Dear friends,

On the 22nd of January next, it will be exactly 60 years ago that the British 1st Infantry Division, the Rangers of Colonel Darby, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, British Commando's and the 3rd US Infantry Division came ashore at Anzio and Nettuno, south east of Rome.

Therefore I think it is the right time to open a topic about Operation Shingle, the Allied operation to capture Rome and to threaten the German forces at the Gustav line at Cassino. An operation that turned out completely different and eventually led to a war of attrition, which was similar to the First World War.

Frank

Good topic. The first question that pops up is What was the objective of Operation SHINGLE? Then, of course; Was it a success?

While reading one of my books on the Italian Campaign, it mentioned that at final breakout from Anzio beach-head, there were 2 US Infantry Divisions, 2 British Infantry Divisions and 1 US Armored Division, as well as some smaller specialized troops. I guess it surprized me by the magnitude of the buildup there.
Yet, even with all of this manpower, the VI Corps had to wait for Operation DIADEM and the II Corps to come to their rescue.

One result of the costly struggle and delay in the breakout from Anzio, was the hold-up of the transfer of amphibious landing craft back to England. The orignal plan was for a landing at Normandy and at Southern France. (Actually, Churchill preferred the first landing to be in Southern France, as I recall.) As a result, the landing in the south of France was postponed until after Rome fell. By then the landing craft and the troops in Italy were pulled out to be used in this assault.

For those who want to read the history behind the campaign to push to Rome, check out this link to
Center For Military History - Road to Rome

Steve
PS: On the 50th Anniversary of Anzio, I read Carlos D'Este's book "Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle for Rome". I'd highly recommend it.

Steve,

Thank you for your interesting post about the Anzio battle. I will lend the book from the library as soon as I have time to read. I have read only two books about Anzio before, one was written by Christopher Hibbert (British historian) and the other was about the irish guards in WWII.

I do have the memoires of FieldMarshall Harold Alexander. He also wrote about Anzio. In the coming days I will look if I can find any interesting info in his book. If so, I will place it on the forum here.


Frank

Another handy book on Anzio is Raleigh Trevalyan's "Rome '44."

Bill Mauldin's "Up Front" says a lot about Anzio, too.

But D'Este's book covers the battle with a micrometer gauge. It's terrific.

The 504th had been separated from the 82nd Airborne Division at the special request of Winston Churchill and General Mark Clark. The remainder of the 82nd was deployed to Northern Ireland late in October after the liberation of Naples. They were to train for the Normandy jump. It was thought that the 504th could rejoin the 82nd after the Anzio operation. The 504th was formed into the 504th Parachute Combat Team, commanded by Colonel Reuben H. Tucker. The Combat team was composed of the 504th, 376th Parachute Artillery Battalion and Company C of the 307th Parachute Engineers.

Dawn the morning of January 22nd found the men of the 504th standing on "Red Beach" Anzio the objective assigned to the team. Aside from a LST sinking off the port bow of the lead 504th craft all went very smoothly. Things were not to go as smoothly for the remainder of the 504th's stay on Anzio Beachhead. The quiet was shattered with the roar of 88's and the diving of Me-109's out of the sun machine guns blazing onto the paratroopers. A hit had struck LCI 20 G Companies boat. The regiment took up position on the right flank of the beachhead in the area of bridge number two and numbers five over the Mussolini Canal. First Battalion successfully took bridge number five. Col Williams committed A Company along with a platoon of tanks and 57 mm guns manned by the 376, the enemy was sent fleeing across the canal bridge number five was now secured.

The 504th then settled down around the Mussolini Canal after the indecision of Lt. Gen. John P. Lucas who failed to capitalize on initial gains and allowed the assault to develop into a stalemate. Axis Sally called it "The largest self-supporting prisoner-of-war camp in the world." The 504th continued to probe and engage the enemy suffering heavy losses. As a result of actions of the regiment they gained outpost positions on the other side of the Mussolini Canal. After a week of holding and attacking along this front from bridge number five south to the sea, the 504 were relieved in that sector. The 3rd Battalion was attached to the First Armored Division and sent to the Northern (British) flank of the beachhead, while the remainder of the Combat Team was sent North of bridge number Five to participate in an attack scheduled to take place in the Third Division sector.

The 3rd Battalion, after several days in reserve with the 1st Armored Division was committed with the British First (Guards) Division in the Carreceto sector. German artillery fire in this sector was unusually intense and it was here that the enemy launched his main drive to push the beachhead into the sea. After one of the heaviest artillery barrages ever experienced by 504 men, the Germans began their attack in the early hours of February 5, 1944. On successive days British units were cut off from the 3rd Battalion, which was forced to withdraw to the famous "Factory" in Mussolini's wonder-town of Aprilia. Enemy railroad guns and dive-bombers then concentrated their efforts on the 3d Battalion garrison. The paratroopers suffered several casualties, and by the time enemy infantry moved in, the companies had been reduced in strength to between 20 and 30 men.

Fierce hand-to-hand fighting ensued, in which the paratroopers by sheer determination and courage, were able to repel repeated German onslaughts. Rather than remain in the exposed positions in which they now found themselves, they withdrew to a railroad underpass several hundred yards behind the "factory" and established defensive positions. H Company was ordered to attack and attempt to rescue of a British General who had been captured. After bloody fighting, they recaptured the General, only to find themselves cut off from friendly forces. I Company was then ordered to attack and make contact with H Company. The 16 men remaining in the company carried out this mission successfully and a semblance of order was restored to this sector the backbone of the German attack had been broken. It was for this outstanding performance in the period 8-12 February; the 3rd Battalion was given one of the first Presidential Citations in the European Theater of Operations.

The 1st Battalion was simultaneously involved in action with the Third Division. On January 30, they jumped off in an attack that was to take them to the Cisterna River. Near the first bridge objective over the Mussolini Canal, strong enemy forces engaged them. The reserve company was committed and the enemy driven back across the stream, first blowing the bridge behind him and thus saving the paratroopers the trouble. Much enemy material in the form of halftracks, 75mm howitzers, small arms, and vehicles was either captured or destroyed in this attack. Eighty prisoners were taken with very heavy casualties inflicted upon the enemy. 504th losses wee comparatively light.

For the remainders of their eight weeks stay on the Anzio beachhead 504 men found themselves confronted with a defensive situation, rather than offensive for which they had been trained. It became trench-type warfare similar to WW I. The troopers were not taught and did not enjoy fighting this type of war. However they dug in and did not yield ground. The men of the Regimental Recon Platoon as well as the Battalion Recon troopers rose to the occasion at Anzio during this stalemate. Recon is especially important on this type of battlefield, when you are nose to nose with the enemy. You need intelligence from prisoners and knowledge of sound traffic on the other side of the line in case the enemy is planning an attack. The men of these recon units struck out from friendly lines penetrating the German lines in darkness. They ruled the night striking fear in the hearts of the Germans carrying off prisoners and killing any who resisted. One Pfc. became a legend in the 504 in this type of warfare. His Sgt. Thomas McCarthy Hq1, S2 said of him, "He was simply the best recon man in the business". That man was Theodore H. Bachenheimer. He was a German Jew who had immigrated to the United States from Germany to escape the Nazi's with his family. This strongly built teenage along with his recon pals gave the Germans facing the 504 nightmares.:

Entry found in the diary of a German officer killed at Anzio:

"American parachutists -- devils in baggy pants -- are less than 100 meters from my outpost line. I can't sleep at night; they pop up from nowhere and we never know when or how they will strike next. Seems like the black-hearted devils are everywhere..."

On the Anzio Beachhead, 15 February 1944: They call him "the Daniel Webster of no-man's land" on this beachhead, because he would rather argue a Jerry into surrendering than kill him. He is Private Theodore Bachenheimer, 20 years old and a Master of the German language and a former student of drama at the Los Angeles City College in California. So far he has persuaded eight Germans to surrender. Three Germans who refused to fall for his arguments fell for his rifle. "You should give them a chance to be taken prisoner without resorting to rough stuff too soon", Bachenheimer explained to me. "These three I killed just would not go for my oratory". I wanted to take them prisoners, but they would not listen. We had to fight it out with bullets, instead of words and I won. Sometimes my German language persuasiveness does not go over and the argument breaks off in rifle fire. It was that way to the other night. I told a fellow to stick his hands up and he yelled back in the darkness 'what for'. I gave him plenty of good reasons why, but he was not convinced. He fired at me and missed. I did better and got him. But that was weakness in my oratory, because obviously the German soldier should be glad to give up in this war. Bachenheimer spent the first eleven years of his life in Germany and then went to California, where he became interested in the theatre. He is a naturalized American citizen. He lives at 1460 North Alta Vista, Los Angeles From the Hollywood Times - by Reynolds Packard

From http://www.strikehold504th.com/

My father was badly wounded at Anzio his Recon Platoon was put on line with D Company which got hit by some German Paratroopers. The Germans came in on an attack and tossed a grenade at the front of the window that he was shooting from. He and a friend Cpl. Desutter were badly wounded. He remembered waking up on the table hearing the Doctor saying that it was no use. He thought they were talking about him but as he looked over it was Desutter.

This will be the 60th anniversary of the death of my Grandfathers cousin James Marshall Jiles. He was with the 141st regiment of theTexas 36th Division fighting at Monte Casino and became 'a volunteer replacement' to join the invasion at Anzio Beach and was killed in the first wave.

Jim,

The battle at Anzio was indeed a bloody one. I also read in one of the books about Anzio that the hospital in Anzio was shelled continously. Did they keep your father in the hospital in Anzio to recover, or did they ship him to Napels?

Frank

I am sorry to hear that your grandfathers cousin died at Anzio... Have you seen the website of the 36th Texas Infantry Division? The divisionbook, published in 1945, you can also read on their website, as they, made a digital version.

Frank

Hey, Frank. What book are you referring to? I'd like the link to this digital info.
I was racking my brain because I didn't think the 36th TEXAS Division was sent to Anzio. On page 328 of D'Este's book(softback version), it says the 34th and 36th Divisions were sent to Anzio for the breakout.

On May 22, the 36th Division began arriving by ship and was committed to the Velletri sector three days later. Truscott believed the division was still shaky after their severe losses at the Rappido River crossing in January. The 36th probed the German lines and found a gap along the steep slopes of Monte Artemisio. On the night of May 30, two regiments climbed the heights of Monte Artemisio and established a defensive position between the I Parachute and the LXXVI Panzor Corps. They repulsed a counter-attack by the Herman Goring panzer grenadier battlaion. By June 1, Velletri had fallen and the CASEAR Line was broken.
This battle restored the reputation of the 36th Division and was "the turning point to our drive to the northwest" (Truscott).

Thanks for the writeup, Strikehold. I've been trying to add some history and details here but just can't find time to sit down and type it up.

Steve

Oh, speaking of the Rappido crossing....

Today, 22nd, is the anniversary of the failed attempt by the 36th Division to cross the Rappido River. Their assault was intended to break through into the Liri Valley, with the 1st Armored Divsion to follow-up. The river crossing began at 2000 on 20 January. After trying to maintain a foot-hold on the north side of the rive, the assault was called off on the 22nd.

Casualties: 1,681
Includes 143 KIA 663 Wounded
Some 875 men were reported missing and later it was confirmed that 500 had been captured by the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division.

That is right! And Major General Fred Walker (CO 36th Division) wrote in his diary that day that it was the blackest day in the divisions history. I also read somewhere that several junior officers (battalions CO's and Company Commanders) were angry on General Mark Clark and demanded an official investigation of why the crossing was made.

Hey!!

I have been promoted to 2nd LIEUTENANT!! YEs!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I am an officer in both the 504th (strikehold504th.com) and in the 506th!!

2nd Lieutenant Frank

P.S. Will I be reassigned to a new platoon?

Another good book on the subject is "The Rock of Anzio: From Sicily to Dachau," which is a history of the 45th Infantry Division, the Thunderbirds from Oklahoma and Texas.

Frank, I don't think that was the norm, not even for the Germans. You will find several accounts of shells hitting near hospitals and medics getting shot at but you can find that in most battles. My opinion is that any incident of this kind was talked up by the soldiers in the fox hole and the story may have gotten blown out of proportion. Remember, the hospitals were located on the beaches along with all the infantry dug-outs and shells were falling everywhere.

However, there was one such incident that occured at Anzio beach. This one event seems to have given the Germans a bad reputation.
On Feb 7, an enemy bomber was under attack by Allied aircraft and he jettisoned 5 bombs to evade them. The bombs fell on the U.S. 95th Evacuation Hospital, located on Anzio beach. There were many wounded. Those killed were 3 Army nurses, a Red Cross worker and Pvt Mulreney. Pvt Mulreney was visiting his wounded brother and when he heard the bombs coming he threw himself on top of his brother.

Below is some quotes from a diary. Note some exaggeration and erros in his report of this incident.

Steve

Quoting from Pvt Paul Brown's diary, member of 179th Regiment, 45th Division

The reason hospitals were hit at Anzio was that there was no rear area. The whole place was under German shelling. Troops wanted to get away from the rear, and its shellfire, to the front line, where it was a little quieter.

However, the Germans did sink the fully-lit hospital ship St. David.

Frank,

I understand the beach at Anzio was a very hot spot and well in range of German Artillery. I am not sure how long my father was at that hospital. I have the unit written down somewhere. I am hoping that Dave's info from the 504th's logs will tell more about his return to HQ HQ and from where.

Here is of Fred's stories that I know you were also privilaged to get. From the History we worked on together a couple of years ago. It notes that Anzio was dangerous well behind the lines.

After about 6 weeks, they gave our Company a rest for 5 days back from the front about a half-mile or so, we stayed in an abandoned house and the next day went out looking for food something besides K rations. There were eight of us. We came across an abandoned farmhouse and it had a pig in the sty. About that time, an Old Italian man came up out of a cellar, and since I knew some Italian by this time, I asked him if he would sell us the pig. He wasn’t dumb. He said, “Well if I don't sell it to you, you would take it anyway”. I took a collection up and we gave him about $32.00 in Italian Lira (U.S. Gov. issued). Harper from Texas went over and shot the pig in the head. Fay Steger from Iowa (another farm boy) went over and stuck the pig in the neck to bleed it out. We got a long pole and tied the pig to it and headed back to our Old Italian house. There Steger and us tied up the pig by his hind legs and Steger skinned it like a rabbit. We wanted to start eating it, but Steger said, “No because you’ll get sick; you have to let it chill over night, but you can eat the liver.” Wow, did we eat and enjoy liver that night. The next day we started early in the morning. We shared it with our entire 2nd platoon. And in about two or three days, there was not much left of that pig.

I wrote home and told my mother about that incident. She was born on a farm in Italy and they tell me she split a gut laughing over that story. After the war she made me tell her that story over a dozen times.
While we were at this farmhouse, there was another abandoned one across the road and in the hills beyond our lines the Germans had a big railroad gun that was called the “Anzio Express” (Also called "Anzio Annie"), that they would only bring out at night, or else our aircraft would spot it. While we were on the Mussolini Canal, we used to hear its shell whooooooosh over our heads. Sounded like a house going thru the air. Well when we were back at the Italian house one night, we heard a big noise and when we got up in the morning we looked across the road and that other Italian house was in rubbles. Geez, if it would have landed in the one we were in, bang there goes the whole platoon.

Copyright 2002

Jim,

Yes, I have seen Fred's story before when we sent him his warstory on his 80th birthday. I have sent Fred the draft version of my chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division before Operation Market Garden. If you want to read it, let me know and I will send it on to you.

Frank

Rangers were withdrawn from the British sector on the night of 28/29 January to prepare for their new mission. General Truscott and Colonel Darby had worked out a plan for the 1st & 3rd Ranger battalions to lead the attack on Cisterna, while the 4th battalion cleared road leading to Isola Bella to Cisterna for the 15th Infantry Regiment (3ID) and its supporting tanks that were to spearhead the main attack.

The 767 men of the 1st & 3rd battalions were to infiltrate under cover of darkness along the Pantano Ditch, which ran between two strongpoints of the Herman Goring Division. The Fosso di Pantano was a partially dry extension of the Mussolini Canal that provided cover for the Rangers to get within 1-1/2 miles of Cisterna. The remainder of the foray would be across mostly open terrain.

The Rangers entered the ditch at 0100 on the morning of January 30 in single file and quickly disappeared. One hour later, the 4th Ranger battalion began moving along the ditches on both sides of the road to Isola Bella.

The first sign of problems occurred when radio operators broke silence to inform Darby that they were “lost”. The 1st and 3rd battalions had become separated. The commander of the 1st Battalion split his force by sending 3 companies ahead while the other 3 remained in place. Then worse news; a runner brought back word that 3rd Battalion had encountered a German tank. The 4th Battalion came under fire.

The advance continued in the dark. German sentries were silently eliminated. A German patrol joined the Rangers, thinking they were friendlies; they too were eliminated at knife point.

At about 0400, the point company of the 1st Battalion arrived at a road running perpendicular from Isola Bella to Highway 7. There they saw 2 self-propelled artillery batteries only 200 yards away. Traffic was flowing along the road in both directions; maybe a division in strength. Failing to make radio contact with Darby, the commander decided to proceed on across open fields.

First light found the Rangers still some 800 yards south of Cisterna. Then trouble began. Germans bivouacked in the area attacked. Rangers fought back with knives and bayonets. Gunfire erupted from every house and haystack in the area. Instead of gap in the lines, the area was infested with enemy. The 1st Battalion tried to advance to the town but were forced back to take cover in a ditch.

Sometime after dawn, the Germans counter-attacked with a large armored force from their rear. At first the Rangers thought it was an American relief column and they began cheering. Their cheers turned to dismay & curses.

“The Germans’ first counterattack came from the rear—from the direction of our own lines---in the form of 17 tanks and armored, self-propelled guns. They overran our position, but we knocked out 15 of them with bazookas, grenades and about everything else we could lay our hands on. I saw one of our sergeants trying to plaster a sticky bomb on a German tank turret when a bazooka shot hit it on the opposite side. It knocked him into the air and he did a complete somersault but landed running. All these tanks and guns were burning and exploding in the middle of our position at one time ---a beautiful sight” (Major Dobson)

When a German Mark IV rumbled into the Ranger position and halted to fire, Major Dobson shot the tank commander dead with his .45 pistol and then mounted the tank, pulled the pin on a phosphorous grenade and dropped it down the hatch. “The tank blew as I lept from it and while in the air I got hit by something in my left hip.”

Several Rangers also daringly mounted 2 moving tanks and killed the crew and commandeered them for an attack on Cisterna. Unware of that the tanks were operated by their comrades, other Rangers disabled the tanks with bazookas.
The Germans launched a series of infantry attacks while sweeping the positions with point-blank fire from artillery and Nebelwerfers. Two companies managed to fight their way to a point outside of Cisterna. But ammunition was running low.

Finally the Germans pulled wounded Rangers from the ditch and lined them up as a shield as they advance across the field. The remnant of survivors had to open fire on both Germans and Americans. Some witnessed the German paratroopers shooting the wounded Americans in an attempt to force the others to surrender. Some of the newer Rangers began to surrender; the old veterans would not.

Despite radio calls for help, Truscott and Darby was powerless to do anything. The 4th Battalion was tied down in their own battle. The last radio contact was from Sgt Major Robert Ehalt: “So long, Colonel. Maybe when it’s all over I’ll see you again.”

Only 6 Rangers managed to return to the lines. The remaining 761 were either killed or captured. The Herman Goring Division reported capturing 680 prisoners. There are no statistics on the battle. Major Dobson believed 450 enlisted men of the 2 Ranger battalions were captured. The estimate for the dead are about 250-300 men. The 4th Ranger battalion had lost 50% of its force.

The Germans paid dearly. Statistics for a 2-day period across the entire front reported losses of 188 killed, 465 wounded and 443 missing, most of which were from the Herman Goring Division and the parachute regiments.

The German radio gleefully announced: “The Rangers have at last entered Rome, but they have come not as conquerors but as our prisoners.”

Excerpts from "Fatal Decision"

Custerman,

That are great excerpts! When I first read about the disaster that struck the Rangers when they attacked Cisterna I kept wondering why they advanced in long file in ONE ditch. I always wondered how the Germans found out that the Rangers were coming.

Now I think that the German might have spotted some activity from their OP's at the Alban Hills and passed it on to German troops in Cisterna.
Frank

Frank, please take a moment to read this about the quote feature:

http://forums.wildbillguarnere.com/index.php?showtopic=4401

Thanks,
John

pssst... Frank. Gino recommended that we do not Quote an entire posting. Just quote the necessary part or in this case just the introduction.

See Using the Quote Feature

Oops. I just noticed I repeated what John said.

Sorry.......

I will edit my previous posts to make them shorter!!

Frank

60 Years ago
On 8th February, the Germans began an assault against the British flanks in an effort to collapse the 1st British Division salient, called “the thumb”. The 24th Guards Brigade was sent to reinforce the left flank, along with the remainder of the US parachute battalion, 504th PIR. By the end of the first day, the attacks had sapped the energy of the already weakened 1st Division.

The 5th Battalion of Grenadier Guards was once a rifle battalion of more than 800 officers and me was reduced to less than 25% of its original strength and, at the front, to less than 10%. As the Grenadiers faced a second night defending the Gully, the Germans again attempted to find a way across the Ditch and were again repelled. But the rains had turned the Gully into a river, whose waters were not more than a foot deep, making it impossible to defend any farther.

The handful of exhausted surviving defenders were ordered withdrawn, and the remnants were able to re-form along the Embankment, near the Via Anziate, in the early morning hours of February 9. during what turned out to be their final day in the line in support of the nearby Scots Guards in Carroceto, the Grenadier’s ordeal continued as the Germans renewed their attacks and killed the new battalion commander, Lt.-Col. A. C. Huntington, who had taken command only that day. His replacement was the fourth commanding officer in the 3 weeks the battalion had fought at Anzio. By February 11 what little was left of this proud battalion was not enough to muster a fighting force, and the battalion was relieved, it job at Anzio was done. It losses were staggering: 9 officers killed. 12 wounded & 8 captured; 52 enlisted men killed, 222 wounded & 303 missing in action.

Another unit that suffered was the Irish Guards. Their main tormentors were paratroopers from Battle Group Graser, whose mission was to capture the Factory. The Irish were chewed up. The survivors of 2 companies pulled back to the new positions along the lateral road south of the Factory, which ran east from Carroceto to the Fosso della Ficoccia, next to the Royal Berkshires.

The Germans finally succeeded in capturing the Factory on the afternoon of 9th, leaving the British holding the Carroceto railway station and the nearby overpass, where the Embankment spanned the Via Anziate. During the night of February 8/9, regimental-size attacks fell on the defenders of the Factory. The London Irish and the Royal Berkshires bore the brunt of the German fury. By dawn, it was evident that the German tide could not be stemmed much longer. The Royal Berkshires, defending the right flank east and northeast of the Factory, were overwhelmed a short time later. Typical of the urgent radio exchanges are these found in the Berkshires war diary:
_______0638 – Enemy tanks approach from the northeast
_______0652 - Enemy tanks approach from the east
_______0704 – More enemy tanks

As they awaited the final German attack, there suddenly came miracle: the Germans halted their attack. No further advance. The Germans were also depleted and exhausted. The Germans reported capturing 420 British and 1 American that day.
On the afternoon of 9th, the entire focus of the Allied defensive effort was concentrated on the left flank. Allied cruisers offshore and the massed fire of IV Corps artillery pounded the Germans. An bomber force of 224 aircraft was added to the bombardment but it seemed to have little effect, as reports indicated the strikes were aimed at targets northwest of the British front.

Excerpts from "Fatal Decision".

Steve,

The URL of the website is:


http://www.kwanah.com/txmilmus/36division/36story.htm


Frank

Thanks, Frank. After I posted that original comment, I did read where the 36th was moved to Anzio. But thanks for the link. I have that booklet, "The Story of the 36th Division" and had planned to scan it into a text file. Now I don't have to. But, alas, the booklet is small and not very informative as some booklets for other divisions.

Steve