Barbara Line

[[Image:ItalyDefenseLinesSouthofRome1943 4.jpg|thumb|right|305px|German prepared defensive lines south of Rome]] {{Campaignbox Italy}} During [[World War II]], the '''Barbara Line''' was a series of [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[military]] [[fortification]]s in [[Italy]], some {{convert|10|-|20|mi|km|abbr=on}} south of the [[Gustav Line]], and a similar distance north of the [[Volturno Line]]. Near the eastern coast, it ran along the line of the Trigno river. The line mostly consisted of fortified hilltop positions. ==Western breakthrough (U.S. 5th Army front)== ''Luftwaffe'' Field Marshal ([[Field Marshal (Germany)|''Generalfeldmarschall'']]) [[Albert Kesselring]]—commander of all German forces in Italy—ordered his forces to retreat to the '''Barbara Line''' on 12 October 1943 after the 5th Army crossed the [[Volturno River]], breaching the [[Volturno Line|Volturno defensive line]]. By the early November the Barbara Line on the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]] side of the [[Apennine Mountains]] had been breached by [[U.S. 5th Army]], and the Germans fell back to the [[Bernhardt Line]]. ==Eastern breakthrough (British 8th Army front)== On the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] front [[British 8th Army]] had broken the Viktor/Volturno Line defences on 6 October. However, they had had to pause at the [[Trigno]] to re-group and reorganise their logistics along the poor roads stretching back to [[Bari]] and [[Taranto]] {{convert|120|mi|km|abbr=on}} and {{convert|170|mi|km|abbr=on}} respectively to the rear of the front. It therefore was not until the early hours of 2 November that the [[V Corps (United Kingdom)|V Corps]] on the right of the front on the coast and [[XIII Corps (United Kingdom)|British XIII Corps]] on their left attacked across the Trigno river. On the V Corps front, [[78th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|British 78th Infantry Division]] attacked along the coastal road while [[8th Infantry Division (India)|Indian 8th Infantry Division]] attacked some {{convert|10|mi|km|abbr=on}} inland. Fighting was fierce, but on 3 November 78th Division reached San Salvo, some three miles beyond the Trigno, at which point ''Generalmajor'' [[Rudolf Sieckenius]]—commanding [[German 16th Panzer Division|16. ''Panzerdivision'']]—decided to make a fighting withdrawal to the [[Sangro]] river and the formidable [[Bernhardt Line|Gustav]] defensive positions overlooking the river from the ridge tops on the far side. The Allied advance reached the Sangro on 9 November. ==See also== *[[Allied invasion of Italy]] *[[British Eighth Army]] *[[US Fifth Army]] *[[Volturno Line]] *[[Bernhardt Line]] *[[Battle of San Pietro Infine]] *[[Gustav Line]] *[[Gothic Line]] {{coord missing|Italy}} {{World War II}}