EIGHTH ARMY IN ITALY By the same author Wall of Steel: The History of 9th (Londonderry) HAA Regiment, RA (SR), North- West Books, 1988 The Sons of Ulster: Ulstermen at War from the Somme to Korea, Appletree Press, 1992 Clear The Way! A History of the 38th (Irish) Brigade, 1941–47, Irish Academic Press, 1993 Irish Generals: Irish Generals in the British Army in the Second World War, Appletree Press, 1993 Only the Enemy in Front: The Recce Corps at War, 1940–46, Spellmount Publishers, 1994 Key to Victory: The Maiden City in the Second World War, Greystone Books, 1995 The Williamite War in Ireland, 1688–1691, Four Courts Press, 1998 A Noble Crusade: The History of Eighth Army, 1941–1945, Spellmount Publishers, 1999 Irish Men and Women in the Second World War, Four Courts Press, 1999 Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (with David Truesdale), Four Courts Press, 2000 Irish Volunteers in the Second World War, Four Courts Press, 2001 The Sound of History: El Alamein 1942, Spellmount Publishers, 2002 The North Irish Horse: A Hundred Years of Service, Spellmount Publishers, 2002 Normandy 1944: The Road to Victory, Spellmount Publishers, 2004 Ireland’s Generals in the Second World War, Four Courts Press, 2004 The Thin Green Line: A History of the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC, 1922– 2001, Pen & Sword Books, 2004 None Bolder: The History of the 51st Highland Division in the Second World War, Spellmount Publishers, 2006 The British Reconnaissance Corps in World War II, Osprey Publishing, 2007 EIGHTH ARMY IN ITALY The Long Hard Slog by Richard Doherty First published in Great Britain in 2007 by Pen & Sword Military an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd 47 Church Street Barnsley South Yorkshire S70 2AS Copyright © Richard Doherty, 2007 ISBN: 978-1-84415-637-5 The right of Richard Doherty to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. Typeset in 10/12pt Sabon by Concept, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire Printed and bound in England by CPI UK Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the Imprints of Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword Military, Wharncliffe Local History, Pen & Sword Select, Pen & Sword Military Classics and Leo Cooper. For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk To the memory of Joe Radcliffe, Royal Corps of Signals 1920–2005 and with thanks to Lucia, Marina and Danilo Contents List of Maps Acknowledgements Chapter One Into Calabria: The Campaign Begins Chapter Two To the Winter Line Chapter Three Mountains and Floods Chapter Four Prelude to Cassino Chapter Five Operation HONKER: The Battle for Monte Cassino Chapter Six Pursuit to the Gothic Line Chapter Seven Forcing the Gothic Line Chapter Eight Another Winter: More Mountains and Floods Chapter Nine Final Days Chapter Ten Peace at Last Chapter Eleven Reflections Bibliography Index Maps Map 1 Italy: Advance of Eighth Army Map 2 Foggia to the Sangro Map 3 The Sangro Battle: V Corps’ plan of attack Map 4 The Advance of Eighth Army, November 1943 to January 1944: Enemy dispositions 27th November 1943 Map 5 Final Battle of M. Cassino and Advance to Rome 11 May–5 June Map 6 The Advance to Lake Trasimeno Map 7 Battle of Lake Trasimeno: XIII Corps in action 20–28 June 1944 Map 8 The Gothic Line, showing Allied Front, Corps boundaries and main enemy dispositions at start of Operation OLIVE Map 9 Second Battle of Coriano Ridge and advance to Rimini: September 1944 Map 10 Eighth Army in November and December 1944 Map 11 Eighth Army Operation BUCKLAND: II (Polish) and V Corps’ plans Map 12 15th Army Group encircles German forces south of the Po, April 1945 Acknowledgements It has become a tradition for authors to include in their acknowledgements the comment that any errors are attributable solely to the author, thereby excusing from blame all those who have assisted. I do so willingly with this book since it would be invidious to try to blame any of my errors on those many individuals and organizations who have helped with the research and production of the book. Owing many debts of gratitude, I acknowledge them readily. As always, I made considerable use of the facilities of the National Archives at Kew where the staff of the Reading Room, the Search Room and the Library provide an excellent service that is friendly, professional and capable of dealing with even the most obscure enquiries. At the Imperial War Museum, Lambeth, I used the Departments of Documents and Printed Books as well as the Photograph Archive. Once again the staff members of each department were always keen to help and demonstrated knowledge of their resources that showed the high level of their own commitment and professionalism. No one could ask for better cooperation than that to be found at Kew and Lambeth, and I am most grateful to all who assisted me at both institutions. For much of the Italian campaign, Eighth Army included a very large proportion of Canadian soldiers and the National Archives of Canada hold an invaluable collection of photographs from Italy, some of which are reproduced in this book. Thanks are due to the Archives for their excellent service. Polish soldiers also played a major role in Eighth Army and I thank the Polish Museum and Sikorski Institute, especially Mr K. Barbarski, for their invaluable help. David Fletcher, Librarian of the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset, was patience personified when it came to dealing with my several enquiries about armoured warfare in Italy. The library of the Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum in Armagh was able to provide a long-term loan of important volumes and my thanks go to the curator, Amanda Moreno, while the Linenhall Library in Belfast tracked down several obscure titles that were also of great help in my research. Closer to home, the Central Library, Foyle Street, Londonderry provided a similar service. To each of them I offer my sincere thanks. The reader who perseveres to the end of this book will realize that its gestation was lengthy with chapter notes indicating that information came my way over a period of some twenty years. I have always been interested in the Italian campaign and several of my earlier books have featured either the campaign or