John C. Hatlem

“ MEN ON A BEACH NEAR NAPLES waiting for water transportation to take them to near-by landing craft and transports in the Bay of Naples. This was the final loading before the invasion. Although the Germans were aware of the concentration of troops and shipping and knew that the invasion was in preparation, no enemy bombings interfered with the loading operations. The Allied air forces had rendered most of their airfields within range of Naples inoperative for all practical purposes. ”

“ Allied antiaircraft artillery faced its first major test in Italy with the establishment of the beachhead. The enemy air force now started on a large-scale, continuous offensive. The offshore shipping, port, and beach congestion in the Anzio area offered easy targets. Allied fighter aircraft were based about one hundred miles to the south and they found it difficult to counter the enemy’s quick sneak raids and night attacks. Antiaircraft artillery units were mainly responsible for combatting these attacks and keeping the flow of supplies constant. ”

“ EN ROUTE TO NORTH AFRICA
TROOP QUARTERS IN THE HOLD OF A TRANSPORT. After the fall of French Morocco and Algeria and while the fighting in Tunisia continued, men and supplies poured into the Mediterranean for use in Tunisia and in the assaults on Sicily and Italy. Bunks were placed in tiers everywhere possible in the transports. The convoy traveled blacked out, with port holes closed. Because of the overcrowded conditions, seasickness was practically universal during the first few days out of port. The men spent as much time as possible on deck. ”

“ INFANTRY AND TANKS ADVANCE ALONG A COASTAL HIGHWAY. Failure of the defending forces to hold the invaders in the immediate coastal area was due to several facts: the enemy had disposed his divisions too far west; additional troops were committed in a piecemeal fashion; coastal units in general were weak, and lacked air support, armor, and heavy artillery. It is also estimated that about half the enemy troops were Russian, Czech, Turkish, Polish, and other non-Germanic people who were not inclined to put up a determined stand. ”

“ The Axis reacted to the Allied invasion by rushing troops to Tunisia by air and sea, and captured the local airfields and ports without opposition. British, American, and French troops drove eastward and at the end of November and in early December launched their attack against the Axis bridgehead. The Allied advance, however, was stopped short of Tunis. Air superiority for the moment lay with the Axis. ”

“ DOUGLAS C-47 TRANSPORT TOWING GLIDER. The gliders carried both men and equipment and could be landed in almost any flat pasture. The C-47 aircraft—the work horse of the war—was similar to the commercial DC-3, a standard type passenger carrier in the United States for some years prior to the war. The C-47, unarmed, was used during the war for carrying personnel and cargo of all sorts, towing gliders, dropping parachute troops, and parachuting supplies to isolated units and equipment to partisans behind enemy lines. The British called it the Dakota. ”

“ The Allied strategic air forces began the process of neutralizing vital enemy communications and installations in southern France. As D Day approached, a large naval force was amassed in the Mediterranean, and the ground forces, American and French troops, were embarked from Italy, North Africa, and Corsica. ”

“ ITALY
BOMBING THE RAILROAD YARDS IN ROME on 19 July 1943. Note bombs bursting in railroad area at top of picture. More than 500 heavy and medium bombers from bases in North Africa took part in the first bombing of Rome. The heavy bombers concentrated on the yards in the city and suburbs while the medium bombers attacked airfields on the outskirts. Every precaution was taken to bomb only targets of military significance. The crews had been especially selected and carefully briefed and trained for this mission, with the result that few bombs fell outside the target area. ”

“ Farther south the British First Army drove directly toward Tunis. On 7 May both Bizerte and Tunis were occupied and by 13 May Axis capitulation was complete. The Allies had achieved their initial objective of opening the Mediterranean route to the Middle East and seizing bases in North Africa. At the same time they had inflicted a major defeat on the Axis Powers.
Allied strength in French North Africa had been brought to a total of about a million men. Much of this strength was not intended for the Tunisia Campaign but for later operations against Sicily and southern Italy. ”

“ ENGINEERS SETTING OFF ENEMY MINES in a street in Leghorn on 19 July 1944, the day the city fell. The soldier at left is guarding engineers against snipers. The Germans had destroyed all the port facilities, mined the buildings in the harbor area, and made the latter unusable by blocking the entrance with sunken ships. The drive from Rome to the Arno River was a pursuit action in which the Germans, by skillful delaying tactics, slowed the Allied advance so that completion of the Gothic Line defenses in the northern Apennines could be expedited. ”

“ ITALY
LANDING CRAFT BRINGS WOUNDED TO HOSPITAL SHIP in Anzio bay. On the night of 24 January 1944 a fully illuminated and marked British hospital ship was bombed and sunk while taking wounded on board. All evacuation from the beachhead was by sea. Air transportation could not be used, since the dust raised by planes landing or taking off brought on enemy shelling. Hospital ships were used whenever possible, but as these could not dock in the shallow port, LCT’s were used to transfer patients from shore to ships. ”

“ An airborne task force of American and British units, with the mission of preventing the enemy from reinforcing the coastal defense, successfully jumped astride the Argens River behind the German lines before H Hour. Landings took place on 15 August 1944 in the Cannes-Toulon sector against scattered and disorganized resistance from the enemy. The assault forces, assisted by members of the French Resistance forces, pressed their attack rapidly, defeated the enemy along the coast line, and pushed inland. The troops were met with enthusiasm by the French population. ”

“ SUPPLIES ON THE BEACH OF LES ANDALOUSES ON D DAY. Most of the Allied supply problems, both on the Atlantic side and in the Mediterranean, were caused by destruction of landing craft. About 95 percent were used during initial landings leaving few reserves for the build-up. The large seaworthy LST’s (landing ship, tank) , which were to play a decisive role in all subsequent landings, were introduced by the British in the Oran area to carry light American tanks for beach landings. ”

“ Most Allied fighter planes in Italy gradually came to be used as fighter-bombers as the need for protecting bomber formations from hostile aircraft diminished. In August 1943 the Germans had only about six hundred combat aircraft, mostly fighters, in Italy. About a third of these were of limited use. Demands for fighters on the Russian front and the need for protecting production centers in Germany from Allied bombings caused some withdrawal of enemy fighters based in Italy. ”

“ ITALY
JEEPS ALONG THE SUPPLY ROADS in the northern Apennines. This vehicle was capable of operating over unimproved roads and trails and could be shifted into four-wheel drive for steep grades and muddy or sandy terrain. It could climb a 60 percent grade and attain a speed of 65 miles per hour over level highways. The jeep could also ford a stream 18 inches deep while fully loaded and a deeper stream when especially equipped with exhaust and air-intake extensions. The jeep, truck, and pack mule were always important in the advances made. ”

“ ITALY
SOLDIER FIRING A SUBMACHINE GUN at a haystack suspected of concealing enemy soldiers. After the last German attempt to reduce the beachhead had died out during the first days of March 1944 there began a period of stalemate on the Anzio plain. This did not mean the end of fighting; it meant the end of pitched battles by large numbers of men and armor. Artillery duels still continued and enemy aircraft bombed and strafed positions as before. There were frequent clashes and fire fights between infantry patrols. ”

“ LIBERATOR BEING SHOT DOWN by flak over the Po Valley in northern Italy. As the war in the Mediterranean progressed the size and effectiveness of the enemy air forces decreased, while the antiaircraft defenses increased and became more and more concentrated around the remaining enemy targets. As various enemy targets were damaged beyond usefulness, antiaircraft units defending them were sent to strengthen defenses around industrial plants still in production. ”

“ GERMAN STUKA DIVE BOMBERS. These aircraft co-operated closely with ground forces, bombing and strafing ahead of their own advancing columns in addition to roaming behind the lines disrupting traffic and creating confusion. The bombers could operate successfully only where they had air superiority. In the later stages of the Tunisia Campaign, as the Allies gained air superiority, their effectiveness dwindled. The Germans turned a number of these planes over to the Italians. Note Italian and British markings in lower photograph. ”

“ ITALY
TROOPS IN A DEFENSE POSITION near Highway 65. This area was thinly populated and houses were few and far between. Those still standing drew fire, and troops in support or reserve positions would dig in on the reverse slope of hills and make their foxholes as comfortable as possible. Roofs and walls were constructed from empty shell cases, food containers, and the like and reinforced with sand bags. Keeping warm was a problem: the area is almost bare of trees; most of the heating of the foxholes was done by gasoline stoves, sometimes issued, often improvised. ”

“ The enemy developed a healthy respect for the hit-and-run tactics of U. S. forces using this weapon. The vehicle would wait until enemy armor came within range, get off as many shells as possible, and withdraw. U. S. forces pushed eastward from the Gafsa area to draw enemy units from the Mareth Line then under attack by the British. On 23 March 1943 severe fighting broke out southeast of El Guettar and a German armored division was repulsed by U. S. forces with heavy tank losses to the enemy. ”

“ LIBERATOR BOMBERS from Italian bases bombing the Munich area in southern Germany. Smoke-making generators in operation to blanket vital areas. Note black bursts of antiaircraft fare. Heavy bombers from Foggia could easily strike at the passes in the Alps and attack enemy installations and factories in southern Germany and Austria as these targets were closer to Allied bases in Italy than they were to those in England. ”

“ After regrouping and building up supplies, the Allied armies started their offensive on 26 August. They succeeded in breaching the Gothic Line in the center and along the coast, but fierce enemy resistance, bad weather, and a shortage of ammunition and replacements halted the offensive south of the Po River plain by the late fall of 1944. The winter of 1944–45 was spent in the mountains overlooking the Po Valley.
The spring drive by the Allied armies started on 9 April 1945. Bologna fell on 20 April, and armor and infantry overran the plain and divided the German forces. ”

“ LST’S APPROACHING THE COAST OF FRANCE. Ships carrying men and equipment for the invasion sailed from ports in Africa, Italy, and Corsica, the most important loading port being Naples. In all, 853 vessels from the Allied navies formed the task force with an additional 1,267 small landing craft, deck-loaded. Several hours prior to the main assault amphibious landings were made on both flanks of the invasion area and airborne landings were made in the rear in order to isolate the beachhead from the enemy. French commandos landed at Cap Nègre and French marines landed near Cannes. ”

“ ITALY
FIRING ROCKET PROJECTILES from a tank mount. Experiments were carried out in January 1945 in the Arno Valley. Of the several different mounts tested, one had 54 tubes placed on top of a medium tank turret, another had 18 tubes mounted on the same carriage as a towed 37-mm. gun. Because of the great variation in deflection and range the weapon was not practical against a point target and the smoke and flame given off when fired tended to disclose its position. ”

“ ITALY
CASSINO AREA, looking along Highway 6. “Castle Hill,” in left foreground topped by tower, was in Allied hands for weeks before the town of Cassino fell. Below cliff are ruins of the town. The picture, made from the vicinity of the abbey, gives some indication of the enemy’s observation over Allied positions. The main drive through the Winter Line defenses started above San Pietro Infine. U. S. forces began the advance on 15 November 1943 and had fought their way to the outskirts of Cassino by 26 January 1944, a distance of eight miles in seventy days. ”

“ HOSPITAL TRAINS taking men wounded in the 1943–44 winter campaign to base hospitals in the Naples area. Until the fighting had advanced beyond Rome, the main Allied hospital area in Italy was in and around Naples. The trains above have German and Italian cars and U. S. locomotives. (Ambulances: truck, 3⁄4-ton 4 x 4, crew of 2 with 4 litter patients or 7 sitting patients.) ”

“ Three hours after the landing, beachheads were established from Licata to Scoglitti by the Americans and from Capo Passero to Syracuse by the British.
Despite the problem of supply during the first two days, by 12 July the Allied armies had seized the port of Syracuse and ten other Sicilian towns in addition to several airfields. By the 23d, American tanks and infantry, driving across the western end of the island, took the key port of Palermo. The enemy, in the east, lodged in rugged mountain terrain, offered stiff resistance. ”