United States Army in World War II
Mediterranean Theater of Operations
Salerno to Cassino
by Martin Blumenson
... to Those Who Served
Table of Contents
The Author
Part One: Background
The Strategic Background—Toward a Decision
The Concept—The Decision—The Place
Forces—Lift
The Plans—The Preliminaries
Chapter 5: The Opposition: The Germans in Italy
Part 2: Salerno
The Last Few Miles of Sea—The Initial American Waves—The American Beaches—The Results of the First Day—Slapstick
German Build-up—The Beachhead Developed—The German Attack
Allied Build-up—Stand-off—The Avellino Mission
Chapter 9: The End of the Battle
The Crisis Resolved—The Eighth Army Role—Some Miscellaneous Matters—Command—Summary
Problems and Plans—The Flanking March—The Main Effort—Naples—Foggia
Part 3: The Winter Campaign
Allied Intentions—The German Decision—Allied Problems
Chapter 12: The Volturno Crossing
The Immediate Situation—The Attack Down the Calore Valley—The Main Crossings—The Crossing on the Right Flank—The Crossings on the Left
Chapter 13: Into the Winter Line
Mountain Warfare—The Second Volturno Crossing—The Upper Volturno Valley—The Coastal Zone—More Mountain Warfare—The Third Volturno Crossing—The Germans at the Bernhard Line—Into the Bernhard Line
Chapter 14: The Shape of Things to Come
Allied Reappraisal—Hitler’s Decision—The Cairo and Tehran Conferences—The Lull
Chapter 15: In the Winter Line
The Sangro Front—Plans To Breach the Mignano Barrier—The Camino–Difensa–Maggiore Complex
The Conditions—The First Attack—The Second Attack—The Aftermath—The Other Fronts
Part 4: Anzio and Cassino
Chapter 17: The Decision for Anzio
Chapter 18: The Preliminaries for Anzio
Toward the Rapido–Garigliano River Line—The German Situation—Closing to the River Line—Crossing the Garigliano
Chapter 19: The Rapido River Crossings
Preparations—The Landing—German Reaction
Chapter 21: The Attacks on Cassino
Chapter 22: The Opening Battles at Anzio
The Allied Attack—The First German Counterattack
Chapter 23: The Bombardment of the Abbey of Monte Cassino
The Major German Attack—Change of Command—The Last German Attack
Chapter 25: The Bombing of Cassino
Chapter 26: Results and Prospects
Appendices
Appendix A: Table of Equivalent Ranks
Appendix B: Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross
Illustrations
Theater Commanders:—Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark—Maj. Gen. Ernest J. Dawley—Maj. Gen. Ernest N. Harmon—Maj. Gen. Fred L. Walker—Maj. Gen. Charles W. Ryder—Maj. Gen. Troy H. Middleton—General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery—Vice Adm. H. Kent Hewitt—Part of the 45th Division Boarding LSTs at Palermo, Sicily—DUKWs Crossing the Strait of Messina—Troops Cheer the News of Italy’s Surrender—Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring—Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel—A Panorama of the Salerno Bay Landing Area—Tanks Moving Ashore, Salerno—LST With Improvised Flight Deck—Troops of the 36th Division Advancing on Red Beach, Salerno—Lt. Gen. Sir Richard L. McCreery With General Dwight D. Eisenhower and General Clark—The Tobacco Factory—The Ancient Temple of Neptune, Paestum—U.S. Equipment Burning on the Beach at Salerno—Maj. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway—Civilians Clearing the Ruins of Eboli—Maj. Gen. John P. Lucas—Engineers Repairing a Bridge Near Acerno—Wreckage in the Dockyards, Naples—Pier Across the Hull of a Sunken Ship, Naples—Triflisco Gap—Self-Propelled 105-mm. Howitzer on a Ponton Treadway Bridge at the Volturno—Removing a German S Mine—Rescue at the Volturno—Mignano Gap—British Soldiers Hugging Side of Hill, Monte Camino—Troops of the 30th Infantry Division Moving Out To Attack—Pack Train on a Mountain Trail—Stranded Vehicles at the Volturno—War Against Mud—Maj. Gen. Geoffrey T. Keyes—Maj. Gen. William W. Eagles—General Alphonse Juin—Brig. Gen. Robert T. Frederick—British Troops on Monte Camino—2nd Moroccan Infantry Division Troops Around a Campfire—Monte Sammucro, With San Pietro on the Right—Evacuating the Wounded—German Pillbox on Monte Lungo—Paratroopers Approaching San Pietro—Medical Corpsmen at San Pietro—General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson—Lt. Gen. Sir Oliver Leese—Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers—Christmas Dinner on a Haystack, Somewhere in Italy—Men on Monte Porchia—The Liri Valley—Mud and the 36th Division Supply Dump, Mignano Area—German Box Mine—Forward Observer on La Chiaia—British 10 Corps Troops Shuttling Ambulances Across the Garigliano—The Rapido, Viewed From Monte Trocchio—Monte Cassino and the Benedictine Monastery—Bringing Casualties Back From the Rapido—Ships Off Anzio Awaiting Signals To Move to Shore—Men and Equipment Move Ashore South of Anzio, D-Day—The Anzio–Nettuno Area—Men of the 504th Parachute Infantry at the Mussolini Canal—The Cassino Area—The Monte Cassino Monastery and Its Environs—Bogged-Down American Tank Near the Rapido—Remains of the Barracks—Mortar Squad Firing Into Cassino—240-mm. Howitzer—Troop Position on a Rocky Hillside Near Cassino—34th Division MP Directing Traffic From a Roadside Dugout—Aiming a Bazooka at a Stone House—Ruins of the “Factory”—Civilian Refugees in the Cassino Area—Cassino: The Monastery, the Castle, and the Town—Lt. Gen. Sir Bernard Freyberg—Maj. Gen. Alfred M. Gruenther—Monastery Under Attack [ 1] [ 2]—Artillery Aimed at the Monastery—Monastery in Ruins—Archbishop Don Gregorio Diamare, Abbot of Monte Cassino, and Generalleutnant Fridolin von Senger and Etterlin—German Troops Inside the Ruined Abbey—M7 Self-Propelled 105-mm. Howitzers—Smoke Screen and Observation Plane Near Ammunition Dump, Anzio—German Prisoners Marching to the Rear—Maj. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott, Jr.—Wine Cellar That Served as VI Corps Headquarters—Bombing of the Town of Cassino—Ruins of the Continental Hotel—German Long-Range Artillery Shell Hits a Nettuno Hotel—Revetted Hospital Tents, Anzio—Illustrations are from Department of Defense files, with the exception of photographs on pages 101, 403, and 415, which are reproduced by kind permission of the Imperial War Museum, London.
Maps
1. Invasion Plans
2. The VI Corps Holds, 13–14 September 1943
3. The Situation at the Volturno, 7 October 1943
4. 10 Corps Drive to the Garigliano, 26 October–4 November 1943
5. VI Corps Advance, 26 October–4 November 1943
6. Fifth Army at the Winter Line, 5–15 November 1943
7. First Attack on San Pietro, 8–11 December 1943
8. Second Attack on San Pietro, 15–17 December 1943
9. Crossing the Garigliano and Rapido Rivers, 17 January–8 February 1944
Maps I–VII are in the Maps chapter at the end
I. Fifth Army Landings, 9–13 September 1943
II. Advance to the Volturno, 20 September–6 October 1943
III. Fifth Army Crosses the Volturno, 12–14 October 1943
IV. The Fifth Army Advances, 14–25 October 1943
V. Advances at Anzio, 22–31 January 1944
VI. Enemy Offensive, 16 February–3 March 1944
VII. Stalemate, Spring 1944
Center of Military History, United States Army
Washington, D.C.
United States Army In World War II Stetson Conn, General Editor
Advisory Committee (As of 15 June 1967)
Fred C. Cole, Washington and Lee University
Lt. Gen. August Schomburg, Industrial College of the Armed Forces
Charles B. Burdick, San Jose State College
Maj. Gen. B. E. Powell, U.S. Continental Army Command
James A. Field, Jr., Swarthmore College
Brig. Gen. Robert B. Smith, U.S. Army War College
Richard W. Leopold, Northwestern University
Brig. Gen. Robert C. Taber, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Ernest R. May, Harvard University
Col. Thomas E. Griess, United States Military Academy
Charles P. Roland, Tulane University
Office of the Chief of Military History
Brig. Gen. Hal C. Pattison, Chief of Military History
Stetson Conn, Chief Historian
Col. Paul P. Hinkley, Chief, Histories Division
Joseph R. Friedman, Editor in Chief