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NEGRO TROOPS CROSSING THE ARNO near Pontedera on 1 September, during the drive toward the Gothic Line. The attack on this line was started by the Eighth Army along the east coast on the night of 25–26 August. On 1 September the line had been breached in that sector but by the 6th the advance had been stopped a few miles below Rimini on the Adriatic coast. This advance by the British caused the German High Command to shift three divisions opposing the Americans to the British sector. The forces directly opposite the Arno drew back into the Gothic Line, a distance of about twenty miles.
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SHERMAN TANK FORDING THE ARNO in the Cascina area on 1 September. Little opposition was met until the Gothic Line was reached. The Germans had started to withdraw into this line during the last days of August. Before the withdrawal, it was estimated that the area between the Arno River and the Gothic Line contained about 350 enemy tanks, half of which were Panthers and Tigers. (Sherman tank M 4A 1.)
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TOP OF IL GIOGO PASS IN THE GOTHIC LINE, looking toward the north. The Fifth Army broke through this pass in the Gothic Line defenses outflanking the heavier prepared fortifications at Futa Pass on Highway 65. The scarcity of roads through the mountains made it possible for the Germans to concentrate their defensive works at a few key points such as the Futa and Il Giogo Passes. Highway 6524 branches off Highway 65 thirteen miles north of Florence, winds through Il Giogo Pass, and ends at Highway 9 in Imola (Po Valley).
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