Gothic Line 1944â "45 Format: Paperback

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ISBN 10: 1472853415 / ISBN 13: 9781472853417

Published by MacMillan Publishers

About this Item

Brand New.

Seller Inventory # 9781472853417

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Gothic Line 1944â "45 Format: Paperback
• Publisher: MacMillan Publishers
• ISBN 10: 1472853415
• ISBN 13: 9781472853417
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

This is the history of how the mighty Gothic Line was defeated by American air power, in one of the most pivotal but least-known air campaigns of World War II.

By late 1944, the Italian Campaign was secondary to the campaigns in France, and Allied forces were not strong enough to break the Germans' mighty Gothic Line. These fortifications were supplied by rail through the Alps, with trains arriving hourly and delivering 600,000 tons of supplies a month, enough to keep the German Army going forever.

But in the bitter winter of 1944–45, the mighty Gothic Line would be defeated by American air power in one of the most pivotal but least-known air campaigns of World War II. It would not be a direct assault; instead Operation Bingo would ruthlessly cut the Germans' supply lines and leave them starved. However, it would not be easy. The rail routes were defended by a formidable array of heavy flak, and every raid was expected. Conditions were freezing, and even in electric flying suits, men suffered both hypoxia and frostbite.

By the end of February, the previous eight-hour rail journey took the Germans 3-4 days on the wrecked railroad, and soon supplies were barely enough to keep the army alive. On April 12, the Allied ground attack began, and within ten days the German command in Northern Italy sued for surrender, the first German force in Europe to do so.

Packed with first-hand accounts and rare photos from the 57th Bomb Wing Archives, this book is a fascinating history of the most successful US battlefield interdiction campaign in history, immortalized in the writing of bombardier Joseph Heller, in his novel Catch 22.

About the Authors

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver has been a published writer for the past 40 years, with his most recent work being the best-selling Osprey titles The Cactus Air Force (2022) alongside the late Eric Hammel, Clean Sweep (2023), Turning The Tide (2024) Mediterranean Sweep (2025) and Bloody Skies (2026). Tom served in the US Navy in Vietnam and lives in Encino, California

Anastasios Polychronis was born in 1971 and is based near Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He studied graphic design in Thessaloniki, Greece. He started creating digital aviation art in 2010, and has since then contributed illustrations for many publications, including magazines, books and scale model box art.