The Wartime Experience of John Gay Bascom
FIRST CONTACT WITH THE
GOTHIC LINE
August-September 1944
Castel Fiorentino today is a busy town nestled
in the iconic hills of Tuscany, Italy. Located an hour southwest of
Florence and halfway to coastal Pisa and its leaning tower, the scenic Tuscan
hills surrounding the town are draped in vineyards. The vicinity is
known for marvelous Chianti wine and a flavorful, mellow Brunello. The
town dates from 1100 A.D. in the Middle Ages, and much later came to enjoy a
rich Renaissance heritage. Stone houses, winding lanes, quaint
public squares, hilltop churches and beautiful vistas make it a popular, off
the beaten path tourist destination. When my father arrived in
August, 1944 it was, of course, much smaller, but still peaceful and
beautiful. The scene of bygone struggles for land and power that
have forever characterized Italy, no battles had touched it in the modern
epic. He must have been charmed and reassured. But it
would be a portal to the coming eight months of chaos, fear and blood that
would be the Battle of the Northern Apennines.
The 135th Regiment, Red Bull Division was in reserve in Castel Fiorentino. Dad dutifully reported there as a replacement in mid-August following a weeks-long voyage in a cramped troop ship, then a truck ride inland. Following distinguished battle performance in North Africa, and then in Italy before Dad joined them, his unit, the 135th, had landed as part of the Salerno invasion far down the Italian boot in September, 1943. They had viciously fought north through Anzio, Rome and Livorno before pausing in Castel Fiorentino for training and replacements in the summer of 1944. Shortly after Dad’s arrival, a major line of defense north of Rome for the retreating Germans, the Arno Line, had been broken and the historic city of Florence was finally in American hands. Dad was part of a large compliment of desperately needed replacements for the thousands of dead, missing, wounded and captured.
He was assigned as a rifleman in the 3rd Battalion,
135th Regiment, Company L. Oral family history is
that he was part of a two-man BAR or Browning Automatic Rifle light machine gun
team. One man would carry and fire the machine gun while the second
supported him by carrying the bipod and the considerable load of ammunition
required, while providing covering support with his M-1
rifle. Smaller and lighter than a heavy machinegun designed to be
operated from a prepared emplacement, the BAR could be fired from the ground
while supported by its bipod or from the shoulder. Its portability
and versatility made it suitable in both in assaults and for defense and as
such, a staple in infantry platoons. Dad would not have to wait long
for more action to begin.
The Regiment moved to Galluzzo on the southern
outskirts of Florence on the night of September 4th, and on 8th through
the city to a northwesterly suburb. This was preparatory to a
carefully planned, multi-corps assault on the feared German Gothic Line, which
spread west to east across the entire Italian boot along the imposing Apennine
Mountain range. Its heights ranged from three hundred feet to over four
thousand, with its highest peak over seven thousand feet.
The Allied strategy was to mount a coordinated northward attack along the entire Gothic Line, ultimately forcing the Germans backward and out of the Apennines. The II Corps, comprised of four divisions including the Red Bulls, was to press the attack north through the center of the Gothic Line. They planned to completely break through it and out of the mountains into the Po Valley before winter set in. The Apennines Mountain Range ended on its northern face in the broad, deep and rolling Po Valley which stretched from the Milan in the west of Italy to the Adriatic coast in the east. There, the decimated Germans would lack the advantage of the rugged, concealing Apennine heights and be easy game for American infantry, tanks, artillery and planes. My father’s unit, the huge fifteen-thousand-man Red Bull Division, was tasked with supporting the massive effort by attacking northward from Florence. Other divisions attacked simultaneously along the entire Gothic Line, from coast to coast. These would be the first penetrations north of the recently fallen Arno Line. The Germans knew their next line of defense to the north, the infamous Gothic Line, was essentially their last stand. They committed hundreds of thousands of men, artillery and equipment to defending it from carefully prepared and heavily fortified mountain positions.
The Red Bull’s attack path was north generally
along the western flank of Route 65 which ran some sixty winding, hilly miles
through the Apennines from Florence to Bologna and the entrance to the Po
Valley. The attack corridor extended miles to the east and west of
the main road to include barely accessible villages and fortifications occupied
by German troops in the surrounding mountains. Route 65 transited a
tangle of mountain roads, often narrow, steep and muddy, that wound up, down
and through the Apennines. Some were little more than trails
unsuitable for vehicles. These mountain lanes held countless
villages, many perched on forested hilltops or mountainsides, some with a
population of only a few dozen souls. Their ancient stone houses,
walls and turrets provided perfect killing sites for the
Germans. All these would have to be taken inch by inch by the
soldiers of the Red Bull Division to assure the success of the larger II Corps
assault. It was to take eight bloody months, countless thousands of
American casualties, setbacks and failures, before the objective of Bologna and
the Po Valley would be finally achieved.
Having crossed the Arno River in Florence and
for the first time formally advancing through the Arno Line, on September 11th they
proceeded to an assembly area near Barbarino,
north of Florence on the road to Bologna, the ultimate
objective. Along the way they were subjected to enemy artillery
fire, sniping and firefights. On the next day, the 2nd and
3rd (Dad’s) Battalions went forward, passing through its sister
regiment, the 168th Infantry. It was a day of severe losses for the 3rd
Battalion. As the unit's command group moved into the assembly area,
a German "Schu" minefield was encountered and the battalion
commander, Lt. Col. Harry Y. McSween, was seriously injured by a
mine. More mines exploded in the attempts to aid him and others were
injured including several more officers. The losses in battalion leadership on
the eve of battle were felt very keenly because of the experience and ability
of these officers. These actions marked the beginning of the North Apennines
Campaign and the assault on the deadly German Gothic Line.
The method of attack was to advance with combat
patrols to identify German positions which could be occupied or overrun by
larger concentrations of American troops that followed behind the
patrols. To assure the integrity of the assault it was critical that
all high points from which Germans could fire down on advancing Americans be
taken. These engagements involved fierce firefights and seizing
ground ridge by ridge and town by town from tenacious Germans skilled in the
art of mountain defense. German doctrine was to counterattack almost
immediately after having been dislodged, resulting in violent battles to hold
ground only recently taken.
The battalions of the 135th were moving forward on September 12th toward Cirignano about twenty-five miles north of Florence in the face of stiff opposition. Enemy artillery fire was quite heavy, but this was countered effectively by fire from our own supporting artillery. On September 13th it was learned from prisoners that the 135th Regiment had encountered the outposts of the Gothic Line. It was learned, too, that this sector was defended by crack units of the 4th German Paratroop Division.
In one instance, Company L, Dad’s company, ran
into pillboxes at the base of Hill 568, a highpoint fortified by the
enemy. Hand grenades were exchanged at close range. All the
companies were able to keep pressing on but, the 3rd Battalion
ran into the greatest resistance. Artillery on both sides was
expending a large amount of ammunition. On September 14th,
the 2nd and 3rd Battalions
attacked. The enemy used a great amount of automatic weapons
fire. The 1st Battalion passed through the 2nd,
and the 3rd Battalion opened a second assault on important Hill
671 where the enemy had managed to hold out the previous
day. Casualties ran high on both sides. Company I, for
instance, alone lost 18 men wounded and 5 killed.
Dad’s 3rd Battalion was not to
be denied its objective and advanced under a rolling artillery
barrage. The advance north continued and the battalion took part in
the attack on the heavily fortified and strategically important town of Livergnano, located just off of Highway
65. The fighting to take the village, nestled among cliffs on a
mountainside, was fierce. In one group of houses at Livergnano a
hand-to-hand fight developed with extensive use of grenades. This
engagement was won primarily through initiative and courage. Inspired by heroic
leadership, the battalion moved in to clear out the strongpoint. A
posthumous award of the Congressional Medal of Honor was made to Lt. Wigle for
his heroism during that battle.
Hill 671 was completely occupied by the 135th the
next day. The German paratroopers had displayed their traditional
stubborn resistance and had made good use of extensive mine fields, barbed
wire, concrete emplacements and dugouts. It required direct hits
from artillery of heavy caliber to knock out many of the
emplacements. With the capture of this mountain position, the Gothic
Line had been penetrated and the 135th Regiment was now meeting
the main defenses. Before the sister 1st Battalion jumped off in the
direction of Mangona a lengthy artillery barrage, including heavy guns, was
laid down with excellent results. The enemy was also employing heavy
artillery on our frontline troops.
The Gothic Line defenses were
legendary. Rather than a single line, it was a series of parallel
defensive positions allowing the Germans to fall back when pressed to other
prepared fortifications, forming a defense in depth all the way to the Po
Valley. Prisoners of war had pointed out and stressed its formidable
nature. They contended that this line would prevent the Allies from
getting into the Po Valley and added that orders had been received from Hitler
that the drive northward must be stopped at this position. All
available intelligence indicated that the major undertaking on hand would
require a maximum of skill, coordination, and aggressiveness in order to break
the line. The Gothic Line positions in the vicinity of the Futa
Pass, which the 135th Regiment was attacking then flanking from
the west, were as staunch and formidable as had been feared.
The selection by the Germans of commanding
heights with tortuous approaches had been scientifically welded into a defense
line with all the expertness acquired by the enemy high command throughout its
long defensive campaign in Italy. To increase the effectiveness of
the forbidding terrain, the Germans had commandeered, through organization "Todt",
Italian civilian slave labor to erect coordinated positions of steel and
concrete pillboxes and gun locations. The mountains presented
problems of supply to the 135th Regiment, and mule pack trains
often offered the only means of transporting the much-needed food and
ammunition. Rations were often delayed because mules could not climb
steep cliffs; casualties had to be hand-carried or born by mules where possible
to the rear.
One veteran remembers the Gothic Line this way:
“…between (us) and the
Valley of the Po lay roads of narrow defiles through long canyon passes walled
in by precipitous mountains rising sheer on either side…some sixty road-miles
stood as the formal, formidable barrier…every foot of the way ahead was
defended by characteristically thorough hulled-down tanks, mortar and artillery
emplacements dug into sheer rock or recessed in heavily constructed concrete
blockhouses, machine guns sweeping all approaches and all passes, and huge
anti-tank ditches which wound over the hills for many miles”
The assault by the Red Bulls on the Futa Pass
failed to take it. But is had served as a critical strategic
distraction to the Germans, causing them to move troops to reinforce the
pass. As a result, sister units of II Corps were able to
successfully attack and seize Il Giogo Pass to the southeast, providing an
alternate path forward and making control of the Futa Pass by the Americans
unnecessary. The flanking maneuvers by II Corps caused the Germans
to realize their occupation of that pinch point on Route 65 was
untenable. They fell back. The assaults of Dad’s units
had opened a northbound corridor for the Americans to continue their attacks on
the Gothic Line.
A steady advance was made and continued on
September 17th despite mine fields, barbed wire entanglements
and heavy fire from enemy automatic weapons. Staff Sergeant William
E. Davis led his rifle squad in a frontal assault on an enemy pillbox located
at the crest of a hill. Going through mortar, machine-gun and sniper
fire, Sergeant Davis went ahead to cut the wire. He rushed to within
hand grenade distance of the pillbox, killed two Germans, wounded another and
captured eighteen. Later in the day while organizing a defensive
position Sergeant Davis was killed by a sniper. He was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross posthumously.
The 3rd Battalion, moving up to Migneto on
September 18th after a 30-minute artillery preparation, ran
into a heavy enemy counterattack at Hill 749 and a fierce firefight
followed. The German counterattack having failed, the battalion was
ordered to hold the ground for the night. Our troops were extremely fatigued,
having little sleep in the past three days, and the supply problem continued to
grow even more acute. The mules could hardly make their way over the
trails and the company guides frequently lost their way because of the darkness
and myriad paths.
On September 19th the enemy
increased his fire from machine guns, mortars and artillery. There were heavy
casualties. The fight was becoming increasingly bitter with hand
grenades exchanged in close contact. Forty-nine prisoners were taken
by our troops in twenty-four hours. On the next day, the 20th,
the 2nd Battalion encountered mine fields and it was not until
September 21st that wounded from Company F were evacuated from
the area, and Company G was able to work around the field. Engineers
were used to clear a path through the mine field in order that caves in the
vicinity could be searched.
It was a day to day, hill to hill fight against
an enemy determined to exact as high a price as possible and prevent a
breakthrough into the rich industrial Valley of the Po. The troops
had to root the Germans out of each pillbox and dugout, and were harassed
constantly by sniper fire from all sides. The advance was of necessity
slow, preceded by much careful probing of the terrain, a task which taxed the
endurance of every man. Flame throwers were used against some enemy
positions. The Germans in their determination to cling to the
mountains were throwing in engineering and air corps elements to replace the
wounded and killed infantrymen on the line.
Reports from prisoners on September 24th were
to the effect that the enemy was withdrawing at several points because of the
constant pressure against him and his heavy losses in men and
material. At Roncobilaccio about one hundred Germans withdrew and
left large quantities of material in the town. Two German 105mm
artillery pieces were surrounded by our troops and captured. But
most German soldiers put up a stiff, fanatical fight before being killed or
taken prisoner.
The 3rd Battalion launched
attacks on the 26th and 27th of September
against Bruscoli, north some five miles of the
Futa and Il Giogo Passes, and reached their objective at nine in the morning on
the second day. The 3rd was now forty miles north of
Florence and only twenty miles south of Bologna and the Po. They
were still in their assigned attack corridor some miles west of Route
65. The 1st Battalion, meeting little opposition,
took over Fratte and then went on to enter Belvedere on the right and
Cassellacco on the left. General Charles Bolte, commanding the 34th
Division, informed Col. Manhart, commander of the 135th Regiment,
that he wanted a battalion on Monte Bastione, a
heavily fortified and strategically dominating series of hills, as soon as
possible. On the following morning, despite rain, wind, and
increasing cold, this was accomplished. The 3rd Battalion
was moving forward now without opposition. With the fall of Monte
Bastione, the 2nd Battalion was committed through the 1st Battalion
to exploit the successes gained. Exercising a vigorous and
aggressive drive, the 2nd Battalion advanced 1500 yards past
their objective to the vicinity of Fornelli.
My father’s unit had seen nearly two weeks of
nasty, unrelenting fighting. On September 29th, the
sister 168th Infantry Regiment had passed through the 135th to
relieve it. The 3rd Battalion was assembled at recently taken
Bruscoli, still in the heart of the Apennines and over halfway between Florence
and Bologna, the ultimate prize. The 1st and 2nd Battalions
were in the vicinity of Castell del Alpi. The Regiment passed into
division reserve and their hell was over, for the time being.
___________________________________
Next installment: A Bloody, Cold October in the Apennines
No comments:
Post a Comment