An Army at Dawn (120 page)

Kesselring turned to air transport
: “Operations Bulletin No. 1,” Apr. 30, 1943, HQ NW AAF, NARA RG 334, NWC Lib, box 132; Ulrich Buchholz, “Supply by Air of the Enlarged Bridgehead of Tunis,” 1947, FMS, #D-071, MHI;
Destruction,
415–16.

Worse was to come
: Richard Thruelsen and Elliott Arnold,
Mediterranean Sweep: Air Stories from El Alamein to Rome,
86–93;
Destruction
, 601; Buchholz, “Supply by Air,” FMS, #D-071; MacCloskey, 166; DDE, “Commander-in-Chief’s Dispatch,” 44; Davis,
Carl A. Spaatz and the Air War in Europe
, 196; Roderic Owen, 205; Tedder, 205 (
“If Kesselring goes on”
);
Destruction,
416.

Although a quarter-million
: Hinsley,
British Intelligence in the Second World War,
vol. 2, 611; Rinteln, “The Italian Command and Armed Forces in the First Half of 1943” (
“was in agony”
); Lucas,
Panzer Army Africa,
176; “P.W.B. Combat Propaganda,” Sept. 2, 1943, AFHQ, Wallace Carroll Papers, LOC MS Div, box 3; “Psychological Warfare in the Mediterranean Theater,” Aug. 1945 report to War Dept., Naples, MHI; Wallace Carroll,
Persuade or Perish,
158.

Axis reserves
:
Destruction,
603, 604n, 542; Hinsley,
British Intelligence in the Second World War
, vol. II, 612; First Italian Army to OKH, Apr. 14, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225 (
“the repulse”
); Ellis,
Brute Force
, 255 (
“armored division without petrol”
); Macksey,
Crucible of Power
, 271 (
“squinting for ships”
); Hinsley,
British Intelligence in the Second World War
, abridged ed., 5;
Destruction,
360, 403.
the German high command
: Warlimont, 307–308, 313 (mangiatori); Kesselring,
Memoirs
, 155; CCS to Joint Staff Mission and DDE, Apr. 7, 1943, DDE Lib, PP-pres, box 91;
Destruction,
384 (
daily ration
).

If his virtual abandonment
:
NWAf,
601–602;
Destruction,
409, 393–94.

Il Duce’s backbone
: Arnim, “Recollections of Tunisia,” 71, 66 (“
the greatest desire
”).

Hammering Home the Cork

As the Allied armies
: Lindsay, 85–87;
The Tiger Kills,
179–80; C.R.B. Knight,
Historical Record of the Buffs
, 176.

Montgomery had known
:
Destruction,
397–402 (
“bald rock faces”
); Hamilton, 233–36 (
“if Anderson”
); Lewin,
Montgomery as Military Commander,
177–82; Macksey,
Crucible of Power
, 241, 271;
The Tiger Kills
, 184–90; Lindsay, 89; Stevens,
Fourth Indian Division
, 233; Tuker, 338, 346 (
fortifications were lightly held
); Prasad, ed., 511.

Even the second-highest
: author visit, Apr. 2000; Lewin,
Montgomery as Military Commander
, 180 (
“rotting stalagmite”
); John Laffin, “The Battle of Takrouna,”
After the Battle
12, 1976, 48; I. McL. Wards,
Takrouna,
3–27 (
“One of those grim moments”
); Kippenberger, 305–11 (
“never a moment”
); Horrocks, 163; Hill,
Desert Conquest,
291.

But that was it
: Prasad, ed., 511–12;
The Tiger Kills
, 184 (
“My hands”
); Hill,
Desert Conquest
, 265; Montgomery to Brooke, Apr. 12, 1943, quoted in Brooks, ed., 206; Macksey,
Crucible of Power
, 272 (
“In the darkness”
).

For the first time
: Kippenberger, 313–14 (
“wait for the enemy”
); Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story,
90 (
“Let’s radio”
).

Weary and distracted: Destruction
, 441–42; G. R. Stevens, 245 (
surly rebellion
); Horrocks, 164 (
“Of course we can”
).

Even the most irresistible
: Hunt, 176 (
“rather a sad”
); David Williams,
The Black Cats at War: The Story of the 56th (London) Division T.A., 1939–1945
; Macksey,
Crucible of Power
, 287; Messenger, 111 (
“It was only”
); Hamilton, 236–38; Brooks, ed., 222 (
“short rest”
).

As usual in Tunisia
: Hamilton, 216 (
“partridge drive”
); Brooks, ed., 209; Davis,
Carl A. Spaatz and the Air War in Europe
, 208–209 (
seventy different air attacks
); Messenger, 102; Macksey,
Crucible of Power
, 277; Blaxland, 227 (
“The plan’s all right”
); Nicholson and Forbes, 318–19.

The Germans struck
: Anderson, “Operations in North West Africa” Kurowski, 118; Horsfall, 167 (
“Go away, James”
).

Crocker launched
:
Destruction
, 434;
NWAf
, 612; Messenger, 103–104; Ellis,
On the Front Lines,
75 (
“Men have begun”
).

On April 26
: Anderson, “Operations in North West Africa” George E. Wrockloff, “Land Mines,” n.d., NARA RG 334, NWC Lib, ANSCOL S-1-43, W-89, box 169; Macksey,
The Tank Pioneers
, 191; Hastings, 229.

So it was up to Allfrey
: Malcolm, 118; Ray, 50;
Destruction
, 436 (
“ghosts of good soldiers”
); Marshall,
Over to Tunis
, 124–25; Skillen, 327 (
“like a crowd”
); Horsfall, 98 (
“children of Satan”
), 140.

Good Friday dawned
: D’Arcy-Dawson, 213–14; Perret,
At All Costs
, 159–66; Alexander to Montgomery, March 29, 1943, in Brooks, ed., 189; Middleton, 269; Malcolm, 118; Ray, 52; Austin, 132; Daniell,
History of the East Surrey Regiment
, vol. IV, 171; Jordan, 237 (“
an infernal sight
”); Messenger, 105 (
“the whole ridge”
); P. Royle, ts, n.d., IWM, 66/305/1 (
Zeiss binoculars
).

Longstop had fallen
:
Destruction,
437;
NWAf,
611–13; AAR, 1st Bn Irish Guards, Apr. 27–30, 1943, PRO, WO 175/488; G. E. Thurbon, ts, n.d., IWM, 94/8/1; D.J.L. Fitzgerald,
History of the Irish Guards in the Second World War
(
“threw everything”
and
“no time for the gangrene”
); Nicolson and Forbes, 321–30 (
“pungent scent”
); Marshall,
Over to Tunis
, 134–35 (
“a forest of rifles”
).

The hill remained
: Anderson, “Operations in North West Africa”
Three Years,
292 (
3,500 casualties
);
NWAf,
613; G. P. Druitt, ts, n.d., IWM, 96/38/1 (
“One arm was sticking”
).

“Count Your Children Now, Adolf!”

“We are sitting”
: Baumer, 122; Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 81.

The guns finished
: Austin, 120 (
“the hollows”
); Arthur R. Harris, “The Bigger They Are the Harder They Fall,”
Field Artillery Journal,
May–June 1938, 228;
NWAf,
614; Hannum, “The 30 Years of Army Experience,” ASEQ, 91st Armored FA, 1st AD, MHI, 38–40 (
“Count your children”
).

The infantry surged
: Tobin, 95 (
“long, slow line”
);
NWAf
, 621–23; Johnson,
One More Hill,
63–64; Eston White, author interview, Feb. 2000; log, “16th Infantry, Béja-Mateur Campaign,” Apr. 25, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 5919; John W. Baumgartner et al., “History of the 16th Infantry, 1798–1946,” 28; “History of the 26th Infantry in the Present Struggle,” MRC FDM, 10/26–74; Spivey, 76 (
“Please shoot me”
).

Into this maelstrom
: Kahn, “Education of an Army,”
New Yorker
, Oct. 14, 1944, 28, and Oct. 21, 1944, 34; G. Perret,
There’s a War to Be Won: The United States Army in World War II
, 70; Larrabee, 119 (
“a Presbyterian pulpit speaker”
); Boatner, 353.

Now McNair did something
: McNair diary, visit to North Africa, Apr. 15–May 3, 1943, NARA RG 337, HQS, commanding general, box 1 (
“nowhere did I find”
); Clay,
Blood and Sacrifice,
167 (mss); CBH, Apr. 23–25, 1943, MHI; Kahn, “Education of an Army” John Kelley, interview by Michael Corley, 1977, possession of Paul Gorman (
argued bitterly
); Hall, “A Memoir of World War II” Charles T. Horner, Jr., “The General’s First Purple Heart,” ts, n.d., ASEQ, 16th Inf Regt, 1st ID, MHI (
“get the jeep”
); Hansen, 5/52 (
upside down
); Clark,
Calculated Risk,
168 (
“American soldiers”
).

That was untrue: Three Years,
292; Phillips,
Sedjenane,
27, 57, 67.

Impassable it proved to be
: AAR, “Report on the Operation Conducted by the 9th Infantry Division in Northern Tunisia, 11 Apr.–8 May 1943,” NARA RG 407, E 427, box 7326; AAR, 47th Inf Regt, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 7514; AAR, 60th Inf Regt, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 7535; AAR, 9th ID artillery, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 7424;
NWAf,
615–20; Mittelman, 106–14.

So it went
: Phillips,
Sedjenane,
86, 104 (
“a dark theater”
), 111; Mittelman, 106–14; “The Fragrance of Spring Was Heavy in the Air,”
Trail Tales,
1979, Boone Co. (Iowa) History Society, Iowa GSM; “G-2 report, II Corps, Battle for Bizerte,” Annex B, counter-intelligence section, May 13, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 3126 (
“free from Arabs”
); “Adventures by Men of the 60th Infantry Regiment in WWII,” 1993, MHI, 20–22.

The enemy held fast
: Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story,
89; Liebling,
Mollie & Other Pieces
9; Mittelman, 106; Howard and Sparrow, 118; D’Arcy-Dawson, 134; William E. Faust, ASEQ, ts, 1st ID artillery, 1990, MHI, 42, 50.

No hill loomed
: author visit, Apr. 2000; Anderson, “Operations in North West Africa” Alexander, “The African Campaign from El Alamein to Tunis” (
“best German troops”
).

Anderson proposed
: Bradley, 86–87 (
“Never mind”
), Bradley and Blair, 157 (
“far over his head”
);
To Bizerte with the II Corps,
16; CBH, May 1, 1943, MHI; “G-3 Report, Tunis Operation,” 1st ID, Apr. 28–30, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 5759; “History of the 26th Infantry in the Present Struggle,” MRC FDM, chapter 10; CBH, May 1, 1943 (
“This campaign is too important”
).

To seize the hill
: Caffey, OH, SM, MHI; Bradley, 85 (
“Get me that hill”
); letter, Robert P. Miller to G. F. Howe, Jan. 14, 1951, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 225; Arnold N. Brandt, “The Operations of the 1st Battalion, 135th Infantry at Hills 609 and 531,” 1948 (
“There was excitement”
); Ryder, OH, SM, MHI; Berens, 62; Bailey,
Through Hell and High Water,
106; Green and Gauthier, 120–24 (
“For the
love of heaven”
and
“crouched gray shapes”
); Pyle,
Here Is Your War,
254 (
rocks wrapped
); Bolstad, 140 (
“We lay there awaiting dawn”
).

Two attacks failed: NWAf,
631;
To Bizerte with the II Corps,
18–21; AAR, “Operations Following the Battle of Fondouk,” 1st Bn, 133rd Inf Regt, June 30, 1943, Iowa GSM; Ankrum, 277–81; Bolstad, 140; AAR, Co C, 1st Bn, 133rd Inf Regt, Apr. 30, 1943, Iowa GSM; Mickey C. Smith and Dennis Worthen, “Soldiers on the Production Line,”
Pharmacy in History,
1995, 183; Riess, ed., 543; Middleton, 275 (
“wheat at Gettysburg”
); “The Tunisian Campaign, 34th Div.,” Dec. 1943, Iowa GSM; “Report of Action on Hill 609, 135th Inf Regt.,” June 30, 1943, Iowa GSM; Leslie W. Bailey, “An Infantry Battalion in Attack,” Iowa GSM; Robert Ward, OH, Nov. 30, 1950, G. F. Howe, SM, MHI; Johnson,
One More Hill,
65 (
“erupting volcano”
); Bolstad, 138–40; C. Miller,
Some Things You Never Forget,
123–24.

Ryder’s troubles
: T. Allen, “A Factual Summary of the Combat Operations of the 1st Infantry Division,” 28 (
“unshirted hell”
); Curtis,
The Song of the Fighting First,
98 (
“Hill 606”
); “Terry Allen and the First Division in North Africa and Sicily,” Allen papers, MHI;
NWAf,
633, 636; Green and Gauthier, 129 (
white phosphorus
); letter, Allen to G. F. Howe, n.d., NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 229; letter, G. A. Taylor to G. F. Howe, Nov. 22, 1950, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 228 (
considered the attack rash
); letter, C. J. Denholm to G. F. Howe, Dec. 13, 1950, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 228.

Impatience cost
: Clay, 167–69 (mss); Robert E. Cullis, “We Learn in Combat,”
Infantry Journal,
June 1944, 31 (
“more like a street fight”
); AAR, Co H, 3rd Bn, 1st Armored Regt, Apr. 30, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 14916; Robert V. Maraist and Peter C. Hains, “Conference on North African Operations,” transcript, June 16, 1943, Fort Knox, SM, MHI; log, “16th Inf., Beja-Mateur Campaign,” Apr. 30, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 5919 (
“Heinies are all over”
).