The Day of Battle (120 page)

Hewitt this morning had sent Admiral Cunningham:
OH, HKH, 1961, John T. Mason, Col U OHRO, 373;
AAFinWWII,
525–26; “Personal Diary of Langan W. Swent,” Sept. 12, 1943, HIA, box 1 (“
All are jumpy
”); newsletter, U.S.S.
Philadelphia,
Sept. 23, 1943, WWII Ship Files, NHC (“
nerve pills
”).

The demand for pills spiked:
Hewitt, “The Allied Navies at Salerno,” 958+; chronology, HKH, “Action Report,” NHC (“
hogging, sagging
”).

as Hewitt soon surmised:
msg, HKH to A. B. Cunningham, Sept. 12, 1943, 1547 hrs., chronology, HKH, “Action Report,” CMH; http://www.vectorsite.net/twbomb3.html#m3; James P. Melanephy and John G. Robinson,
Surface Warfare,
vol. 6, no. 3 (March 1981), 2+; corr, D. H. Leathem to author, Jan. 20, 2003; James Phinney Baxter,
Scientists Against Time,
194; William W. Downey, “Report on Simmons Project,” n.d., OSS, NARA RG 226, E 99, OSS, 190/6/7/7, box 25, folder 6; memo, “Radio-Controlled Bombs Can be Jammed,” March 10, 1945, SEM, NHC, box 47.

“
terrific screeching noise
”: diary, MWC, Sept. 11, 1943, MWC, Citadel, box 64;
Calculated,
196; Clark, “Salerno,” 1; action report, R. W. Cary, U.S.S.
Savannah,
Oct. 1, 1943, NARA RG 38, OCNO, Action and Operational Reports, box 1413 (
hard left rudder
).

“
It didn’t fall like bombs do
”: Reynolds,
The Curtain Rises,
328, 333 (“
wasn’t natural
”); “U.S.S.
Savannah
(CL 42) Bomb Damage,” War Damage Report No. 44, June 15, 1944, Bureau of Ships, Navy Dept., NARA RG 38, OCNO, WWII Action and Operational Reports, box 1413 (
twenty-two-inch hole
).

“
flared like a sulphur match
”: Michael Stern,
Into the Jaws of Death,
211; Reynolds,
The Curtain Rises,
328; Hewitt, “The Allied Navies at Salerno,” 958+; Evelyn M. Cherpak, ed.,
The Memoirs of Admiral H. Kent Hewitt,
121 (
his flagship
).

The blast vaporized bulkheads:
Melanephy and Robinson, “
Savannah
at Salerno,” 2; action report, George J. Pinto to CINC, U.S. Fleet, July 19, 1943; action report, R.W. Cary, U.S.S.
Savannah,
Oct. 1, 1943; war damage report, U.S.S.
Savannah,
Oct. 14, 1943; “U.S.S.
Savannah
(CL 42) Bomb Damage,” War Damage Report No. 44, June 15, 1944, Bureau of Ships, Navy Dept., all in NARA RG 38, OCNO, WWII Action and Operational Reports, box 1413.

At Pearl Harbor:
Jack Greene and Alessandro Massignani,
The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943,
305.

Her rugged hull saved her
: Reynolds,
The Curtain Rises,
328; war log, U.S.S.
Savannah,
Sept. 14, 1943, NARA RG 38, OCNO, WWII War Diaries, box 1425 (
Among the unluckiest
).

A deft shifting of fuel: SSA,
283–84; Beard, “Turning the Tide at Salerno,” 34+ (
sailors braced the rails
); war damage report, U.S.S.
Savannah,
Oct. 14, 1943. Other accounts put the death tally at just under two hundred.

Hewitt desperately sought remedies:
lecture, Richard L. Conolly, “The Landing at Salerno in World War II,” May 14, 1957, Naval Historical Foundation, 8; Hewitt, “The Allied
Navies at Salerno,” 958; Aileen Clayton,
The Enemy Is Listening,
281; Pond, 127 (
electric razors
); memo, “Radio-Controlled Bombs Can be Jammed” (“
improve morale
”);
StoC,
106–7 (
Fritz-X attacks in coming days
).

To the relief of
Ancon
’s crew:
Shapiro, 140; Lewis, 14 (“
streaming like ants
”), 19; diary, EJD, Sept. 12, 1943, HIA, box 1;
StoC,
112; Morris, 240; Alfred M. Beck et al.,
The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany,
163; Downes, 16; Pond, 174.

Clark immediately drove south: Calculated,
197; aide’s diary, EJD, HIA, box 1.

Twenty-eight thousand Americans
: AAR, “Historical Record,” 7–8;
Salerno,
50; Molony V, 304; DDE, “Allied Commander-in-Chief’s Report, Italian Campaign,” 112.

The American right flank seemed secure:
AAR, “Record of Events,” 142nd Inf, Sept. 3–20, 1943, CARL, N-6818;
StoC,
108–9; Wagner, 19 (“
a height of some sort
”); J. Tuck Brown, “Love, War, Etc.,” ts, Jan. 1995, 132nd FA, 36th ID, ASEQ, MHI, 22–24 (“
I’m a little hungry
”); http://www.smu.edu/culmemorial/fellen.htm. Brown’s eyewitness account contradicts the version of Sprague’s death in Morris, 233.

“
a tribulation
”: Thruelsen and Arnold, 179;
Salerno,
43–47; Munsell, 26 (“
fired point blank
”); John Embry, “My Most Interesting Experience,” ts, n.d., 160th FA Bn, 45th ID Mus, 117, 125 (
plans to spike their tubes
); AAR, 191st Tank Bn, n.d., AGF board reports, NARA RG 407, E 427, 95-USF1-2.0 (
tobacco factory would change hands
).

If German forces followed the Sele:
Mark W. Clark, “Salerno,” 1; Molony V, 302–3; diary, MWC, Sept. 12, 1943, MWC, Citadel, box 64 (
drove to Red Beach
).

“
Very heavy fighting
”: chronology, Sept. 11, 1943, 2025 hrs, HKH, “Action Report,” CMH;
StoC,
107 (
fifteen hundred Allied soldiers
); Porch, 492 (
Anglo-Irish cavalryman
); OH, JPL, May 24, 1948, SM, MHI (“
tall, lean, and vague
”); Charles Richardson,
Flashback,
160 (
near-whisper
); Pond, 156–59, 172 (“
another Dunkirk
”); Nigel Nicolson,
The Grenadier Guards in the War of 1939–1945,
vol. 2, 362–64; Michael Howard and John Sparrow,
The Coldstream Guards, 1920–1946,
153–54; Michael Howard,
Captain Professor,
73 (“
lost souls
”).

Shaken by the sight of the British war dead:
Hamilton, 416; Hickey and Smith, 183; diary, EJD, Sept. 12, 1943, HIA, box 1; “Historical Record, Headquarters, VI Corps, September 1943—The Operation
AVALANCHE
,” n.d., JPL, MHI, box 12, 7 (
Field Orde0r No. 2
);
StoC,
109.

Grimy and dust-caked:
diary, MWC, Sept. 12, 1943, MWC, Citadel, box 64 (“
I must await further buildup
”); corr, H. Alexander to DDE, Sept. 13, 1943, DDE Lib, PP-pres, box 3 (“
everything must be done
”).

“
the crowing of a cock cut the ears
”: Shapiro, 145.

All tranquillity vanished at six
A.M.
:
AAR, “Historical Record,” 8; journal, Sept. 13, 1943, 36th ID, chief of staff, SM, MHI;
Salerno,
61; AAR, “Record of Events,” 142nd Inf, Sept. 3–20, 1943, CARL, N-6818. The U.S. Army official history states that the shelling came from German artillery.
StoC,
113, 125.

The 3rd Battalion of the 143rd Infantry: StoC,
113–14; AAR, “Operation
AVALANCHE
,” 143rd Inf, Oct. 2, 1943, CARL, N-6818; memo, Fifth Army IG to MWC, Sept. 19, 1943, MWC, Citadel, box 2, folder 3 (
repulsed with heavy losses
); Steven E. Clay,
Blood and Sacrifice,
179 (“
getting the Germans to stand up
”).

now faced mortal danger:
Mavrogordato, “The Battle of Salerno,” 23 (“
split themselves into two sections
”); “Special Investigation and Interrogation Report: Operation Lightening,” 29 (“
unconnected leadership
”);
SSA,
285–87; Pond, 171 (“
dust rose in clouds
”), 177 (“
Lili Marlene
”).

the five stout warehouses:
Rosella Baretta,
Tabacco, tabaccari, e tabacchine nel Salento: Vicende, storiche, economiche, e sociali
, 6;
Guide d’Italia,
126; Ascanio Marchini,
Il Tabacco,
10, 21.

Here the full fury of the German attack:
Morris, “Report on Observation Trip,” 7–8;
Salerno,
63; W.H.H. Morris, Jr., “Salerno,”
MR,
vol. 13, no. 12 (March 1944), 5+ (“
Fireworks
created an appearance
”); “Operation of the 45th Infantry Division in Italy,” Sept. 10–30, 1943, 45th ID Mus; memo, I. C. Avery to MWC, investigation, actions of Co. B, 2nd Chemical Bn, Sept. 20, 1943, MWC, Citadel, corr, box 2 (
abandoned tubes unspiked
);
Salerno,
65.

“
Tracers were going through my pack
”: corr, Richard Pisciotta to father, May 18, 1944, 157th Inf, 45th Div, ASEQ, MHI; OH, FLW, May 15, 1953, John G. Westover, SM, MHI; journal, Sept. 13, 1943, 36th ID, chief of staff, SM, MHI; AAR, “Operation
AVALANCHE
,” 143rd Inf, Oct. 2, 1943, CARL, N-6818; Eddie Douglas Adkins, “A P.O.W. Diary,” ts, 1960, Texas MFM (“
I will reserve a space
”); Grady G. Tice, “POWs Never Forget War,”
Commerce Journal,
March 4, 2001, Texas MFM (
Germans were atheists
); Shapiro, 152 (“
like furrows from a plow
”); FLW to MWC, Oct. 11, 1943, CARL, N-6818; Bruce L. Barger,
The Texas 36th Division,
137; Morris, “Salerno,” 5+ (
fired into the backs
); Wagner, 27 (“
It was hell up there
”), 34.

“
Situation worse
”: diary, 1st and 3rd Bn aid station, 179th Inf, Sept. 12–13, 1943, 45th ID Mus; AAR, 191st Tank Bn, n.d., AGF board reports, NARA RG 407, E 427, NATOUSA, 95-USF1-2.0 (
tank crew took turns
); AAR, Van W. Pyland, 636th Tank Destroyer Bn, n.d., in
Texas,
413 (
Dead men lay on a gravel bar
); Flint Whitlock,
The Rock of Anzio,
87 (“
fighting for your ass
”).

“
Enemy on the run
”: F. Jones, “The Campaign in Italy: The Landing at Salerno,” n.d., Cabinet Historical Section, UK NA, CAB 44 132, 133;
SSA,
287.

Then on the southwest bank: Calculated,
201;
Salerno,
65–66 (
Drivers, bandsmen
); “Operational History of Chemical Battalions and the 4.2-inch Mortar in World War II,” part 1, 1947, CMH, 4-7.1 FB2, 56; Kleber and Birdsell, 433; Bishop et al., eds., 47; “World War II Diaries of Norman Maffei,” Sept. 14, 1943, 158th FA, 45th Div, ASEQ, MHI; Betty McLain Belvin,
Ray McLain and the National Guard,
74 (
nineteen rounds a minute
). The two artillery battalions fired 3,600 rounds in four hours.

Three miles down Highway 18:
AAR, “Historical Record,” 8–9 (
terrified Italian workers
); “Invasion of Italian Mainland, Summary Operations Carried Out by British Troops,” 18 (
forty thousand gallons
); Simpson, “Air Phase,” 135 (
landed by instrument
); Ball, 205 (“
The work went on
”).

“
Things not too hot
”: aide’s diary, Sept. 13, 1943, EJD, HIA, box 1; corr, John W. O’Daniel to Hal C. Pattison, Sept. 3, 1964, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC3, Salerno to Cassino, box 256; diary, EJD, Sept. 13, 1943, HIA, box 1 (“
Disaster
”);
Calculated,
200. Clark told an interviewer in 1972 that this exchange took place face-to-face. OH, MWC, Rittgers, MHI.

“
extremely critical
”: diary, MWC, Sept. 13, 1943, MWC, Citadel, box 64; “Invasion of Italian Mainland, Summary Operations Carried Out by British Troops,” 9; Nigel Nicolson,
Alex: The Life of Field Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis,
217; msg, MWC to MBR, Sept. 13, 1943, MWC, Citadel, corr, box 2.

radios crackled in the corner: CM,
255; Adleman and Walton, 71 (“
How the hell would you
”); FM 31-5, “Landing Operations on Hostile Shores,” WD, June 1941, MHI, 99 (“
deliberate sacrifice
”).

Clark would subsequently deny:
corr, MWC to Hal C. Pattison, Sept. 17, 1964, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC3, Salerno to Cassino, box 255; MWC to mother, Oct. 6, 1943, MWC, Citadel, corr, box 3; msg, U.S.S.
Biscayne,
Sept. 14, 1943, 1609 hrs, MWC, Citadel, subject files, msgs, box 63 (
SEALION
);
StoC,
117 (“
headquarters afloat
”); Shelby Foote,
The Civil War,
vol. 2, 494 (
George Meade
).

Roused from his torpor:
corr, E. J. Dawley to Hal C. Pattison, Dec. 15, 1964, and Troy H. Middleton to Hal C. Pattison, Sept. 8, 1964 (
questioned Clark’s fortitude
), both in NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC3, Salerno to Cassino, box 255;
StoC,
117; OH, Francis Reichmann, 45th Div G-2, Apr. 21, 1950, SM, box IIA1, 2 (“
give me support
”); Frank James Price,
Troy H. Middleton: A Biography,
165 (“
some hard fighting
”).

“
German tanks have broken through
”: Shapiro, 148–49, 152; OH, William P. Yarborough, 1975, J. R. Meese and H. P. Houser, SOOHP, MHI, 39–40 (“
crawling around on their
hands
”); Ball, 214 (“
up to our necks
”); “Personal Diary of Langan W. Swent,” Sept. 20, 1943, Hoover Institution Archives, box 1 (
summons to Green Beach
).

“I’m a Yankee Doodle”: Shapiro, 150.

“
After a defensive battle lasting four days
”: Mavrogordato, “The Battle of Salerno,” 25–26.