...and found.
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Hundreds of mines of all types, including these, were scattered on the banks of Rapido River..Comment
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Or like this, find with a friend a few years agoComment
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The Rapido (Gari) River today. I want to tell to all american friends of this Forum that every year, 22 january, old women of the S.Angelo Village come to the river and put flowers in the water in a moving ceremony...every year.Comment
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36th "Texas" Veterans reunion in S.Angelo, 2006 (I was here)Comment
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36th "Texas" Veterans reunion on the bank of the river, 2006.Comment
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In memory of so many young Americans of texas came to die in this little corner of Italy...I never forget...we never forget.Comment
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That is the monument that I watched be unvailed in 1984. I have pictures, but cannot find currently...wife, kids...all has been moved, not by me.
I have attended most of the 36th div. reunions since my dad died in 1991. The Rapido River is a hot topic at the reunions. One must only mention Mark Clark and the T-Patchers will all spit! I have NEVER met a T-Patcher that liked Clark. Yet they all love Gen. Fred L. Walker, who pinned the Legion of Merit on my dad in Italy. For what I will never know. That medal is the ONLY thing my father kept from WWII. It was always in his sock drawr. I never saw him touch it. He would let me play with it as a kid. I asked him a hundred times what he did to receive it. His pat answer was, "I had the cleanest boots in the outfit."
I have 4 brothers and 2 sisters. Before my dad died, he made it clear that I was to have his medal as so much of my relationship with my dad evolved around the war. It IS my prize possession of my WWII collection!
I have spoken to several German soldiers that were defending at the rapido. I forget the outfit...long time ago...maybe 44 Deutsch und Hochmeister, or 29th pzgr...but they said that they could not believe that the Texans were making a frontal assault. They thought it had to be a faint to draw their attention from a major assault. I have spoke to many Texans that had their buddies and brothers killed or captured there.
I also remember hearing that the Germans would shoot tracers from MGs at about 3 feet off the ground, and at the same time shoot regular ammo from MGs at about 18" off the ground. Mines and mortars were the reason for many causualties. There was also a truce there, allowing both sides to recover their dead. I have spoken to T-Patchers that told me of smoking/trading cigerettes with the Germans and talking about movie stars with them. When the time was up, they went back to their holes and got it on....
I am still in email contact with Julian Quarles, who was there. I posted the link to my web site. He always talked about his buddy Capt. Bayne. He saw his body brought back across the river. A bullet hole in the forehead beneath the helmet. He had just received news of his son being born the night before.Comment
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What are the wires going across the river?
Here is the link to Rittmeister Ernst Georg von Heyking.
http://www.lestweforgetww2.com/Rittm...n_Heyking.html
He won the knights cross for defense of Monte Lungo. He stated that he arrived right before the Italian attack, where the Italians were wiped out. As I understand it, their cemetery is there on the hill. The 36th is the outfit that threw the Germans off of the hill. Von Heyking spoke of this battle extensively in my interview with him. He passed a little more than a year ago.Last edited by George Cone; 01-20-2009, 01:16 AM.Comment
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... ad maiora!!!!!!! incredible photos!!!!!Comment
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Originally posted by Napalm View PostExactly ... today the Rapido River (Gari) is one of the favorites by fans of this sport.Comment
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FIRST BATTLE: 34th US DIVISION TRY TO TAKE CASSINO AND MONTE CASSINO
After a series of attempts by the 36th Infantry Division to cross the Rapido south of Cassino had been thrown back with much bloodshed, the 34th Division was ordered to cross the Rapido north of Cassino, to carry by storm the hills overlooking the town and breakthrough to Highway 6, isolating the town and the Abbey. Our attack began during the period of 24-25 January [1944]. Three days previously an Allied amphibious force had successfully established a beachhead at Anzio. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o
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The 133rd Infantry, advancing with three Battalions abreast, approached the river north of the barracks and immediately ran into extensive minefields covered by elaborate interlocking machine-gun fire. The Regiment continued the agonizing job of forcing paths through the minefields in the marshy land and several times succeeded in getting elements across to the western bank. Each time the tremendous volume of enemy fire obliged them to withdraw, but the enemy in his resistance had betrayed a weak point in his line. On 26 January the 133rd Infantry gave place to the 168th Infantry who, with the 756th Tank Battalion in support, prepared an attempt to storm to the farther side. In the face of mines, barbed wire, and the most intense fire, the Regiment succeeded in established a bridgehead and in pushing to the base of the hills one or two kilometers further on. It was impossible, so soft was the ground, for the tanks to cross but four of them, bogged down, continued to fire in support of the infantry and greatly assisted them in their advance. Engineer troops worked like Trojans to prepare firm crossings, but these were not in operation until the afternoon of 29 January when the bulk of the Tank Battalion crossed in support of the infantry attack. Before midnight, two small hills had been attacked and taken, and the enemy dugouts and bunkers were mopped up. <o></o>
The 133rd Infantry moved across in the left of the Division sector. During the next few days very successful infantry-tank operations cleared our right flank, occupied Cairo and captured over 250 prisoners, including an entire battalion headquarters. By this time the 168th Infantry had formed a definite salient into the German line. The enemy command grew anxious and brought in heavy reinforcements from the Adriatic coast consisting of the 90th Panzer Grenadier Division and the 1st Parachute Division. The 135th Infantry passed through the 168th Infantry and pushed on up the hill, trying to reach Highway 6 and isolate the Abbey. On 1 February the 133rd Infantry drove west from its positions toward Cassino clearing the barracks. The next morning the Regiment with tank support began the attack from the north on the town of Cassino itself, meeting very fierce resistance. The enemy had installed anti-tank guns at critical intersections, and had made of the stone-built houses strong points for his machine guns and riflemen. A diversionary attack by elements of the 133rd Infantry from the east was turned back. The enemy refused to be stampeded into a withdrawal. <o></o>
Throughout this entire period, it must be borne in mind, every box of rations, every can of water, every round of ammunition which the infantry used had to be brought up across terrain which was under direct observation from hills still in enemy hands. The Germans, fully aware of this, laid down accurate and continuous fire upon all critical points and especially on the river crossings. Traffic control by the Division Military Police reduced congestion, but within a few days the stench of decaying mule carcasses, the litter of overturned vehicles, abandoned shell-cases and disabled tanks made a scene of modern war which will not be forgotten by any who saw it. On the mountains the battle remained stubborn and progress was slow. Casualties to both sides were very heavy, especially because the fanatical German paratroopers launched frenzied counter-attacks in an attempt to drive us back to the valley. Our ranks became thinner and the problems of evacuating casualties down the treacherous mountain trails and across the shell-swept approaches to the position were very serious. Volunteers came from the service and rear units of the Division to help out.
By the end of 12 February a platoon had succeeded in reaching the outer walls of the Abbey, and capturing prisoners from a cave on Monastery Hill. It was impossible for the platoon to remain, however, and they withdrew. The Germans throughout the operation took full advantage of the fact that the Allies had undertaken not to fire at the Abbey in view of its importance to the world as a religious institution. The relative immunity which the enemy obtained for his observation can hardly be overestimated. <o></o>
On 13 February the 135th Infantry in the face of withering fire assaulted and captured Hill 593 which overlooked the Abbey but which was separated from it by a deep gorge. The enemy reacted viciously. Five furious counter-attacks were sent in against our positions in less than twenty-four hours. Once our troops were forced to withdraw, but immediately they reformed and took the hill again. In conjunction with this operation other elements of the Regiment and of the 168th Infantry managed to reach the northern slopes of Monastery Hill itself, before they had to withdraw. Castle Hill, far below Hill 593, remained a constant threat to our troops, and made movement in daylight very hazardous. Several times large concentrations of artillery fire were laid down upon it, and attempts to storm it were made by the 133rd Infantry without success. <o></o>
The latter Regiment had, during the entire time, been carrying on what was almost a separate battle in the cellars, the dining rooms, the kitchens of Cassino. So close was the contact that when the mortars and the machine pistols stopped momentarily at night, the troops in one room of a house could hear the Germans talking in another room. Nevertheless, by 12 February the key strong-point which the Germans had created in the jail was taken and one-half of the town was in our hands. Infantry attacks on each city block were assisted by tanks who knocked holes in the walls of the houses through which the infantry could climb or throw grenades. Enemy mortars and self-propelled guns a few streets away kept up a heavy counter-fire. Our field artillery and dive bombers attempted to smother them with massed fire but the piles of rubble only increased the protection for the Germans. The town and castle of Cassino crumbled into stinking ruins. The 34th Division, when it had made its first assault on the Gustav Line, was already tired and under-strength from its brilliant series of advances which crushed-in the ring of delaying positions from S. Vittore to Cassino. By now, after three weeks of constant fire, repeated attacks and counter-attacks, often seemingly endless nights on the bare rock of the mountain with no protection against the furies of the rain, wind, and snow, after intolerable hardships, our troops had reached the limits of human endurance. Their numbers were so reduced that every time a man was carried off the hill by aidmen a gap was left in our lines. In spite of the most devoted support which our artillery and tanks could give to the infantry, very little useful help could reach the men in the foxholes whose chief weapons in this fighting were the hand grenade, the tommy gun, and the bayonet. <o></o>
The 34th Division had made a serious dent in the Gustav Line. It was now time for fresh troops to take up the fight at the point our troops had reached. <o></o>
On 14 February elements of the British 4th Indian Division took over positions held by the 135th and 168th Infantry Regiments on Hill 593 and on the other hills overlooking Cassino. Some of our men had stuck it out so long and had suffered so much that they had to be lifted bodily out of their holes. The sadly depleted Regiments went to S. Angelo d'Alife for rest. <o></o>
The 133rd Infantry remained in the town of Cassino for a few more days grimly registering its gains of a room here, half a house there, still opposed by the toughest enemy resistance. They had the unforgettable experience of seeing the Abbey blotted out by hundreds of American bombers on the day after the 34th Division relinquished command of the sector. <o></o>
The battle of Cassino was a failure. The Division had failed to take its objectives. The German paratroopers had succeeded in blocking the best efforts of our troops to advance. Yet for those who were there and who knew the difficulties of the assault, the tremendous strength of the German fortifications - to those men, Cassino was the outstanding achievement in the Division's history.
A Map of operationsComment
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An American soldier of 34th Infantry Division near Hill 593..Comment
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