Mighty Maroon Machine MTO (id:#58206)

Lone Canuck Publishing (The Canadians In Italy 3: D-Day Dodgers ID: CDN30)   [next]   [previous]

Canale di Bonifica, Italy 1945-01-02 (6 others)

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Overview:

The quiet along the Senio was about to be shattered. At either end of the Canadian sector were pockets of German troops and I Corps headquarters had decided to get rid of them before settling down for the winter. On the right, north of Ravenna, the Germans were huddled behind a web of canals and rivers, below the Lago Comacchio along the line extending from the coast to Alfonsine, where it linked up with the Senio defenses. The Canadians mounted a set-piece attack to capture the defenses in the thousand-yard gap between the villages of Conventello and the drainage canal, the Fosso Basilica. A major counter-attack was delivered by a battle group drawn from the 16th SS Panzer Grenadier Division, the strongest combat division available. This was the first time that the Canadians in Italy fought SS troops, whose fanaticism was matched only by the paratroopers with whom they were so familiar. The Germans planned to recapture Conventello and cut off the Canadian armor, forcing it into the marshlands north of Ravenna. The blow fell upon the Westminster Regiment, borrowed from the Twelfth Brigade.

Defender: Canadian (Westminster Regiment and the British Columbia Dragoons)  

Errata (source)