5 Allies

p. 94 The KOYLI war diary (WO 170/1412) identifies the enemy as being the Recce Bn, 15th Panzer Division, but the Foresters would take prisoner a member of the III/104 Panzer Grenadier Regiment.

p. 96-97 The pioneers’ presence is mentioned in Glover, OAS, p. 143, but not the battalion war diary for the date of the attack. However, the discovery of a pioneer casualty with Lt Leslie-Carter on 16 January is recorded. Lieutenant Leslie-Carter is buried in Cassino War Cemetery. The Pioneer private was probably Horace Hayden Jones from Glamorgan, also buried in Cassino War Cemetery.

pp. 97-98 The ‘friendly fire’ incident is attested to in Glover, OAS, pp. 151 and Lord, IWM tape #18257, Reel 8. Lance Corporal Shein is identified by Tony Lord in this interview. A Corporal Shein was later Mentioned in Dispatches, although Glover’s describes him as ‘elderly’ later records from the Gothic Line indicate Corporal Shein was in his twenties. The battalion war diary has a very short but rather different report for the evening, stating that ‘A contact patrol from Americans misses contact point and got into "B" company area. When challenged fails to reply and is fired on. American corporal wounded.’ (WO 170/1476, 5th SF WD, January 1944). WO 170/622, ‘Summary of Intelligence No 67’ 17/1/1944, from the 139 Bde WD mentions two fighting patrols that night, one of which seems likely to be Glover’s from the route and which ‘was cancelled owing to presence of US tps in area’. The American reports do not mention the incident, <‘141st Infantry Regiment AAR to May 1944: Operations in Italy, January, 1944 of 141st Infantry Regiment, Rifle’ pp. 5–6, http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/after-action-reports-wwii/ > accessed 12 July 2021.

p. 102 Bywater and Leedham, together with two other fatalities at Vandra, are buried in Cassino War Cemetery. The anti-tank mines were constructed of wood, making them very hard to detect. Foresters’ casualties for 20–21 January 1944 from WO 417. Some of these, including CQMS Bywater, are not explicitly identified as from the 5th Foresters, but are known or assumed to be so from other entries on the list or from other information.

p. 102-03 American casualties at the Garigliano crossing from <‘143rd Infantry Regiment AAR to September 1944’ p. 52, http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/afteraction-reports-wwii/> accessed 12 July 2021; ‘141st Infantry Regiment Operations January, 1944’ p. 18; Gooderson, hard way to make a war, pp. 266–67, John Ellis, Cassino: The Hollow Victory (London: Aurum Press, 2003, (first published 1984)), p. 108.

p. 103 For Clarks reaction to the controversy over the Texan assault, see Clark, Calculated Risk, pp. 278–82; also Blumenson, Salerno to Cassino, pp. 320–21 and pp. 337–38. Clark’s comments on 46th Division are in Calculated Risk, p. 269, quoted in Ellis, Cassino, pp. 77–78. British movements at the time are from WO 170/1385, 16th DLI WD, January 1944; WO 170/14272, 2/5th Leics WD, January 1944, and WO 170/616, 128 Bde WD, January 1944, ‘128 Inf Bde Operational order No. 9’, 16/1/44.

p. 104 Yeomans is buried in the Beach Head War Cemetery, Anzio. In Tunisia he had taken time to visit the 5th Battalion. He had been posted to the 14th Battalion on 4 February, less than a month before it landed in the Anzio beachhead, presumably after a period off sick.

p. 105 Thompson’s patrol is described in detail in the 5th SF WD and also referred to in his MC citation, WO 373/9/49. The 138 Bde WD entry for 1 February 1944 (WO 170/619), reports the prisoner as being taken by the York and Lancs, but the entry for 31 January states that the 5th SF Battle Patrol was under their command to identify the enemy around Pt. 711, so this must refer to Thompson’s patrol. Sergeant Charles ‘Hank’ Newbold received the American Bronze Star for his work on the night, the citation is WO 373/147/105.

pp. 105-06 Smith’s patrol is described by Charlesworth in OAS, p. 167. I have not managed to identify the date of the incident or the identity of the unfortunate mine victim.

p. 106 Fallows court martial is mentioned in Plowright IWM tape #15590, Reel 9, and recorded in WO213/55 f. 74.

p. 106 WO 417 for the casualties at Monte Trocchia.

p. 107. The soldier who died of wounds was probably Thomas Clark Leech, from Ashington in Northumberland, who is buried in Caserta War Cemetery, the site of the 2nd General Hospital.

p. 107 WO 170/1349, 3rd Grenadier Guards’ WD, February 1944, describes the relief in a single line and makes no mention of a bayonet charge, apparently it was all in a days’ work. Arthur Beardsall says that the inexperienced Guards had to pull out two days later due to men getting frostbite, IWM Tape #13853, Reel 3. Private Arthur Holland, who had previously been wounded at the Volturno seems to have been evacuated to hospital in England, since he died on 17 December 1944, and is buried in Nottingham Northern Cemetery. The fatality the following day was probably Frederick Marsh from Brimington Common near Chesterfield, recorded as Killed in Action on 12 February 1944 and buried in Minturno War Cemetery. Frederick Richardson from Ripley, Derbyshire, also buried in Minturno Cemetery, died of wounds on 18 February; the date of his initial injuries is not certain.

p. 108 Casualties are my calculations from WO 417.

p. 108-09 Matthew Parker, Monte Cassino: The Story of the Hardest-fought Battle of World War Two (London: Headline, 2003), pp. 55–56 suggest most desertions were from rear areas; although Ellis, The Sharp End, p. 244, suggests deserters were mostly infantryman. Tony Lord’s recollections are from IWM tape #18257, Reel 6; Lord did not name either man. Crews’ observations in IWM tape #19987, Reel 13; Bennett’s in IWM Tape #13230. November-December courts martial numbers from WO 170/622, 139 Bde WD February – April 1944. An analysis of the Courts Martial registers in WO 213 for same period indicate a rather higher total of twenty-nine desertion trials in Nov-Dec 1943 and twelve in Jan-Feb 1944, but a similar breakdown of personnel. The dates of the actual offences are not recorded in either source, some may even have deserted before actually reaching the front line.

p. 110 Charlesworth, in OAS, p. 164–65. Williamson was indeed 49, an extraordinary age for company command and older even than Dick Hammond the QM. The NCO’s relationship with his men comes from Frank Mardell, IWM tape #16400, Reel 5.

p. 112 Ian Blackwell, Cassino(Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2005), p. 36 says that the bombing took place from 09.25–13.32 on 15 February and involved 135 heavy and 87 medium bombers dropping 443 tons of bombs. Clark, Calculated Risk, p. 319 says 255 bombers dropped 576 tons of explosive. Contemporary British Intelligence reports said the raids were carried out by 96 Heavy Bombers and 156 Medium Bombers [sic, this ratio seems to be the wrong way round] (WO 170/622 ‘139 Inf Bde Summary of Intelligence No 89, 17/2/44). Blumenthal, Salerno to Cassino, p. 410–11 says that the figures vary, but suggests around 250 aircraft and 600 tons of bombs in total, he also states the bombing started at 09.45 though includes a first-hand account saying it began at 09. 30.

p. 112 Tony Lord, in his IWM interview, IWM tape #18257, Reel 8, also gives an eye-witness account, stating the raid was on a Sunday and that he watches it from Monte Camino. In fact 15 February was a Tuesday, and the mountain Lord remembered as Camino was probably part of the Tuga massif, across the Liri valley from Cassino but west of the Garigliano. This raises some doubt as to whether it was in fact an earlier raid that the Foresters saw, but nothing in any of the Battalion, Brigade, Division or Corps War Diaries indicates any earlier large scale bombing raid in the area.

p. 112 ‘Inga [Hensina] Andersen <https://www.discogs.com/it/artist/4662589–Inga-Andersen>; Life Images, ‘Inga Andersen singing…at ‘Bagatelle’ Restaurant off Berkely Street’ http://images.google.com/hosted/life/a71dfde77ed14f5e.html [both accessed 23/8/2021].

p. 113 Museum of the Mercian Regiment, Jack Schofield ‘Recollections of an Infantryman’ p. 92. Casualty lists show Harry was wounded on 4 February 1944.