The Day of Battle (111 page)

“
deficient inner cohesion
”: Bergengruen, “Der Kampf der Pz. Div. ‘Hermann Goering,’” 14–19; Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin, “Die Abwehr der Achsenmächte auf Sizilien,”
Allgemeine schweizerische Militär Zeitschrift,
Dec. 1950, 859–60 (
too mammoth to tow
); MEB, “Axis Tactical Operations in Sicily” (“
returning to their ships
”).

“
They are carrying armloads
”: Johnson, 89; Romeiser, ed. (“
Hell, no
”).

Patton came ashore:
Mason, 269; memo, GSP, July 11, 1943, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 11, folder 8; Dennis Showalter,
Patton and Rommel,
315 (
timing his own pulse
); Jack Belden,
“Battle of Sicily,” 27+ (“
beautiful and battle-fevered
”); Milton F. Perry and Barbara W. Parke,
Patton and His Pistols,
62; Patton, 54; Paul W. Brown, 165 (“
Kraut bastards
”).

Adolf’s Alley:
D’Este,
Bitter Victory,
317; Jackson, “Signal Communication in the Sicilian Campaign,” 58–61 (
code rooms
).

Dust and gray smoke: SSA,
112; Carlo D’Este,
Patton: A Genius for War,
507; corr, GSP to L. J. McNair, Aug. 2, 1943, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 11 (“
dervishes
”); James B. Lyle, “The Operations of Companies A and B, 1st Ranger Battlion, at Gela, Sicily,” 1948, IS, 18–19 (“
hanging from trees
”); Blythe Foote Finke,
No Mission Too Difficult,
130 (“
Kick ’em
”).

“
a most foolish manner
”: note, GSP, ts, n.d., GSP, LOC MS Div, box 48, folder 20.

If the Italians had been stopped:
TdA, “Commanding General’s After Action Report,” 1950, in Smith, 127; Garland, 170; MEB, “Axis Tactical Operations in Sicily” Martin A. Shadday, “Operations of Company C, 41st Armored Infantry Regiment, 2nd AD, at Gela, Sicily,” 1948, IS, 15 (
dried mud
); OH, Samuel A. D. Hunter, March 7, 1944, NHC, 8–9 (“
To arms
”);
The Sicilian Campaign,
93; William H. Frazier, Jr., “The Operations of XII Air Support Command in the Invasion of Sicily,” 1948, IS, 21 (“
Men burned
”).

Firepower arrived:
DSC citation, Clift Andrus, NARA RG 338, ETO, Seventh Army awards, box 2; Thomas F. Lancer, “Goodbye Mr. Chips,” in Albert H. Smith, Jr., ed., “Biographical Sketches, WWII,” MRC FDM; bio file, Clift Andrus, n.d., MHI; Malcolm Marshall, ed.,
Proud Americans,
112 (
threatened to shoot any man
).

Then, above the whine:
Clift Andrus, “Amphibious Landings—North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy,” ts, n.d., MRC FDM, 26; Godson, 74.

German tanks began to burn:
Patrick K. O’Donnell,
Beyond Valor,
51; Franz Kurowski,
The History of the Fallschirmpanzerkorps Hermann Göring,
159 (“
rivets flew about
”); William T. Dillon, 1/16th Inf, ASEQ, MHI, 6 (“
he was melted
”); Bergengruen, “Kampf der Pz. Div. Hermann Goering,” 20–21 (“
counterattack against the hostile landings
”); TdA, “Commanding General’s After Action Report,” 127 (“
damned Heinies
”); Romeiser, ed., 167 (“
merely embarrassing
”).

Patton returned to the beach: PP,
279; D’Este,
Patton,
507; Mark M. Boatner III,
The Biographical Dictionary of World War II,
138 (
white-haired brigadier
); Patrick K. O’Donnell,
Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs,
45–50 (“
happy as a clam
”); Anthony Cave Brown,
The Last Hero,
352 (“
fucking and fighting
”).

“
I had the bitter experience
”: memo, Paul Conrath, July 12, 1943, AFHQ captured documents, NARA RG 407, E 47, 95 AL1-2.9, box 162; Andrus, “Amphibious Landings,” 27; Kurowski, 157; MEB, “Axis Tactical Operations in Sicily” (
630 men killed
); Garland, 171n; Charles E. Smith, “The American Campaign in Sicily,” ts, n.d., CMH, Geog Sicily 314.7, 17 (
American casualties
); report summary, Seventh Army, n.d., NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC2 Sicily, box 250 (
nine thousand prisoners
); “Report of Activities,” July 31, 1944, staff judge advocate, 1st ID, MRC FDM (
dead civilians
).

“
I am well satisfied
”: memo, GSP, July 11, 1943, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 11, folder 8;
PP,
279–80.

“Tonight Wear White Pajamas”

His own losses were modest: The Sicilian Campaign,
91–93 (
the
Barnett); Carver, 22; Roskill, 131 (Talamba); action reports, S. H. Alexander and Ralph C. Adams,
LST 313,
ts, n.d., in Donald J. Hunt, “USS
LST 313
and Battery A, 33rd Field Artillery,” ts, 1997, MRC FDM, 42;
SSA,
108 (
flaming axles
); Knickerbocker et al., 103–4.

Each successive raid: AAFinWWII,
445; HKH, “The Sicilian Campaign,” 17–18 (“
almost complete lack
”); “Notes on the Planning and Assault Phases of the Sicilian Campaign,” UK Combined Operations HQ, Bulletin No. Y/1, Oct. 1943, CARL, 2–7.

Air Force commanders: AAFinWWII,
445 (“
parceling out
”); Coles, “Participation of the Ninth and Twelfth Air Forces,” 177–78 (“
personal control
”); Garland, 106–7.

Considering that the Navy had been prepared to lose:
“The Army Air Forces in Amphibious Landings in World War II,” July 1953, CARL, N-16372.34, 32–46; corr, HKH to SEM, Feb. 9, 1953, SEM, NHC, box 51 (“
we can’t get the goddamn Air Force
”); Ralph G. Martin, “Invasion of Sicily,” Aug. 13, 1943, in Steve Kluger,
Yank,
101+ (“
Only the good people
”).

Back at the Gela roads:
action report, John McFadzean, gunnery officer, S.S.
Rowan,
Dec. 22, 1943, NHC, 17–18; Karig, 244–45 (“
a flat sheet of crimson fire
”); OH, Charles William Harwood, U.S.S.
Dickman,
Nov. 19, 1943, NHC;
The Sicilian Campaign,
94.

“
hard as flint
”: George C. Mitchell,
Matthew B. Ridgway: Soldier, Statesman, Scholar, Citizen,
27, 35 (“
Even with his penis
”); Soffer, 22, 36 (“
cultivate the art
”); Blair, 111.

“
Tonight wear white pajamas
”: “Report of Allied Force Airborne Board” Garland, 175n; Warren, 22; Mason, “Reminiscences and Anecdotes,” 171–73; AAR, 7th Army, G-3, n.d., NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC2, box 250 (“
It is essential
”); Joseph M. Whitaker, “Report of Investigation Concerning Shooting Down of Airborne Troops, 11–12 July 1943,” Sept. 21, 1943, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 49, folder 11 (Monrovia
’s signal room
); memo, MBR, “Reported Loss of Transport Planes and Personnel,” Aug. 2, 1943, CJB, box 48, 4–6 (
asking whether the gunners knew
).

“
There’s always some son-of-a-bitch
”: McLean, “Adventures in Occupied Areas,” 36; Whitaker, “Report of Investigation” Thomas B. Gage, 45th ID, in William O. Perry, “Report of Investigation,” Aug. 14, 1943, 45th ID IG, NARA RG 338, AG 1943, 333.5, box 111 (
signal officers struggled
).

Ridgway for six weeks had warned:
Garland, 175–77; Charles R. Shrader, “Amicicide: The Problem of Friendly Fire in Modern War,” Dec. 1982, CSI, 70 (“
Every plane that came over
”); Warren, 40.

“
Am terribly worried
”:
PP,
280.

The contagion spread:
Garland, 177; Willard E. Harrison, Co. A, 504th PIR, in Alvin B. Welsch, “Report of Investigation: Alleged Shooting Down of Friendly Troop Carrying Transport Planes,” n.d., NARA RG 338, AG 1943, 333.5, box 111 (“
I looked back
”); Lee D. Carr, in Robert Miley, “But Never a Soldier,” ts, 1987 (
Pilots dove
); Breuer, 143 (
rosary beads
); corr, John P. O’Malley to W. P. Yarborough, Jan. 20, 1980, CJB, “Chrono. File: Sicily,” MHI, box 48 (“
read a newspaper
”).

Formations disintegrated:
Whitaker, “Report of Investigation,” 11; Welsch, “Report of Investigation” (
belly lights
); Garland, 178n; Ross S. Carter,
Those Devils in Baggy Pants,
23 (“
bird shot in flight
”); Coles, “Participation of the Ninth and Twelfth Air Forces,” 88 (
tantamount to murder
); OH, William P. Yarborough, 1975, J. R. Meese and H. P. Houser, SOOHP, MHI, 31–32; corr, W. P. Yarborough to Adam A. Komosa, Sept. 25, 1962, CMH, Geog Files, Sicily, 370.2; Adam Bernstein, “Lt. Gen. William Yarborough Dies,”
WP,
Dec. 8, 2005, B5; “Report on Operation Husky,” Army Observers, Amphibious Forces, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, 1943, MHI (“
at least four were shot
”); “Synopsis of Operations in Sicilian Campaign,” n.d., 82nd Abn Div, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC2 Sicily, box 246; Adam A. Komosa, “Airborne Operation, 504th Parachute Infantry, Sicily,” 1946, IS; “A Study of Operation Husky,” June 28, 1947, Ground General School, DTL, Ft. B, 25 (
passwords
); Soffer, 48.

“
Stop, you bastards
”: Romeiser, ed., 168; Samuel Hynes,
The Soldiers’ Tale,
153 (“
large pumpkins
”); Martin, 68–70 (
candlesticked
); Garland, 179; Breuer, 145.

Colonel Reuben H. Tucker:
Welsch, “Report of Investigation” Garland, 179, 181n; AAR, 52nd Troop Carrier Wing, July 12, 1943, JPL, MHI, box 11 (
half shot down
); John Mason Brown, 164 (
escape in a rubber raft
).

At last the shooting ebbed:
“Tactical Employment in the U.S. Army of Transport Aircraft and Gliders,” 39; “Airborne Operations Conference,” St. Georges Hotel, Algiers, July 24, 1943, “Material on Operation
HUSKY
, 1943, Allied Forces,” MHI, D763.S5 A5; memo,
MBR, “Casualties, Sicilian Campaign, CT 504,” May 19, 1944, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC2 Sicily, box 246; Garland, 182; Blair, 102 (
only 3,900
).

“
I was glad to see
”: Maxwell D. Taylor,
Swords and Plowshares,
50.

“
By golly
”: John Gunther,
D Day,
61;
Three Years,
357; John Gunther,
Eisenhower: The Man and the Symbol,
154 (“
gilded cage
”).

“
More like a huge regatta
”: corr, J.F.M. Whiteley to J. N. Kennedy, July 14, 1943, UK NA, WO 204/307; Gunther,
D Day,
67 (“
when they pipe me on
”).

Patton led the way:
“Allied Commander-in-Chief’s Report on Sicilian Campaign 1943,” 92; Aris, 119 (
little extra food
); Richard Doherty,
A Noble Crusade,
142 (
anticipated ten thousand
); Neillands, 223 (
Montgomery confidently predicted
).

As for his own Seventh Army:
Garland, 189; ONB, “Operation of II Corps, U.S. Army in Sicily,” n.d., CMH, Geog Files, Sicily, 370.2, 7; Howe, “American Signal Intelligence,” 52 (“
Send more pigeons
”); Philip Vian,
Action This Day,
105 (“
pigeon English
”).

“
Ike had stepped on him hard
”:
Three Years,
360; JPL, 58.

“
Patton stood at the edge
”: Gunther,
D Day,
70–71; HKH, “The Sicilian Campaign,” timeline, 2–15 (Monrovia
radio room
); Gunther,
Eisenhower,
156–57 (“
welcome Canada
”).

“
Provided everything goes
”:
Three Years,
361, 363; diary, HCB, July 13, 1943, DDE Lib, A-578 (“
calm and matter-of-fact
”).

“
You particularly requested me
”: Chandler, vol. 2, 1255; DDE to GSP, July 12, 1943, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 49, folder 11 (“
inexcusable carelessness
”).

Investigations would go forth:
memo, J. E. Hull to GCM, Aug. 2, 1943, “Report of Allied Force Airborne Board (Invasion of Sicily),” NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 250; OH, HKH, 1961, John T. Mason, Col U OHRO, 356; memo, Paul L. Williams to DDE, July 13, with notes by A. Tedder, Carl Spaatz papers, diary, LOC MS Div, box 13 (“
not operationally sound
”); F.A.M. Browning, NATOUSA conference, July 24, 1943, 82nd Airborne Div, “Synopsis of Operations in Sicilian Campaign,” NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC2 Sicily, box 246 (“
well-pleased
”).

“
unavoidable incident of combat
”: diary, July 13, 1943, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 2, folder 15; JPL, 58 (
bedbugs
).

“The Dark World Is Not Far from Us”

They pressed inland:
Smith, 28; Robert Capa,
Slightly Out of Focus,
71 (
too many stripes
); Dancocks, 47 (
scuffing through flour
); Walter J. Eldredge, “First Shot in Anger,” www.4point2.org (“
After the first mile
”); Farley Mowat,
The Regiment,
64 (“
brain furnaces
”); Anders Kjar Arnbal,
The Barrel-Land Dance Hall Rangers,
119 (
Benzedrine)
; Gunther,
D Day,
142; Alan Moorehead,
Eclipse,
3; Charles R. Codman,
Drive,
113; Walter Bernstein,
Keep Your Head Down,
105 (“
face in the dirt
”).

“
Right of way!
”: Robert E. Coffin and Joan N. Coffin, “The Robert Edmonston Coffin–Joan Nelson Coffin Family Book,” 84; John Steinbeck,
Once There Was a War,
196–98.