Spring 1945 offensive in Italy
| Operation Grapeshot | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Italian Campaign of the Second World War | |||||||
| British troops of the 5th (Huntingdonshire) Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, part of 11th Brigade of 78th Division, pick their way through the ruins of Argenta, 18 April 1945. | |||||||
| 
 | |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States Poland Kingdom of Italy Brazil New Zealand South Africa Italian Resistance | Germany Italian Social Republic | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Harold Alexander Mark Clark Lucian Truscott Richard McCreery | H. von Vietinghoff Traugott Herr J. Lemelsen Benito Mussolini Rodolfo Graziani | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Total: 1,333,856 5th Army: 266,883 fighting strength Eighth Army: 632,980 fighting strength | Total: 585,000 
 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 16,258 casualties incl. 2,860 killed | 30–32,000 casualties | ||||||
The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack in the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 April 1945 and ended on 2 May with the surrender of all Axis forces in Italy.