In the dim light, rendered so by the concealment of the sun in the smoke and dust, the Maoris left their positions and section commanders led them to the start line. The Senio is a 92-kilometre (57 mi) river of Romagna in Italy, the final right-sided tributary of the river Reno. The others flew on. There were still twenty minutes to go, and by the time all the men were in line a few minutes remained. [citation needed]. description Object description. The Allies had launched their last big offensive on the Gothic Line in August 1944, with the British Eighth Army (Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese) attacking up the coastal plain of the Adriatic and the U.S. Fifth Army (Lieutenant General Mark Clark) attacking through the central Apennine Mountains. Wave after wave passed till the air was filled with a constant, incessant deep roar. Then black smoke belched from one of the machines, a Fortress. "World War II Engagements at the Senio River", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Senio&oldid=987637150, Metropolitan City of Florence geography stubs, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2009, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 8 November 2020, at 09:55. Seconds only were required for reaching the top of the bank, and then the men were over, out of sight. The Battles of the Isonzo (known as the Isonzo Front by historians, Slovene: soška fronta) were a series of 12 battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I mostly on the territory of present-day Slovenia, and the remainder in Italy along the Isonzo River on the eastern sector of the Italian Front between June 1915 and November 1917. From J.F. Captain (T/Maj) NORTHCROFT commanded a Coy in the battle across the Senio on the night 9/10 April 1945. Add your stories, photos, audio and more... Lance-Corporal E.H. Nepia describes the four-hour bombardment prior to the NZ Division's attack across the Senio River, 9 April 1945:We saw the first of the bombers, flying high in perfect formation, approach at 1340 hrs from the SW, huge Fortresses, like giant silver fish, silver in the bright afternoon sun. The disabled plane lost speed, then spiralled earthwards, out of control. The river is along the road to Imola. Cody's official history, 28 (Maori) Battalion (Wellington, 1956), pp. With dash and determination he led his men across the river through enemy minefields, pierced enemy defences on the Stop Bank and captured several of the enemy without casualty to his men. It was also one of the landmarks of the Jewish Brigade in the war. Having reached the Senio River, the Division halted and endured its second Italian winter. ... At this moment the Crocodiles and Wasps [flame-throwing tanks] roared fwd [forward] from their posns [positions] of concealment among the trees to the stopbank, mounted the ramps provided, and played long tongues of flame on B bank and beyond ... As soon as the Wasps and Crocodiles moved fwd the infantry left the start line. The last of the bombers had barely disappeared out of sight on the journey home when the thunderous barrage of hundreds of guns of all calibres rained shells on targets beyond and on the Senio. The river is along the road to Imola. The river flows northeast into the province of Ravenna and flows near Casola Valsenio, Riolo Terme, Castel Bolognese, Cotignola, Lugo, Bagnacavallo, Fusignano and Alfonsine before entering the Reno. At 1440 hours, four hours and 40 minutes before H-hour, A and D companies pulled back from the positions at the river bank. Content description. British war correspondent's commentary on Battle of the Senio, Italy, 9/4/1945 includes actuality of artillery bombardment. The first bombs fell at exactly 1350 hrs. Then they were over and away beyond into enemy territory. The second wave of bombers was met by white puffs of smoke, indicating that the 88mm AA had at last gone into action. Renewing the floor at the Museum “Battle of the Senio river” in Alfonsine. Meanwhile a thick pall of smoke hung over enemy territory, where fires had begun their work of destruction, while huge clouds of dust rose as each stick of bombs found their mark. The river flows northeast into the province of Ravenna and flows near Casola Valsenio, Riolo Terme, Castel Bolognese, Cotignola, Lugo, Bagnacavallo, Fusignano and Alfonsine before entering the Reno. The Allied crossing of the River Senio was one of the last hurdles that needed to be overcome in order to capture the great Po Valley basin and so complete the campaign in Italy. On the right the Canadian Corps was to attack north-west towards the Senio and Santerno rivers and north-east towards Ravenna. Lance-Corporal E.H. Nepia describes the four-hour bombardment prior to the NZ Division's attack across the Senio River, 9 April 1945: We saw the first of the bombers, flying high in perfect formation, approach at 1340 hrs from the SW, huge Fortresses, like giant silver fish, silver in the bright afternoon sun. 455-57. Battle of the Senio. [1] The river has a tributary called the Sintria that flows into it east of Riolo Terme. The river has a tributary called the Sintria that flows into it east of Riolo Terme. The mean discharge at its mouth is about 10 cubic metres per second (350 cu ft/s); however this can vary from a minimum of 0.3 cubic metres per second (11 cu ft/s) to a maximum of 500 cubic metres per second (18,000 cu ft/s). The source of the river is in the province of Florence in the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano mountains. Submitted by mbadmin on Fri, 17/07/2009 - 10:50. In a long line, and spaced at intervals of at least ten feet between men, the Maoris crossed the intervening space in a trice, through the low trees, and burst upon the bank just as the Crocodiles and Wasps had ended their phase of operations. A Company had the task of seizing the banks of the River Senio before the other companies moved through their positions: The morning of Monday 9 April 1945 heralded the noisiest day I have ever lived through. The area was the site of several hard-fought battles in the Spring of 1945, during the last phases of World War II in Europe. The German defenders were mostly elite parachute units and, in the very last days of war in Europe, the British 8th Army took many casualties in effecting this defended river-crossing operation. From just a few days we have finished the installation of new flooring in the “Battle of the Senio” Museum: we have layed an Lvt floor with a modern aesthetic, with a High Resistance and in only 5 mm thickness! Then, as the first of the waves reached the target areas, a loud hissing accompanied the falling bombs, followed immediately by a deep prolonged rumble, then deep-toned explosions could be heard above the roar of the planes overhead, and, in the wake of these, the reverberations as the earth shook beneath the weight of the bomb loads. After another period of relief, the Div lined up again on the banks of the Senio River on 8 April 1945 to begin what would prove the final offensive in Italy. Although they managed to breach the formidable Gothic Line defences, the Allies narrowly failed to break into the Po Valleybefore the winter weather made further progress impossible. This part of the battle was designated Operation Chuckle, which had originally been a purely Canadian plan to take Ravenna, but was later adopted for … Then the roar of the engines, ever increasing as the planes came closer, filled the air.