Dogface Soldier: The Life of General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr.

Chapter 8: Fighting on the “Boot”

125 Chapter 8 Fighting on the “Boot” Truscott was aware even before the cessation of fighting in Sicily that planning was under way to invade the Italian mainland and eliminate Italy from the war.Although he was not privy to all of the details of the plan, he knew that the overall concept was to have Montgomery’s “Eighth Army cross over the Straits of Messina, seize the Italian naval base at Taranto, and advance northward up the Italian boot in conjunction with a later assault somewhere in the vicinity of Naples by a combined British-American Force under the newly organized Fifth Army,” commanded by Maj. Gen. Mark W. Clark. He also knew that some American divisions were to be withdrawn from the Mediterranean theater and sent to England to begin training for the crossChannel invasion scheduled to take place in the spring of 1944. Truscott had assumed that his division would be one of those because of its amphibious assault training and experience, and because of his earlier experience in Mountbatten ’s Combined Operations Headquarters. When he learned that the 3d ID was not one of those chosen to go to England, he was in fact relieved, since he knew that those selected to participate in the invasion would be involved in a long period of training, while his division was now almost certain to see early action in the coming Italian campaign.1 On September 3 Truscott learned that Montgomery’s army had crossed the straits and landed on the mainland against only light resistance. The next day he received orders to report to Algiers with key members of his staff to confer with Clark and his staff about plans for future employment of the 3d ID in Italy. The morning of the fifth Truscott and Carleton, accompanied by the G2, G4, and division artillery commander, flew to Algiers, where they boarded the USS Ancon to meet with Clark and Admiral Hewitt and their staffs. Clark’s G3, Brig. Gen. Don Brann, briefed them on the plans for AVALANCHE, the code name for the invasion of Italy at Salerno, following which Truscott’s staff 126 Dogface Soldier met with their Fifth Army counterparts, while Truscott and Carleton conferred with Clark and Brann about the landing and Fifth Army plans for the employment of the 3d Infantry Division. AVALANCHE plans called for the 36th Infantry Division, coming directly from the United States, to land at Paestum, while two British divisions of the British 10 Corps would land farther north, opposite the city of Salerno. Salerno had been selected as the invasion site “because of its favorable sea approach, its proximity to Naples, and its being in range of fighter air cover from Alliedcontrolled Sicily.” The capture of Naples and its port, fifty miles to the north, was the primary objective of the operation.2 Clark informed Truscott that the Italians had surrendered on the third and had agreed that they would not oppose the landings.3 However, the surrender would not be announced publicly until after the landings. Since he expected no opposition to the landings, Clark believed that there would be no need to employ Truscott’s division at Salerno, but he ordered Truscott to be prepared to land his division farther north, possibly as far north as Rome, an objective Clark was already eyeing. Truscott accepted Clark’s optimism with some degree of skepticism, since his experience with the Germans led him to believe that even if the landings were unopposed, the Germans would soon react violently once the troops were ashore and advancing inland.4 Truscott and his party returned to his headquarters, bearing not only the information presented by Clark and his staff but also “considerable African booty in the form of leather briefcases, [a] new Packard sedan, and three cases of whiskey.”5 One of the first tasks that Truscott attended to after his return was to have his division signal officer establish a radio intercept net on the wavelengths of Fifth Army and the naval task force so that he could keep himself informed of the progress of AVALANCHE during and after the landings on the morning of the ninth. As he reviewed the status of his division he concluded that, despite a shortfall of two thousand officers and men,“it was fit and ready.” Col. William H. Ritter had arrived and assumed command of the 15th Infantry on September 7, and Lt. Col. Ben Harrell, the acting commander, became Ritter’s...