The Day of Battle (117 page)

“
my headquarters to be a happy one
”: Charles S. D’Orsa, “The Trials and Tribulations of an Army G-4,”
MR,
vol. 25, no. 4 (July 1945), 23+; Robert H. Adelman and George Walton,
Rome Fell Today
, ii (“
study in arrogance
”); William L. Allen,
Anzio: Edge of Disaster,
48 (“
like a halo
”).

“
facially best
”: Charles F. Marshall,
A Ramble Through My War,
94; Adelman and Walton, iii; Eric Sevareid,
Not So Wild a Dream,
383; MWC to Renie Clark, May 15 and 16, 1943, MWC, personal corr, Citadel; Carlo D’Este,
Fatal Decision,
58; OH, James M. Wilson, Jr., Apr. 23, 2004, with author, Washington, D.C.; Gervasi, 496.

“
if feasible, further north
”:
GS
IV, 580–81;
Battle,
109; Bernard Fergusson,
The Watery Maze,
252; Robert J. Wood, “The Landing at Salerno,” lecture, Army-Navy Staff College, Dec. 1944–Jan. 1946, Robert J. Wood papers, MHI, 3; memo, EJD to L. J. McNair, “Notes on Operation
AVALANCHE
,” Oct. 4, 1943, observer report #60, AGF G-2, NARA RG 337, box 52 (
forty-five days
); diary, MWC, Aug. 28–29, 1943, MWC, Citadel, box 64; Molony V, 264;
SSA,
248 (
discover of minefields
); A. B. Cunningham, “Operations in Connection with the Landings in the Gulf of Salerno,” Apr. 28, 1950, CMH, UH 0-1 CUN.2, 2175; S.W. Roskill,
The War at Sea, 1939–1945,
159 (
advanced H-hour
);
StoC,
40–41 (“
quite irritable
”); “History of the Peninsular Base Sction,” 1944, CMH, 8-4 HA 1, 4; AAR, [U.K.] commander-in-chief, Mediterranean Station, March 8, 1945, CARL, N-11361 (
aviation fuel
).

Only three assault divisions: Battle,
107; H. H. Dunham, “U.S. Army Transportation and the Italian Campaign,” Sept. 1945, monograph #17, NARA RG 336, ASF, chief of transportation, historical program files, box 142, 21; Wood, “The Landing at Salerno,” 7; Charles S. D’Orsa, “The Trials and Tribulations of an Army G-4,”
MR,
vol. 25, no. 4 (July 1945), 23+; Robert W. Coakley and Richard M. Leighton,
Global Logistics and Strategy, 1943–1945,
192;
StoC,
38–39; OH, MWC, Rittgers, 54–55;
Calculated,
181 (“
my left arm
”).

Three times he asked Washington:
msg, DDE to CCS, July 28 and Aug. 19, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC2 Sicily, box 247 (“
risks must be calculated
”);
AAFinWWII
, 495; Lord Tedder,
With Prejudice,
457–58, 460; Cunningham, “Operations in Connection with the Landings in the Gulf of Salerno” (“
Woolworths
”);
StoC,
52; Simpson, “Air Phase,” 48, 90; “Allied Commander-in-Chief’s Report, Italian Campaign,” MHI, 112 (“
rather disquieting
”); E. McCabe, “The Plan for the Landing at Salerno,” n.d., Cabinet Historical Section, UK NA, CAB 44/131, 30 (
could not prevent the enemy
).

Ultra provided a detailed portrait:
F. H. Hinsley et al.,
British Intelligence in the Second World War,
106, 108; Walter Warlimont,
Inside Hitler’s Headquarters, 1939–1945,
349 (“
Treachery alters
”); minutes, AFHQ briefing to
QUADRANT
, Aug. 24, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 244 (“
to the sound of the guns
”); Simpson, “Air Phase,” 77; George F. Howe, “American Signal Intelligence in Northwest Africa and Western Europe,” NSA, U.S. Cryptologic History, series IV, vol. 1, NARA RG 57, SRH-391, 63; “Operations Plan,” HQ, Fifth Army, Aug. 26, 1943, NARA RG 492, MTOUSA, SOS, annex No. 1, G-2 plan, box 2735; OH, Viscount Mountbatten of Burma, Feb. 18, 1947, FCP, MHI (
whether invaders could build up
).

Salerno would be a poor place:
“Observations in the European Theater Including Landing Operation at Salerno,” Oct. 25, 1943, HQ, USMC, NARA RG 334, NWC Lib, ANSCOL, GB COB X-22, box 461, 3; “I.S.T.D.: ‘C’ Report on the West Coast,” June 30, 1943, NARA RG 407, E47, 95-AL1-2.10, AFHQ, box 163; David Hunt,
A Don at War,
211 (“
finest strip of coast
”); E. McCabe, “The Plan for the Landing at Salerno,” 38; “Tactical Study of the Terrain: Naples and Vicinity,” engineer appendix,
AVALANCHE
operational plan, NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, box 118, R-123-D; “Engineer History, Fifth Army, Mediterranean Theater,” vol. 3, appendix G, CMH, 9-2.5 AB, 19 (“
exposes this bridgehead
”); OH, “Reminiscences of George C. Dyer,” 1969–1971, John T. Mason, Jr., USNI OHD, 330 (“
inside of a cup
”).

Risks had been calculated:
L.S.B. Shapiro,
They Left the Back Door Open,
117 (Strange Cargo); “Masonic Information,” diaries, MWC, Citadel, box 61; John Clagett, “Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, U.S. Navy,”
Naval War College Review,
summer 1975, 60+;. Simpson, “Air Phase,” 107 (
sixteen convoys
); Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Amalfi.”

“
high hopes of being in Naples
”: diary, MWC, Aug. 16, 1943, MWC, Citadel, box 64; “Allied Commander-in-Chief’s Report, Italian Campaign,” MHI, 112 (“
Boldness
”); minutes, AFHQ weekly executive planning section, Aug. 3, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC2 Sicily, box 247 (
planning to move
); Kenneth S. Davis,
Soldier of Democracy,
448 (“
smash them
”).

“
might as well be on a raft
”: OH, MWC, Rittgers, MHI, 55.

Plots, Counterplots, and Cross-plots

Even as the invaders bore down:
Moorehead,
Eclipse,
77 (“
hot rake
”); Axis notes, Tarvis conference, ten
A.M.
, Aug. 6, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 244; msgs, “Former Naval Person to the President,” No. 405, Aug. 5, 1943, and J. Hull to T. T. Handy, Aug. 15, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 249; Harold Macmillan,
The Blast of War, 1939–1945,
317 “
plots, counter-plots
.”

Wary but intrigued:
Macmillan, 313 (“
an appalling Norfolk jacket
”); Kenneth Strong,
Intelligence at the Top,
145 (“
desperate gunfight
”); OH, George F. Kennan, Jan. 2, 1947, SM, MHI (“
rattletrap Buick
”).

Their Italian counterpart:
Peter Tompkins,
Italy Betrayed,
26; “Minutes of a conference held at the residence of H.M. Ambassador at Lisbon on August 18, 1943 [
sic
], at 10 p.m.,” NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 244 (“
join the united nations
”); Garland, 459; minutes, Lisbon meeting, in msg, Aug. 21, 1943, AFHQ to WD, NARA RG 165, E 422, OPD exec files, 390/38/2/4-5, box 10.

“
We are not in a position
”: “Allied Commander-in-Chief’s Report, Italian Campaign,” 116; msg, W. B. Smith to Hastings Ismay, Sept. 12, 1943, W. B. Smith papers, DDE Lib, box 7 (“
my pet Wop
”); memo, W. B. Smith to Whitely, Rooks, Aug. 22, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 244 (“
expect bitter reprisals
”).

If Rome was in no position:
msg, DDE to CCS, Aug. 28, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 244 (“
very anxious
”); corr, Robert Murphy to FDR, Sept. 8, 1943, NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 244.

More amateur theatricals followed:
OH, Harold Alexander, Jan. 10–15, 1949, SM, CMH, Geog files, II-2; Harold Macmillan,
War Diaries,
187; Macmillan,
The Blast of War,
322.

A dreadful fate would befall Italy:
Robert Murphy,
Diplomat Among Warriors,
192–93; Strong, 157 (“
booted, spurred, and bemedaled
”).

The telegram was sent:
“Story of the Signing of the Italian Armistice,” Kenneth Strong to correspondents, in “Eisenhower Diary,” HCB, DDE Lib, A-769-770; Garland, 482–84; Macmillan,
The Blast of War,
323; Strong, 158 (
olive sprig
).

“
Today’s event must be kept secret
”: msg, DDE to CCS, Sept 3, 1943, NARA RG 165, E 422, OPD exec. files, 390/38/2/4-5, box 10.

Those plans grew more convoluted:
Howard McGaw Smyth, “The Armistice at Cassible,”
MR,
vol. 28, nos. 6 and 7 (Sept. and Oct. 1948), 13+; Pietro Badoglio,
Italy in the Second World War,
70; msgs, DDE to Alexander, Sept. 1, 1943, FDR, Churchill to DDE, Sept. 2, 1943, both in NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 244 (“
stiffen Italian formations
”).

“
perfectly asinine
”: OH, MWC, Rittgers, 54–57, 77; memo, AFHQ G-3 to W. B. Smith, Aug. 13, 1943, NARA RG 331, AFHQ micro, job 10A, R-13-C, in NARA RG 319, OCMH, box 244 (“
tactically unsound
”); R. P. Eaton, 82nd Airborne chief of staff, “Contact Imminent,” ts, Dec. 26, 1943, Ralph P. Eaton Papers, MHI, 4; James M. Gavin, “Airborne Plans and Operations in the Mediterranean Theater,”
IJ,
Aug. 1946, 22+ (“
not one individual
”); Clay Blair,
Ridgway’s Paratroopers,
126 (“
missions and remissions
”).

GIANT II
:
Blair, 132–33; Smyth, “The Armistice at Cassible,” 13; Garland, 488–89.

The more Ridgway heard:
corr, MBR to W. B. Smith, Dec. 5, 1955, and MBR to G. Castellano, Dec. 20, 1955, CJB, MHI, box 48, chrono file Italy; corr, MBR to Hal C. Pattison, Nov. 10, 1964, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7 CC2 Sicily, box 251 (“
deceiving us
”); OH, W.B. Smith, May 13, 1947, Howard M. Smyth, SM, MHI (“
kettles, bricks
”); memo, MBR, “Development of Operation Giant,” Sept. 9, 1943, CJB, MHI, box 48, chrono file Italy (“
full faith
”); Matthew B. Ridgway,
Soldier,
81 (“
Contact will be made
”).

As the sun sank:
AAR, Maxwell D. Taylor and W. T. Gardiner, “Mission to Rome,” Sept 9, 1943, in Simpson, “Air Phase,” 381–86; Richard Thruelsen and Elliott Arnold, “Secret Mission to Rome,”
Harper’s,
Oct. 1944, 462+; Maxwell D. Taylor,
Swords and Plowshares,
55–57; Richard Tregaskis,
Invasion Diary,
103–8; Melton S. Davis,
Who Defends Rome?,
346–48.

In truth they were Italians’ guests:
Mark W. Boatner III,
The Biographical Dictionary of World War II,
555 (
graceful Missourian
); John M. Taylor,
General Maxwell Taylor,
65; Robert Capa,
Slightly Out of Focus,
89 (
money belt
); Thruelsen and Arnold, 462 (“
If you get captured
”).

By 8:30
P.M.
:
AAR, Taylor and Gardiner, “Mission,” 381–86; Thruelsen and Arnold, “Secret Mission to Rome,” 462+; Taylor, 55–57; Tregaskis, 103–8; Davis, 346–48.

The excellent crêpes:
Smyth, “The Armistice at Cassibile” Taylor, 56–57 (“
professional dandy
”); Garland, 500; Volkmar Kühn,
German Paratroops in World War II,
195.

Italian garrisons had been virtually immobilized:
Garland, 495; Davis 353.

He passed his days playing cards:
Douglas Porch,
The Path to Victory,
465; Boatner, 23; Tompkins, 58–60 (
five thousand bottles
); Macmillan,
The Blast of War,
330 (“
I was a Fascist
”).

“
Castellano did not know
”: Davis, 353–55; Thruelsen and Arnold, “Secret Mission,” 462 (“
Your bombers have blown up
”).

“
GIANT
TWO
is impossible
”: AAR, Taylor and Gardiner, “Mission to Rome,” in Simpson, “Air Phase,” 381–86; Tregaskis, 107 (“
endeavoring to click our heels
”).

“
You will return to Allied headquarters
”: Thruelsen and Arnold, “Secret Mission,” 462; Taylor, 55–57.

Eisenhower left Algiers:
Michael J. McKeough and Richard Lockridge,
Sgt. Mickey and General Ike,
83–84; Kay Summersby,
Eisenhower Was My Boss,
108 (“
illusion of being on
the march
”); OH, DDE, Feb. 16, 1949, Smyth (“
rather stretched out
”); Dwight D. Eisenhower,
Letters to Mamie,
141, 147 (“
creature of war
”).

Smith forwarded the doleful message:
Chandler, vol. 3, 1403n; msg, GCM to DDE or W. B. Smith, Sept. 8, 1943, NARA RG 165, E 422, OPD exec files, 390/38/2/4-5, box 10; “Unpublished Autobiography of General John E. Hull, USA (ret.),” ts, n.d., MHI (“
what you would expect
”).

In the small schoolhouse:
OH, Lyman L. Lemnitzer, March 4, 1947, Howard M. Smyth, NARA RG 319, OCMH, CA, box 6; Peter Lyon,
Eisenhower: Portrait of the Hero,
241 (
mouth tightened
); Stephen E. Ambrose,
Eisenhower,
vol. 1, 259–60 (
snapped it in half
); David Hunt,
A Don at War,
224 (“
with great violence
”); OH, DDE, Feb. 16, 1949, Smyth (“
revolver against his kidneys
”); Chandler, vol. 3, 1402, 1403n (“
I do not accept
”).

“
I always knew
”: OH, Arthur Coningham, Feb. 14, 1947, FCP, MHI; Chandler, vol. 3, 1404.

Clearly a deviation was needed:
memo, MBR, “Development of Operation Giant,” Sept. 9, 1943, CJB, MHI, box 48, chrono file Italy; L. James Binder,
Lemnitzer: A Soldier for His Time,
113–14.

Sixty-two transports:
OH, Lemnitzer, March 4, 1947, Smyth; Garland, 508–9;. Ridgway, 95 (“
trying to reconcile myself
”); Binder, 113–14 (“
What message?
”).