The Day of Battle (113 page)

From a roadcut in the ridge:
corr, LKT Jr. to James A. Norell, Jan. 10, 1961, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 250; Kaplan, 122; diary, July 23, 1943, GSP, LOC MS Div., box 3, folder 1; George Biddle,
Artist at War,
66, 69 (“
no cat
”).

Belisarius in
A.D
. 535:
Charles Lee Lewis, “The Byzantine Invasion of North Africa, Sicily, and Italy,”
Proceedings,
Nov. 1943, 1435+; msg, 1000 hrs, July 22, 1943, “Operazioni in Sicilia dal 9 al 19 luglio” corr, LKT Jr. to Sarah, Aug. 25, 1943, LKT Jr., GCM, box 1, folder 6.

Hours passed:
notes, William W. Eagles to OCMH, n.d., NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 250;
CM,
227; Codman, 110 (“
Street after street
”).

“
stacks full of rare books
”: Lynn H. Nicholas,
The Rape of Europa,
225–26; Biddle, 67 (
Goethe
); Garland, 256;
SSA,
188; lecture, W. A. Sullivan, Society of Military Engineers, Cincinnati, 1947, “Ship Salvage and Harbor Clearance,” #445, WWII Histories and Historical Reports in the U.S. Naval History Division, NHC, 13 (
Salvage teams
); John T. Mason, Jr.,
The Atlantic War Remembered,
297–99, 307; Edward D. Churchill,
Surgeon to Soldiers,
222 (
offered to sing Verdi
); OH, John A. Heintges, SOOHP, Jack A. Pellicci, 1974, MHI, 150–55 (
seized two large trucks
); Melvin F. Talbot, “The Logistics of the Eighth Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces, Northwest African Waters,” ts, n.d., “The Administrative History of the Eighth Fleet,” #139, U.S. Naval History Division, 37; memo, “Data for Logistical Planning,” Seventh Army to CG, NATOUSA, Dec. 4, 1943, Walter J. Muller Papers, HIA, box 2.

Major General Geoff Keyes:
AAR, HQ, Provisional Corps, July 15–Aug. 20, 1943, CMH, Geog Sicily, 370.2; Robert Capa,
Slightly Out of Focus,
78; John B. Romeiser, ed.,
Combat Reporter,
179 (
bedsheet lashed to a fishing pole
); GK, July 22, 1943.

“
It is a great thrill
”:
PP,
297, 303, 305.

“
The occupation of western Sicily
”: situation report, OB Süd, July 24, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 246; Garland, 255; AAR, HQ, Provisional Corps, July 15–Aug. 20, 1943, CMH, Geog Sicily, 370.2;
CM,
228 (“
certainly like to beat Montgomery
”).

“
You will have guessed
”:
CM,
227;
PP,
300.

Snaring the Head Devil

“
No objective can compete
”:
GS
IV, 498, 500, 505; John S. D. Eisenhower,
Allies,
306 (
Churchill would strip British forces
); Winston S. Churchill,
The Hinge of Fate,
826 (“
cut their rations again
”).

“
Why should we crawl
”:
GS
IV, 503; Kennedy, 295 (“
a beautiful path
”); Emajean Jordan Buechner,
Sparks,
95 (“
gonorrhea
”).

Eisenhower in May: StoC,
15, 19; AFHQ G-2, “J.I.C. Algiers Estimates on Italian Morale,” June 20, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, from AFHQ micro, Job 10-A, reel 17C, box 242; Field Marshal the Viscount Alexander of Tunis, dispatch, “The Allied Armies in Italy,” n.d., CMH, I-52 (“
might well cause a collapse
”); meeting notes, HQ Force 141, June 25, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, from AFHQ micro, Job 26-A, reel 225B, box 242 (“
Germany intends to reinforce Italy
”); memo, AFHQ G-3, L. W. Rooks to W. B. Smith, June 28, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, from AFHQ micro, Job 10-C, reel 138E, box 242 (“
very mountainous
”).

Success in Sicily tipped:
Ed Cray,
General of the Army,
406;
Three Years,
460 (
Charlie-Charlies
); “Record of Meeting Held at La Marsa at 1430 Hrs, 17 July 1943,” NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, R-225-B (“
onto the mainland
”); Chandler, vol. 2, 1261; Garland, 260–61.

Vital issues remained:
“Invasion of Italian Mainland: Summary of Operations Carried out by British Troops Under Command 5 U.S. Army,” n.d., CMH, Geog Ital, 370.2, 30;
StoC,
17–18; minutes, item 7, “post-
HUSKY
Operations,” CCS, 103rd meeting, July 23, 1943; “Memorandum of the Representative of the British Chiefs of Staff,” July 24, 1943, CCS 268/8; “Memorandum by the United States Chiefs of Staff,” July 25, 1943, CCS 268/9; minutes, CCS, July 26, 1943: all in NARA RG 319, OCMH, SSI, box 243.

For now, analysis:
“Notes on the Air Implication of an Assault on Italian Mainland, Naples Area,” July 25, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, from AFHQ micro, Job 10-A, reel 13C, box 242; David Hunt,
A Don at War,
207–8; memo, “Appreciation of an Amphibious Assault Against the Naples Area,” July 24, 1943, AFHQ G-3, NARA RG 319, OCMH, from AFHQ micro, Job 10-A, reel 13C, box 242 (“
If it is decided
”); minutes, CCS, July 26, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, SSI, box 243 (“
earliest possible date
”).

“
I am with you
”:
GS
IV, 501, 503.

“
the head devil
”: Garland, 273; Peter Neville,
Mussolini,
99 (
special typewriter
); Rudolf Böhmler,
Monte Cassino,
3 (“of syphilitic origin”); Melton S. Davis,
Who Defends Rome?,
64; Paul Deichmann, “Feldzug in Italien,” ts, n.d., NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 250, 6 (“
grab his stomach
”); George Kent, “The Last Days of the Dictator Benito Mussolini,”
Reader’s Digest,
Oct. 1944, 13+; Peter Tompkins,
Italy Betrayed,
19, 48 (
Zodiac symbols
); Gervasi, 91 (“
green-eyed daughter
”).

He had risen far:
Denis Mack Smith,
Mussolini,
5; Mark M. Boatner III,
Biographical Dictionary of World War II,
384–85; Neville, 134 (
wedding rings
); Enno von Rintelen, “Psychological Warfare,” n.d., FMS, #B-399, MHI, 4; Douglas Porch,
The Path to Victory,
429.

Lately the country was getting:
“Military Campaigns and Political Events in Italy, 1942–1943,” Jan. 1946, Strategic Services Unit, WD, A-63366, CMH, Geog Files, Italy, 370.22, 16–17; Dharm Pal,
The Campaign in Italy, 1943–1945,
3–4; Boatner, 385; Neville, 163 (
thirty-two Italian divisions
); R.J.B. Bosworth,
Mussolini’s Italy,
474 (
lacked boots
); Pietro
Badoglio,
Italy in the Second World War,
48; Porch, 7; Rintelen, “The Italian Command,” 3 (
Raw materials
); Garland, 32; “Vortragsnotiz: Die Lage in Italien,” June 30, 1943, OKH, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 243 (“
The kernel of the Italian army
”); Rintelen, “The Italian Command,” 9.

Since December 1942:
Vittorio Ambrosio, the Comando Supremo chief, claimed after the war that Mussolini never overtly favored a separate peace. “Ambrosio Project #46, Events in Italy, 1 Feb.–8 Sept. 1943,” n.d., FMS, #P-058, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 244; Howard McGaw Smyth, “The Command of the Italian Armed Forces in World War II,”
Military Affairs,
vol. 15, no. 1 (spring 1951), 38+; casualty figures,
Il Momento,
Aug. 2, 1952, CMH, Geog Files, Italy, 704; Garland, 51 (“
ridiculous position
”), 242 (“
sacrifice of my country
”); “Memorandum of Conversation,” Feltre, July 1943,
Department of State Bulletin,
vol. 15, no. 379, Oct. 6, 1946, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC2, Sicily, box 249, 607+; “Military Campaigns and Political Events in Italy, 1942–1943,” 21 (“
white with emotion
”).

Months in the planning:
Lewis H. Brereton,
The Brereton Diaries,
194–95; minutes, item 9, “Bombing of Rome,” CCS, 99th meeting, supplementary, June 25, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, SSI, box 243 (“
It would be a tragedy
”); Quentin Reynolds,
The Curtain Rises,
188 (“
Give them hell
”).

“
Perfect formation
”: Robert Katz,
The Battle for Rome,
17; Tompkins, 38–39; Alessandro Portelli,
The Order Has Been Carried Out,
77–78 (
sons of bitches
); Vincent Orange,
Tedder,
223 (
exclusively American
).

Estimates of the dead:
casualty estimates in ascending order: Richard G. Davis,
Carl A. Spaatz and the Air War in Europe,
261; Robert Katz,
The Battle for Rome,
12;
SSA,
186; Portelli, 77–78.

Basilica of San Lorenzo:
“Report on the Bombing of the Basilica of San Lorenzo,” Aug. 19, 1944, Allied Control Commission, Henry C. Newton Papers, MHI, box 4; Andrew Brookes,
Air War over Italy, 1943–1945,
17; George F. Botjer,
Sideshow War,
85–86 (
holy water
); “Military Campaigns and Political Events,” 21 (“
a common cause
”).

on Sunday, July 25:
F. W. Deakin,
The Brutal Friendship,
458; Denis Mack Smith,
Mussolini,
297 (
telephone intercepts
); Davis, 137, 141; “Military Campaigns and Political Events,” 28–29; Tompkins, 61. One account contends that Mussolini when meeting the king still wore his marshal’s uniform: Katz, 19, 21.

Rarely had the Duce faced:
corr, Dino Grandi to Alexander Kirk, May 15, 1944; corr, Harold H. Tittman to A. Hull, Aug. 28, 1943; memo, Leonardo Vitetti, “Notes on the Fall of the Fascist Regime,” n.d., all in NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 249.

black Saharan bush shirts:
Tompkins, 60; Bosworth, 495; account, Dino Grandi, June 23, 1944; memo, Edward S. Crocker to C. Hull, “Overthrow of Mussolini,” Feb. 7, 1944, both in NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 249.

Shortly before five
P.M.
:
Deakin, 470; Katz, 21; Paul Deichmann, “Italian Campaign,” 1948, FMS, #T-1a, chapter 1, 35.

A millennium of royal inbreeding:
Boatner, 588; Tompkins, 22, 32 (“
taciturn and diffident
”); Neville, 175 (“
little sardine
”); Kenyon Joyce, “Italy,” ts, n.d., Kenyon Joyce papers, MHI, 322 (
twenty-eight woodcock
); Katz, 21.

After a few rambling sentences:
Deakin, 470; “Military Campaigns and Political Events,” 28–29; Benito Mussolini,
My Rise and Fall,
70–72.

Even at five feet, seven inches:
Mussolini, 70–72; Tompkins, 62 (“
not at all nice
”).

“
Duce, I have been ordered
”: Davis, 141–42; “Military Campaigns and Political Events,” 28–29; Mussolini, 70–72, 77; Davis, 147 (
fists on his hips
).

A radio bulletin at eleven
P.M.
:
Demaree Bess, “Power Politics Succeded in Italy,”
Saturday Evening Post,
Oct. 30, 1943, 20+; Davis, 156 (“
Citizens, wake up!
”)

“
One did not see a single person
”: Badoglio, 46; Deakin, 475; Smith, 298 (
Mussolini’s own newspaper
).

“
The Duce will enter history
”: Alan Bullock,
Hitler: A Study in Tyranny,
710; Louis P. Lochner, ed.,
The Goebbels Diaries, 1942–1943,
437.

“
Italy has had enough
”: Iris Origo,
War in Val D’Orcia,
47.

Fevers of an Unknown Origin

Patton had settled comfortably:
John P. Marquand, “Introduction,” in Codman, xiv–xvi;
PP,
303; JPL, 85 (
heroic oils
); Kaplan, 116 (
entering a jewel
); GSP to Beatrice, Aug. 2, 1943, GSP, LOC, MS Div, box 11 (
Christ Pantocrator
).

“
I know I have been marked
”: Fred Ayer, Jr.,
Before the Colors Fade,
139; Garland, 304; FDR to GSP, Aug. 4, 1943, GSP, LOC, MS Div, box 11 (
Marquis of Mount Etna
); Milton F. Perry and Barbara W. Parke,
Patton and His Pistols,
66.

The fame Patton so ardently craved:
Carlo D’Este, “The Slaps Heard Round the World,”
MHQ,
vol. 8, no. 2 (winter 1996), 64+; Beatrice to GSP, July 30, 1943, GSP, LOC, MS Div., box 11 (“
Monty hardly figures
”); “Narrative of Operation
HUSKY
,” n.d., Arthur S. Nevins papers, MHI, box 2 (
200,000
); GSP to Beatrice, Aug. 11, 1943, GSP, LOC, MS Div, box 11 (“
sixth sense
”); Hirshson, 392 (“
lose them
”);
PP,
306 (“
horse race
”); “Reminiscences of Charles Wellborn, Jr.,” 1971–72, John T. Mason, Jr., USNI OHD, 187 (
Volkswagen staff cars
).

Each morning his armored cavalcade:
Dickson, “G-2 Journal,” 90–91; Coffin, 91; Perry and Parke, 66;
PP,
315–17 (
timed his pulse
); Jean Gordon Peltier,
World War II Diary of Jean Gordon Peltier,
119 (“
killer eyes
”); Jack Pearl,
Blood-and-Guts Patton,
102 (
sobbing in the latrine
); GSP to Beatrice, July 20, 1943, GSP, LOC, MS Div, box 11.

broke his swagger stick:
Seymour Korman, Mutual Broadcasting reporter, quoted in IG report, NATOUSA, Sept 18, 1943, DDE Lib, PP-pres, box 91;
PP,
296; Pearl, 100–101 (“
Get back on that gun
”); Clift Andrus, notes on
A Soldier’s Story,
ts, n.d., MRC FDM, 1988.32, box 215 (
leg boils
); OH, Heintges, 1974, Pellicci, 159 (“
You son of a bitch
”); Charles C. Bates and John F. Fuller,
America’s Weather Warriors,
282n; Donald McB. Curtis,
The Song of the Fighting First,
121 (“
let my killers through
”).