Trasimene Line (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Trasimene Line was a German defensive line during the Italian Campaign of World War II. It was also sometimes known as the Albert Line. The commander of German forces in Italy, Field Marshall Albert Kesselring used the line to delay the Allied northward advance in Italy in mid June 1944 to buy time to withdraw troops to the Gothic Line and finalise the preparation of its defenses. After the Allied capture of Rome on 4 June 1944 following successful breakthrough at Cassino and Anzio during Operation Diadem in May 1944, the German Fourteenth and Tenth Armies fell back: the Fourteenth along the Tyrrhenian front and Tenth through central Italy and the Adriatic coast. There was a huge gap between the armies and with the Allies advancing some 10 km per day, the flanks of both armies were exposed and encirclement was threatened.