Battle of Ancona | |||||||
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Part of the Italian Campaign of World War II | |||||||
German defensive positions in Northern Italy 1944. Polish II Corps advance and taking on Ancona showed on the map. |
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Belligerents | |||||||
Poland United Kingdom |
Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Władysław Anders Klemens Rudnicki |
Harry Hoppe | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~50,000 | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
496 killed 1,789 wounded 139 missing |
800 killed 3,000 captured |
The Battle of Ancona was a battle involving forces from modern-day Poland serving as part of the British Army and German forces that took place from 16 June–18 July 1944 during the Italian campaign in World War II. The battle was the result of an Allied plan to capture the city of Ancona in Italy in order to gain possession of a seaport closer to the fighting so that they could shorten their lines of communication. The Polish 2nd Corps was tasked with capture of the city on 16 June 1944, accomplishing the task a month later on 18 July 1944.
The Allied advance north meant that the logistics line was in need of a port closer to the front lines than the ports of Pescara and Anzio. As such, two new targets were designated: Ancona on the Adriatic coast, and Leghorn (Livorno) on the Tyrrhenian Sea. On 16 June, Polish II Corps under Lieutenant-General Władysław Anders—which had been taken into British Eighth Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese, reserve after its efforts in the Battle of Monte Cassino—was brought forward once more to relieve British V Corps and tasked with the capture of Ancona. On 17 June, Anders was given command of the Adriatic sector of the Italian theatre.