The Day of Battle (107 page)

“
incarnation of sincerity
”: Kennedy,
Freedom from Fear,
690; Stephen E. Ambrose,
Eisenhower,
vol. 1, 273 (“
bits of metal
”); James, 95 (“
utterly fair
”); Merle Miller,
Ike the Soldier,
514; John Kennedy,
The Business of War,
289 (“
powers of expression
”); Drew Middleton,
Our Share of Night,
308.

“
I’m a born optimist
”: Richard Tregaskis,
Invasion Diary,
54; Kennedy,
Freedom from Fear,
689 (“
studious reflection
”); John Gunther,
Eisenhower: The Man and the Symbol,
27 (“
one officer in fifty
”); OH, DDE, Aug. 29, 1976, D. Clayton James, DDE Lib, OH-501, 3–6 (“
I would refuse
”); Chandler, vol. 2, 1165 (“
at least $25,000
”).

“
You are fighting
”: HCB, June 19, 1943, DDE Lib, A-491; Gunther,
Eisenhower,
19 (“
hate my enemies
”); John S. D. Eisenhower,
Strictly Personal,
67 (“
the Almighty
”).

“
A coordinator
”: Brian Horrocks,
A Full Life,
159; Brian Harpur,
The Impossible Victory,
115 (“
a compromisor
”); JPL, May 24, 1943 (“
keep in touch
”).

“
solve problems through reasoning
”: Carlo D’Este,
Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life,
418; Gunther,
D Day,
59; David Fraser,
Alanbrooke,
347 (“
a grave risk
”); Harold Macmillan,
War Diaries,
260.

The long summer twilight: Three Years,
343; Thomas W. Mattingly and Olive F. G. Marsh, “A Compilation of the General Health Status of Dwight D. Eisenhower,” n.d., Mattingly Collection, DDE Lib, box 1, 19–22, 53 (“
disabling injury
”); Gunther,
Eisenhower,
29 (
sixty or more Camels
); Chandler, vol. 2, 1344 (
he paid John
); HCB, June 29, 1943, DDE Lib, A-508c (
gas fumes
).

Cigarette in hand:
Michael Simpson,
A Life of Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Cunningham,
161 (
Tars scaled
); John Howson, ts, n.d., LHC, 302 (“
Every Nice Girl
”); Ernle Bradford,
Siege Malta, 1940
–
1943,
86–87 (
limestone walls
); Cunningham, 547 (“
extremely smelly
”); McKeough and Lockridge, 87 (
banana cordials
).

Eisenhower strode:
Gunther,
D Day,
53, 61; Alden Hatch,
General Ike,
173 (
four hundred years
); Gunther,
Eisenhower,
23–24.

He shrugged off:
Harry L. Coles, Jr., “Participation of the 9th and 12th Air Forces in the Sicilian Campaign,” AAF Historical Studies, no. 37, n.d., CMH, 56; Gunther,
D Day,
80.

his red-veined face:
John Winton,
Cunningham,
313; Daniel C. Dancocks,
The D-Day Dodgers: The Canadians in Italy, 1943
–
1945,
27; George Kitching,
Mud and Green Fields,
147, 151 (
three Canadian ships
);
Three Years,
349 (
heard from Malta
); Martin Stephen,
The Fighting Admirals,
65, 77, 83 (“
velvet-arsed
”); Simpson, 161; Gunther,
D Day,
64 (“
like a bulldog’s
”).

“
The coast is everywhere
”: “Tactical Study of the Terrain—Sicily,” AFHQ G-2, Feb. 1943, CMH, Geog Sicily 354, 1; Molony V, 13 (
thirty-two beaches
); L. V. Bertarelli,
Southern Italy,
418; Ernest Samuels, ed.,
The Education of Henry Adams
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973), 367.

An amphibious landing:
Geoffrey Perret,
There’s a War to Be Won,
110.

If amphibious warfare:
Garland, 54–58; Sidney L. Jackson, “Signal Communication in the Sicilian Campaign,” July 1945, SC Historical Project E-3, CARL, N-9425.4, 6–7 (
couriers shuttled
); Arthur S. Nevins, “Looking Back,” ts, n.d., A.S. Nevins papers, DDE Lib, box 1, 16 (
frigid officers
).

Eisenhower in March:
“Allied Commander-in-Chief’s Report on Sicilian Campaign 1943,” 75; Meyer, “Strategy and Logistical History: MTO,” XIII-14 (“
grossly exaggerating
”);
GS
IV, 368–69 (“
defeatist doctrines
”); Garland, 58.53 “
Let’s finish this
”: OH, Francis de Guingand, March 31, 1947, G. A. Harrison, OCMH WWII, “Europe Interviews,” MHI, 2; Abraham, “Time Off for War,” 68 (“
how it would suit us
”).

The existing plan:
Hunt, 189–90; Molony V, 22; Garland, 61 (“
wooly thinking
”); Stephen Brooks, ed.,
Montgomery and the Eighth Army,
191, 207, 217, 223, 226 (“
military disaster
”).

Rather than divide:
diary, Lt. Gen. Sir Charles Gairdner, IWM 04/271/1, 39 (
a thousand francs
), 36 (
run by Monty
); Martin Blumenson,
Sicily: Whose Victory?,
24; Carlo D’Este,
A Genius for War,
493 (
men’s latrine
).

A day later:
Cunningham, 532–37; Garland, 62;
SSA,
20n.

“
I can’t understand
”: diary, Lt. Gen. Sir Charles Gairdner, IWM 04/271/1, 37.

HUSKY
now called:
Richard Doherty,
A Noble Crusade,
140; Garland, 88–91.

“
Stick them in the belly
”:
SSt,
114; George F. Howe, “American Signal Intelligence in Northwest Africa and Western Europe,” U.S. Cryptologic History, series IV, vol. 1, NSA, NARA RG 57, SRH-391, 48–49; “Trip Reports Concerning Use of Ultra in the Mediterranean Theater, 1943–1944,” NARA RG 457, SRH-031, 36; Ralph Bennett,
Ultra and Mediterranean Strategy,
401–3; Peter Calvocoressi,
Top Secret Ultra
(“
panoramic knowledge
”); F. H. Hinsley et al.,
British Intelligence in the Second World War,
vol. 3, part 1, 75, 483–86 (
Hyena
).

Eisenhower also knew: SSA,
35, 56; Jack Greene and Alessandro Massignani,
The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940
–
1943,
313 (“
blindfolded
”); “I Reparto Riunione dal Duce del Giorno 3 Aprile 1943,” Italian Collection, item 26, OCMH, SSI, NARA RG 319, 270/19/6/3, box 243 (
lightbulbs
).

What Eisenhower did not know: Battle,
35.

The Combined Chiefs had approved:
Richard M. Leighton, “Planning for Sicily,”
Proceedings,
July 1962, 90+; Garland, 67 (“
Your planners
”).

Marshall was right: Battle,
46; Garland, 89; “Outline Plan,” Force 343, May 18, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 270/19/6/3, box 242; Cochran, “Chicken or Eggs?”; Alexander S. Cochran, “Constructing a Military Coalition from Materials at Hand: The Case of Allied Force Headquarters,” paper, SMH conference, Apr. 16, 1999, 10–12 (
Amphibious doctrine
).

A
“
terrible inflexibility
”: Smith, “Mediterranean Operations,” 1; Garland, 92–93.

In mid-June, Eisenhower
:
Three Years,
333; DDE,
Crusade in Europe,
170; Davis, 425–26 (“
Don’t
ever
do that
”).

Feints and deceptions: SSA,
167; memo, C. B. Hazeltine to McClure, July 14, 1943, AFHQ Psychological Warfare Branch, Carl A. Spaatz papers, LOC MS Div, box 13;
The Sicilian Campaign,
8.

Verdala Palace: Three Years
, 347–48, 353; DDE,
Letters to Mamie,
125.

Translators, for example:
DDE to GCM, May 7 and 11, June 22 and 28, 1943, NARA RG 165, E 422, OPD Exec Files, box 16.

“
Aged Military Gentlemen
”: C.R.S. Harris,
Allied Administration of Italy, 1943
–
1945,
82; Paul Dickson,
War Slang,
118; http://www.sokrates-digital.de/produktkatalog/AQ493328.php; DDE to AGWAR, June 1, 1943, NARA RG 165, E 422, OPD Exec Files, box 16. The abbreviation was shortened in August to AMG.

he worried about his wife:
Ambrose, vol. 1, 244.

Kathleen Helen Summersby:
Kay Summersby Morgan,
Past Forgetting,
126, 136; finding aid, Barbara Wyden papers, DDE Lib; Miller, 516 (
Grief and strain
); Piers Brendon,
Ike: His Life & Times,
125.

Just please remember:
DDE,
Letters to Mamie,
128.

“The Horses of the Sun”

The convoys from Algeria:
Karig, 235–36;
SSA,
62–65; Tregaskis, 15 (
abacus
); war log, U.S.S.
Monrovia,
July 8–9, 1943, NARA RG 38, OCNO, WWII war diaries, box 1233 (
thirteen knots
).

Ships wallowed:
Total tonnage included follow-on convoys. Memo, “Observations ‘
HUSKY
’—Joss Task Force,” July 10, 1943, MTOUSA, NARA RG 492, SOS, 290/55/1-2, 7-1, box 2736; msg, AFHQ to AGWAR, June 25, 1943, NARA RG 165, E 422, OPD Exec Files, box 16; Jackson, “Signal Communication in the Sicilian Campaign,” 3; “Orders for Operation
HUSKY
,” n.d., AFHQ, S.S.O. 17/3, CARL, N-14793A; msgs, DDE to AGWAR, May 28, 1943; AGWAR to AFHQ, June 10, 1943; and Office of Fiscal Director, WD, to DDE, June 17, 1943, all in NARA RG 165, E 422, OPD Exec Files, box 16 (
rat traps
); Robert W. Komer, “Civil Affairs and Military Government in the Mediterranean Theater,” 1954, CMH, 2-3.7 AX, II-24 (
occupation scrip
); memo, “Medical Planning Instruction,” Force 141, March 14, 1943, A. S. Nevins papers, MHI, box 1 (
condoms
); “British Abbreviations and Glossary,” A. S. Nevins papers, MHI, box 1 (
glossary
).

Half the tonnage:
Mayo, 154; “Logistical History of NATOUSA/MTOUSA,” Nov. 1945, NARA RG 407, E 427, 95-AL1-4, box 203, 58.

“
what they thought they needed
”: “Reminiscences of Walter C. W. Ansel,” John T. Mason, Jr., 1970, USNI OHD, 148; AAR, 6681st Signal Pigeon Co., July 9, 1944, NARA RG 407, SG Co-6681-0.1, box 23228; msg, AGWAR to DDE, June 17, 1943, NARA RG 165, E 422, OPD Exec Files, box 16 (
pigeons
); Max Corvo,
The O.S.S. in Italy,
61; “Reminiscences of Phil E. Bucklew,” 1980, John T. Mason, Jr., USNI OHD, 44; memo, “Final Outline Plan, Force 343,” June 8, 1943, NARA RG 338, II Corps historical section, box 148; “Beaches of Sicily,” Strategic Engineering Study, No. 31, Nov. 1942, MHI (
rumrunner
); msgs, GCM to DDE, May 2 and 27, 1943, NARA RG 165, E 422, OPD Exec Files, box 16; Blanche D.Coll et al.,
The Corps of Engineers: Troops and Equipment,
455–56 (
wooden crates
); Nicholas, 222, 226, 234 (
motorcycle courier
).

Much had been learned:
memo, HQ, I Armored Corps, annex 2, June 14, 1943, MTOUSA, NARA RG 492, SOS, 290/55/1-2, 7-1, box 2736; “Operating Instructions
HUSKY
,” vol. IV, Force 343, FO No. 1, June 20, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, 95-AL1-3.17, box 201 (chart distributed to medics); memo, HQ, SOS NATOUSA, June 29, 1943, and “Graves Registration Directive,” MTOUSA, NARA RG 492, SOS, 290/55/1-2, 7-1, box 2736; memo, “Disposition of Personal Effects,” May 24, 1943, Harlan W. Hendrick, ASEQ, 1st ID, MHI.

welfare of civilians:
“British Administrative History of the Italian Campaign,” appendix, 1946, NARA RG 94, E 427, 95-USF2-5.0; Komer, “Civil Affairs,” II-20 (
vast stocks
); “Post-
HUSKY
Operations, Military Government,” NARA RG 319, OCMH, 270/19/6/3, box 242 (
nineteen million mouths
); “History of Planning Division, Army Service Forces,” n.d., CMH, 3-2.2 AA, vol. 1, 92 (“
self-supporting
”).

Kent Hewitt spent the passage:
OH, HKH, 1961, John T. Mason, Col U OHRO, 314; HKH, AAR, “The Sicilian Campaign,” n.d., 107; John H. Clagett, unpublished bio of HKH, ts, n.d., NHC, 392 (“
God couldn’t be
”).

“
sea-going bedpan
”: “History of Amphibious Training Command, U.S. Atlantic Fleet,” 1951,
USNAd,
#145 a–c, VIII, 24; Beck et al., 118; Perry, “A Reporter at Large,” 50 (“
ensign-eliminators
”); author visit,
LST 325,
Alexandria, Va., May 28, 2005; Perret, 134
(
rumrunners
); Barry W. Fowle, ed.,
Builders and Fighters,
407; Kendall King, “LSTs: Marvelous at Fifty Plus,”
Naval History,
1992 (
river yards
); Pyle, 157 (
even in drydock
).

Hewitt knew:
Beck et al., 124; Mason, 273–78 (
Sherman tank
).

“
take his chances
”: “Reminiscences of Walter C. W. Ansel,” 149; HKH, AAR, “The Sicilian Campaign,” 44 (“
illusory
”); Hinsley, 86 (
fourteen had been lost
).

In his own cabin: PP,
275, 271 (
horses of the sun
); diary, GSP, July 8, 1943, LOC MS Div, box 3, folder 1 (“
Attack and then look
”); Mason, 284 (“
on their necks
”).

Field Order No. 1:
HQ, Force 343 (7th Army), June 20, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, SSI, box 242; “Seventh Army Report Summary,” n.d., NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC2 Sicily, box 250 (“
We shall win
”).