Operation Strangle (World War II)

Invasion of Italy Winter Line Gothic Line 1945 Spring Offensive Operation Strangle was a series of air interdiction operations during the Italian Campaign of World War II by the Allied air forces to interdict German supply routes in Italy north of Rome from 19 March 1944 to 11 May 1944.

The Allies failed in the overly ambitious objective of the campaign, namely the forced withdrawal of German forces from the Gustav Line, and did not curtail the flow of supplies but the air interdiction seriously complicated the German conduct of defensive operations and played a major role in the success of the subsequent Allied ground assault Operation Diadem.

This meant that no through trains were able to run from the Po Valley to the front line, and that south of Florence nearly all supplies had to be moved by truck.

The Germans used alternate routes and quickly repaired damaged points, especially at night and in bad weather, when the Americans could not bomb.

[8] According to a 1972 Rand Corporation case study of the mission, Operation Strangle was an important milestone in the development of United States military interdiction doctrine.

Interdiction was a relatively new military strategy at the time, and American commanders lacked adequate understanding of German supply methods.