Salerno Secured September 17, 1943

On September 17, 1943, Commanding General Albert Kesselring agreed with General Heinrich von Vietinghoff German 10th Army Commander. Yes, the Salerno beachhead was lost.

Since the Allied invasion of the Italian mainland on September 9th, the battle was fierce and always in doubt. The invasion forces consisted of the British X Corps and the US VI Corps.

The initial main event of this battle battle was the US 36th ID landing in Paestum just south of the Sele River. Regretfully, directly in the staging grounds of the 16th Panzer Division. The 36th landed without a naval bombardment and the German troops were waiting for them. Both sides fought the first few days with little tanks or artillery. It truly was a hand to hand situation until the 36th could reach the rail tracks 1.5 miles inland.

The second main event was from September 12-13, 1943. A spearhead of 2 German battlegroups tried to split the 2 Allied Corps in half and drive one or both back into the sea. They came very close to their objective. The battlegroups overran the 1st battalion of the 157th regiment and the 2nd battalion of the 143rd at the confluence of the Sele and Calore Rivers. The Naval guns and the drop of 1,300 of the 504 PIR and 2,100 troops of the 505 PIR based in Sicily saved the beachhead.

Salerno was just the beginning...The Italian battles seem to take a back seat to other campaigns fought in WW 2. I had 2 uncles that saw action there along with an old family friend... It was a dirty, nasty battle that involved hateful enemies from all over the world fighting over a country that had surrendered.

Was it necessary ??

http://nuke.montecassinotour.com/OPERATIONAVALANCHETHELANDINGATSALERNO/tabid/86/Default.aspx

 

I think the British 56th Division might say that they were part of the main event too. Not wishing to demean our US allies but the Brits had some horrendous fighting and my Grand Father always said the battle of Battapaglia was one of the hardest he ever fought in.

 

A very important day in history! Not only in the life of my Garandpa who was captured at there the first time in war. He always said:" They ( US Soldiers) have beaten me and i didn´t like this. So i run away 2 days later. But now i know why they have beaten me and understand them. And if i had knewn what sh!t was coming after this day, i haven´t left the POW Camp."

 

Ptimms.

Not just 56 BR Inf Div because we must not forget 46 BR Inf Div and the Cdo troops.

Each had a pretty torrid time of it.

Which unit of 56 BR Inf Div did your grandfather in? Was he in the Royal Fusilier Battalion that took and then lost Battipaglia or the Guards Brigade that tried so hard to reach them?

I am taking a group out to Salerno 27-30 Sep 13 if you are interested in seeing exactly what happened.

Regards

FdeP

 

Steve.

Be careful not to re-write history.

The beach head was saved by two battalions of artillery firing over open sights at the German troops heading south down the Sele-Calore Corridor with the intention of getting into the VI (US) Corps administrative area. The two battalions fired at close range from a slight ridgeline that over looked a point of the map known as the 'burnt bridge'. If the Germans had got across the burnt bridge, they would have been into the administrative area very quickly indeed. It was a few miles away and full of stores.

Whilst the naval gunfire undoubtably contributed to stalling the German advance, it was the two artillery battalions that did the most damage and held their ground.

The beachhead was already secure by the time the two Regts from 82 US Airborne jumped into the beachhead. We know this because they were placed in reserve rather than rushed to the front line.

I have stood on the ground that the two artillery battalions fired from and their achievement is quite something. I have every admiration for the men of those two battalions.

Regards

Frank

 

I just commented on the US VI Corps due to my lack of knowledge of British X Corps. From what I do know, everyone went through hell in this battle. Hats off to the 46th, 56th Divisons #2 and #41 Commandos... 2 towns are mentioned a lot when reading about this invasion, Battapaglia and Altavilla.

 

Frank I'm not smart enough to re-write history ! There is so much to discuss about Operation Avalanche and a few posts can't cover it all.

I do question the comment about the 2 82nd AB regiments. I thought the 504 PIR dropped in the beachhead and was placed on the right flank of the VI Corps. They were reinforced by the 505 PIR the next night and the 505th was put in reserve ?

Enjoy your trip to Salerno ! A good friend of mine from the 36th Association has been there 5 times. One day I'm going too.

 

Steve.

You are absolutely right that 504 were deployed on the flank. My point was that they did not contribute to the desperate defence of the Sele-Calore Corridor - they arrived afterwards.

You will love Salerno - VI (US) Corps's task was a really big ask given the yawning gap between X (BR) Corps and VI (US) Corps - a mistake for which Mark Clark is held responsible. Standing in the area of Paestum, you will quickly realise why the American task was a huge one: overseen as they were from hills all around.

Regards

Frank

 

Take me with you Steve and Frank! It will be more fun to travel and more interesting to see it.

 

Lou.

I am running a tour for Valor Tours of California in May 13. It takes in Sicily, Salerno, Cassino and Anzio.

If you are interested in seeing what Salerno was like for your father, you might want to look up Valor Tours.

Regards

FdeP

 

The Salerno Invasion was described as..... Take a bowl and cut it in half. Allies invaded the bottom and the Germans on the slopes.

 

IIRC, the main enticement for the Salerno operation was capturing southern Italy for air bases to attack the Romanian oil refineries (Foggia area ?).

Did Italy surrender just before Salerno was launched? That is, were preparations well along when Italy surrendered, so why not attack in the confusion.

And then after the air bases were secured, were there better options than continuing the drive up the boot?

In pure military terms, I tend to think they could have stopped at Cassino, so along as they kept a reserve with amphibious capabilities. That may have tied down as much German strength as the battle up the boot.

 

Earthican.

Foggia was a Strategic Airforce priority rather than a ground forces one. Italy was invaded with the political aim of knocking Italy out of the war: Foggia was an extra once the Allies had taken Naples and begun the push towards Rome. Foggia allowed the Strategic Airforce to attack southern Germany, Austria and the Rumanian oilfields with relative ease.

Italy surrendered on 8 Sep 43 as the Salerno invasion force was steaming towards its objective. The tricky bit was that there was little confusion: the Germans smoothly assumed full control of Italy. They had an entire Pz Div spread out - admittedly very dispersed, awaiting the arrival of VI (US) Corps.

Most historians agree, given that they know the outcome of the battle for the Gustav Line, that a better option could have been to halt at Cassino and merely present a threat to the Germans. Given that the aim of the Italian Campaign at this stage was to tie down as many German Divisions as possible and keep them away from NW Europe, this could have been achieved by stopping.

Full of controversy.

Regards

FdeP

 

One other observation. As tough as the Salerno battle was, at least the Germans were attacking and generally taking the heavier casualties. The Allies in Italy would not have the "luxury" of gunning down German troops in the open for the next two years.

Of course if the Germans had succeeded, the Allied casualties would have greatly exceeded the German casualties.

 

Earthican.

The Allies did have a few grandstand chances to gun down German troops on numerous occasions and they took them. At Anzio, the German counter-attack down the Anzio-Albano road was brilliantly held by carpet bombing and a robust British defence line firing into open fields. The slaughter was immense. 36 US Inf Div did a pretty good job up on Monte Artemisio in May 44 and then there was the Falaise Gap in Normandy - utter devastation.

The Allies at Salerno had to break out of the beaches and take the high ground. This made them highly vulnerable to German artillery fire. The breakouts of 56 BR Inf Div, 46 BR Inf Div and 36 US Inf Div were all very bloody. That, for me, makes their task 'tougher'.

The Germans had a rough time because of the Allies's overwhelming artillery and naval gunfire but, throughout, they had the advantage of mostly being in defence.

Regards

FdeP

 

Ulrich.

What did you think of my suggestion that you join my study to Salerno on 27-30 Sep 13?

Regards

Frank

QUOTE=Gebirgsjaeger;630014]Take me with you Steve and Frank! It will be more fun to travel and more interesting to see it.[/QUOTE]

 

Frank i hope that it will work. We have the IAA (International automobile show at Frankfurt) and this is a joker in my plannings. Have to sort it out with my boss.

 

Ulrich.

No problem. Cars are interesting but not that interesting!

Loads of time to sort.

Regards

Frank