The Day of Battle (125 page)

That moment soon arrived:
action report, Murdoch Walker,
Lyman Abbott,
to CNO, March 10, 1944, NARA RG 38, OCNO, Naval Transportation Service, Armed Guard files, 370/12/31/4, box 437 (
firing by earshot
); Infield, 93 (“
We’re taking a pasting
”), 117, 122.

Bombs severed an oil pipeline:
“Report on the Circumstances,” etc.; “History of the Naval Armed Guard Afloat,” n.d.,
U.S. Naval Administration in World War II,
NHC, Command File, World War II, 166–68 (Joseph Wheeler); Infield, 55–56, 66, 141–42; msg, Alfred Bergman to supervisor, U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corps, “SS
John Bascom,
loss of,” Feb. 23, 1944, SEM, NHC, box 58; Southern, 7; diary, L. Stevenson, IWM, P100.

The Liberty ship
Samuel J. Tilden: msg, Robert Donnelly to supervisor, U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corps, “SS
Samuel J. Tilden
—loss of,” Feb. 2, 1944, SEM, NHC, box 58; “History of the Naval Armed Guard Afloat,” 166–68; Southern, 36 (“
harbor was aflame
”).

Among those burning vessels was the
John Harvey: Southern, 49, 53, 62–66; minutes, investigative board, Bari raid, June 28, 1944, NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, R-87, box 197 (
Windows shattered seven miles away
); Gregory Blaxland,
Alexander’s Generals,
13; Walter Karig,
Battle Report: The Atlantic War,
277 (“
the entire world was burning
”).

Civilians were crushed:
Margry, “Mustard Disaster at Bari,” 34; Southern, 124 (“
young girl pinned
”), 44–45 (“
If this be it
”); Infield, 62–63; Will Lang, notebook #9, “Bari raid,” USMA Arch.

Seventeen ships had been sunk:
“Report on Adequacy of Protective Measures at Bari” Karig, 277.

“
Since when do American ships”:
Infield, 86; “Report on the Circumstances,” etc. (
H.M.S.
Brindisi); D. M. Saunders, “The Bari Incident,”
Proceedings,
vol. 93, no. 9, Sept. 1967, 35+ (Bistra
picked up thirty survivors
).

“
Ambulances screamed into hospital
”: Southern, 52, 91; Stewart F. Alexander, “Final Report of Bari Mustard Casualties,” June 20, 1944, AFHQ, office of the surgeon, NARA RG 492, 704, box 1757 (“
considerably puzzled
”).

“
all in pain
”: memo, H. Gluck, “ophthalmic casualties resulting from air raid on Bari,” 98th General Hospital, Dec. 14, 1943, NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, 290/24/27/2–4, R 235-D; corr, Stewart F. Alexander to William D. Fleming, Dec. 26, 1943, NARA RG 112, MTO surgeon general, 390/17/8/2-3, 319.1, box 6 (“
No treatment
”); Reminick, 115 (“
big as balloons
”); “Report on the Circumstances,” etc. (“
dermatitis N.Y.D.
”).

A Royal Navy surgeon:
“Notes on Meeting Held at HQ 2 District, at 1415 Hours,” in “Report on the Circumstances,” etc.

The first mustard death:
appendix G, “Medical Report,” in “Report on the Circumstances,” etc.; Southern, 89 (“
that bloody bang
”); Alexander, “Final Report” (
Seaman Phillip H. Stone
).

By noon on Friday:
memo, “Casualties, Air Raid, Bari,” Dec. 8, 1943, NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, 290/24/27/2-4, R 235-D; Gluck, “ophthalmic casualties” (
lids forcibly pried open
); Saunders, “The Bari Incident,” 35 (
hundreds had inhaled
).

More than a thousand Allied servicemen:
memo, “Toxic Gas Burns Sustained in the Bari Harbor Catastrophe,” Dec. 27, 1943, NATOUSA, office of the surgeon, NARA RG 112, MTO surgeon general, 390/17/8/2-3, 319.1, box 6.

A comparable number of Italian civilians:
No precise casualty figures were ever compiled. Margry, “Mustard Disaster at Bari,” 34; Infield, 177; Alexander, “Final Report” (
at least 617 confirmed mustard casualties
); Southern, 48, 125–26, 145 (“
head to toe in trench graves
”).

“
For purposes of secrecy
”: memo, “Casualties, Air Raid, Bari” George S. Bergh and Reuben F. Erickson, eds., “A History of the Twenty-sixth General Hospital,” 132 (“
Damage was done
”); Infield, 208 (“
I will not comment
”); corr, J.F.M. Whitely to J. N. Kennedy, Dec. 21, 1943, UK NA, WO 204/307.

“
the wind was offshore
”: Eisenhower,
Crusade,
204; Infield, 207 (“
enemy action
”).

Declassified in 1959:
Saunders, “The Bari Incident” Orange, 176; Reminick, 169; L.S. Goodman et al., “Nitrogen Mustard Therapy,”
Journal of the American Medical Association,
Sept. 21, 1946, 126+; John H. Lienhard, “Engines of Our Ingenuity,” no. 1190, “Mustard Gas,” University of Houston, http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1190.htm; Rebecca Holland, “Mustard Gas,” Bristol University, htttp://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/mustard/mustard.htm; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of-_cancer_chemotherapy#The_first_efforts_.281940.E2.80.931950.29.

Thousands of refugees trudged:
Bergh and Erickson, eds., “A History of the Twenty-sixth General Hospital,” 132; Infield, 235;
AAFinWWII,
587 (
38,000 tons of cargo
).

“
I see you boys are getting gassed
”: Infield, 207; Franz Kurowski,
The History of the Fallschirmpanzerkorps Hermann Göring
, 213–17.

C
HAPTER
6: W
INTER

The Archangel Michael, Here and Everywhere

Since its founding:
Maurizio Zambardi,
San Pietro Infine,
7, 11, 15, 17; author visits, Sept. 1995, May 2004; OH, Maurizio Zambardi, May 5, 2004, with author.

a German patrol arrived:
Maurizio Zambardi,
Memorie di Guerra,
22–30, 33, 42; Alex Bowlby,
Countdown to Cassino,
83.

San Pietro’s fate was
sealed: A. G. Steiger, “The Campaign in Southern Italy,” Nov. 1947, Canadian Army headquarters, historical section, No. 18, 41.

While Mark Clark paused:
Bowlby, 51–52, 78, 84–85; Franz Kurowski,
Battleground Italy, 1943–1945
, 68–69 (
sodden clumps
).

For the San Pietrans:
Zambardi,
Memorie di Guerra,
34–39, 54–55; OH, Zambardi, May 5, 2004; Bowlby, 83–84.

“
a worse plan
”:
CM,
286.

“
critical terrain in the operation
”: diary, MWC, Nov. 6, 11, 1943, Citadel, box 64;
Fifth Army at the Winter Line,
17 (
RAINCOAT
called for an attack
).

Clark’s intelligence estimated:
German figures indicated that Tenth Army had 142,000 troops in twelve divisions on Dec. 1, 1943.
StoC,
246–47, 269 (
barely three hundred yards
).

“
Oh, don’t worry
”: OH, H. Alexander, Jan. 10–15, 1949, SM, CMH, II-3;
StoC,
265, 270.

More than nine hundred guns:
“Lessons from the Italian Campaign,” March 1944, HQ, NATOUSA, DTL, Ft. B, 100; Robert H. Adleman and George Walton,
The Devil’s Brigade,
123–24;
Fifth Army at the Winter Line,
23; Molony V, 517 (
eleven tons of steel
).

“
only an Italian winter
”: Vincent M. Lockhart, ts, n.d., 36th ID Assoc, Texas MFM, www.kwanah.com/36Division/pstoc.htm; Geoffrey Perret,
There’s a War to Be Won,
179 (
American lumberjacks
); Charles F. Marshall,
A Ramble Through My War,
88 (“
potential gangster
”); “Special List of Clothing and Equipment,” Sept. 24, 1943, Robert D. Burhans papers, HIA, box 3 (
codeine sulfate
).

Leading the gangsters:
OH, Paul D. Adams, 1975, Irving Monclova and Marlin Lang, SOOHP, MHI (
French Quebec
); mss notes, n.d., Robert T. Frederick papers, HIA, box 8 (
Son of a San Francisco doctor
); obit, Robert T. Frederick,
Assembly,
spring 1972, 106 (
sailed to Australia
); Perret, 179 (
bedroom slippers
); corr, Oct. 20, 1943, Robert T. Frederick papers, HIA, box 1 (“
worthy of trust
”); OH, Robert T. Frederick, Jan. 7, 1949, SM, MHI (“
lacked guts
”); OH, D. M. “Pat” O’Neill, n.d., Robert H. Adleman papers, HIA, box 10 (“
casual indifference
”).

Their barked fingers blue:
Adleman and Walton, 129; Bowlby, 113 (
thrown rocks
); Joseph A. Springer,
Black Devil Brigade,
86 (
rock splinters
); Robert D. Burhans,
The First Special Service Force,
107 (
shallow saucer
).

A maddening wait:
Burhans, 107, 112; Springer, 100–102 (“
German was with me
”), 95 (“
red mist
”); Adleman and Walton, 138–44.

Panzer grenadiers counterattacked: Fifth Army at the Winter Line,
24; Springer 88–90, 109–10 (“
huge shotgun
”); Adleman and Walton, 138; Robert Wallace,
The Italian Campaign,
108–9 (
white flag ruse
); affidavits, 2nd Regt investigation, Robert D. Burhans papers, box 19 (“
Foxhole Willie
”).

“
We have passed the crest
”: msgs, R.T. Frederick, Dec. 5–6, 1943, Robert D. Burhans papers, HIA, box 21.

Early on Tuesday morning:
Burhans, 120;
StoC,
263; Molony V, 517–18 (
hilltop monastery
); Bowlby, 120–21 (
mossy rocks
); Moorehead,
Eclipse,
64; Burhans, 120; msg, Frederick, Dec. 7, 1943, 1630 hrs, Robert D. Burhans papers, HIA, box 21.

Survivors hobbled:
Burhans, 120; surgeon’s report, Dec. 2–9, 1943, Robert D. Burhans papers, HIA, box 19.

“
feet of a dead man
”: Springer, 118.

With his left flank secured:
James J. Altieri,
Darby’s Rangers: An Illustrated Portrayal of the Original Rangers,
65;
StoC,
274; Frederick L. Young, “The First Casualty on Monte Sammucro,” ts, 1991, Texas MFM, 62 (“
Krauts up there
”).

He soon learned otherwise:
Robert L. Wagner,
The Texas Army,
74, 77 (“
couple of lizards
”); Homer Bigart, “San Pietro a Village of the Dead,”
New York Herald Tribune,
Dec. 20, 1943, in
Reporting World War II,
vol. 1, 738–45; Don Whitehead,
“Beachhead Don,”
83 (“
Rufus the Loudmouth
”); Young, “The First Casualty on Monte Sammucro,” 67, 72, 81 (“
Die kommen
”); Richard Tregaskis,
Invasion Diary,
235 (“
This is fun
”).

Two miles west:
Bowlby, 141; Jack Clover, ts, n.d., HQ Co., 2/143rd Inf, 36th ID Assoc, Texas MFM, www.kwanah.com/36Division/pstoc.htm (“
skirmish lines
”).

pillboxes emplaced every twenty-five yards:
“The Battle for San Pietro,”
AB,
no. 18, 1977, 1+; Bowlby, 142–45 (
fingers shot off
).

Roma o morte: author visit, Monte Lungo, May 5, 2004; photos, Italian memorial and museum, Monte Lungo; Wagner, 72 (
Alpine uniforms
); R. K. Doughty, “The Pink House,” ts, n.d., 141st Inf, Texas MFM;
StoC,
276; Wallace, 109;
Calculated,
240–44 (
vowing to punish
); Bowlby, 146 (“
corn cut by a scythe
”); corr, Don E. Carleton to Hal C. Pattison, Feb. 10, 1965, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC3, Salerno to Cassino, box 256 (
fastest runners
);
CM,
291; Thomas E. Hannum, “The 30 Years of Army Experience,” ts, n.d., 91st Armored FA Bn, ASEQ, MHI, 58; corr, Vincenzo Dapino to GK, Dec. 23, 1943, MWC, corr, Citadel, box 3 (“
not in a condition
”).

trails marked with white tape: Reporting World War II,
vol. 2, 8–9; John F. O’Malley, “The Operations of Company I, 143rd Infantry, South of Rome,” 1946, IS; Ernie Pyle, “One Demolished Town After Another,” Dec. 28, 1943,
Reporting World War II,
vol. 1, 733–34; Pyle, 100 (“Brrrr”); Betsy Wade, ed.,
Forward Positions: The War Correspondence of Homer Bigart,
34 (
wearing packboards
); Wagner, 77 (
necktie
); Lance Bertelsen, “Texans at San Pietro,”
Discovery Magazine,
University of Texas, vol. 14, no. 2 (1997), http://ftp.cc.utexas.edu/opa/pubs/discovery/disc1997v14n2/disc-sanpietro. html (“
husky young men
”).

“
feel the presence of the enemy
”: Margaret Bourke-White,
Purple Heart Valley,
42, 147–48 (“
lives the longest
”); Pyle, 166; Paul Dickson,
War Slang,
113+; T. Moffatt Burriss,
Strike and Hold,
65 (
bunt a baseball
);
Fifth Army at the Winter Line,
51–52 (
white phosphorus
); memo, “Phosphorus Burns,” consulting surgeon, AAI, Nov. 8, 1944, NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, R-235-D; memoir, Edward R. Feagins, ts, n.d., 143rd Inf, Texas MFM, 31; Ross S. Carter,
Those Devils in Baggy Pants,
74, 81 (“
don’t like this place
”).

Raised in the cotton country:
Michael S. Sweeney, “Appointment at Hill 1205: Ernie Pyle and Capt. Henry T. Waskow,” 1995, http://www.kwanah.com/txmilmus/36division/archives/waskow/sect1.htm; Michael L. Lanning, “Goodbye to Captain Waskow,”
VFW Magazine,
May 1981, 19+; Berneta Peeples, “Requiem,”
Belton
(Tex.)
Journal,
Dec. 16, 1993, reprint of 1953 article; Bob Tutt, “Young Officer Was Father Figure,”
Houston Chronicle,
Feb. 6, 1994, 28A.

“
I guess I have always appeared
”: Henry T. Waskow, “Last Will and Testament,”
Temple
(Tex.)
Daily Telegram,
reprinted, Texas MFM.

after almost a week on Sammucro: StoC,
280; Young, “The First Casualty on Monte Sammucro,” 102;
Fifth Army at the Winter Line,
51–52; Peeples, “Requiem” (“
an awful spot
”).

Wearing his trademark knit cap:
James Tobin,
Ernie Pyle’s War,
133; Lee G. Miller,
An Ernie Pyle Album,
90 (“
Mr. God
”); memoir, James R. Pritchard, 68th Armored FA bn, ts, n.d, ASEQ, MHI, 10 (
filling ruts with logs
).

“
some inert liquid
”: Douglas Allanbrook,
See Naples,
123; Pyle, 107 (“
They slid him
”).

after returning to Fifth Army headquarters:
Sweeney, “Appointment at Hill 1205.”

Riley Tidwell appeared
: ibid.; OH, Riley Tidwell, March 28, 1994, Jane Purtle, Cherokee County Historical Commission, Texas MFM.

“
Finally he put the hand down
”: Pyle, 107; Lee G. Miller,
The Story of Ernie Pyle,
297 (“
I’ve lost the touch
”).

Mark Clark had proposed using tanks: StoC,
277–79.

This time the attack would be filmed:
Marco Pellegrinelli,
La Battaglia di S. Pietro di John Huston,
7–10; Bertelsen, “Texans at San Pietro” (“
triumphant entry
”); Ray Wells, “Battalion Commander,”
Fighting 36th Historical Quarterly,
spring 1992 (“
a large mower
”).

loaders with asbestos gloves:
John E. Krebs,
To Rome and Beyond,
37; “Lessons from the Italian Campaign,” March 10, 1944, NARA RG 407, E 427, 95-USF1-04, box 250, 116; “The Battle for San Pietro,” 1.

The 141st Infantry’s 2nd Battalion: Fifth Army at the Winter Line,
62; Clifford H. Peek, Jr.,
Five Years, Five Countries, Five Campaigns,
31–32 (“
Dead and wounded
”); Wagner, 84; Bowlby, 166, 171 (“
stupidest assignment
”); AAR, 141st Inf, Jan. 11, 1944, Aaron W. Wyatt, Jr., ASEQ, MHI (
second attack at six
A.M.
); corr, Thomas A. Higbie, July 15, 2003, to author (“
put that damn rag away
”).

Wisps of steam rose:
Richard Manton, n.d., 2/141st Inf, 36th ID Assoc, Texas MFM, www.kwanah.com/36Division/pstoc.htm;
Calculated,
248; diary, MWC, Dec. 16, 1943, Citadel, box 64, 287 (“
What troops
”);
Texas,
287 (“
The losses before the town
”).

And then it ended: StoC,
285;
Fifth Army at the Winter Line,
67; “The Battle for San Pietro,” 1.

“
mound of desolation
”: Tom Roe,
Anzio Beachhead,
37; Homer Bigart, “San Pietro a Village of the Dead,”
New York Herald Tribune,
Dec. 20, 1943, in
Reporting World War II,
vol. 1, 738–45 (“
gray hand hanging limply
”).

“
journey in Dante’s
Inferno”: J. Glenn Gray,
The Warriors,
59–60; Zambardi,
Memorie di Guerra,
13 (
140 San Pietrans
). The U.S. Army official history estimated that three hundred San Pietrans died.
StoC,
285.

A baby’s corpse:
Daniel J. Petruzzi,
My War Against the Land of My Ancestors,
147; “The Battle of San Pietro,” Combat Report No. 2, 1945, NARA RG 111, film, CR 002 (
folding the hands of dead GIs
); Samuel Hynes,
The Soldiers’ Tale,
3 (“
impenetrable silence
”).

“
where their bedding fell
”: Wagner, 89–90;
StoC,
285n.

“
Ah! Sweet Mystery
”: Bourke-White, 118, 126–29, 131.

“
We find the country thick
”: JPL, 271;
StoC
, 286 (“
a long way off
”); Bruce L. Barger,
The Texas 36th Division,
144 (“
heartbreaking business
”).

For John Huston:
Peter Maslowski,
Armed with Cameras,
75, 88–93; Bertelsen, “Texans at San Pietro”
A Pictorial History of the 36th “Texas” Infantry Division,
no pagination (“
as good a war film
”).

“
I was right, wasn’t I?
”: Lanning, “Goodbye to Captain Waskow,” 19; Sweeney, “Appointment at Hill 1205” Miller,
An Ernie Pyle Album,
92 (
Pyle’s column
).

“A Tank Too Big for the Village Square”

Life in exile:
Piers Brendon,
Ike: His Life and Times,
115 (
three mattresses
); memoir, “Italy,” ts, n.d., Kenyon Joyce papers, MHI, 347 (“
social purposes
”); corr, GSP to Arvin Harrington Brown, Oct. 22, 1943, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 27;
PP
, 362; diary, Sept. 9, 1943, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 3, folder 3.

On mild afternoons:
JPL, 147–48;
The Princeton Class of 1942 During World War II,
123 (
quail hunting
);
PP,
367, 391 (
language lessons
); Ladislas Farago,
Patton: Ordeal and Triumph,
364; Charles R. Codman,
Drive,
135 (
Wellington
); George S. Patton,
War As I Knew It,
74 (“
a disgusting place
”); Robert H. Patton,
The Pattons,
232 (“
too big for the village square
”), 262; Robert E. Coffin and Joan N. Coffin, “The Robert Edmonstron Coffin–Joan Nelson Coffin Family Book,” 96 (La Bohème).