Tug of War

by Shelfold Bidwell

  April

  9th/14th. Eighth Army and Fifth Army open spring offensive in succession.

  23rd–25th. Eighth and Fifth Armies join hands at Finale, trapping Tenth Army. Fifth Army captures Bologna and breaks out into plain of Emilia. Destruction of Army Group “C”.

  May

  2nd. German delegates formally surrender to Alexander at his HQ in Caserta near Naples.

  SOURCES

  Official Histories

  1. For basic information we gratefully relied on the labours of the official historians listed in our select bibliography, and in the absence of the volumes that should follow the late Brigadier C. J. C. Molony’s The History of the Second World War: The Mediterranean and the Middle East (Vol. V), turned to General Sir William Jackson’s The Battle for Italy, which as a campaign narrative is equally serviceable. Where the text requires support by a detailed reference it is identified in the Chapter Notes by the author’s name and page number.

  Unpublished Papers

  2. In the US National Archives, Suitland and Washington: The War Diaries of all units of the US Fifth Army and of the 16th Panzer Division.

  3. At the Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania: The Institute’s collection of German studies written for the US Historical Division c. December 1947. In particular the following. “The Campaign in Italy” with chapters written by General Westphal, von Vietinghoff, General Schmalz (Hermann Goering Division at Salerno), Albert Kesselring, The Diaries of Frido von Senger. The Institute also holds copies of the interviews by US Army historians of many of the officers who took part in the campaign, both American and others, and an extensive collection of their private papers, including those of John P. Lucas.

  4. At the Centre for Air Force History, Boiling AFB, Washington, the records of the US Army Air Forces in the Mediterranean and interviews with air force officers.

  5. At the Directorate of History and the National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, the unit war diaries, the papers of the official historian, and at the Directorate of History a collection of translated German documents compiled by J. Steiger of the Directorate in the 1940s.

  6. At the National Archives of New Zealand, Wellington are the records of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, private papers of campaign participants and the papers of the official historians.

  7. Various papers written in support of the battlefield tour undertaken by Nicholas Straker and Dominick Graham in 1970 and in the year following were compiled from Cabinet Office papers, particularly those written for C. J. C. Molony by his “Enemy Documents Section”, and from unit war diaries. Douglas Graf von Bernstorff, chief of staff 26th Panzer Division, provided narratives for German operations. Straker was a participant in the 56th Division from Salerno to Anzio, where he was wounded.

  8. Two army battlefield studies were used: British Troops Malta Command Study of Cassino and the British 3rd Infantry Division Study of Salerno, Exercise Gipsy Moth, September 1969.

  Private Diaries

  9. General Sir Sidney Kirkman, in the Liddell Hart centre for Military Archives, King’s College, London, covering his service as commander, 13th Corps.

  10. Colonel J. S. Mennell, kindly lent to author, covering the participation of the British 6th Armoured Division in the 1945 offensive, when he was GSO2 (Operations) of that formation.

  Authors’ Experiences

  11. Bidwell served with the 2nd Army Group RA as Brigade Major at Salerno and as Brigade Major, RA 6th Armoured Division during the pursuit after DIADEM and part of the autumn fighting in the Gothic Line. Graham walked the length of Italy as an escaping prisoner of war in 1943 and undertook battlefield tours of Salerno, Cassino, Anzio and the Gothic Line in 1970 and 1985.

  Naval

  12. By Admiral H. Kent Hewitt USN, commander Western Naval Task Force: “The Allied Navies at Salerno, Operation AVALANCHE, Sept. 1943”: USN Institute Proceedings (Sept 1953): The Naval Review (British) vol. XLII, No. 1 (Feb. 1954).

  Imperial War Museum

  13. Letters and diaries concerning the Italian campaign in the Department of Documents.

  SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Ahrenfeldt, R. H., Psychiatry in the British Army in the Second World War (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1958).

  Ambrose, Stephen E., The Supreme Commander: The War Years of General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Doubleday, New York, 1969).

  Anders, Wladyslaw, An Army in Exile (Macmillan, London, 1949).

  Ball, Edmund, Staff Officer with Fifth Army; Sicily, Salerno and Anzio (Exposition Press, New York, 1958).

  Beddington, W. R., A History of the Queen’s Bays 2nd Dragoon Guards (Waren, Winchester, 1954).

  Bidwell, Shelford and Graham, Dominick, Fire-Power: British Army Weapons and Theories of War, 1904–45 (Allen and Unwin, London, 1982).

  Blaxland, Gregory, Alexander’s Generals: the Italian Campaign 1944–45 (Kimber, London, 1979).

  Blumenson, Martin, Salerno to Cassino (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington, 1969).

  — Bloody River: the Real Tragedy of the Rapido (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1970).

  — The Patton Papers (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1974).

  — Mark Clark (Congdon and Weed, New York, 1984).

  Boehmler, Rudolf, Monte Cassino (Cassell, London, 1964).

  Boulle, Georges, Volumes under series heading of Le Corps Expéditionnaire en Italy (1943–1944) (Etat-Major de L’Armée de Terre, Service Historique, Imprimerie Nationale, Paris).

  — La Campagne d’Hiver (1971).

  — Les Campagnes de Printemps et d’Eté (1973).

  Bowlby, Alex, The Recollections of Rifleman Bowlby (Leo Cooper, London, 1969).

  Burns, E. L. M., General Mud (Clark and Irwin, Toronto, 1970).

  Carver, Michael, Harding of Petherton: Field-Marshal (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1978).

  Cederberg, Fred, The Long Road Home (General Publishing, Toronto, 1984).

  Chamb, René, Le Maréchal Juin: Duc de Garigliano (Presses de la Cité, Paris, 1968).

  Churchill, Winston, S., Closing the Ring and Triumph and Tragedy, Vols V and VI, The Second World War (Cassell, London, 1954, 1956).

  Clark, Mark W., Calculated Risk (Harper, New York, 1950).

  Cole, David, Rough Road to Rome, A Foot-soldier in Sicily and Italy 1943–44 (William Kimber, London, 1983).

  Copp, de Witt S., Forged in Fire: Strategy and Decisions in the Air War over Europe, 1940–45 (Doubleday, New York, 1982).

  Creveld, Martin van, Fighting Power: German and US Army Performance, 1939–45 (Greenwood Press, Westport, 1982).

  Ehrman, John, Grand Strategy, Vol. V, The History of the Second World War (HMSO, London, 1956).

  Ellis, John, Cassino. The Hollow Victory: The Battle for Rome January–June 1944 (André Deutsch, London, 1984).

  Ferrell, Robert H., The Eisenhower Diaries (Norton, New York, 1981).

  Fisher, Ernest F., Cassino to the Alps (Centre for Military History, Washington, 1977).

  Fraser, David, Alanbrooke (Collins, London, 1982).

  Gavin, James M., On to Berlin (Bantam, New York, 1981).

  Graham, Dominick, Cassino (Ballantine, New York, 1971).

  Greenfield, Kent Roberts (ed.) Command Decisions (Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, Washington DC, 1960).

  Hamilton, Nigel, Monty: The Making of a General, 1887–1942, and Monty: Master of the Battlefield, 1942–1944 (Hamish Hamilton, London, 1981 and 1983).

  Hapgood, David and Richardson, David, Monte Cassino (Congdon and Weed, New York, 1984).

  Hastings, Max, Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy (Michael Joseph, London, 1984).

  Hinsley, F. H., British Intelligence in the Second World War, Vol. III (HMSO, London, 1984).

  Howard, Michael, Grand Strategy, Vol. IV, Book 5, The History of the Second World War (HMSO, London, 1972).

  — The Mediterranean Strategy in World War II (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1968).

  Hun
t, David, A Don at War (Kimber, London, 1966).

  Jackson, W. G. F., The Battle for Italy (Harper and Row, New York, 1967).

  — Alexander of Tunis as Military Commander (Batsford, London, 1971).

  — The Battle for Rome (Batsford, London, 1969).

  Kay, Robin, From Cassino to Trieste, Vol. II, Italy: History of New Zealand in the Second World War (Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, 1967).

  Kesselring, Albert, A Soldier’s Record (Morrow, New York, 1954).

  Kippenberger, Howard, Infantry Brigadier (Oxford University Press, 1949).

  Kohn, Richard and Harahan, Pat (eds), Condensed Analysis of the Ninth Air Force in the European Theater of Operations and Air Superiority in World War II and Korea (Office of Air Force History, Washington, 1982 and 1984).

  Lamb, Richard, Montgomery in Europe, 1943–45 (Hamish Hamilton, London, 1983).

  Le Goyet, Pierre, As under Boulle. La Participation Française de la Campagne d’Italie 1943–1944.

  Lytton, Henry D. “Bombing Policy in the Rome and Normandy Invasion Campaigns of World War II”, Military Affairs, vol. xlvii, no. 2 (April 1983).

  Macmillan, Harold, War Diaries: Politics and War in the Mediterranean January 1943–May 1945 (Macmillan, London, 1984).

  Majdalany, Fred, Cassino, Portrait of a Battle (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1957).

  Martineau, G. D., A History of the Royal Sussex Regiment (Moore and Tillyer, Chichester, 1955).

  McAvity, J. M., Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians): a Record of Achievement (privately published, Toronto, 1947).

  Molony, C. J. C., The Mediterranean and Middle East, Vol. V, The Campaign in Italy 3rd September to 31st March 1944 (HMSO, London, 1973).

  Momyer, William W., Airpower in Three Wars (Office of Air Force History, Washington, 1983).

  Nicholson, G. W. L., The Canadians in Italy, Vol. II, Official History of The Canadian Army in the Second World War (Queen’s Printer, Ottawa, 1956).

  Nicolson, Nigel, Alex: The Life of Field-Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1973).

  Orgill, Douglas, The Gothic Line: The Autumn Campaign in Italy, 1944 (Heinemann, London, 1967).

  Pal, Dharm, The Campaign in Italy (Oriental Longmans, 1960). Official History of the Indian Armed Forces (India and Pakistan) in the Second World War.

  Phillips, N. C., The Sangro to Cassino, Vol. I, Italy: the History of New Zealand in the Second World War (Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, 1957).

  Pogue, Forrest, C., The Supreme Command. The European Theater of Operations (Office of the Chief of Military History, Washington, 1954).

  Pond, Hugh, Salerno (Kimber, London, 1961).

  Ray, Cyril, Algiers to Austria: A History of the 78th Division in the Second World War (Eyre and Spottiswoode, London, 1952).

  Richards, Denis and Saunders, Hilary St George, The Royal Air Force, Vol. II, The Fight Avails (HMSO, London, 1954).

  Roskill, Stephen, The War at Sea, Vol. III, Pt I (HMSO, London, 1960).

  Roy, Reginald, Sinews of Steel: the History of the B.C. Dragoons (British Columbia Dragoons, Kelowna, 1965).

  — The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 1919–65 (Evergreen Press, Vancouver, 1969).

  Sallagar, F. W. Operation Strangle: a Case Study of Tactical Air Interdiction (Rand, Santa Monica, 1972).

  Senger und Etterlin, Frido von, Neither Fear nor Hope (Macmillan, New York, 1964).

  Slessor, Sir John, The Central Blue (Cassell, London, 1956).

  Starr, Chester G., From Salerno to the Alps: a History of the Fifth Army, 1943–45 (Infantry Journal Press, Washington, 1948).

  Stevens, G. R., Fourth Indian Division (McLaren, Toronto, 1948).

  Sunderland, Riley, Evolution of Command and Control Doctrine for Close Air Support (Office of Air Force History, Washington, 1975).

  Tedder, Arthur William, baron, With Prejudice: the War Memoirs of Marshal of the Air Force Lord Tedder (Little, Brown, Boston, 1967).

  Trevelyan, Raleigh, Rome ’44: the Battle for the Eternal City (Viking, New York, 1982).

  — The Fortress: a Diary of Anzio and Afterwards (Collins, London, 1972).

  Truscott, Lucian K., Command Mission (Dutton, New York, 1954).

  Tuker, Sir Francis, The Pattern of War (Cassell, London, 1948).

  Verney, Peter, Anzio 1944: an Unexpected Fury (Batsford, London, 1978).

  Yokes, C., My Story (Gallery Books, Ottawa, 1985).

  CHAPTER NOTES

  Chapter 1. Two Armies in Search of a Battlefield, pp. 15–26.

  1. Hamilton, Monty: Master of the Battlefield, pp. 393–4.

  2. Molony, pp. 13–27, Hamilton, op. cit., pp. 245–72.

  3. Carlo D’Este and Eduard Mark kindly communicated their conclusions, based on their respective researches. Briefly, of the total Allied air effort over the period, amounting to some 7,000 sorties, the proportion directed against the Axis crossing places in the Messina Straits (according to D’Este no more than 8.95 per cent) lacked concentration, was sent against the wrong targets and was too easily deterred by the concentrated German flak. The Royal Navy’s contribution was virtually zero, owing to an overestimate of the strength of the Axis coastal artillery commanding the straits. The figures for German — as opposed to Italian — forces evacuated to the mainland was troops, 38,846; vehicles and war-like equipment, 10,356 items; stores, 14,949 items. The German commanders believed that without this powerful reinforcement to their troops already in position it would not have been possible to hold the Allied armies south of Rome for so long.

  4. For this vexed question see primarily Michael Howard, The Mediterranean Strategy in the Second World War, p. 35, and The History of the Second World War: Grand Strategy, Vol. IV, Book 5, Chapter 26, pp. 497 et. seq., 499, 502. For the contrasting views of Brooke and Marshall: Fraser, Alanbrooke, pp. 358–65, and Forrest C. Pogue, General George C. Marshall: Organiser of Victory 1943–1945, pp. 293–4.

  Chapter 2. General Eisenhower’s Problems, pp. 27–42.

  1. For a good account of Eisenhower’s problems see Stephen E. Ambrose, The Supreme Commander: The War Years of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and for interesting perceptions, H. Macmillan, War Diaries: The Mediterranean 1943–1945, passim, under “Eisenhower”, also p. 118.

  2. Nigel Nicolson, Alex, The Life of F.-M. the Earl Alexander of Tunis, pp. 193–4, and Macmillan, op. cit. pp. 137–8. It will be understood that both greatly admired these characteristics.

  3. Mark Clark’s own explanation in Calculated Risk, but it is clear from Blumenson, Mark Clark, pp. 137–8, that he did not understand the factors involved.

  Chapter 3. The Board and the Pieces, pp. 43–57.

  1. Extract from J. Steigers AHQ Report Number 18 in D. Hist (Ottawa) 981.011 (D3) on German documents for the period of September–December 1943 with his commentaries:

  German units were indeed handled as interchangeable pieces of machinery and quite often found themselves under commanders of varying personality. The great flexibility of the battle groups offered tempting advantages of a tactical nature but the German records show that it made it also more difficult for higher commanders to keep fully posted, tended to loosen the bands between the regular commanders and their troops and sometimes tended to a situation where nothing seemed to be more important than a pause for the sorting out of the troops and the untangling of the administrative confusion. The German proclivity for regrouping the natural parts of the Army structure did complicate the task of Allied tactical intelligence. It remained simple to ascertain the division to which an identified unit belonged, but the fact that elements of a division had been recognized in a certain area by no means proved that the other parts of the division were to be found in the same area. (The ad hoc manner in which German units at Salerno were rushed on their arrival into battle groups that were sent straight into action and their continuous aggressive action led Allied intelligence and operational commanders to overestimate the strength of the German 10th Army. In turn
that has been one root of the current interpretation of the battle as a near-run thing.)

  2. The fate of all but two is unknown. They probably succumbed to naval bombardment or assault, MOLTKE and LILIENTHAL were actually sited on beaches selected for the 10th Corps landings.

  3. Molony, p. 268. Note that the locations are hide or harbour areas. Once battle was joined the KGs and their subsidiary task forces conducted a mobile, aggressive defence.

  Chapter 4. Avalanche and Hurricane, pp. 58–76.

  1. Rocholl diary, fragment, IWM/AL/144.

  2. See oral testimony of soldiers in Pond, Salerno. Even allowing for the tendency of interviewees to exaggerate, men under fire tend to magnify its effect many times: it appears that it is all directed at them personally, as veterans will testify.

  3. G. F. Worsop, 2nd/5th Foresters, 46th Division, IWM/T357, p. 85 et seq., a graphic account of the fighting at Salerno as seen by a frightened and bemused young soldier in his first action. For another excellent account from a private soldier see G. Allnut, 8th Royal Fusiliers, IWM/80/46.

  4. War Diary, HQ 16th Pz. Div. (National Archives, Washington). The garrison commander returned to KG Stempel during the night of September 9–10.

  5. A/Brigadier, later Major-General L. O. Lyne, Letter of November 13, 1943, IWM/71/2/1–7.

  6. Strawson, McCreery, IWM.

  7. Molony, pp. 284–5. Herr Meierkord gave his own account of this action during the British 3rd Division’s battlefield tour of Salerno.

  8. Douglas Graf von Bernstorff on February 28, 1971 wrote: “Actually [the Americans] did not seem to have noticed that on the evening of the 9th the 16th Pz. Div. had been broken into two pieces, and that a quick advance on Persano via the railway station could have decided the battle on the first day.”

  9. Blumenson, Salerno to Cassino, pp. 108–9.

  Chapter 5. Von Vietinghoff Shoots his Bolt, pp. 77–90.

  1. War Diary, HQ 16th Pz: “121208 [i.e., 12.08 p.m., September 12] We get the impression that the enemy is going to embark again.”