Note on Sources

The main body of records upon which this volume is based is to be found in the Modern Military Records Division of the National Archives in Washington. They consist for the most part of monthly after-action reports together with supporting documents such as staff journals, message files, telephone logs, and periodic reports. The after-action reports are narrative summaries of operations prepared by every unit from army down to regiment and separate battalion. Varying in quality from unit to unit, they must be checked against the accompanying journals and message files; nevertheless, these reports provide a valuable framework in fitting information contained in the supporting document--often fragmentary--into place.

For operations above the army level, records of Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ), consisting of a vast collection of reports, messages, planning papers, and correspondence, are an important primary source. They are to be found on microfilm at the Modern Military Records Division.

The National Archives Records Service is also the repository for microfilm of captured German records; the originals, including maps, having been returned to Germany. An index, The Guide to German Records Microfilmed at Alexandria, Virginia, consists of many volumes.

The most useful of the German records are the War Diaries (KTB) of the Tenth and Fourteenth Armies. In addition to daily summaries of operations, the diaries contain messages and transcripts of telephone conversations between commanders. These transcripts, especially, offer valuable insights into the thinking of senior German commanders in Italy, for in most cases they, unlike American telephone logs, are not summaries but are complete and candid. The wealth of the army records in large measure makes up for the fact that those of Army Group C are missing, probably lost in the war.

The War Diary of the German high command has been published as Kriegstagesbuch des Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Wehrmachtfuhrungsstab), edited by Helmuth Greiner and Percy Ernst Schramm, Vols. 1-4, Frankfurt a/Main, 1961. Volume IV, parts 1 and 2, are most useful for the Italian campaign. Unfortunately, the diary for the last month of the war is missing.

Unofficial Records (Allied)

Three American generals--Devers, Clark, and Walker--made their wartime diaries available to the author. General Clark lent that part of his diary relating to the campaign from May 1944 to May 1945, while the other two diaries are on file in the Center of Military History. The diaries include observations, comments, summaries of meetings, and correspondence dictated, generally on a daily basis, to each individual's aide de camp, who actually kept the diary. Frequently there are candid comments on events and personalities not to be found elsewhere in the record.

Also on file in the Center of Military

History are numerous interviews with key participants in the Italian campaign in two broad categories: combat and after-action. The first were conducted by professional historians on the staff of the Fifth Army Historical Detachment during or shortly after a military operation; the second were generally made after the war by historians of the Center of Military History. The combat interviews, as to be expected, add color to the official record and give historians a better feel for the operation and the individual soldier's reactions to it. The postwar interviews also helped round out the narrative with insights and recollections not often found in the official record.

In addition to the unpublished records, the Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean, and the commander of the Allied armies in Italy published reports for submission to the Combined Chiefs of Staff. They are essentially operational summaries and should, of course, be checked against the unpublished official records.

Although the records of the headquarters of the British Eighth Army and its subordinate units have not been available to the author, the British Historical Section, Central Mediterranean, prepared a multivolume narrative covering all aspects of the Eighth Army's operations during the Italian campaign. In manuscript form, the narrative represents a large-scale preliminary collection of studies for a subsequent official history. Entitled "Operations of British, Indian, and Dominion Forces in Italy, 3 September 1943-2 May 1945," this manuscript is in the U.S. Army Military History Research Collection, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.

In the postwar period several of the U.S. Army's combat arms schools, most notably the Infantry School, published studies prepared by students, usually company grade officers, who played key roles in combat operations. The studies are primarily useful for detail generally at or below the regimental level.

G-3 Section, Headquarters, 15th Army Group, published shortly after the cessation of hostilities a work entitled A Military Encyclopedia, Based on Operations in the Italian Campaign, 1943-45. Printed in a limited edition, it contains detailed information concerning all arms and the technical services as they related to Fifth Army operations.

Unofficial Records (German)

Soon after the war, the Historical Division, European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, undertook a project whereby captured German officers turned out a series of historical studies embracing virtually every phase of German military operations during World War II. The results of the project, which continued for about a decade, are catalogued in The Guide to Foreign Military Studies, 1945-54, published under the auspices of the Historical Division, Headquarters, United States Army, Europe. The guide includes a comprehensive subject index and may be consulted either at the National Archives or the Center of Military History. Among the narrative studies is a lengthy manuscript in two volumes entitled Feldzug in Italien (MS T-1a and 1b) prepared by senior commanders and staff officers of the German armies in Italy. When used in co-ordination with

the War Diary of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the studies are extremely useful accounts of operations from the German point of view.

Additional studies, based largely upon those prepared by the German officers and upon interviews with the officers themselves, were produced by staff historians with the Foreign Military Studies Section of the Center of Military History. Grouped in a so-called R-Series, they total 165, but only a few are concerned with the campaign in Italy.

Published Works

Also available are a large number of published works covering the entire gamut of military and diplomatic operations relating to the Allied campaign in the Mediterranean and in Italy. The following is a partial list of those consulted in the preparation of this volume:

Official Histories, U.S.
The United States Army in World War II

The War Department

Leighton, Richard M. and Coakley, Robert W. Global Logistics and Strategy, 1943-45 (Washington, 1969).

Matloff, Maurice. Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare, 1943-44 (Washington, 1959).

The Mediterranean Theater of Operations

Blumenson, Martin. Salerno to Cassino (Washington, 1969).

Howe, George F. Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West (Washington, 1957).

Garland, Lt. Col. Albert N. and Smyth, Howard McGraw. Sicily and the Surrender of Italy (Washington, 1965).

The European Theater of Operations

MacDonald, Charles B. The Last Offensive (Washington, 1973).

The Technical Services

Kleber, Brooks E. and Birdsell, Dale. The Chemical Warfare Service, Chemicals in Combat (Washington, 1965).

Ross, William F. and Romanus, Charles F. The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War Against Germany (Washington, 1965).

Special Studies

Lee, Ulysses. The Employment of Negro Troops (Washington, 1966).

MacDonald, Charles B. and Mathews, Sidney T. Three Battles: Arnaville, Altuzzo, and Schmidt (Washington, 1952).

Weinberg, Albert K. Civil Affairs: Soldiers Become Governors (Washington, 1964).

American Forces in Action Series (available on microfilm).

The Fifth Army at the Winter Line, (15 Nov 43-15 Jan 44) (Washington, 1945).

Small Unit Actions (Washington, 1946).

Anzio Beachhead (22 Jan-25 May 1944) (Washington, 1947).

The U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II

Craven, Wesley Frank and Cates, James Lea, eds. Vol. III, Europe: Argument to V-E Day (January 1944-May 1945) (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951).

Official Histories, Allied

Nicholson, Lt. Col. G. W. L. The Canadians in Italy, 1943-45. OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE CANADIAN

ARMY IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR, Vol. II (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1956).

Kay, Robin. From Cassino to Trieste. NEW ZEALAND IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR (1939-45), Vol. II (Wellington, N.Z.: Historical Publications Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1967).

Pal, Dharm. The Campaign in Italy, 1943-45. OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE INDIAN ARMED FORCES IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR, 1939-45 (New Delhi. Combined Inter-Services Historical Section [India and Pakistan], 1960).

Ehrman, John. Grand Strategy. Vol. V, Aug. 1943-Sept. 1944. Vol. VI, Oct 1944-Aug 1945. Butler, J. R. M., ed. HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, UNITED KINGDOM SERIES (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1956).

Molony, Brigadier C. J. C. The Mediterranean and Middle East. Vol. V, The Campaign in Sicily and the Campaign in Italy, Sept. 1943-March 1944. HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1973).

Le Goyet, Col. Pierre. Ministere des Armees, Etat-Major de L'Armee de Terre, Service Historique. La Participation Française A La Campagne D'Italie (1943-1946) (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1969).

Unit Histories

Fifth Army History, Vols. I-IX. Published shortly after the war and covering the period from the army's activation to the end of the war in Italy in May 1945, this history was prepared by members of the Fifth Army's Historical Section, initially under the direction of Col. John D. Forsythe, later succeeded by Lt. Col. Chester G. Start. In a sense, the history resembles a large-scale after-action report. When consulted along with journals and message files, it is a very useful source.

The best of the division unit histories are:

Howe, George F. The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division (Washington, 1954).

Taggart, Donald G, ed. The History of the 3d Infantry Division in World War II (Washington, 1947).

Others, varying in quality, are:

Böhmler, Rudolf. Fallschirmjaeger, Bildbuch u. Chronik (Bad Nauheim: Podzun-Verlag, 1961).

Delaney, John P. The Blue Devils in Italy, A History of the 88th Infantry Division in World War II (Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1947).

Heargon, Capitaine. La Victoire: sous Le Signe des Trois Croissants. Vol. I, Les Peines, et les Gloire de la 3eme D.I.A. en Italie (Algerie, 1046).

De Moraes, Marshal J. B. Mascarenhas. The Brazilian Expeditionary Force. By Its Commander, trans. from 2d Edition, Revised and Enlarged (Rio de Janeiro, 1965).

Robbins, Maj. Robert A. The 91st Infantry Division in World War II (Washington, 1947).

Schultz, Paul, L. The 85th Division in World War II (Washington, 1949).

Strootman, Capt. Ralph E. History of the 363d Infantry, One Regiment of the 91st Division in World War II (Washington, 1947).

Published Works, General

Adelman, Robert H. and Walton,

Col. George. The Devils Brigade, (Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1966).

Carpentier, Gen. Marcel. Les Forces Allies en Italie: La Campagne d'Italie. Editions Berger-Levrault (Paris, 1949).

Churchill, Winston S. Closing the Ring (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Co., 1951).

Clark, Mark W. Calculated Risk (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1950).

Dulles, Allen W. The Secret Surrender, (New York: Harper and Row, 1966).

Greiner, Heinz Glt.a.D. Kampf am Rom, Inferno am Po, Die Wehrmacht im Kampf, Band 44 (Neckargemund: Kurt Vowinckel Verlag, 1968).

Higgins, Trumbull. Soft Underbelly, The Anglo-American Controversy Over the Italian Campaign, 1939-1945 (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1958).

Howard, Michael. The Mediterranean Strategy in the Second World War (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1968).

Jackson, W. G. F. The Battle for Italy (New York: Harper and Row, 1967).

Jackson, W. G. F. The Battle for Rome (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1969).

Kesselring, Albert Generalfeldmarschall a.D. Kesselring, A Soldier's Record (New York: William Morrow & Company, 1954).

Nicholson, Nigel. Alex, The Life of Field Marshal, Earl Alexander of Tunis (New York: Atheneum, 1973).

Orgill, Douglas. The Gothic Line, The Italian Campaign, Autumn 1944 (New York: W. W. Norton & Co. 1967).

Scrivener, Jane. Inside Rome with the Germans (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1945).

Shepperd, G. A. The Italian Campaign, 1943-45, A Political and Military Reassessment (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1968).

Truscott, Lucian K. Command Missions (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1959).

Westphal, Siegfried. Heer in Fesseln, aus den Papieren des Stabschefs von Rommel, Kesselring, und Rundstedt. (Bonn: Athenaum-Verlag, 1950).

Winterbotham, F. W. The Ultra Secret (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1974), p. 187.

References to additional published works will be found in the footnotes of this volume.