the German counterattack had been repelled, the 20th Regiment had attacked toward Orsogna with two squadrons of Sherman tanks. Under intense artillery and anti-tank fire, the tanks and infantry became separated and the tanks became a target rather than a threat.

Operation Florence had come to an end. While the German line had been pushed back and they had sustained casualties they could ill afford, they still firmly held Orsogna. Furthermore, the New Zealand Division was, for the time being, fought out and needed a period of consolidation and reorganisation.

By 16 December, the British 5th Division had completed its move into the line between the New Zealand and the Indian divisions. There followed a period of hostile patrolling and skirmishing on the XIII Corps front. The main burden of the fighting was therefore assumed by V Corps as the Canadians pushed for Ortona with the Indian Division on their left flank attacking toward Villa Grande and Tollo.