The Battle of the Sangro was the first part of the Eighth Army contribution to the attack on the Gustav Line, the main German defensive position south of Rome. The attack was part of a three pronged offensive planned by General Alexander. Montgomery would attack first, and press on towards Pescara, from where he could threaten Rome from the north-east. The Fifth Army would then attack at Cassino, before carrying out the amphibious assault at Anzio.

The Germans had a strong defensive position, but were now very short of units. In the west General Clark’s Fifth Army was attacking the western end of the Bernhardt Line, and threatening the Mignano Gap. Kesselring was forced to move two divisions, 26th Panzer and 29th Panzer Grenadier, from the 76th Panzer Corps on the Adriatic to the main front in the west. This left General Herr with two divisions – the 65th Infantry Division on the lower Sangro and the 1st Parachute Division further inland.

Montgomery’s Eighth Army forced their way across the previous German line, on the Trigno, between 27th October and 4th November. As usual Montgomery then paused to wait for his supplies to catch up, and to prepare to attack across the flooded Sangro. Although the Germans were outnumbered, they did have some advantages. The winter weather was making any offensive increasingly difficult. Heavy cloud made any air operations in the mountains difficult, effectively limiting the Allies to the lower coastal strip. The Germans had a good defensive position – the Allies would have to cross the flooded Sangro, then fight their way across the low lying plain north of the river, past minefields and German strong points, before reaching the heavily defended ridge. The Eighth Army also hadn’t yet entirely cleared the area between the Trigno and the Sangro.

By 9th November the Eighth Army had reached the lower Sangro. The 78th Division faced the river from Paglieta to Mont Calvo. On their left the 8th Indian Division was still in the mountains between the Trigno and the Sangro, with brigades to the south-west of Atessa, at Gissi and between Castiglione and Torrebruna.

Montgomery’s overall aim was to break through the German lines and reach Pescara, but his short term aim was to get to the port of Ortona, ten miles further up the coast from the Sangro.

The main attack would be carried out by the 5th Corps, which now contained the 8th Indian Division, the newly arrived 2nd New Zealand Division, the British 78th Division and the 4th Armoured Brigade. The attack would be supported by 690 guns (including 528 25-pounders) and 186 Sherman tanks.

The original plan had been to make the main assault on 20th November, but the heavy rain meant that this had to be postponed. The original plan had been to ford the river, but the rising water levels meant that four bridges had to be built, including one tank bridge. The main attack was postponed to 24th November, and the objective was changed to the capture of Lanciano, in the hills between the Sangro and the next river barrier, the Moro. There would then be a pause to allow proper crossing points to be built across the Sangro valley. Heavy rain in the mountains intervened yet again, and by daylight on 23th November the bridges were isolated in the middle of a 1,000 yard wide flood!

On 24th November General Allfrey, commander of 5th Corps, issued the final instructions for the battle. The main focus of the attack would be the Li Colli ridge, which ran parallel to the river from the coast to Fossacesia, then San Maria and Mozzagrogna. The same ridge then curved around to the west, running to the south of Lanciano, and ending up overlooking the Moro valley north-west of Castel Frentano (yet another hilltop village). The new plan was for the Indian Division to capture San Maria and Mozzagrogna. The 78th Division with 4th Armoured Brigade tanks would then turn right and advance down the Li Colli ridge to the coast. They would then turn left and advance up the coast towards the Moro.

The main attack began on the evening of 27th November with a heavy artillery bombardment and a fighter-bomber attack. The 17th Indian Brigade attacked towards Mozzogrogna, on the left of the main attack, but although the Gurkhas were able to take the village that evening, their supporting tanks were delayed. They were then hit by a counterattack on the morning of 28th November by the German 65th Division, and were forced to retreat. The village was retaken by the 1/12th Frontier Force.

The next attack was launched by the Irish Brigade and 4th Armoured Brigade. They attacked north-east along the ridge on 29th November. At first the tanks were held up by mines, but the Inniskillings managed to push along the ridge and clear the way, and with armoured support it was secured by 3pm. San Maria fell two hours later. On the night of 29th/30th November the 17th Indian Brigade advanced north-west from Mozzagrogna to take part of the ridge and open up the roads to the north-east.

On 30th November the County of London Yeomanry, 44th Royal Tank Regiment and 2nd London Irish took Fossacesia, breaking the German defensive line near the coast. At the same time two companies from the Royal Irish Fusiliers made a night march to San Vito, and on 1st December they and the Inniskillings captured the town, a long thin settlement than ran along a ridge than ran for almost two miles inland from the sea. The 36th Brigade was then able to get across the Feltrino, a small river just to the west of San Vito, and by the evening of 4th December had reached the next river barrier, the Moro. General Herr had already realised that his position behind the Sangro was lost, and had ordered a holding action along the line from San Vito to Lanciano, but the Allies advanced too quickly, and he was forced back to the Moro.

The focus of the fighting now shifted to the crossing of the Moro, and the seizure of the port of Ortona a short distance to the north of the river mouth.