“This summer, during our holiday in Tuscany, Italy, I visited the Gothic Line in Borgo a Mozzano near Lucca. The Gothic Line was built by the Germans in 1944 and was the last major defensive line before the Alps. In 1944, using more than a 15,000-strong army of forced labourers, the Germans created more than 2,000 well-fortified machine gun posts, gun emplacements, bunkers, observation posts and artillery positions to repel any Allied attack.

During our visit we saw bunkers, machine-gun posts, an anti-tank and also numerous rock cut passages. Before going down to the battle grounds, we also stopped at the Museo della Memoria, which houses a number of exhibits. I was particularly intrigued by the authentic artefacts from World War II, such as propaganda poster, letters, maps, uniforms, documents and weapons.

I was particularly intrigued by the authentic artefacts

The Linea Gotica and the Museo della Memoria fall under the responsibility of Comitato per il Recupero e la Valorizzazione della Linea Gotica, which keeps it in pristine condition for visitors.

( https://sites.google.com/site/prolocoborgoamozzano/cosa-visitare/linea-gotica )

“After our visit, we went to see the Ponte del Diavolo, which was one of the few bridges that was not blown up by the Germans, as they thought that it is too small for a tank to pass through it. However, a group of Sherman tanks did succeed in crossing across the river Serchio through this narrow bridge.”

http://www.lineagotica.eu/