GERMAN PRISONERS and their equipment captured on the Po plain. For the first time in the Italian campaign, the enemy was retreating over terrain suitable for swift pursuit. Since the Germans lacked vehicles and gasoline, they had to rely to a great extent on horse-drawn transportation. They retreated across an open valley having a fine network of roads for mechanized forces and were forced to cross wide rivers by ferries and ponton bridges under constant attack by Allied air forces. The retreat became a rout.
ITALY
PRISONERS WERE CAPTURED by the tens of thousands in the Po Valley and marched to the rear, often unguarded, or guarded only by one or two men. On 2 May 1945, the Germans signed the terms of the unconditional surrender of their forces in Italy. One week later the war in Europe was concluded with complete victory for the Allies. The Italian campaign had been a bitter one, lasting 607 days (3 September 1943 to 2 May 1945). Casualties of the Fifth Army, including all nationalities serving with that army, totaled 188,546. United States losses were 19,475 killed, 80,530 wounded, and 9,637 missing.
Appendix A
List of Abbreviations
| AA | Antiaircraft |
| AC | Air Corps |
| AT | Antitank |
| cm. | Centimeter |
| DD | Duplex drive |
| DDT | Dichloro-Dithenyl-Trichloroethane |
| Flak | Fliegerabwehrkanone (antiaircraft artillery gun) |
| JU. | Junkers (designation of airplane built by company of that name) |
| K. | Kanone (gun) |
| Kw. | Kraftwagen (motor vehicle) |
| Kw.K. | Kampfwagenkanone (tank gun) |
| LCI | Landing craft, infantry |
| LCI (L) | Landing craft, infantry (large) |
| LCM | Landing craft, mechanized |
| LCP | Landing craft, personnel |
| LCP (R) | Landing craft, personnel (ramp) |
| LCT | Landing craft, tank |
| LCV | Landing craft, vehicle |
| LCVP | Landing craft, vehicle-personnel |
| le.P.Kw.K.2s | Leichter Personen Kraftwagen, K.2, Schwimmend (light personnel vehicle, K.2, amphibian) |
| LST | Landing ship, tank |
| LVT | Landing vehicle, tracked |
| mm. | Millimeter |
| Pak. | Panzerabwehrkanone (antitank gun) |
| Pz. Kpfw. | Panzerkampfwagen (tank) |
| SCR | Signal Corps Radio |
| S.F.H. | Schwere Feld Haubitze (medium field howitzer) |
| Sig C | Signal Corps |
| SOC | Scout Observation Curtis |
| SP | Self-propelled |
| Stu. G. | Sturmgeschuetz (self-propelled assault gun) |
| Stu. H. | Sturmhaubitze (self-propelled assault howitzer) |
| Stu. K. | Sturmkanone (self-propelled assault gun) |
| TD | Tank destroyer |
| TNT | Trinitrotoluene; trinitrotoluol (high explosive) |
| WAC | Women’s Army Corps |
| USAFIME | U. S. Army Forces in the Middle East |
| USSR | Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |