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This photograph taken in the Apennines shows a German rearguard patrol tasked with covering the retreat.
Despite the evidence, the German propaganda showed that it considered victory as possible. In this photograph, published in the magazine Signal, a heavy
howitzer gets ready to open fire in the Gothic Line.
Partisan activity in the roads was dedicated mainly to ambushes against the messengers, which notably difficulted the communication
between the command posts and the diverse German units.
The choice of Valtellina as a "national redoubt" for the Fascists had been made in anticipation of a extreme German resistance
in the neighboring Bavaria. But the Allied vanguards advanced across Germany and were already in front of the Bavarian Alps.
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An impressive load of bombs, ammunitions and external fuel tanks before being installed on a fighter-bomber. The aviation was
the preferred method of the Allies for harassing the German troops in Italy.
The Allied pioneers have finished the construction of a Bailey bridge over the river Po. Beyond, the old railway bridge, destroyed
by the Germans before retreating to the other side of the river.
One of the most effective and feared American fighter aircraft was the P-47 Thunderbolt, which despite its size and rather rough
profile could reach speeds around 690 kilometers/hour.
An American light tank M-24 Chaffee passes between the ruins of a village. The Germans made a great effort in Italy to prevent
the enemy from reaching their homeland; the Allies had to assume that their objective of ending the conflict before the end of
1944 was impossible. The Italians had to suffer a prolonged war, between the collateral damage caused by the Allies and the
oppression inflicted by the Germans.
In Turin the people was convoked for rebellion, supported by the partisans that converged upon the city, but the disruptive action
exerted by the Fascists still lasted for many days after the liberation of this capital town.
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