78th Battleaxe Division advance to Volturno Line

General Montgomery's Eighth Army was advancing along the Adriatic coast towards the Germans' Volturno Line. The lead infantry diviision on the coast was the 78th (Battleaxe) Division, commanded by Major-General Vyvyan Evelegh, and included 11 and 36 Brigade with 38 (Irish) Brigade located to the rear at Barletta. Following a British Commando amphibious landing at Termoli at 0215 hours, elements of 11 Brigade began crossing the River Biferno on the morning of 3 October 1943 and when it linked up with the Commandos in Termoli, the Division's 36 Brigade was then able to disembark later that night in Termoli's small harbour.

On 1 October, the 16th Panzer Division had been switched to face the Allied advance along the Adriatic coast. When the fords, that had been bulldozed because logistic problems prevented construction of a bridge to carry armour, were washed away by heavy rains on the evening of 3 October, there was no tank support available to 11 Brigade's infantry and by 4 October elements of 16 Panzer Division were beginning to halt the 78th Division's advance and threaten its tenuous hold on Termoli.

By the afternoon of 5 October the forward infantry elements and Commando were pushed back within half a mile (800m) of Termoli and had to assume a defensive posture. The Divisional Commander's demand for priority allocation of bridging assets resulted in the construction of a Bailey bridge that allowed Canadian and British tanks to cross the Biferno river. That evening, 78th Division's 38th (Irish) Brigade arrived by sea at Termoli and would fight to hold Termoli and then fight forward with tank support to reassume the offensive by the 78th Battleaxe Division.