The Day of Battle (128 page)

C
HAPTER
7: A R
IVER AND A
R
OCK

Colonel Warden Makes a Plan

Marrakesh in midwinter:
Seth Sherwood, “In an Ancient Desert, a Modern Oasis Beckons,”
NYT,
Jan. 23, 2005; John Colville,
The Fringes of Power,
463; http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=331; http://www.mincom.gov.ma/english/reg_cit/cities/marrakes/
marrakes.html; James Parton, “
Air Force Spoken Here,
” 229 (“
sat on his leather hassock
”); “Marrakech Air Base,” n.d., in “Observations in A.B.S,” NARA RG 492, MTO, pm gen’l. corr, 333 (“
statement of intercourse
”).

The Red City:
Roy Jenkins,
Churchill,
727; Lord Moran,
Churchill: Taken from the Diaries of Lord Moran,
167; Martin Gilbert,
Winston S. Churchill,
vol. 7, 626; Gerald Pawle,
The War and Colonel Warden,
280 (“
When the Midnight Choo-Choo
”); Duff Cooper,
Old Men Forget,
318 (“
Colonel Warden
”).

In Marrakesh he occupied La Saadia:
Lisa Lovitt-Smith,
Moroccan Interiors,
78 (
wall mosaics
); Colville, 457–59 (“
wildly rash
”); Cooper, 318; Gilbert, 634 (Pirates of Penzance); W. H. Thompson,
I Was Churchill’s Shadow,
133 (“
certainly heavy going
”).

The borrowed Cadillac roared:
Pawle, 288; Cooper, 318; Thompson, 133 (
V-for-victory
); Moran, 167–70.

“
Can’t I ever get any commanders
”: OH, C.A.P. Portal, Feb. 7, 1949, FCP, MHI; OH, C. E. Lambe, Feb. 26, 1947, FCP, MHI (“
negative as usual
”); Gilbert, 650; Cooper, 319.

“
Undue discretion
”: Harold Macmillan,
The Blast of War, 1939
–
1945,
370; Harold Macmillan,
War Diaries,
347; Danchev, 510; Moran, 170.

Churchill’s
“
bright idea
”: diary, Oct. 21, 1943, MWC, Citadel, box 64; OH, Lyman Lemnitzer, Jan. 16, 1948, SM, MHI; Martin Blumenson, “General Lucas at Anzio (1944),” Kent Roberts Greenfield, ed.,
Command Decisions,
245–50; diary, Dec. 18, 1943, MWC, Citadel, box 64;
CM
, 292 (“
destroy the best damned division
”);
SSA,
324;
GS
V, 209.

“
It would be folly
”: “Record of conference held by the prime minister at Tunis,” Dec. 25, 1943, H. Alexander papers, UK NA, WO 214/13; H. M. Wilson, “Report by the Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean,” n.d., NARA RG 319, OCMH, historical background files, American Forces in Action, Anzio, box 119, 7–8 (“
regard our campaign
”);
SSA,
325 (“
whoever holds Rome
”);
Calculated,
260 (“
peter out
”);
StoC,
352 (“
the decisive way
”).

“
a good idea to go around
”:
StoC,
352; Robert H. Adleman and George Walton,
Rome Fell Today,
116 (“
hasn’t been predictable
”); Greenfield, ed., 250; “Record of conference held by the prime minister at Tunis” (“
signified their agreement
”);
Three Years,
465 (“
taken tactical command
”).

“
I have arrived in Italy
”: Christopher Lee Lewis, “The Byzantine Invasion of North Africa, Sicily, and Italy,”
Proceedings,
Nov. 1943, 1435+; John Ellis,
Brute Force,
321 (
45,000 landing vessels
); Alan Gropman, ed.,
The Big “L,”
349 (
every major Allied campaign
).

“
Shipping [is] at the root
”: Richard M. Leighton and Robert W. Coahley,
Global Logistics and Strategy, 1940–1943,
697; H. M. Wilson, “Report by the Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean,” 1946, part 1, 7 (
sustain two divisions)
;
GS
V, 210; James Leasor,
The Clock with Four Hands
, 273 (“
set after set
”); msg, WSC to FDR, Dec. 28, 1943, Warren F. Kimball, ed.,
Churchill & Roosevelt: The Complete Correspondence,
vol. 2, 638.

“
Clark and I are confident
”: msg, H. Alexander to Col. Warden, Jan. 4, 1944, NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, R-369-F, box 216; OH, MWC, 1972, Forrest S. Rittgers, Jr., SOOHP, MHI, 86-88 (
three-division landing
); diary, MWC, Jan. 2 and 4, 1944, Citadel, box 65.

Regardless of Fifth Army’s request:
Hill/O’Neill, 1; diary, MWC, Dec. 27, 1943, Citadel, box 64; msg, WSC to H. Alexander, Dec. 26, 1943, UK NA, WO 214/13; msg, H. Alexander to WSC and A. Brooke, Dec. 1943, UK NA, WO 214/13 (“
the best American corps commander
”). Some accounts assert that Clark was not invited to the conference. Lloyd Clark,
Anzio
, 73.

The conference convened at La Saadia:
Pawle, 285; Hill/O’Neill, 1;
StoC,
303, 353;
Anzio Beachhead,
5;
GS
V, 218.

“
the seamy side of the question
”: Kenneth Strong,
Intelligence at the Top,
171; OH, Kenneth W. D. Strong, Oct. 30, 1947, SM, MHI; Michael Carver,
Harding of Peterton, Field-Marshal,
123 (“
Of course there is risk
”); Hill/O’Neill, 2.

The conclave broke for supper:
Hill/O’Neill, 3; Macmillan,
War Diaries
295 (“
sum total of their fears
”); H. Alexander, “The Allied Armies in Italy,” n.d., CMH, II-25.

Could the Germans quickly reinforce:
Nigel Nicolson,
Alex: The Life of Field Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis,
228; memo, I. Jacob to Hollis, record of Christmas conference, n.d., NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, R-369-F, box 216; Greenfield, ed., 250 (“
unavoidable risk
”);
Calculated,
284 (“
seal off the beachhead
”).

“
he is getting old
”: Eisenhower Diary, Jan. 20, 1944, HCB, DDE Lib, A-995; “Hill/O’Neill,” 3 (“
Not until Saturday morning
”); Nicolson, 228–30 (“
Keep a reserve
”).

Bleary-eyed, they reassembled:
Hill/O’Neill, 3; JPL, Jan. 10, 1943, 295 (“
astonish the world
”); Pawle, 285 (“
I do hope, General
”); Macmillan,
The War Diaries,
304 (“
more and more dogmatic
”).

“
It was a bluff
”: OH, H. Alexander, Jan. 10–15, 1949, SM, CMH, Geog Files, II-5; F.H. Hinsley et al.,
British Intelligence in the Second World War,
185 (
No flinty-eyed assessment
).

Moreover, the
SHINGLE
force was sized:
Molony V, 772; Frank James Price,
Troy H. Middleton: A Biography,
169; corr, Troy H. Middleton to Hal C. Pattison, Sept. 8, 1964, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC3, Salerno to Cassino, box 255; Evelyn M. Cherpak, ed.,
The Memoirs of Admiral H. Kent Hewitt,
195.

“
Where can the enemy land?
”: memo, S. Westphal, Dec. 8, 1943, VI Corps, G-2 periodic report No. 140, Feb. 1944, JPL, MHI, box 1; David Fraser,
Alanbrooke,
398 (
Churchill continued to underestimate
).

“
imposed his will on the generals
”:
SSA,
328; W.G.F. Jackson,
Alexander of Tunis as Military Commander,
258 (“
out of loyalty
”).

“
Operation
SHINGLE
is on!
”: diary, MWC, Jan. 8, 1943, Citadel, box 65.

“
A unanimous agreement
”: Kimball, ed., vol. 2, 657; Colville, 461 (“
garden path
”).

“Nothing Was Right Except the Courage”

On the chilly Sabbath morning:
Chester G. Starr, ed.,
From Salerno to the Alps,
77 (
sixteen thousand casualties
);
StoC,
315; author visit, May 4, 2004; Margaret Bourke-White,
Purple Heart Valley,
154, 176 (“
fell in gusts
”).

Ahead lay a pastoral river plain:
“Engineer History, Fifth Army, Mediterranean Theater,” n.d., MHI, 67, 70 (
seventy thousand aerial photos
); Molony V, 598; Martin Blumenson,
Bloody River,
61.

German “flooding program”
: “Special Investigation and Interrogation Report: Operation Lightening [
sic
],” March 15, 1947, Military Intelligence Service, Austria, CMH, Geog Files, 370.2, 39.

The highland glens above Cassino: CtoA,
16; Frank Gervasi, “Battle at Cassino,”
Collier’s,
March 18, 1944, 20+;
CtoA,
17; Alex Bowlby,
Countdown to Cassino,
82; Albert Kesselring, “The Construction of Positions in the Italian Theater,” Aug. 1948, FMS, #C-031, MHI, 4; Hans Bessell, “Construction of Strategic Field Fortifications in Italy,” March 1947, FMS, #D-013, MHI, 3, 7–10 (
more concrete, mines, and barbed wire
).

Clark now counted seven divisions: StoA,
83–84 (“
momentum of our advance
”).

In Operations Instructions No.
34: ibid.; corr, MWC to John Meade, Sept. 22, 1955, SM, MHI, box 2;
StoC,
314.

Clark later denied paternity:
P. A. Crowl, “Command Decision: The Rapido River Crossing,” lecture, Sept. 30, 1955, U.S. Army War College, SM, MHI, 1–2;
StoC,
322; memo, “36th Division at the Rapido River, January 1944,” n.d., Robert P. Patterson, WD, to U.S. Senate Committee on Military Affairs, CMH, 370.2 (
most direct route
).

“
As long as this condition existed
”: corr, Don E. Carleton to Hal C. Pattison, Feb. 10, 1965, NARA RG 319, OCMH 2-3.7 CC3, Salerno to Cassino, box 256.

The prospect of being cut to pieces: StoC,
326;
Texas,
295–96, 302 (“
I do not see how
”); diary, Jan. 16, 1944, FLW, HIA, box 1 (“
a tough job
”).

“
amiable mastiff
”: Des Hickey and Gus Smith,
Operation Avalanche,
54; “Statement by Major General Fred L. Walker, G.S.C.,” Dec. 6, 1945, FLW, HIA, box 3 (
mustard burns
);
OH, Martin Blumenson, Apr. 13, 2004, author, Washington, D.C. (
excellent dancer
); notebook, n.d., FLW, HIA, box 6 (
jotted down unfamiliar words
); Lee Carraway Smith,
A River Swift and Deadly,
4 (“
very good friends
”); OH, MWC, Rittgers (
give Walker command of the 36th
).

Perhaps envious of his former protégé: Texas,
207, 288–90 (“
Our wasteful policy
”); OH, MWC, Rittgers, 69–70 [redacted pages opened at author’s request] (
Walker resented not receiving command
); Blumenson,
Bloody River,
22 (
soldiers grumbled
).

At fifty-six:
corr, FLW to Gov. Coke R. Stevenson, July 24, 1944, FLW, HIA, box 3; “Statement by Major General Fred L. Walker, G.S.C.,” Dec. 6, 1945, FLW, HIA, box 3 (
Since the summer of 1942
); diary, Jan. 20, 1944, FLW, HIA, box 1 (
bad cold
).

“
I have mentioned the difficulties involved
”: diary, Jan. 13, 16, 17, 1944, FLW, HIA, box 1; testimony, FLW, “The Rapido River Crossing,” Committee on Military Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, Feb. 20, 1946, CMH, 370.2, 26–30 (
proposed attacking upriver
); Smith, 22 (“
sounding so pessimistic
”);
Texas,
296 (“
end in failure
”), 302 (“
We have to cross
”).

“
sickly, whitish and weak
”: Harold L. Bond,
Return to Cassino,
27.

Walker reviewed his attack plan: StoC,
331; AAR, “Report of Operations, January 1944,” 36th ID, MHI, 05-36 (“
fighting patrols
”); corr, FLW to Eric Sevareid, Feb. 26, 1946, FLW, HIA, box 3.

Those were formidable:
memo, William A. Walker, “Report of Interview with Maj. Gen. Fred L. Walker,” Feb. 4, 1946, MWC, Citadel, box 39, folder 9; testimony, R. J. Butchers, II Corps G-3, Jan. 24, 1944, IG investigation, CMH, 370.2 (“
very well organized
”); AAR, 141st Inf, Feb. 9, 1944, Aaron W. Wyatt, Jr., ASEQ, MHI (
Of seven patrol boats
); AAR, Thaddeu J. Session, “111th Engineer Combat Battalion, Operations in Italy, Jan. 1944,” MHI (
four miles per hour
); “Synopsis of 36th Inf. Div. Activity,” Jan. 24, 1944, II Corps, IG investigation, CMH, 370.2; Donato D’Epiro,
S. Angelo in Theodice,
155 (
demolitionists had blown the bridge
); “Report on Reconnaissance of Rapido River, 16 Dec. 1943,” Dec. 20, 1943, in “History of 81st Armored Reconnaissance Battalion,” 1st AD, John F. Davis papers, USMA Arch, box 2 (
river had been dredged
); Smith, 24 (“
shoe-mouth deep
”), 25 (“
traumatic amputations
”); Clifford W. Dorman, “Too Soon for Heroes,” ts, n.d., 19th Combat Engineers, author’s possession, 73 (
hands and knees
); Alfred M. Beck et al.,
The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany,
191.

Keyes listened intently:
OH, Robert W. Porter, Jr., June 30, 1950, NARA RG 319, OCMH, CA, box 005, 1 (“
unsound
”); OH, Robert W. Porter, Jr., 1981, John N. Sloan, SOOHP, MHI, 310 (“
Big Cassino
”), 324–31 (“
fishbowl
”), 323–24; OH, GK, Sept 22, 1955, Philip A. Crowl, SM, MHI, 1; OH, GK, Feb. 14, 1950, NARA RG 319, OCMH, CA, box 005:
StoC,
326–27.