The Allied Armies in Italy (AAI) was the title of the highest Allied field headquarters in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, during the middle part of the Italian campaign of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In the early and later stages of the campaign the headquarters was known as the 15th Army Group; it reported to the Joint Allied command

Allied Forces Headquarters Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) was the headquarters that controlled all Allied operational forces in the Mediterranean theatre of World War II from August 1942 until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. AFHQ was established in the Un ...

(AFHQ), the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

command for the Mediterranean theatre. The 15th Army Group was renamed the Allied forces in Italy on 11 January 1944, then Allied Central Mediterranean Force on 18 January 1944 and finally the Allied Armies in Italy on 9 March 1944. The 15th Army Group was commanded by

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander until 11 December 1944.

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

Mark W. Clark, formerly the commander of the

U.S. Fifth Army The United States Army North (ARNORTH) is a formation of the United States Army. An Army Service Component Command (ASCC) subordinate to United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM), ARNORTH is the joint force land component of NORTHCOM.

, then took command and the headquarters title was changed back to the 15th Army Group. The AAI thus controlled the Allied land forces for some of the hardest fighting of the entire war. Operations carried out included: the long stalemate on the

Gustav Line The Winter Line was a series of German and Italian military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt and commanded by Albert Kesselring. The series of three lines was designed to defend a western section ...

with the hard-fought battles of Monte Cassino; the

Anzio landings The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944 (ending with the capture of Rome). The o ...

; the liberation of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

; the assault on the Gothic Line, Operation OLIVE; and ending with

Operation GRAPESHOT 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 into the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on ...

, in which the 15th Army Group struck again just south of the Po valley. For all of its life the command consisted of the American Fifth Army, under Lieutenant General Clark and, from December 1944, Lieutenant General Lucian Truscott, and the

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Force ...

, under

Sir Oliver W. H. Leese and, from October 1944, Lieutenant General Sir Richard L. McCreery.

Footnotes

References

* * {{British armies, commands, and corps during the Second World War Army groups of the British Army in World War II