The Day of Battle (140 page)

Just after nine
P.M.
on Tuesday:
Milligan, 20–21; memo on Vesuvius eruption, “Report of Mission” (
incandescent sheets
); “Activity of Vesuvius Between 1631 and 1944,” http://vul
can.fis.uniroma3.it/vesuvio/1944eng_text.html; Kenn C. Rust,
Twelfth Air Force Story,
32; “Pliny the Younger’s Observations,” http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/final/pliny.html; Michael Howard,
Captain Professor,
86.

“
Smoke of a thick oily character
”: Harold Macmillan,
War Diaries,
397; David Erskin,
The Scots Guards, 1919–1955,
229; Brashear, 207 (
snow showers
); Wynford Vaughan-Thomas,
Anzio,
212–13 (“
this gesture of the gods
”); Lavinia Orde, “Better Late Than Never,” ts, n.d., IWM, 96/34/1, 186; memoir, Aidan Mark Sprot, ts, 1947, LHC, 115.

Twenty-six deaths were reported:
“Who’s Afraid of Vesuvius?”
NYT,
Aug. 26, 2003; Brashear, 203–5; H. H. Dunham, “U.S. Army Transportation and the Italian Campaign,” Sept. 1945, monograph #17, ASF, Chief of Transportation, NARA RG 336, 190/33/30/00, box 142, 199 (
Rail lines remained blocked
); Rust, 32; “History of the Aviation Engineers in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations,” June 1946, AAF Engineer Command, CEOH, X-39 (“
enemy rocks
”).

Ash mixed with rain:
W. H. Connerat, Jr., “Ordnance in the North Africa and Med Theater,” ts, n.d., AFHQ, SM, MHI, box 2; corr, J.W. Crawford, Jr., Jan. 3, 2003, to author (“
Sweepers, start your brooms
”); Fred Howard,
Whistle While You Wait,
165 (“
Never trust a volcano
”).

The world had not ended:
Peter Verney,
Anzio 1944,
156 (“
Anzio Worse Than Salerno
”);
Anzio Beachhead,
105–6; Warren P. Munsell, Jr.,
The Story of a Regiment,
65.

Wide-eyed they lined the rails:
Vaughan-Thomas, 191; memo, F. J. Lowry, “Guide to Merchant Vessels Unloading at Anzio,” March 7, 1944, SEM, NHC, box 47 (“
The chances of being hit
”); “History of Ordnance Service in the Mediterranean Theater,” ts, n.d., CMH, 8-4 JA, 85 (
fifty vehicles from an LST deck
); “Report on Port and Beach Operations at Anzio,” Apr. 29, 1944, 540th Engineer Combat Regt, NARA RG 334, NWC Lib, box 343 (
three tons of cargo into a DUKW
); “The United States Eighth Fleet,” ts, n.d., in “The Administrative History of the Eighth Fleet,” #139, NHC, folder 2, 3 (
277 Luftwaffe raids
); Charles Moran, “The Anzio-Nettuno Landings, January 1944,” ts, n.d., SEM, NHC, box 49, 56; memo, “Radio-Controlled Bombs Can Be Jammed,” March 10, 1945, SEM, NHC, box 47, 5–7 (
Fritz-X bombs
).

The toll could be seen in the hundred or so casualties:
Beachhead casualties in early spring 1944 averaged 107 per day.
Anzio Beachhead,
105–6; “Evacuation of Casualties by L.S.T.,” Apr. 1944, HQ, Combined Operations, GB COB X-22, NARA RG 334 NWC Lib, box 461.

wounded men on litters:
Pyle, 196–97; Paul A. Cundiff,
45th Infantry CP,
159 (
outscreamed the screaming shells
); OH, Russell W. Cloer, 7th Inf, May 26, 2006, with author (“
You came here to suffer
”).

A British officer arriving in March:
David Cole,
Rough Road to Rome,
191–92; Lloyd Clark,
Anzio,
226 (“
a very moth eaten look
”); memoir, Henry E. Gardiner, ts, n.d., USMA Arch, 238.

Most of the cargo hoisted:
“History of Ordnance Service in the Mediterranean Theater,” 85, 88–91; “Engineer History, Fifth Army, Mediterranean Theater,” n.d., MHI, 101; Charles D’Orsa, “Trials and Tribulations of an Army G-4,” ts, n.d., Fifth Army, CARL, N-4906, 10. Further complicating Anzio logistics was the fact that most British and American weapons used incompatible ammunition. John A. Hixson, “Operation
SHINGLE
,”
Military Review,
March 1989, 64+.

That the cost was not greater:
Chester G. Starr, ed.,
From Salerno to the Alps,
173; Paul W. Pritchard, “Smoke Generator Operations in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of Operation,” n.d., CMH, 4-7.1 FA 1; Walter A. Guild, “That Damned Smoke Again,”
IJ,
Oct. 1944, 25+; Brooks E. Kleber and Dale Birdsell,
The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat,
336–39.

Six Allied divisions:
Milton Bracker, “Anzio, 20 Years After Battle, Evokes Memories,”
NYT,
Jan. 22, 1964; Masayo Umezawa Duus,
Unlikely Liberators,
131 (“
Dracula days
”);
OH, Michael S. Davison, 1976, Douglas H. Farmer and Dale K. Brudvig, SOOHP, MHI, 43 (
soldiers near the “dead country”
); Audie Murphy,
To Hell and Back,
117 (“
We believe nothing
”); George F. Howe,
The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division,
305; Vaughan-Thomas, 193; Robert Capa,
Slightly out of Focus,
124; Bill Mauldin,
Up Front,
193.

The demand for sandbags:
Leo J. Meyer, “Strategy and Logistical History: MTO,” ts, n.d., CMH, 2-3.7 CC5, XXII-26; Tom Roe,
Anzio Beachhead,
82 (Mr. Lucky); Adrian Clements Gore, “This Was the Way It Was,” Enid A. Gore, ed., 1987, IWM, 90/29/1, 23 (“
with one ear cocked
”); Munsell, 60, 63 (“
Men dreamed of steaks
”); Lawrence D. Collins,
The 56th Evac Hospital,
192 (“
anziopectoris
”); Vaughan-Thomas, 191 (“
Anzonians
”).

“
The main thing you want
”:
Reporting World War II,
vol. 2, 56; Lee G. Miller,
The Story of Ernie Pyle,
314; Don Whitehead, “
Beachhead Don,
” 106 (“
palsied old gentleman
”); James Tobin,
Ernie Pyle’s War
, 152 (“
Instead of growing stronger
”).

Those perturbations only intensified
: David Nichols, ed.,
Ernie’s War,
238–42 (“
pressing your luck
”); Lee G. Miller,
An Ernie Pyle Album,
96–97 (“
cut on my right cheek
”). Pyle returned to London, where he learned he had won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in 1943.

Lucian Truscott had also pressed his luck:
OH, James M. Wilson, Jr., former LKT Jr. aide, Apr. 23, 2004, author, Washington, D.C.

“
I have almost become oblivious
”: corr, LKT Jr. to Sarah, March 8, 13, 26 and Apr. 18, 1944, LKT Jr., GCM Lib, box 1, folder 6.

His throat still nagged him:
aide’s diary, Apr. 1944, LKT Jr., GCM Lib, box 18, folder; diary, March 1, 2, 9, 12, 18, 19, 22, 30, 1944, VI Corps, Don E. Carleton papers, HIA, box 1; corr, LKT Jr. to Sarah, Apr. 16, 1944, LKT Jr., GCM Lib, box 1, folder 6 (“
lack of voice
”); diary fragment, Fred Walker, n.d., NARA RG 319, OCMH, CA, box 006; OH, Harry Lemley, 1974, Gerald F. Feeney, SOOHP, MHI, 2/44-51 (
remained energetic, buoyant
).

“
I can close my eyes and imagine
”: corr, LKT Jr. to Sarah, Apr. 19, 1944, LKT Jr., GCM Lib, box 1, folder 6; diary, Apr. 7, 9 (
slept eight hours straight
), 17, 1944, VI Corps, Don E. Carleton papers, HIA, box 1; Hugh A. Scott,
The Blue and White Devils,
113 (
bathrobe and slippers
).

But heartbreak was never further away:
Emajean Jordan Buechner,
Sparks,
97–98.

Truscott had ordered the beachhead evacuated
: C.R.S. Harris,
Allied Administration of Italy, 1943–1945,
160;
StoC,
451; Daniel J. Petruzzi,
My War Against the Land of My Ancestors,
250; Francesco Rossi and Silvano Casaldi,
Those Days at Nettuno,
201; corr, Ivar H. Aas to parents, March 24, 1944, provided author by Andrew Carroll; diary, Robert M. Marsh, March 9, 1944, 81st Armored Reconnaissance Bn, 1st AD, ASEQ, MHI (
cesarean delivery with an ax
).

“
This beachhead is the craziest place
”: corr, William J. Segan to Herman H. Segan, May 6, 1944, author’s possession; Robert D. Burhans,
The First Special Service Force,
194; Robert H. Adleman and George Walton,
The Devil’s Brigade,
177, 190; Carlo D’Este,
Fatal Decision,
322 (“
I can’t do a thing
”); Harold B. Simpson,
Audie Murphy, American Soldier,
92; Dan Kurzman,
The Race for Rome,
259–59; Duus, 130 (
watercress garnishes
).

Troops played baseball:
Edmund F. Ball,
Staff Officer with the Fifth Army,
327; Flint Whitlock,
The Rock of Anzio,
260; William L. Allen,
Anzio: Edge of Disaster,
130 (
water-skiers
); Ralph G. Martin,
The G.I. War, 1941–1945,
141; Fred Sheehan,
Anzio: Epic of Bravery,
174; Bill Harr,
Combat Boots,
82–93.

More than thirty Anzonian newspapers:
Edgar Clark, “Anzio Papers Headline Men Who Make the News,” May 1, 1944,
Stars and Stripes,
draft, SM, MHI, box 2; John Lardner, “Anzio, February 10th,” in
The New Yorker Book of War Pieces,
263 (“
following rats
”); Verney, 227 (
beetle racing
); George Aris,
The Fifth British Division, 1939 to 1945,
220, 225 (
Thousand of dollars were wagered
).

Alcohol provided some consolation:
Charles F. Marshall,
A Ramble Through My War,
73 (“
catacomb courage
”); Allen, 130; F. Eugene Liggett, “No, Not Yet: Military Memoirs,” ts, n.d., 158th FA, ASEQ, MHI, 6 (“
Plastered in Paris
”); diary, Marsh, May 10, 1944 (“
The still blew up
”);
Stars and Stripes
, Apr. 25, 28, 1944, Italy edition, 1 (
first authorized beer
).

Toffey’s change-of-command party:
JJT, XII-27; Nathan William White,
From Fedala to Berchtesgaden,
98.

“
There are days and other days
”: JJT, XII-23, XIII-3, XIII-17 (“
Efficiency in general
”) XII-12 (“
seen about enough of Italy
”); White, 98 (
he had come full circle
).

Only a few miles from the beetle races:
Vaughan-Thomas, 199, 202; Hans Paul Joachim Liebschner, “Iron Cross Roads,” ts, 1999, IWM, 99/82/1, 82–83; corr, Albert Lewis Pyle to Carl Swickerath, Feb. 23, 1973, ALM, box 1 (“
Roosevelt is a Jew
”); Trevelyan, 208 (
trapped rats in empty sandbags
); R. W. Komer, “Report on Historical Observation from the Field,” Feb. 24, 1944, Chester G. Starr papers, HIA, box 1.

No field glasses could reveal:
“The German Operation at Anzio,” Apr. 1946, Military Intelligence Division, WD, JPL papers, MHI, box 9, 75, 86–87, 99 (“
German divisions are battle weary
”); Walter Kühn, “The Artillery at Anzio-Nettuno,” March 1947, FMS, D-158, CARL, N-17500.838.2, 11–13 (“
blast and gouge effect
”); Arthur Robert Moore, “Memoirs—World War II,” ts, 1993, 1st AR, 1st AD, ASEQ, MHI, 5–6; Robley D. Evans et al., “American Armor at Anzio,” ts, May 1949, CARL, N-490214, 80; Verney, 211 (“
Call the roll, Kesselring
”).

A pair of seventy-foot barrels, named Robert and Leopold:
R. J. O’Rourke,
Anzio Annie,
23, 43, 91–94, 141, 164; Francesco Rossi and Silvano Casaldi,
Those Days at Nettuno,
177; Lida Mayo,
The Ordnance Department: On Beachhead and Battlefront,
200; Marshall, 45.

Yet it was the close fight:
White, 98; Donald E. MacDonald,
“My Buttons Are in the Way,”
s.p., 1952, HIA, 77n (“
saving it to use on Hitler
”); “Training Notes from the Sicilian Campaign,” Oct. 25, 1943, AFHQ, G-3, CMH, Geog Sicily 353, 28 (“
pickers-off
”); OH, William P. Yarborough, 1975, J. R. Meese and H. P. Houser, SOOHP, MHI, 63 (
shield their eyes
).

“
The march up is something
”: MacDonald,
“My Buttons Are in the Way,”
26; Whitlock, 255 (“
skeletons in clothes
”); Joseph A. Springer,
Black Devil Brigade,
145 (
Scouts sniffed the air
); David McClure, “How Audie Murphy Won His Medals,” ts, Oct. 1969, and David McClure, “Audie Murphy,” ts, Jan. 1958, both in ALM, box 1.

More than four billion Allied leaflets:
“Psychological Warfare in the Mediterranean Theater,” Aug. 1945, MTO; Margaret Bourke-White,
Purple Heart Valley,
167 (“
Where is the hot water?
”); Burhans, 193 (
“Abe Levy” series
), 199; Roe, 85 (“
What goes on at home
”); William Woodruff,
Vessel of Sadness,
139 (“
very cheeky
”).

Enemies who could not be talked from their works
: Starr, ed., 171; Robert J. Williams, observer report, n.d., #93, NARA RG 337, E 15A, box 53; Springer, 165 (das dicke Ende kommt); AAR, 3rd ID, Apr. 14, 1944, DRL, Ft. B; William P. Yarborough, “House Party in Jerryland,”
IJ,
July 1944, 8+ (“
House 5 and 6
”).

In this “kettle of grief”
: O’Rourke, 150; memoir, Gardiner, 243–44; “Engineer History, Fifth Army, Mediterranean Theater,” n.d., CMH, 9-2.5 AB, 90 (
bomb on a combat engineer bivouac
); memoir, James R. Pritchard, ts, n.d., 68th Armored FA Bn, 1st AD, ASEQ, MHI, 35 (
pierced their Piper Grasshopper
); T. Moffatt Burriss,
Strike and Hold,
78 (“
holding his face together
”); Adleman and Walton, 190 (“
got an extra foot
”).