The Hitler Line was a

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

defensive line in central

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The strong points of the line were at Piedimonte,

Pontecorvo Pontecorvo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, Italy. Its population is . History The village lies under Rocca Guglielma, a medieval fortification perched on an inaccessible spur. Its name derives from the ''pons curvu ...

, and Aquino. In May 1944, the line was renamed the Senger Line, after General Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin, one of the generals commanding

Axis forces The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

in the area. That was done at

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's insistence to minimise any propaganda significance if the line was penetrated. The line was a so-called " switch line", joined the Gustav Line at Monte Cairo and provided a fall-back position behind the Gustav Line. The line was breached on 24 May 1944 on the

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was a field army of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed as the Western Army on 10 September 1941, in Egypt, before being renamed the Army of the Nile and then the Eighth Army on 26 September. It was cr ...

's front by the

1st Canadian Infantry Division The 1st Canadian Division (French: ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short notice, and is staffed a ...

and 5th Canadian Armoured Division, which attacked with II Polish Corps on their right. The first to breach the line, at Pontecorvo were the 1st Canadian Division's 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards. The Polish Corps captured Piedimonte on 25 May, and the line collapsed. The next German line was the

Caesar C line The Caesar Line was the last Wehrmacht, German line of defence in Italy before Rome during the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of the World War II, Second World War. It extended from the west coast near Ostia (town), Ostia, ove ...

External links

The Italian Campaign: Breaking the Hitler line
– ''CBC Digital Archives'' – ''Medium''-Radio/''Program''-CBC Radio News/ ''Broadcast Date''-May 23, 1944 * https://web.archive.org/web/20060721024900/http://www.yorkshirevolunteers.org.uk/51RTR.htm Italian campaign (World War II) German World War II defensive lines World War II sites in Italy Adolf Hitler {{World-War-II-stub