The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (The Liberation Trilogy) by Rick Atkinson
“You Are All Brave. You Are All Gentlemen”
Spring crept up the Italian boot: Harold L. Bond, Return to Cassino, 133; Farley Mowat, The Regiment, 184; Cyril Ray, Algiers to Austria, 122 (flowers enameled the fields); Walter Robson, Letters from a Soldier, 91; Klaus H. Huebner, A Combat Doctor’s Diary, 59 (whiff of charred villages).
Herders tended their white, sloe-eyed cattle: Robson, 91; John Guest, Broken Images, 163, 172, 175; Medding, “The Road to Rome,” 59 (Children with big mallets); “Report of William Russell Criss,” ts, May 5, 1944, 45th ID Mus (“I feel like a Dago”); Margaret Bourke-White, “Over the Lines,” in Reporting World War II, vol. 2, 753 (like scattered coins); corr, Russell Bodeen to Maxin Kohn, May 14, 1944, 141st Inf, 36th Div, ASEQ, MHI (“field of blood red poppies”).
Only at Cassino did spring seem hesitant: F. Majdalany, The Monastery, 48–49 (“Golgotha”); diary, John G. Wright, May 18, 1944, American Field Service, author’s possession, 23–24 (“down to bedrock”); Jack Kros, War in Italy, chapter 6, 12 (“Ghost Village”); Diana F. Butler, ed., “Human Interest,” UK NA, CAB 101/346, 1 (crimped to a goat path); Alex Bowlby, The Recollections of Rifleman Bowlby, 20.
Yet in Cassino the living were also unseen: Nigel Nicolson, The Grenadier Guards in the War of 1939–1945, vol. 2, 421–22 (Fifteen hundred soldiers); war diary, 1st Guards Bde, March–Apr. 1944, UK NA, WO 170/514, 4, 6–8 (occupied a wide crescent).
Each evening Guardsmen porters: George Aarons, “Cameraman in Cassino,” May 21, 1944, Yank, 3+; C. T. Framp, “The Littlest Victory,” ts, n.d., IWM, 85/19/1, 83 (Most wore gym shoes); Nicolson, 422–23 (dead American nurse); J. K. Windeatt, “Very Ordinary Soldier,” ts, 1989, IWM, 90/20/1, 105 (“smell marks”); memoir, P. Royle, ts, 1972, IWM, 99/72/1, 109 (“fairly serious stammer”).
“Good evening, Hans”: Frank Beckett, Prepare to Move, 149; Nicolson, 421–24; Betsy Wade, ed., Forward Positions: The War Correspondence of Homer Bigart, 43–44; war diary, 1st Guards Bde, March–Apr. 1944, 8; Robson, 101–3.
“There is no day”: Fred Majdalany, Cassino: Portrait of a Battle, 198; Nicolson, 422 (standing watch at their periscopes); C. T. Framp, “The Littlest Victory,” ts, n.d., IWM, 85/19/1, 84 (“a dead world”); memoir, P. Royle, ts, 1972, IWM, 99/72/1, 111 (half-inch in their morning mugs); Majdalany, The Monastery, 46 (“deadly sameness”), 24 (“grotesque friezes”); J. K. Windeatt, “Very Ordinary Soldier,” ts, 1989, IWM, 90/20/1, 106 (Ginger Rogers).
Life across the rubble: Raleigh Trevelyan, Rome ’44, 209 (cologne); Robert Mulcahy, “If You Die, You Die,” World War II, vol. 21, no. 7; Robert Wagner, The Texas Army, 281 (“the word ‘catastrophe’”); war diary, 1st Guards Bde, March–Apr. 1944, 7 (swastika banners); R. C. Taylor, “A Pocketfull of Time,” ts, n.d., author’s possession (Death holding a pair of calipers).
“Everything is in the hands”: “AFHQ Intelligence Notes No. 57,” May 2, 1944, NARA RG 407, E 47, AFHQ, 95-AL1-2.18, box 164.
“You are all brave”: Michael Howard and John Sparrow, The Coldstream Guards, 1920–1946, 219.
Shortly after seven A.M. on Monday, May 1: MWC to Renie, Apr. 24, 1944, MWC, personal corr, Citadel.
Mark Clark was a meticulous creature: A. M. Gruenther to Maurine Clark, May 1, 1944, MWC, corr, box 3; signed lyrics, diary, MWC, Feb. 23, 1944, Citadel, box 65 (“Mile by mile”).
The trailer door swung open: MWC to Renie, May 4, 1944, MWC, personal corr, Citadel; diary, MWC, May 1, 1944, Citadel, box 65; A.M. Gruenther to Maurine Clark, May 1, 1944, MWC, corr, box 3 (“hard-boiled soldier”).
“comes at a most inopportune moment”: msg, MWC to J. L. Devers, Apr. 6, 1944, and GCM to J. L. Devers, Apr. 7, 1944, NARA RG 492, MTOUSA, SGS, “eyes only, General Devers, incoming,” box 135; Maurine Clark, Captain’s Bride, General’s Lady, 115 (“fluttery as a schoolgirl”), 116–17; memo, GCM to MWC, Apr. 11, 1944, GCM papers, GCM Lib, corr, box 61 (no hint of welcome); “Momentous Days,” ts, Apr. 1944, MWC, corr, Citadel, box 3.
Mrs. Clark had been promoting: Maurine Clark to GCM, Feb. 23, 1944, with MWC letter dated, Feb. 10, 1944, GCM papers, GCM Lib, corr, box 61.
“You are aware”: GCM to Maurine Clark, March 1, 1944, GCM papers, GCM Lib, corr, box 61.
“I know it will be somewhat of a shock”: MWC to mother, Apr. 17, 1944, GCM papers, GCM Lib, corr, box 61; diary, MWC, Apr 10, 1944, Citadel, box 65; http://www.greenbrier.com/site/other/about_history.aspx; Maurine Clark, 118 (“sorry I took those guys prisoner”).
Before returning to Italy: http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/07/15/focus10.html; Forrest C. Pogue, George C. Marshall: Organizer of Victory, 328; “Momentous Days” (dozen powerful figures); OH, MWC, May 10–21, 1948, SM, MHI, 53; press conference, MWC, May 9, 1944, Citadel, box 63, folder 3.
the family cocker spaniel: Calculated, 336–37; Maurine Clark, 119; MWC to Renie, May 4, 1944, MWC, personal corr, Citadel (“seems like a dream”).
Under Alexander’s reorganization: Calculated, 334n, 337; OH, Charles E. Saltzman, former deputy chief of staff, Fifth Army, March 26, 1948, NARA RG 319, OCMH, CA, box 005 (Cool and remote).
“He treats his corps commanders”: GK, May 4, 1944; OH, Edward J. O’Neill, VI Corps G-4, June 22, 1948, NARA RG 319, OCMH, CA, box 005 (Truscott twice reminded him); diary, MWC, Feb. 28, 1944, Citadel, box 65 (“whining attitude”); Martin Blumenson, Mark Clark, 166 (mathematics instructor); L. James Binder, Lemnitzer: A Soldier for His Time, 129 (Devers refused to deal directly); OH, L. L. Lemnitzer, Jan. 16, 1948, SM, MHI (“could not be together three minutes”); OH, MWC, May 10–21, 1948, SM, MHI, 65 (“too many bosses”); OH, Jacob L. Devers, Aug. 12, 1958, FCP, GCM Lib, transcript, tape #68, 72–73 (“God Almighty”).
“acted in many high-handed ways”: diary, MWC, Feb. 19, 26 (“in no way cooperating”), 1944, Citadel, box 65; OH, L. L. Lemnitzer, Jan. 16, 1948, SM, MHI (grew so insolent with Alexander); D. Clayton James, A Time for Giants, 158–59 (“vexatious attitude”); Macmillan, 404–5 (insurrection collapsed).
“Many happy returns”: MWC to Renie, May 4, 1944, MWC, personal corr, Citadel; Danchev, 527 (“hoped to land a wildcat”), 522, 534 (“chariot of a lunatic”); Martin Gilbert, Churchill and America, 292 (“feeling of bitterness”).
“Temperamental, very sensitive”: OH, Harold Alexander, Jan. 10–15, 1949, SM, CMH, geog files, II-8.
Never frightened, perhaps, but often anxious: CM, 353; CtoA, 23, 36; diary, MWC, Apr. 30, 1944, Citadel, box 65 John Ellis, On the Front Lines, 163 (132 second lieutenants); Robert R. Palmer et al., The Procurement and Training of Ground Troops, 185; “History of the Peninsular Base Section,” 1944, CMH, 8-4 HA 1, vol. 2; “Investigation of the Replacement System,” Nov. 6, 1943, NARA RG 492, MTO AG, 333.5-212; observer reports: Kenneth I. Hittle, “Report of Returned Overseas Observer,” n.d., #83; M.S. Crallé, untitled, n.d., #90; George Artman, untitled, n.d., #94, all in NARA RG 337, E 15A, AGF, box 53; John Sloan Brown, Draftee Division, ix (built mostly from draftees); msg, MWC to GCM, May 17, 1944, MWC, Citadel, box 3 (“age and physical reasons”); corr, A. Gruenther to DDE, May 27, 1944, DDE Lib, PP-pres, corr, box 48.
two British divisions still at Anzio: diary, MWC, Feb. 27, Apr. 12 (“Many British troops”), 1944, Citadel, box 65; LKT Jr., “Notes on Future Operations,” n.d., MWC, corr, box 3; CM, 352; Molony V, 421n; OH, LKT Jr., Apr. 3, 1958, SM, MHI.
“Absenteeism and desertion”: note, William R.C. Penney, Apr. 21, 1944, LHC, Penney 8/33. More than three hundred British soldiers were executed for desertion or cowardice in World War I, but capital punishment for those crimes had been abolished in the 1930s. John Laffin, Surgeons in the Field, 281.
On average, ten British soldiers: “Operations of British, Indian and Dominion Forces in Italy,” part V, n.d., UK NA, CAB 106/453, 1; Diana Butler, “The British Soldier in Italy, Sept. 1943–June 1944,” ts, n.d., UK NA, CAB 101/224, 35, 43–44; Ben Shephard, A War of Nerves, 240 (“slinkers”); memo, Maj. Gen. John Yeldham Whitfield, CG, UK 6th Div, “Battle Absentees,?
The U.S. Army would convict 21,000 deserters: “Military Executions,” 1994, MHI, Ref Bib; memos, MWC to II Corps and VI Corps, March 13, 1944, and Dec. 4, 1943, NARA RG 338, II Corps JAG, 250.1, box 156; “Operations of British, Indian and Dominion Forces in Italy,” 8; Morse P. Manson and Harry M. Grayson, “Why 2,776 American Soldiers in the Mediterranean Theater of Operation Were Absent Without Leave,” American Journal of Psychiatry, July 1946, 50+.
“I feel like my nervous system”: Stephen W. Ranson, “Military Medicolegal Problems in Field Psychiatry,” Bulletin of the U.S. Army Medical Department, vol. 9, Nov. 1949, 181+; Michael D. Doubler, Closing with the Enemy, 242; Shephard, 217; memo, “Neuropsychiatric Treatment in the Combat Zone,” June 12, 1943, circular letter no. 17, NARA RG 292, records of special staff, MTOUSA surgeon, box 2551; William C. Menninger, “Psychiatry in the War,” June 1946, MHI, “professional papers,” group 1; memo, “Psychiatric Services in the U.S. Army in NATOUSA,” Dec. 31, 1943, NARA RG 292, records of special staff, MTOUSA surgeon, box 2551.
All troops were at risk: “Casualties, Wounded and Wounds, 1946–7,” Army Field Forces, G-3, NARA RG 337, 704, 1942–1952, series 10, box 46, 11 (70 percent of the casualties); “Battle Casualties,” IJ, Sept. 1949, 18+ (“whether he will be hit”); Palmer et al., 228. Ten combat days typically equaled seventeen calendar days in Army calculations. Bruce C. Clarke, “Study of AGF Battle Casualties,” Sept. 1946, AGF HQ, NARA RG 537, E 16A, adm div subject file, 1942–1949, box 48.
Treatment by “narcosynthesis”: “Fifth Army Medical Service History,” Feb. 1945, CMH, 52; Brashear, 352–56 (shock therapy); Charles M. Wiltse, The Medical Department: Medical Service in the Mediterranean and Minor Theaters, 255; memo, Fifth Army surgeon, Oct. 2, 1944, NARA RG 292, records of special staff, MTOUSA surgeon, box 2551; Cowdrey, 148. Half of the Army’s 2,400 psychiatrists were young physicians given a three-month crash course in psychiatry; most others had worked primarily with psychotics in state hospitals. Eli Ginberg, “Logistics of the Neuropsychiatric Problem of the Army,” Feb. 1946, MHI, “professional papers,” group 1.
All of these issues impaired Fifth Army’s: OH, MWC, Nov. 17, 1959, FCP, GCM Lib, transcript of tape 37, 25.
of dubious military value: The U.S. Joint Chiefs in late March voiced doubt that “the capture of Rome is worth heavy engagement in Italy.” Molony VI, 9.
a rightful and prestigious prize: OH, MWC, May 10–21, 1948, SM, MHI, 53; Kent Roberts Greenfield, ed., Command Decisions, 277, 280.
But getting there quickly was paramount: OH, Robert J. Wood, Fifth Army G-3 staff, March 4, 1948, NARA RG 319, OCMH, CA, box 005, 2–3; Greenfield, ed., 277, 280.
“I know factually”: diary, MWC, May 5, 1944, Citadel, box 65.
“On the Eve of Great Things”
Alexander often quoted Lord Nelson’s: Viscount Alexander of Tunis, “The Allied Armies in Italy,” n.d., CMH, II-41; http://www.wtj.com/archives/nelson/1805_10b.htm; Molony VI, 95, 97 (equivalent of twenty-eight divisions); Sidney T. Matthews, “The French Drive on Rome,” Revue Historique de l’Armée, special issue, 1957, 123; CtoA, 40; Michael Carver, Harding of Petherton, Field-Marshal, 126; Battle, 203–5.
“Between ourselves”: John Keegan, ed., Churchill’s Generals, 121; H. E. Pulliam, “Operations in Italy,” Sept. 1, 1944, AGF board, AFHQ, DTL, Ft. B, 2–3 (“on an axis generally parallel”).
Alexander’s final order: CtoA, 40; Nigel Nicolson, Alex: The Life of Field Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis, 248; Carver, 134.
“no invidious comparison”: minutes, conference, AFHQ chief of staff and French chief of staff, May 6, 1944, CMH, Geog files, Italy 337.
Their commander, Lieutenant General Oliver W. H. Leese: Gregory Blaxland, Alexander’s Generals, 21–22; GK, Apr. 4, 1944 (“ungainly bruiser”); Rowland Ryder, Oliver Leese, ix (horticultural succulents), 152–53, 168; Douglas Porch, The Path to Victory, 513; Dominick Graham and Shelford Bidwell, Tug of War, 254.
“having a baby”: Ryder, 163, 160 (“I can work with Clark”); OH, H. Alexander, Jan. 10–15, 1949, SM, CMH, II-8 (“Not the pusher Clark was”); Daniel G. Dancocks, The D-Day Dodgers: The Canadians in Italy, 1943–1945, 237 (“like a whore in heat”).
Leese’s seven infantry and three armor divisions: Molony V, 591n; Blaxland, 26 (“ardour of a boy”); Janusz Piekalkiewicz, The Battle for Cassino, 16, 102 (fought both Germans and Russians); Kurzman, 26; David Hapgood and David Richardson, Monte Cassino, 182–93.
Anders’s two divisions were understrength: “Operations by 2nd Polish Corps Against the High Ground, Monte Cassino,” ts, June 1944, possession of Roger Cirillo, 12; John Nelson, “Always a Grenadier,” ts, 1982, LH, 44 (“We never take prisoners”); W. Anders, An Army in Exile, 170–73 (“no men to spare”).
“The eyes of suffering France”: Michael Carver, ed., The War Lords, 604 (“invading the mountains”); CtoA, 24; Porch, 554 (retraining his forces).
That meant scaling the Auruncis: CtoA, 30; OH, Robert J. Wood, March 4 and 15, 1948, SM, MHI; OH, Lyman Lemnitzer, Jan. 16, 1948, SM, MHI.
Wrapped in a greatcoat: Frank Gervasi, The Violent Decade, 557; G. K. Tanham, “Battlefield Intelligence in World War II: A Case Study of the Fifth Army Front in Italy,” Sept. 1956, Project RAND, RM-1792, CMH, iii–iv, 28 (photo reconnaissance); Diana F. Butler, “The French Expeditionary Corps in the Battle for Rome,” n.d., UK NA, CAB 101/226, 3–5 (persuaded first Keyes); John Ellis, Cassino: The Hollow Victory, 47 (“They like us a lot”).
Rather than employ the FEC: Matthews, “The French Drive on Rome,” 125–26; Butler, “The French Expeditionary Corps,” 2–5.
Clark’s admiration for Juin: memo, phone code names, March 5, 1944, Fifth Army, Robert J. Wood papers, MHI; Anthony Clayton, Three Marshals of France, 79 (surrendered one of his four stars); Carver, ed., 607 (“Radiate confidence”); CtoA, 35.
Half a million players: Clifford W. Dorman, “Too Soon for Heroes,” ts, n.d., 19th Combat Engineers, author’s possession, 78–79 (“not to camouflage too well”); Alexander, “The Allied Armies in Italy,” III-9 (twenty undetected French battalions); Clayton, 83 (soup-bowl helmets); Butler, “The French Expeditionary Corps,” 11 (hand tools to minimize the noise); Dharm Pal, The Campaign in Italy, 1943–1945, 158 (scattered brushwood).
Canadian signalers in April: Mark Zuehlke, The Liri Valley, 78; “Engineers in the Italian Campaign, 1943–1945,” ts, n.d., UK, MHI, 88 (spread garnished nets); Harold E. Miller, “G-2 Report on Italian Campaign,” June 15, 1944, NARA RG 337, AGF, observer report, #110, box 54, 10; Anthony Cave Brown, ed., The Secret War Report of the OSS, 217.
Military traffic signs appeared: Martha Gellhorn, “Cracking the Gothic Line,” Collier’s, Oct. 28, 1944, 24+; “Operations by 2nd Polish Corps Against the High Ground, Monte Cassino,” 22–23 (seven thousand mottled sniper suits); “Engineer History, Fifth Army, Mediterranean Theater,” MHI, 65 (screens made of chicken wire); Dancocks, 237.
Scouts in canvas shoes: Matthew Parker, Monte Cassino, 296; The Tiger Triumphs, 72; Neil Orpen, Victory in Italy, 28 (South African troops lay low).
Every tree along Highway 6: “History of Ordnance Service in the Mediterranean Theater,” 77; Alfred M. Beck et al., The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany, 239, 250; AAR, 1621st Engineer Model Making Detachment, n.d., NARA RG 407, ENDT-1621-0.1, 270/62/12/1, box 19220 (intricate terrain replicas); Miller, “G-2 Report on Italian Campaign,” 5 (mixed ersatz inks).
Endless supply convoys crept forward: William J. Diamond, “Water Is Life,” Military Engineer, Aug. 1947, 330+; Orpen, 33 (hoods wrapped in rubber pads); “Fifth Army Medical History,” 146 (clop of hooves); John Buchan, “Report on a Visit to the French Expeditionary Corps,” Canadian Army, n.d., CMH, Geog files, Italy 337, 1 (“No mules”).
“I think of you every day”: corr, LKT Jr. to Sarah, May 3, 7, 14, 1944, LKT Jr. papers, GCM Lib, box 1, folder 6.
More than one million
Patrols reclaimed small swatches: Earl M. Cooper, “The Operation of the 2nd Battalion, 180th Infantry at Anzio Beachhead,” 1947, IS; msg, LKT Jr. to MWC, May 7, 1944, NARA RG 319, OCMH, CA, box 6 (“one additional infantry division”); CtoA, 117 (trundled forward each night); Moore, “Memoirs—World War II,” 7–8 (“It was crowded”).
In a letter to his old friend: corr, ENH to L. J. McNair, May 8, 1944, ENH, MHI, box 1; corr, LKT Jr. to Sarah, May 11, 1944, LKT Jr. papers, GCM Lib, box 1, folder 6 (“on the eve of great things”).
It was precisely this issue that General Alex: Sidney T. Matthews, “Drive to Rome,” ts, 1954, MHI, 26–27, 31; CM, 369.
The quizzical tilt: CtoA, 39 (had eyed the stretch of Highway 6); “Notes by General Alexander for Conference Held at HQ, AAI, on 2 April 1944,” NARA RG 319, OCMH, CA, box 8 (cut the highway at Valmontone); Matthews, “Drive to Rome,” 29 (code-named BUFFALO); memo, AFHQ, deputy chief of staff, March 21, 1944, NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, R-225B (might take a month); “Notes on Conference,” May 5, 1944, Fifth Army, MWC papers, Citadel, box 3 (decisive battle of annihilation); Pulliam, “Operations in Italy,” 2–3 (“thereby prevent the supply”).
“Gen. Alex arrived this morning”: msg, LKT Jr. to MWC, May 5, 1944, NARA RG 319, OCMH, CA, box 6.
“Alex trying to run my army”: diary, MWC, May 5, 1944, Citadel, box 65.
“The capture of Rome is the only important”: CM, 369, Matthews, “Drive to Rome,” 31 (detour onto other routes).