Moro River Campaign - Offensive Strategy and Order of Battle

Offensive Strategy and Order of Battle

Further information: Moro River Campaign order of battle

The Moro River runs from the central mountain spine of Italy to the Adriatic coast south of Ortona. The German defences on the Moro were a centerpiece of the Winter Line, which guarded the eastern side of the Apennines along Route 5. Montgomery hoped to punch through the Winter Line, capture Ortona and Pescara and advance to Rome. The 78th Infantry Division, which had been spearheading V Corps since the Volturno Line actions and had sustained over 7,000 casualties in less than six months, was relieved by the fresh 1st Canadian Infantry Division (Major-General Chris Vokes), ready to renew the offensive on 5 December 1943. The 78th Infantry Division was sent into the mountains on the relatively quiet left wing of the army, joining the British 5th Infantry Division (Major-General Gerard Bucknall) under XIII Corps.

Montgomery's plan was for the Canadian Division to attack across the Moro in the coastal lowlands to take Ortona first and then Pescara. Inland, in the jagged hills above the headwaters of the Moro, the relatively fresh 2nd New Zealand Division would attack toward Orsogna, while between these two the 8th Indian Infantry Division would hold the centre of the front in a relatively static role.

Facing V Corps was the 1st Parachute Division (1. Fallschirmjägerdivision) under Brigadier General (Generalmajor) Richard Heidrich on the coast, to their right stood the 90th Panzergrenadier Division (90. Panzergrenadierdivision) under Major General Carl-Hans Lungershausen succeeded by Colonel (Oberst) Ernst-Günther Baade on 20 December, and further inland of them was the 26th Panzer Division (26. Panzerdivision) under Brigadier General Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz with their right flank on Orsogna. Further inland, facing XIII Corps, was the 65th Infantry Division (65. Infantriedivision) under Brigadier General Hellmuth Pfeifer supported by elements of 1st Parachute and 5th Mountain Division (5. Gebirgsdivision) under Brigadier General Julius Ringel. Together, these units formed Traugott Herr′s LXXVI Panzer Corps, the part of Joachim Lemelsen's 10th Army responsible for the front line to the east of the Apennines.

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