Monte Altuzzo EVERYMAN EDITION

About 300 to 500 yards in front of the main line of resistance, the enemy had erected an outpost line on the southwest slopes of Hill 782. Consisting of three log bunkers and an open zigzag trench, these outer defenses were spaced at irregular intervals and were covered by a weak barrier of barbed wire. From them the Germans could place effective rifle and machine-gun fire in the draws on either side of the mountain and on the lower slopes of the main ridge. Besides utilizing this outpost line, the Germans had attempted to canalize any attack against Monte Altuzzo by erecting a band of barbed wire fifteen to twenty yards deep across the western ridge of the mountain (the west side of the bowl). No wire had been laid across the central and eastern slopes of the bowl, evidently because the enemy relied on the mutually supporting machine-gun and rifle positions to beat back assaults.  Despite the shortage of front-line troops and reserves, the enemy intended to hold the Gothic Line as long as his limited resources would permit. On 8 September each soldier in the 12th Parachute Regiment, 4th Parachute Division, had received orders that “... the position is to be held to the last man and the last bullet even if the enemy breaks through on all sides..."