C) Third Part.
September 9th, hour 03.30:
The patrol of Lt. Roncoll witnessed the sudden appearance of
the Allied fleet in front the Salerno Gulf and the immediate
cannonade of the shores 5 miles at south of own position. While
landings started, Rocholl send forward his vehicles to
investigate and he mained in this place till at 6 p.m., telling
Donermann what he saw. Donermann then settled down a serie of
observation points, a roadblock at Ponte Fratte and called back
Lt. Rocholl.
September 9th, hour 04.30(?):
*US 36th Div.:
-the 141th RCT made few progress because on the beach of Pestum it found under tanks'fire of von Doering, that openend the fire from short distance. During allthe next 24 hours the 141th didn't make any progress.
-at 05.00 a.m. the 75 mm selpropelled gun had landed and the drive pointed inside, arriving to cutt off the Kg von Doering, mained to wear out the 141th RCT. Gen. Sieckenius on September 10 recalled this KG, but it had forced to a long detoru that removed it from fighting till on September 11.
- during the day the 6th Corps pushed on to seize the height before the village of Albanella, without to meet resistence.
*British 46th Div.:
- the 1st/4th Hampshire landed on "Uncle Green" beach without any problems. A company avanced inside seizing the village of Pontecagnano. The remainder of the battalion met with the German stronghold "Moltke", compelled its to silence and at 08.00 a.m. reached the village of Pontecagnano.
- the 2nd/4thHampshire made a mistake, going under the fire of German position "Lilienthal", at south of Asa stream. By help of rocket launchers of its means of landings the Battalion succeded to compel it to silence, crossed the Asa stream, reached a hamlet, named "Magazzeno" and there entrenched. It was the 10.00 a.m.
- the 5thHampshire landed in full caos: the radio set didn't work and the men, reached the beach, blended with the men of the 2nd Battalion. Only after 08.00 a.m. the battalion left the shore.
September 9th, at noon:
In the drive to the inside the 5th Hampshire engaged Germans, who from the inside headed towards the shores. These troops were froml 1st btg/64th Panzergrenadier, who had part of the KG Stempel, send towards in help of the position "Lilienthal" of whom, after a call of help message at 04.00 a.m., it didn't know nothing. These Germans troops were a company of grenadiers and thre tanks, at command of Lt. Gustav Meierkord. The German detachment had perceived some noises come from the "Magazzeno". Lt. Meierkord, arrived with his part at a point from whom started three paths, bordered by walls, arranged his men on the sides of walls and he set out a tank on every path. The fight that happened was heavy and without story. British were coming without any caution, the tanks railed at them hammering and crushing all what they met; and, in short, the fight ended. (100 British were killed or woundend, 300 surrendered and only 30 manged to escape, giving the alarm). Lt. Meierkord recalled his men and tanks and entranched backwards.
September 9th, hour:08.00 a.m.
UK 56th Division:
The initial action happend without many problems. In the landing point on the left the Uk 56th Division had built a strong defensive position. On the right the 167th Brigade had send a battalion towards the village of Santa Lucia, while the 9th Fusiliers had seized Battipaglia. The road that linked the northern and southern wings of 16th Panzerdivision had been therefore colsed. But, the main task of 56th Division was to seize the Montecorvino airport. At dawn, the commander of the 169th Brigade (Gen. L.O.Lyne) dispatched the 2nd Battalion of 6th Queen's, two detachments of Royal Scots Grey, a antitank detachment and a howitzer selpropelled part of 142th Rgt. Royal Artillery. Thi Group headed to Montecorvino and there destroyed on the ground, in a quarter of an hour of heavy fire, 39 german aircrafts, assault vehicles and the tanks of the KG Kempel that was there in defence. After the first surprise the Kempel Panzergrenadiers reacted by violence and the situation stalled for the next three days: from a side of fly slope the Germans, from the other side the British.
September 9th, in the evening:
British:
-UK 56th Division: hardly engaged:
a) on the left, the 2nd Queen's of the 169th Brigade have had a heavy but victorious fighting, with 172 lost, but had held his position at Montecorvino and at Battipaglia;
b)The 201st Guards Brigade was near highway n.18 and it got ready to assault the next day;
c)in the right the 8th Fusiliers of 167th Brigade had entrenched into Santa Lucia, while the 9th Fusiliers had entrenched at north and at east of Battipaglia.
September 10th: this is the day of the first organized reply of Germans.
a)The front line of Gen Sieckenius was divided: the KG Stempel had broken up in two parts, one for each side of the stright stretch of highway n.18, now in hand of the enemy. The KG Von Doering , cut off the battle, while there were no news from the divisions sent as reinforcement, from North and from South.
b) The superiors of Sieckenius had not been good helpers. The need of fuel had been wrong calculated by OB South and id had forgotten to comunicate the location of Italian depots. In Calabria a German Navy officier, terror-struck, had empted a whole gasoline depot in the sea, to avoid it fell in the hands of the enemy, so immobilizing for hours the 29th Panzergrenadier.
c) Also the Gen. von Vietinghoff, willing direct the battle, caused further muddle, shifting divisions from each to other of the corps.
d)In any case the 14th Corps of Gen. Balck flew down from the North, with divisions Goering, 15th Panzergrenadier and 3rd Parachute, going in help of the 16th Panzerdivision, and marching towards gun's thunder.
September 10th, in the morning:
a) Germans- The First Battalion of 3rd Regiment Parachute from Puglia and the Reconoissance Battalion of 29th Panzergrenadier from Calabria come on the battle scene.
b)Americans: A part of mobile reserve landed, it was the 179 th RCT of the US 45th Div., followed in the afternoon by 157th RCT, composed by two battalions. Also Gen. Middleton landed with his Staff, he joined two RCT, he allotted tanks and antitank selpropelled pieces, he drew up the field artillery and he got ready to manoeuvre as a division.
September 10th, hour 10.00 a.m.:
Gen. Sieckenius ordered both 1st Battalion of 3rd Parachut Rgt and Reconoissance Battalion of 29th Panzergrenadier to join to the KG Von Holtey for drive out the enemy from Battipaglia, the had considered the center of fighting.
September 10th, hour 02.00 p.m.:
the 2nd Battalion of 64th Panzergrenadier Division had closed by enemy at Pontecagnano, from a side and at Belizzi from an other, while Battipaglia resulted in hand of enemy.
At the same time the KG Von Holtey started the knocking down of Battipaglia. The German tanks, made knock out all Brtitish antitank pieces, started to sweep away the streets followed by the fusiliers companies. British soon were in a sorry plight. They left in the hands of Germans the wounded and a lot of prisoniers, then they had forced to evacuate the town.
September 10th, in the evening:
-Americans: In the evening Gen. Dawley had landed the manpower and the means of two divisions and he was able to operate as a Corps, but Gen. Clarck was enough uncertain and confused. When he landed and met the commander of the two Corps, he tried to get round the unfavourable turn of events:
- he moved the border of 6th Corps towards North in favour of 10th Corps;
- He dispatched a battalion of 36th Divivision as far as Maiori to strenghten the US Rangers, put down on the Chiunzi Pass, before Nocera, on the road thad headed to Naples.
- He ordered Gen. Dawley to start his drive. The 6th Corps attack had to happen along three collision lines:
+ on the left the 157th RCT, landed on the mouth of Sele river, had to cross the bridge near the rail station of Albanella. The bridge had been destryed by Germans, but the American engineers had set it in order again. This would have accomplished the shifting towards North of 6th Corps and would have linked it again to British Corps. Then it had to drive along a secondary road as far as to the crossroads with highway n. 18, target Eboli. (Thi was a too ambitious plan, it needed a 12 km march).
+on the right, the 179th RCT had to drive with two battalions between the rivers Sele and Calore, while its 3rd Battalion had to drive to South of Calore to seize Ponte Sele, while a battalion of the 36th Division had to seize Altavilla.
-British: Gen. Graham had to retake the control of highway n.18, lost by removal of Battipaglia: he would dispatched the Battalion Scottish Guards of 201st Brigade to seize the thick number of buildings known as "British tobacco manifacture", that dominated the road at east of Belizzi.
September 11th, in the mornig:
a) Germans: The reports shown to Sieckenius seemed good: the Reconoissance Battalion of 15th Panzergrenadier had rstrenghtened the Kg Donnermann in the area at North of Salerno, while the KG Von Doering, completed the long march, had joined in the way the 3rd Battalion of 29th Division, coming from Calabria. Then it wuold arrive also the 2nd °Battalion of 71st Rgt Panzergrenadier. Gen. Sieckenius managed in these terms:
- He dispatched the Battalion of Panzergrenadier to hold Altavilla and the heights that dominated the village at Hill 424, aginst every American move towards Ponte Sele. He shifted the KG von Doering towards free area at north of the Sele River, he turned it to North to compelle the British into Santa Lucia, then to head to the bridge on the Tusciano stream at Fosso. From the opposite side the 2nd Battalion of 64th Rgt. Panzegrenadier had point to the same target.
September 11th, early afternoon:
-The main assault falied. Von Doering arrived at few distance from Santa Lucia and there had stopped by a heavy defensive fire by Brtish artillery, rightly disposed by Gen. Graham. Also the 2nd Battalion of 64th Rgt Panzergrenadier failed to accomplish its mission and it had stopped by British artillery. Moreover, the battalion of Panzergrenadier that had been dispatched to Altavilla, seized it without meet resistance, but then, it was recalled by its command on Postiglione , where was the command post of its own division.
Sickenius was informed taht the command of the operations now was of Gen. Herr, but then arrived an order to get ready the whole German 76th Corps for an attack on great scale against the bridgehead, preventived on 13th or 14th September, when the main detachments of the 29th Panzergrenadier Division and of 9th Rgt.of 26th Panzerdivision Division had been on the place. The situation, howewer, became difficult for the Germans.
Heavy concentrations of artillery and air hammered Battipaglia, while another Allied attach seemed incoming and there was no availlable reserve. The Montecorvino airport had fallen in hand of British.
September 11th, in the evening:
Germans: elements of the KG Stempel, after a short and violent shelling of artillery, attacked the other units of 210th Guards Brigade on the highway n.18 at west of Battipaglia. The German striking group put to flight a company of 3rd Coldstream and a company of 6th grenadiers. The next British counterattack stopped the german strike, but the British commander prefered come back about 1 km.
Allied:
British: Gen. Graham had lost Battipaglia, but he still controlled the road. He dispatched tha Battalion of Scottish Guards of 201st Brigade to seize the hamlet known as British"Tobacco Manifacture" , that dominated the road at east of Belizzi. The attack yet failed and the Scottish Guards remained blockated on the highway n. 18. moreover, elements of the KG von Holtey and Von Doering headed against the right shoulder of the Graham's body. Only the employ of the artillery prevented to Germans to make more progress.
Americans:
The 157th RCT moved in the afternoon. It crossed the river and leaved the highway n. 18 to take a secondary road at North, towards Eboli. After about 3 km from the detour it stopped near the buildings known as American Tobacco Manifacture. The tank company allotted to the 157th RCT carefully approached to the buildings, but lost seven tanks for a sudden enemy salvo. They were the tanks and the antitank guns of the KG Von Doering, accurately hidden, to shield the German shoilder against the 56th Division's attack. Moving on the left, the 157th RCT engaged other German positions, while the noises of the fighting between Germans and British arrived from the North. Shocked by sudden attack and uncertain where to continue the commander of the 157th RCT decided to stop and hold waiting orders.
The 179th RCT drived in accordance of riceived orders. While a Battalion moved towards to cover the shoulder at South of the Calore river, the other Battalions came in the Sele- Calore pocket and had an attach from Persano, where it was a detachment of the KG Von Doering and by parachute who had arrived at moment. Put on its tanke and selpropelled to hammer the village of Persano, the 179th RCT tried to move towrds the Sele River. Its journey yet was short. A battalion stopped after only a km, the latter arrived at Ponte Sele, it saw the target allo defended and after a heavy fighting it wildrew. Really, the bridge had held only a weak reconpoissance group, the KG Kleine Limburg. But it was dark and the american battallion prefered to wilddraw near its sister and to entrench there. The 3rd battalion, that had been dispatched towards the village of Serre, on the highway n. 19, met a heavy resistance on the bridge on the Calore River, throuh a battalion of 71st Panzergrenadier, and it wilddrew on the La Cosa stream on the first hours of September 12th and there it entrenched.
The 1st Battalion of 142th RCT of US 36th Division arrived at Altavilla, it founde free from Germans and there it entrenched. But during the night, the 3rd Battalion of 15th Rgt. Panzergrenadier, that ha riceveid the order from Gen. Sieckenius to retake Altavilla, infiltrated among the companies of the 1st Battalion of 142th Rgt. infantery, it waited the dawn and it defeated them one after other.
September 12th, in the morning:
Americans: Early the 179th RCT headed against Persano, to find that the village had been evacuated. It occuped and entrenched there. The 157th RCT retook the fighting to seice the Tobacco Manifacture against the Von Doering,s 79th Panzergrenadier, drave bak the German conterattacks and he seized the bridge on the Sele River that headed to Persano.
British: Also the British positions weren't satisfying. The passes on the mountains did n't secured, the airport, weren't useable because under enemy fire. Moreover, McCreery had lost the controll of the key area of highway n.18. The Scottish Guards went into the "Tobacco Manifacture", but they drove out again.