AFTER OPERATION CYGNET THE FRONT LINE FROZE UNDER THE FIRST SNOWFALLS OF 1945. THE ALLIED ADVANCE HAD DEGENERATED INTO A WAR OF ATTRITION, INCLUDING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ONE. AND THAT FIGHT WOULD CONTINUE TO CLAIM CASUALTIES FOR MORE THAN THREE MONTHS. IN THE COTIGNOLA SECTOR THE GERMANS HAD GENERALLY MAINTAINED CONTROL OF BOTH STOPBANKS OF THE SENIO, WHICH CONSTITUTED A GOOD ANTI-TANK OBSTACLE AND CONTAINED COUNTLESS POSITIONS WITHIN THEM. COMBINED WITH GERMAN MINEFIELDS, THESE DEFENSES IMMEDIATELY PREVENTED THE ALLIES FROM APPROACHING. AT THE END OF JANUARY THE SECTOR COVERED BY THE 1st CANADIAN DIVISION BETWEEN COTIGNOLA AND BAGNACAVALLO WAS GIVEN TO THE RECFORCE: AN AD HOC UNIT CREATED BY THE UNION OF TWO RECCE UNITS (BRITISH 12th ROYAL LANCERS​​​ AND INDIAN SKINNER’S HORSE​​) TEMPORARILY USED AS INFANTRY. THE RECFORCE WAS THEN REPLACED IN MID-FEBRUARY BY THE NEPALESE TROOPS OF 43rd GURKHA BRIGADE​, WHILE THE SECTOR BETWEEN COTIGNOLA AND SAN SEVERO REMAINED UNDER THE PROTECTION OF BRITISH 56th DIVISION. AND FOR WEEKS, ALL THESE UNITS FOUGHT IN THE OFTEN VAIN ATTEMPT TO GAIN CONTROL OF THE SOUTHERN STOPBANK OF THE SENIO. MANY SMALL ATTACKS WERE LAUNCHED, EVEN IF ONLY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO TACKLE WITH SUCH A SCENARIO, GIVEN THE LIMITED RESOURCES AVAILABLE. AND WHILE THE DIFFICULTIES WERE ENORMOUS AT FIRST, THE SITUATION IMPROVED OVER TIME: BY CHANGING THEIR TACTICAL APPROACH, THE ALLIES MADE MORE PROGRESS AND THE SOUTHERN STOPBANK BEGAN TO BE GRADUALLY CONQUERED.

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FIGHTING ALONG THE SENIO, THE GERMANS HAD TWO VERY DIFFERENT UNITS DEPLOYED IN THE COTIGNOLA AREA. FACING THE CANADIANS, THE GERMAN 356th DIVISION​​​​ WAS BY THEN EXHAUSTED. BUT IN THE SECTOR BETWEEN COTIGNOLA AND SOLAROLO, THE 278th DIVISION​​​ HAD A DIFFERENT REPUTATION: IT WAS ONE OF THE FEW GERMAN UNITS TO HAVE FOUGHT THROUGHOUT THE PREVIOUS MONTHS WITHOUT SUFFERING HEAVY LOSSES. FIGHTING ALONGSIDE THE 278th ON THE SENIO WERE ALSO ITALIANS: THE ARDITI OF THE 1st FORLI ASSAULT BATTALION​​. DURING THE EARLY PART OF THE WINTER, THESE FORCES HAD NO TROUBLE DEFENDING THE SENIO. OF COURSE, THERE WERE DIFFICULTIES: FUEL WAS SCARCE, FOOD WAS SPARSE, AND AMMUNITION WAS BARELY SUFFICIENT. BUT THE GERMANS WERE ACCUSTOMED TO MAKING DO, AND THE TERRAIN WAS DEFINITELY IN THEIR FAVOR: THE POSITIONS DUG INTO THE STOPBANKS ALLOWED THEM TO CONTROL NO MAN’S LAND FROM ABOVE, TO HAVE SHELTER AND COVER, AND TO EASILY HIT ANYONE TRYING TO REACH THE RIVER. HOWEVER, BETWEEN LATE JANUARY AND MID-FEBRUARY 1945, THESE UNITS WERE REPLACED IN THE COTIGNOLA AREA BY THE 98th GERMAN DIVISION​: AN EFFICIENT UNIT, WHICH ANYWAY FOUND ITSELF ALONE IN BEARING THE FULL BRUNT OF ALLIED ATTACKS AGAINST THE SOUTHERN STOPBANK OF THE SENIO. AS TIME WENT ON, THIS CONTINUOUS PRESSURE WOULD CAUSE INCREASING CASUALTIES AMONG THE GERMANS. AND WITH THE GRADUAL LOSS OF THE SOUTH STOPBANK, BEING NO LONGER ABLE TO STRIKE THE ALLIES WITH EASE, THE 98th DIVISION ALSO LOST THE INITIATIVE.

THE HALT OF THE FRONT ALONG THE SENIO KEPT THE TERRITORY OF COTIGNOLA DIVIDED IN TWO. ALL THE HOUSES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE RIVER WERE OCCUPIED BY TROOPS, DEPOTS, ARTILLERY, ARMORED VEHICLES, COMMAND POSTS AND A MYRIAD OF OTHER MILITARY INFRASTRUCTURES. PART OF THE POPULATION HAD ALREADY BEEN FORCED BY THE ALLIES OR THE GERMANS TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES. BUT, SITUATED CLOSE TO THE RIVER, COTIGNOLA FOUND ITSELF ON THE BATTLELINE, AND MANY RESIDENTS NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO FLEE THE TOWN TO SAFETY. THEY FOUND THEMSELVES HELPLESS, SUBJECTED TO ALLIED FIRE ON COTIGNOLA, WITHIN WHOSE WALLS THE GERMANS HAD TAKEN POSITION. BUT EVEN DURING THOSE TERRIBLE MONTHS, SPENT IN THE COLD, AMONG SHELTERS AND RUINS, AMIDST MISERY AND FEAR, COTIGNOLA MANAGED TO GIVE HELP TO THOSE WHO NEEDED IT MOST. FROM 1943 ONWARD, DOZENS OF PERSECUTED JEWS WERE PROTECTED BY THE PEOPLE OF COTIGNOLA: A UNIQUE CASE OF CITIZEN SOLIDARITY THAT LED TO THE RESCUE OF 41 JEWS AND INVOLVED MANY FAMILIES, INCLUDING RESISTANCE FIGURES AS WELL AS LOCAL OFFICIALS. FOREMOST AMONG THEM WAS THE PREFECTURAL COMMISSIONER VITTORIO ZANZI. WITH THE HELP OF HIS WIFE SERAFINA, THE WELL-KNOWN PAINTER LUIGI VAROLI AND HIS WIFE ANNA, HE AND MANY OTHER RESIDENTS OF COTIGNOLA MANAGED TO CREATE A RESCUE NETWORK SO RESILIENT THAT IT SURVIVED EVEN THE BATTLES ALONG THE SENIO. FOR ALL THIS, IN 2002 THE STATE OF ISRAEL AWARDED VITTORIO ZANZI, SERAFINA BEDESCHI, LUIGI VAROLI, AND ANNA CORTESI​ THE TITLE OF “RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS”.

IN MARCH 1945 THE BATTLEFRONT AT COTIGNOLA WAS CHANGING. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH THE ALLIES ASSIGNED TO THE TROOPS OF THE 2nd POLISH CORPS THE SECTOR WEST OF SAN SEVERO, WHERE A WIDE NO-MAN’S-LAND SEPARATED THE OPPOSING SIDES. AT THE SAME TIME, 43rd GURKHA BRIGADE WAS TRANSFERRED IN ANOTHER PART OF THE FRONT, LEAVING THE 56th BRITISH DIVISION IN CHARGE OF THE ENTIRE SECTOR BETWEEN SAN SEVERO AND BAGNACAVALLO, WHERE THE BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF THE SOUTHERN STOPBANK CONTINUED. AND WHEN IN MID-MARCH THE 56th WAS REPLACED BY THE EXPERT 78th BRITISH DIVISION​, THE BATTLE INTENSIFIED. IN A MARCH THAT WAS DRIER AND WARMER THAN USUAL, THE IRISH AND BRITISH TROOPS OF THE 78th DIVISION LAUNCHED DOZENS OF ATTACKS AGAINST THE INCREASINGLY STRUGGLING GERMAN 98th DIVISION. AND EVER-LARGER SECTIONS OF THE SOUTHERN STOPBANK FELL UNDER ALLIED CONTROL. AT TIMES THE TWO SIDES FOUGHT AT A DISTANCE OF JUST A FEW METRES, SEPARATED ONLY BY THE CREST OF THE SOUTHERN STOPBANK. TO OBSERVE THE ENEMY, BOTH ALLIES AND GERMANS BEGAN TO USE VARIOUS TYPES OF PERISCOPES. PATROLS SOMETIMES PENETRATED ENEMY TERRITORY BY DIGGING TUNNELS THROUGH THE STOPBANK. TERRIFYING CLOSE-QUARTER EXCHANGES OF HAND GRENADES AND IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES WERE INTERMITTED BY RAPID ATTACKS, AMBUSHES, SNIPER FIRE AND CONSTANT PSYCHOLOGICAL PRESSURE THROUGH LEAFLETS, LOUDSPEAKERS OR INSULTS SHOUTED AT THE TOP OF THE SOLDIERS’ VOICES. A DECISIVE BATTLE WAS APPROACHING AND TENSION WAS RISING FAST.

ON EASTER SUNDAY 1945, 1 APRIL, THE MOST EXPERIENCED UNIT THE ALLIES HAD PERHAPS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD ARRIVED IN THE COTIGNOLA SECTOR: IT WAS THE 2nd NEW ZEALAND DIVISION​, WHICH HAD BEEN FIGHTING THE GERMANS SINCE 1940. FROM THE VERY START, THE IMPRESSIVE NEW ZEALAND FORCES WERE CONCENTRATED IN A RELATIVELY SHORT SECTOR BETWEEN SAN SEVERO AND THE RAILWAY LINE TO COTIGNOLA. IT WAS A CLEAR SIGN THAT THE NEW ZEALANDERS INTENDED TO BREACH THE GERMAN FRONT IN THAT SECTOR. FOR A WEEK, WHILE THE BRITISH 78th DIVISION KEPT HOLD OF THE SECTOR BETWEEN COTIGNOLA AND BAGNACAVALLO, THE NEW ZEALANDERS WAGED A CONTINUOUS STREAM OF SMALL ATTACKS AIMED AT RAPIDLY COMPLETING THE CONQUEST OF THE SOUTHERN STOPBANK IN THEIR SECTOR. THIS WAS A FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENT FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE OFFENSIVE THE ALLIES WERE ABOUT TO LAUNCH. OBJECTIVE OF THE OPERATION: TO CROSS THE SENIO AND BRING THE WAR IN ITALY TO AN END ONCE AND FOR ALL. TO MAKE THE GERMANS BELIEVE THAT THE ALLIED DEPLOYMENT HAD NOT CHANGED, THE NEW ZEALANDERS HAD BEEN ASKED, BEFORE ARRIVING IN THE AREA, TO REMOVE THEIR INSIGNIA AND REPLACE THEM WITH THOSE OF THE 78th BRITISH DIVISION. BUT THE COMBAT EFFICIENCY TYPICAL OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS AND THE PRESENCE OF THE UNMISTAKABLE 28th MAORI BATTALION ON THE FRONT ALLOWED THE GERMANS TO IMMEDIATELY REALISE WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND ANTICIPATE THAT THE ALLIES WOULD SOON LAUNCH A CRUCIAL ATTACK IN THAT SECTOR. HOWEVER, THE GERMANS COULD NOT IMAGINE HOW THE ATTACK WOULD BE LAUNCHED.

ON THE AFTERNOON OF 9 APRIL 1945 THE ALLIES LAUNCHED OPERATION BUCKLAND: THE FINAL OFFENSIVE BY THE BRITISH 8th ARMY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. IT BEGAN WITH THE MOST TERRIFYING BOMBING RAID IN ITALIAN HISTORY: OVER 1,700 AIRCRAFT, INCLUDING 1,000+ BOMBERS FROM THE 12th TACTICAL AIR FORCE​ AND THE 15th STRATEGIC AIR FORCE WHICH, IN LESS THAN TWO HOURS, DROPPED OVER 2,000 TONNES OF BOMBS ON A WHOLE RANGE OF TARGETS BETWEEN THE SENIO AND SANTERNO RIVERS. AFTER THE MAIN AIR BOMBING, A TERRIFYING ARTILLERY BARRAGE BEGAN, WITH THE ALLIES FIRING FRAZILLY WITH ALL THE GUNS, HOWITZERS, MORTARS AND SELF-PROPELLED GUNS AT THEIR DISPOSAL. HAMMERED BY FIGHTER BOMBERS AND ARTILLERY, STUNNED BY AN UNIMAGINABLE DIN, COVERED BY A SKY BLACKENED BY FIRES AND TONS OF SOIL REDUCED TO DUST BY THE BOMBS, COTIGNOLA WAS EXPERIENCING ITS DARKEST HOUR. AND THE SAME EXPERIENCE WAS SHARED BY THE ALREADY EXHAUSTED GERMAN SOLDIERS OF THE 98th DIVISION. SHORTLY BEFORE SUNSET, THE NEW ZEALAND INFANTRY ASSAULTED THE SENIO, PRECEDED BY A LINE OF FLAMETHROWER TANKS. AND WITHIN MINUTES, THANKS TO THEIR EXPERIENCE, THE NEW ZEALAND SOLDIERS MANAGED TO CROSS THE RIVER. AS THERE WERE NO LONGER ANY INTACT BRIDGES OVER THE SENIO, THE NEW ZEALAND ENGINEERS SET TO WORK TO CONSTRUCT CROSSINGS THAT WOULD ALLOW THEIR TANKS TO JOIN THE INFANTRY, RESIST ANY GERMAN COUNTER-ATTACK AND REACH COTIGNOLA. AND WITH THAT IN MIND, THE FIRST BAILEY BRIDGE ACROSS THE RIVER WAS COMPLETED AFTER JUST TWO HOURS OF WORK.

ON THE NIGHT OF 9–10 APRIL 1945 THE ADVANCE OF THE 2nd NEW ZEALAND DIVISION CONTINUED TOWARDS BARBIANO. BOMBARDMENTS HAD DEVASTED THE GROUND, VISIBILITY WAS REDUCED TO ALMOST ZERO AND THE LANDSCAPE WAS BLURRED BY THE FLASHES OF ARTILLERY AND THE STILL RAGING FIRES. ADVANCING ACROSS UNFAMILIAR TERRAIN AND WITHOUT ANY SUPPORT, AS ALLIED ARMOURED UNITS HAD NOT YET CROSSED THE SENIO, THE NEW ZEALANDERS BEGAN TO HEAR TANKS MOVING AROUND BARBIANO. THEY WERE CLEARLY ENEMIES, AND THEY WERE TRYING TO PUT THEMSELVES IN POSITION IN ORDER TO HALT THE ALLIED ADVANCE. THAT NIGHT NO FEWER THAN 12 GERMAN ARMORED VEHICLES WERE SPOTTED IN THE BARBIANO AREA: MOST OF THEM WERE TIGER TANKS FROM THE 504th SCHWERE PANZER-ABTEILUNG. AMIDST THE CHAOS AND DARKNESS, THE GERMAN TANKS FOUND THEMSELVES MIXED UP WITH THE NEW ZEALAND SOLDIERS WHO, USING ONLY THEIR PIATS, MANAGED TO DISABLE TWO TIGERS. THE REST OF THE GERMAN VEHICLES ENDED UP LEAVING THE AREA, IN MANY CASES WITHOUT REALISING WHAT HAD HAPPENED. IT WAS THE MOST SERIOUS ATTEMPT BY THE GERMANS TO HALT THE ALLIED ADVANCE ACROSS THE SENIO RIVER, AND IT WAS COMPLETELY UNSUCCESSFUL. BY THE END OF THE NIGHT, BARBIANO WAS THE FIRST HAMLET TO BE LIBERATED ACROSS THE RIVER.

IN THE ALLIED PLANS 27th NEW ZEALAND BATTALION SUPPORTED BY THE KANGAROO APCs OF THE 4th QUEEN’S OWN HUSSARS HAD BEEN TASKED WITH CAPTURING THE CENTRE OF COTIGNOLA IN THE EVENT OF GERMAN RESISTANCE. HOWEVER, THE GERMAN 98th DIVISION WISELY DECIDED TO WITHDRAW FROM THE TOWN. AND AT THAT MOMENT, TWO MEN FROM COTIGNOLA CAME OUT INTO THE OPEN. THEY WERE A PARISH PRIEST AND A PARTISAN WITH THE SAME SURNAME: DON STEFANO CASADIO AND LUIGI ‘LENO’ CASADIO​. AT THE FIRST LIGHT OF 10 APRIL, DON STEFANO AND LENO CROSSED THE SENIO WITH A WHITE FLAG TO TELL THE ALLIES THAT THERE WAS NO NEED TO ATTACK COTIGNOLA. ON THE SOUTH BANK, THEY WERE INTERCEPTED BY TROOPS FROM THE 78th BRITISH DIVISION, WHOSE TASK WAS NOT TO CROSS THE SENIO BUT JUST TO HOLD IT. LENO AND DON STEFANO REPORTED THAT THERE WERE NO MORE GERMANS IN COTIGNOLA AND, TO VERIFY THIS, A PATROL WAS SENT TO THE TOWN. IN PARTICULAR, THE MEN BELONGED TO THE 1st BATTALION OF THE EAST SURREY REGIMENT​​, WHICH SOON REACHED COTIGNOLA WITHOUT ENCOUNTERING ANY RESISTANCE. THE INFORMATION REACHED THE OTHER ALLIED UNITS, ONLY THEN WERE LENO AND DON STEFANO BELIEVED, AND THE NEW ZEALAND ATTACK WAS STOPPED IN TIME. AFTER MONTHS OF WAITING, COTIGNOLA WAS FREE BUT DESTROYED. IN THE HOURS THAT FOLLOWED, THE SURVIVING CIVILIANS WELCOMED THE UNOPPOSED ARRIVAL OF A LARGE NUMBER OF BRITISH AND NEW ZEALAND SOLDIERS. AND THE LATTER, AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE ADVANCE, SOON CROSSED THE RAILWAY LINE BETWEEN BARBIANO AND LUGO TOO.

DURING THE OFFENSIVE, PART OF THE COTIGNOLA MUNICIPALITY WAS LIBERATED BY THE TROOPS OF THE 2nd POLISH CORPS, WHO HAD FOCUSED THEIR INITIAL ATTACK BETWEEN SAN SEVERO AND FELISIO. IT WAS IN THAT VERY AREA, DURING THE AIR BOMBINGS OF 9 APRIL, THAT THE POLISH TROOPS WERE ACCIDENTALLY HIT BY A GROUP OF AMERICAN B-17s WHICH HAD CONFUSED THE SENIO WITH THE SANTERNO. AROUND 3,000 FRAGMENTATION BOMBS LANDED AMONGST THE POLISH UNITS, CAUSING MORE THAN 220 CASUALTIES. DESPITE THIS TRAGIC ACCIDENT, THE POLISH 3rd ‘CARPATHIAN RIFLES’ DIVISION​​​ LAUNCHED ITS ATTACK ANYWAY. UNDER GERMAN FIRE, THE POLES HAD FOUGHT FOR THE ENTIRE EVENING OF 9 APRIL THROUGH THE MINEFIELDS IN NO MAN’S LAND. MORE HARD FIGHTING WAS NECESSARY TO CROSS THE SENIO. AND BY DAWN ON 10 APRIL THE POLES HAD ADVANCED AS FAR AS THE ROAD BETWEEN BARBIANO AND FELISIO. THE FIRST TANKS IN SUPPORT, BELONGING TO 7th BRITISH ARMOURED BRIGADE​​, HAD CROSSED THE SENIO USING A BRIDGE BUILT BY THE NEW ZEALANDERS NEAR SAN SEVERO. IN THE FOLLOWING HOURS THE POLES MANAGED TO COMPLETE MORE BRIDGES, OBTAIN ADDITIONAL TANK SUPPORT AND REACH THE MOLINELLO PIANI AREA. IT WAS THERE THAT THE LIBERATION OF THE COTIGNOLA MUNICIPALITY WAS COMPLETED. AROUND SUNSET OF 10 APRIL 1945, THE POLISH TROOPS CROSSED THE CANALE DI LUGO AND, AFTER MORE THAN 110 DAYS OF TERROR, THE FRONT LINE OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR LEFT THE TERRITORY OF COTIGNOLA ONCE AND FOR ALL.