The Bernhardt Line, or Reinhard Line, was a German Army defensive line in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. Having reached the Bernhardt Line at the start of December 1943, it took until mid-January 1944 for the US Fifth Army to fight its way to the next line of defences, the Gustav Line. The Bernhardt Line was defended by XIV Panzer Corps (XIV Panzerkorps), part of the German Tenth Army (10. Armee).
Unlike most of the other defensive lines, the Bernhardt Line did not run all the way across Italy but was merely a bulge in front of the main Gustav Line; ran over the massif of Monte Cassino; and enclosed the peaks of Monte Cassino (Monastery Hill), Monte la Difensa, Monte la Remetanea and Monte Maggiore, in the territory of Rocca d'Evandro, and Monte Sambucaro (or Sammucro), which stands at the border of the three regions (Lazio, Molise, and Campania). However, the defences of the Gustav Line on the Adriatic are sometimes referred to as the Bernhardt Line, and the battles for that part of the line are included in this entry.
The Bernhardt Line was not as strong as the Gustav Line and was intended only to delay the Allies' arrival. Together with the Gustav Line and the Hitler Line, it made up the German Winter Line defences.
Background
Following the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, the Italian government had surrendered, but the German Army continued to fight. The Allied 15th Army Group, commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander, conquered southern Italy, but by early October, it had come up against the Volturno Line, the first of two lines (the next being the Barbara Line) was used to delay the Allied advance to buy time to prepare the most formidable defensive positions, which formed the Winter Line. Alexander had three possible alternatives to reach the Italian capital of Rome. On the Adriatic Front, he could advance to Pescara and then use Highway 5 (the old Roman Via Valeria) which traversed the country to Rome on the other coast. Alternatively, on the other side of the Apennines, Highway 7 (the old Roman Appian Way) followed along the west coast but south of Rome ran into the Pontine Marshes, which the Germans had flooded. Finally, Highway 6 ran in the same direction, but further inland, through the Liri Valley.
Order of battle
The German forces in Italy were commanded by Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) Albert Kesselring. The defence of the Winter Line was the task of the German 10th Army (10. Armee) under the temporary command of Lieutenant-General (General der Panzertruppe) Joachim Lemelsen (in the absence of General (Generaloberst) Heinrich von Vietinghoff, who was in Germany on sick leave). The German 10th Army had Traugott Herr's LXXVI Panzer Corps (LXXVI Panzerkorps) deployed on the eastern side of Italy, from the Apennine Mountains to the Adriatic, and Frido von Senger und Etterlin's XIV Panzer Corps (XIV Panzerkorps) on the western side, from the mountains to the Tyrrhenian sea.
The new Supreme Allied Commander of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) was General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, replacing General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had moved to command of the Allied forces preparing for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy. The Allied Armies in Italy (AAI), formerly designated the 15th Army Group, were commanded by General Alexander. Under his command were two field armies. To the left, on the western side of Italy, was the UD Fifth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark. To the right, on the eastern side, was the British Eighth Army, commanded by General Sir Bernard Montgomery. The Fifth Army consisted of American, British and French units. The Eighth Army, with British, Indian, New Zealand, Canadian and Polish units, was from early January 1944 commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese after General Montgomery was, along with General Eisenhower, also recalled to England to prepare for Operation Overlord.