Spring 1945 offensive in Italy

Spring 1945 Offensive
Part of the Italian Campaign of World War II
British troops pick their way through the ruins of Argenta, 18 April 1945
Date 6 April 1945 – 2 May 1945 Location Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and the Veneto regions, northern Italy Result Decisive Allied victory German surrender in Italy Partisans capture & execute Mussolini Italian Social Republic disestablished
Belligerents
United Kingdom  India  New Zealand  United States  Poland  Brazil  South Africa Nepal [1]  Italy Italian partisans (and others)  Yugoslavia	Germany  Italian Social Republic  Chetniks
Commanders and leaders
Harold Alexander Mark Clark Richard McCreery Lucian Truscott	Heinrich von Vietinghoff (POW) Traugott Herr (POW) Joachim Lemelsen (POW) Benito Mussolini  Rodolfo Graziani (POW)
Strength
15th Army Group[nb 1] British 8th Army 632,980 fighting strength[3] U.S. 5th Army 266,883 fighting strength[2]	Army Group C 394,000 fighting strength[4][nb 2]
Casualties and losses
16,258 casualties[nb 3] incl. 2.860 killed [5]	30–32,000 casualties[nb 4]

The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy was given the code name Operation Grapeshot.^[6] It was the Allied attack by Fifth United States Army and British 8th Army into the Lombardy Plain. It started on 6 April 1945 and ended on 2 May with the surrender of German forces in Italy.

1. ↑ Nepalese Gurkhas served within the British Indian Army.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Jackson, p. 230.
3. ↑ Cite error: The named reference Jackson223 was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Jackson, p. 236.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Jackson, p. 334
6. ↑ Jackson, p. 253