The Day of Battle (119 page)

Still, German observers: StoC,
80; Roskill, 175; AAR, 191st Tank Bn, n.d., AGF Board Reports, NARA RG 407, E 427, NATOUSA, 95-USF1-2.0; Bishop et al., eds., 41; memoir, Aidan Mark Sprot, ts, 1947, LHC, 72 (
LST officers scampered
); Walter Karig,
Battle Report: The Atlantic War,
265, 268 (“
jolly well shot up
”).

AVALANCHE
planners had hoped:
R. L. Connolly, “Operations of Landing Craft in the Mediterranean,” Oct. 14, 1943, NARA RG 334, E 315, NWC Lib, ANSCOL, L-2-43, C-75, box 170; Downes, 14;
SSA,
265 (
pinned to the dunes
); Mark W. Clark, “Salerno,”
AB,
No. 95, 1997, 1+; Peek, ed., 20; Wagner, 11 (“
I saw riflemen swarm
”).

“
in a row, side by side
”: Norman Lewis,
Naples ’44,
12; Paul A. Cundiff,
45th Infantry CP,
62 (“
the stillest shoes
”); Peckham and Snyder, eds., vol. 2, 63 (“
wouldn’t look so bad
”); Reynolds,
The Curtain Rises,
300 (“
On what beach
”).

Salvation arrived shortly after nine
A.M.
:
Richard J. Werner, 141st Inf Regt, in FLW to MWC, Oct. 11, 1943, CARL, N-6818, 1-2;
StoC,
82; “Historical Tactical Study of Naval Gunfire at Salerno,” 1948–49, Amphibious Warfare School, USMC, Quantico, Va., SEM, NHC, box 51, 25; “Amphibious Operations,” Aug.–Dec. 1943, CINC, U.S. Fleet, CMH; Shapiro, 132 (
steamed within a hundred yards
); action report, U.S.S.
Philadelphia,
Sept. 25, 1943, NARA RG 38, OCNO, WWII Action and Operational Reports, box 1318;
SSA,
280 (
Eleven thousand tons of naval shells
).

“
the cover of a Latin book
”: Fred Howard,
Whistle While You Wait,
167; memo, “Shore Party Organization for Amphibious Operations,” AFHQ to WD, Dec. 17, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, 270/50/28/36; “Lessons from the Italian Campaign,” March 10, 1944, NARA RG 407, E 427, NATOUSA, 95-USF1-04, box 250, 12.

Near a tobacco barn at Casa Vannula:
journal, 36th ID chief of staff, Sept. 9, 1943, SM, MHI;
StoC,
84; corr, James E. Taylor, 131st FA Bn, to Walter H. Beck, March 2, 1944, Texas MFM, 2 (“
hip-shooting
”); corr, Miles A. Cowles, 36th Div artillery CO, in
Texas,
409 (
two hundred yards’ range
); “Lessons from the Italian Campaign,” March 10, 1944, HQ, NATOUSA, CMH, Italy 353, 12; FLW to MWC, Oct. 11, 1943, CARL, N-6818, chronology;
Texas,
237 (“
It was thrilling
”).

Dive-bombers caught the U.S.S.
Nauset: http://www.ussorleck.org/Namesake.asp;
SSA,
274.

But the preliminary naval bombardment:
action report,
LCA 403,
Sept. 22, 1943, in “Operation
AVALANCHE
—Report on North Assault,” RN, Oct. 16, 1943, CARL, N-6837; Phil H. Bucklew, “Skipping Salvos off Salerno,” in Mason, 318; Pond, 59–61, 88 (“
This way to Naples”)
, 91; Wallace, 58 (
a piano
).

By day’s end, X Corps would land:
Molony V, 286; Pond, 61 (“
unutterable confusion
”); E. McCabe, “The Plan for the Landing at Salerno,” 190a (LST 357); AAR, HM
LST 430,
Sept. 12, 1943, in “Operation
AVALANCHE
—Report on Northern Assault,” Oct. 16, 1943, CARL, N-6837.

Beyond the beaches, the invasion unfolded:
Molony V, 284; Simpson, “Air Phase,” 339n; AAR, “Operation Avalanche,” Apr. 21, 1945, Mediterranean Allied Tactical AF, CARL, N-11606, 17 (
88mm shells riddled the fuselage
).

The 5th Battalion of the Royal Hampshire Regiment:
Daniell, 142; Morris, 108; Pond, 71; Molony V, 285.

Past Montecorvino, Tommies in khaki:
Gervasi, 495; Molony V, 284, 290;
The Grenadier Guards, 1939–1945,
28 (“
feeling of looseness
”).

“
bloody great battleships
”: Hickey and Smith, 178; Pond, 111–12 (“
retiring pell-mell
”), 114; David Erskin,
The Scots Guards, 1919–1955,
170n (
tomato canning plant
); Clark, “Salerno,” 1.

They were not coming:
“Invasion of Italian Mainland, Summary of Operations Carried Out by British Troops Under Command 5 U.S. Army,” n.d., CMH, 370.2, 7–8; Wilfred Owen, “Anthem for Doomed Youth,”
Oxford Book of War Poetry,
188; Daniell, 141; Pond, 77 (“
We’ve got them
”).

Only on the extreme left:
AAR, 1st Ranger Bn, Nov. 15, 1943, USMA micro, MP63-8, R-1; morning report, 1st Ranger Bn, HQ Co, Sept. 9, 1943, Robert W. Black papers, MHI, box 2, folder 8;
Salerno,
19; William O. Darby and William H. Daumer,
Darby’s Rangers: We Led the Way,
113–16; James J. Altieri,
Darby’s Rangers: An Illustrated Portrayal of the Original Rangers,
57–58.

“
an artilleryman’s dream
”: Michael J. King,
William Orlando Darby: A Military Biography,
115; author visit, Apr. 29, 2004; Tregaskis, 133–35 (“
reminds me of Spain
”); Anders Kjar Arnbal,
The Barrel-Land Dance Hall Rangers,
155 (“
chestnut branches
”); Richard M. Burrage, “See Naples and Die!,” ts, 1988, Texas MFM, 6 (“
until hell freezes
”).

Soon a battleship:
Darby and Daumer, 117; Capa, 98 (
firing mortar barrages through holes
); Tregaskis, 135; Downes, 145 (“
men and boys in rags
”); memo, Donald Downes to W. Donovan, “OSS Activities in the Neapolitan Campaign, D-day to D-day plus 21,” Oct. 19, 1943, NARA RG 226, E 99, OSS History Office, box 48; Virgil,
The Aeneid,
trans. Robert Fagles, 181 (“
white with the bones
”).

Others forever remembered deep-chested Darby:
Wood, “The Landing at Salerno,” 16–19; Downes, 142–49 (“
Snow White
”); Burrage, “See Naples and Die!,” 15 (
San Francisco Hotel
); Tregaskis, 133 (“
hell of a pasting
”).

“
We are sitting pretty
”: Shapiro, 133; Molony V, 286; Malcolm Munthe,
Sweet Is War,
167 (“
Corpses lay on the sand
”).

“
In the land of theory
”: Molony V, 325.

The first hitch:
Edward J. O’Neill, “Memorandum to Commanding General, VI Corps,” June 29, 1944, JPL, MHI, box 11; OH, MWC, May 10–21, 1948, SM, MHI; D. Clayton James,
A Time for Giants,
140–41;
Howitzer,
USMA yearbook, 1910; Robert H. Berlin,
U.S. Army World War II Corps Commanders,
17; Edmund F. Ball,
Staff Officer with the Fifth Army,
186; 201 file, EJD, HIA, box 1; OH, GCM, July 25, 1949, SM, MHI (
decorated protégé
); corr, EJD to Hal C. Pattison, Dec. 15, 1964, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC3, Salerno to Cassino, box 255 (“
Don’t bite off
”).

Clark’s plan to leave Dawley:
O’Neill, “Memorandum,” June 29, 1944; “Historical Record, Headquarters, VI Corps,” JPL, MHI, box 12; aide’s diary, EJD, HIA, box 1; diary, EJD, Sept. 9, 1943, HIA, box 1 (“
Coxswain got lost
”).

With his dispersed staff in disarray: StoC,
87;
CM,
253 (
required radios
); O’Neill, “Memorandum,” June 29, 1944 (“
Confusion and disorganization
”); Ball, 197 (“
tennis match
”).

“
Just as sure as God lives
”:
PP,
344.

a seven-mile gap:
Clark and others estimated the gap to be ten miles wide, but map positions show it was narrower. Wood, “The Landing at Salerno,” 16;
StoC,
90; Hickey and Smith, 139;
Calculated,
192.

“
well in hand
”: diary, MWC, Sept. 10, 1943, MWC, Citadel, box 64 (“
Have just returned
”); speech, Robert B. Hutchins, “Personal Experiences of a Regimental Commander in Italy, 1944,” in Russell L. Moses, ASEQ, 179th Inf, MHI, 4–7.

To help unite his two corps:
Under pressure from AFHQ to return the transport ships to pick up more troops, Hewitt had in fact landed the 157th Infantry on the south bank of the Sele rather than the north, as Clark would have preferred. The admiral’s presumption was more annoying to Clark than tactically significant.
Calculated,
195; W.H.H. Morris, Jr., “Report on Observation Trip,” n.d., DRL, IS, 9;
StoC,
100–101.

The third hitch derived:
Molony V, 273; Simpson, “Air Phase,” 122; Roskill, 173; “History of the Aviation Engineers in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations,” June 1946, AAF Engineer Command, MTO, CEOH, X-39; “Long Range Fighter Cover over Salerno Beaches,” Oct. 1943, HW, NAAF, Monthly Operations Bulletin #6, NARA RG 334, E 315, NWC Lib, ANSCOL, box 132; “The Army Air Forces in Amphibious Landings in World War II,” July 1953, USAF Historical Div, AU, CARL, N-16372.34, 62–64; Vian, 119 (
sawed nine inches
); Reynolds,
The Curtain Rises,
305 (“
Bloody nonsense
”).

Using flashlights for illumination:
D. E. Williams, “Air Operations—‘
AVALANCHE
,’” Jan. 7, 1944, NARA RG 334, E 315, NWC Lib, ANSCOL, L-3-43, W-67, box 179, 4; Simpson, “Air Phase,” 124–25, 135; Molony V, 299;
StoC,
103 (“
Air situation here critical
”).

“
Our greatest asset now
”: Chandler, vol. 2, 1406.

“
as soon as admin situation
”: Brooks, ed., 284, 379n; Lamb, 39, 44, 47 (“
holiday picnic
”).

On the other side of the hill:
Ralph S. Mavrogordato, “The Battle of Salerno,” Dec. 1957, NARA RG 319, E 145, OCMH, R-series mss, R-88, 13; Moorehead,
Eclipse,
43 (
boots in rags
);
StoC,
86; Matthew Cooper,
The German Army,
405; Liddell Hart, 363.

Hitches plagued Vietinghoff:
Eduard Mark,
Aerial Interdiction in Three Wars,
98; Mavrogordato, “The Battle of Salerno,” 14–15, 36; Douglas Graf Bernstorff, “Operations of the 26th Panzer Division in Italy,” 1948, FMS, #D-316, MHI, 1-7;
StoC,
98.

“Viva English!”: Moorehead,
Eclipse,
43; Molony V, 293 (
five divisions ringing
).

Within the Anglo-American beachhead:
“Personal Diary of Langan W. Swent,” Sept. 12, 1943, HIA, box 1; “World War II Diaries of Norman Maffei,” 158th FA, 45th Div, ASEQ, MHI (“
surrender of Italy hasn’t hindered
”).

Fresh dead joined the older dead:
chronology, Sept. 10, 1943, 1500 hrs, HKH, “Action Report,” CMH; James C. Ruddell et al., “Observers Notes on the Italian Campaign,” Dec. 5, 1943, NARA RG 337, AGF, observer reports, 190/48/30-21/00,#59, box 52; LeRoy R. Houtson, “Dead Men by Mass Production,” ts, n.d., Texas MFM, 2–4 (“
didn’t have a mark
”); Clark, “Salerno,” 1 (
Triangular wooden wedges
); Ball, 218; Hickey and Smith, 307 (“
They’ve placed the graveyard
”).

Stretcher bearers hurrying to the rear:
Steinbeck, 158; medical forms from T. Nennniger, NARA, Modern Military Records; Tregaskis, 140; Charles M. Wiltse,
The Medical Department: Medical Service in the Mediterranean and Minor Theaters,
228 (“
unusual agility
”), 231, 236; Edward D. Churchill,
Surgeon to Soldiers,
257; J. M. Huddleston, VI Corps surgeon, “Report for Colonel Carter,” 1943, Norman Lee Baldwin papers, HIA.

“
that’s the way it is
”: Tregaskis, 139; Moorehead,
Eclipse,
36; Burrage, “See Naples and Die!,” 28 (“
I don’t think God
”).

“
Our forces have captured
”: Pond, 129; report, Fifth Army, Sept. 11, 1943, 0045 hrs., Robert J. Wood papers, MHI (“
Combat efficiency
”); chronology, Sept. 11, 1943, 0208 hrs, HKH, “Action Report,” CMH (“
Am satisfied
”); AAR, “Record of Events,” 142nd Inf, July 10, 1943, 1200 hrs, CARL, N-6818;
StoC
, 97 (“
The worst is over
”), 101 (
ready to march north
); AAR, “Historical Record, Headquarters, VI Corps,” 5–6 (
odd lull
).

The Moan of Lost Souls

Four German bombs had landed:
action report,
Ancon
commanding officer to CINC, U.S. Fleet, Oct. 15, 1943, MWC papers, Citadel, box 3, folder 1; OH, HKH, 1961, John T.
Mason, Col U OHRO, 347 (“
sore thumb
”); Howe, “American Signal Intelligence,” 61; H. Kent Hewitt, “The Allied Navies at Salerno,”
Proceedings,
Sept. 1953, 958+; OH, HKH, n.d., Julian Boit and James Riley, HKH papers, NHC, box 6, 5 (“
get into the action
”).

Thirty
“
red alerts
”: Shapiro, 137 (
human chains
); Karig, 266;
Three Years,
412 (
helmsmen tried to minimize
); OH, HKH, 1961, John T. Mason, Col U OHRO, 347 (
slow enough to shrink her wake
).

Three days into
AVALANCHE
:
Dunham, “United States Army Transportation and Italian Campaign,” 37; “The Administrative History of the Eighth Fleet,” 36; George J. Horney, “Comments and Suggestions on the
AVALANCHE
Operation,” n.d., NARA RG 407, E, 427, NATOUSA, 95-USF1-0.4, box 250.

Drivers could not find their vehicles:
A chemical mortar battalion arriving at Paestum on Sept. 9 did not receive its mortars until Sept. 12. Kleber and Birdsell, 433; Reynolds,
The Curtain Rises,
317 (
cowboys and Indians
); “Amphibious Operations, Aug.–Dec. 1943,” CINC, U.S. Fleet, CMH; “COHQ Bulletin No. Y/25,” Apr. 1944, CARL, N-6530.10.