7 Back to Work
After a second period of rest in the Middle East, and following the fall of Cassino and Rome, the now veteran 5th Battalion was sent back to Italy and went north to participate in the attacks on the next series of German defences, the Gothic Line. These operations in Italy were overshadowed by the events in north-west Europe, but also required the men to overcome formidable defences and stubborn enemy resistance. The battle of Monte Vecchio in August 1944 demonstrated how the battalion had developed into a highly capable fighting force.
As usual the main primary sources are the war diaries for the 5th Foresters (WO 170/1476), 139 Brigade (WO 170/0623) and 46th Division (WO 170/0459), supported by details from the 2/5th Leicesters (WO 170/1427), 16th DLI (WO 170/1385), 9th Manchesters (WO 170/1439), 46 Recce (WO 170/0475) and 51 RTR (WO 170/0865). The Foresters’ war diary for September includes the battle reports ‘5th Battalion The Sherwood Forester At The Gothic Line’ and ‘The Battle of Il Trebbio 4th & 5th September 1944’, also held in the Nottinghamshire Archives under DD/SF/4. Also in the archive are personal accounts of the actions on the Gothic Line in On Active Service (particularly those from ‘Tich’ Verity, Hector Tulloch and Michael Glover) and More Sherwood Forester Memories, as well as an account by Schofield of 46th Division operations on the Gothic Line, which seems to have informed the 1946 divisional history. Several interviews in IWM sound archive have recollections of the battles.
The initial Gothic line actions are mostly poorly served in secondary accounts, and 46th Division’s role in it even more so. Aside from the official history by Moloney (1987), Orgill (1967/1969) is still the most comprehensive. Barclay (1959) is a good short narrative of the Foresters’ actions compiled mostly from the war diary. Holland (2008) is good for the overall plans and describes the Leicesters’ operations but not the Foresters'; Hart (1999) covers the DLI; Graham and Bidwell (1986) focus on the Canadians, as do Zuehkle (2003) and Montemaggi and McAndrew (1997), though this last book also reprints Barclay’s account. Morris (1993) and Doherty (2007) are very limited, Gooderson (2008) cursory.
Notes
p. 123 Seven officers could have been present at both royal inspections – Denys Crews, Keith Davenport, Dick Newell, Eric Armitage, Reg Carson, Gordon Shaw, and Quartermaster Dick Hammond. The number of other ranks is impossible to say – though Wally Binch attended both occasions. Ashley, OAS, p. 65, describes the watering of the roads. The King’s remarks are from Brigadier A.P. Block’s Special Order of the Day, 26 July 1944 in the Foresters’ war diary.
pp. 126-27 For the original Gothic line plans see Brigadier CJC Moloney, The Mediterranean and the Middle East: Vol. VI, Victory in the Mediterranean, Part II June to October 1944 (London HMSO, 1987), pp. 68–70; Douglas Orgill, The Gothic Line (London: Pan, 1969, originally published Wm Heinemann, 1967), pp. 46–47. For the revised plans see Moloney, Vol. VI, Pt II, p. 124–128; Orgill, pp. 47–51; Holland, Italy’s Sorrow, pp. 292–295 and p. 317–19. Leese’s rationale is given in WO 216/168 s37A OL/590, Leese to Maj-Gen Kennedy, ACIGS, 7 August 1944, cited by Moloney, Vol. VI, Pt II, p. 120.
p. 127 WO 373/73/298 MBE citation for Captain Richard Vincent Hammond. Hammond’s MID was gazetted 20 December 1940,.
his MBE on 28 June 1945.
p. 127-28 Hector Tulloch, in OAS, p. 179, says the move was on 21 August, but the 139 Brigade Movement Orders and the Foresters’ war diary both indicate that while the Advance Party left on 21 August, the main move was on the night of 22–23 August. Details from WO 170/0623, 139 Bde WD, August 1944, Operational Order No. 1, 19 Aug 1944 and Admin Order No. 12, 18 August 1944.
pp. 129-30 Charlesworth’s injury from IWM Tape #13454, Reel 12; background from WO 170/475 46th Recce WD, August 1944.
p. 131 The description of Monte Vecchie comes from Barclay, History of the Sherwood Foresters, pp. 129–130; Orgill, The Gothic Line, pp. 74–75 is also based upon Barclays description. Barclay gives the height of Monte Vecchio as 600 ft; but the map shows a trig point of 302 metres at Belvedere Fogliense. The 600 feet may refer to the height above the river. Mondaino on the next ridge is 1,380 ft. Historic information from <‘Belvedere Fogliense’, https://comuneditavullia.it/contenuti/110749/belvederefogliense>[accessed 25/02/2022].
p. 134 WO 373/9/370, DCM citation for Sergeant Leonard Stevenson, gazetted 8 February 1945.
pp. 135-36 WO 373/9/319, MC citation for Lieutenant Arnold Wright; WO 373/9/369, DCM citation for Sergeant Leopold Arthur Hunter; Arnold Wright in OAS, pp. 200–202.
p. 136 WO 373/9/471, MM citation for Private Geoffrey Oakes. Wright’s account refers to an unnamed ‘ginger haired lad from Nottingham’ taking out the last machine-gun; in spite of the discrepancies this almost certainly refers to Oakes. One newspaper report also recorded Oakes as coming from Sheffield.
pp. 137-38 Charles Seibert in MSFM, p. 146 and IWM Tape #18485, Reel 5.
pp. 138-39 For the dispute between Verity and Williamson see Verity, OAS, pp. 197–98; 5th SF WD August 1944; and WO 373/9/308, MC citation for Major Gilbert Archibald Williamson. Denys Crews, in a manuscript account in the Nottinghamshire Archives, DDSF/3/5 ‘The Gothic Line’ also refers to the dispute and ‘heated conferences’ between Verity and CO Roger Welchman. The RAP records referred to are a wounds book compiled by L/Cpl Geoffrey Coombs in the Nottinghamshire Archives, DD/SF/2; see note to pp. 142-43 below. Williamson’s MC was gazetted 8 February 1945, Verity’s MID gazetted 19 July 1945.
p. 139 WO 373/9/472, MM citation for Private James Arthur Dale, gazetted 8 February 1945. Lance-Sergeant G.H. Walker and Private C.R. Green were also explicitly mentioned in the battalion’s battle account, but do not appear to have received any award. Dale and Green were both wounded in the action.
pp. 139-40 Description of Stalley’s attack is a composite account based upon WO 373/9/326, MC citation for Lt. Stalley; Huggins MSFM pp. 127–128; and Lowe, OAS, p. 192 and IWM tape #15589, Reels 7 and 8.
p. 140-41 Phil Plowright, in MSFM, p. 175 and IWM Tape #15590, Reel 11; Huggins, MSFM, pp. 129–130; Seibert, MSFM, p. 147; and IWM Tape, #18485, Reel 5. Other than Plowright no other accounts mention the diphtheria epidemic, while Wally Binch places the organ incident at Lo Stradone a month later (MSFM p. 215).
pp. 141-42 Accounts of German wounded from Verity, OAS p. 197; Taylor, OAS, p. 191; and Seibert in MSFM, p. 148 and IWM Tape #18485, Reel 6.
p. 142 German casualty estimates from WO 170/1476, 5th SF WD; WO 373/9/308, MC citation for Major Gilbert Archibald Williamson; Nottinghamshire Archives DD/SF/4, CQMS V[J] Schofield, ‘Report on Gothic Line', p. 11; Schofield ‘Recollections of an Infantryman’, p. 111; Mellors, MSFM, p. 134.
pp. 142-43 The wounds book compiled by L/Cpl Geoffrey Coombs is in the Nottinghamshire Archives, DD/SF/2. As with other casualty numbers, sources have been cross-referenced to the WO 417 casualty lists. Casualties recorded by Coombs include some not included in official lists, which in turn include some not processed by Coombs’ RAP – including Corporal Ron Somerville.
p. 143 It is possible that the reported AFVs were self-propelled guns of 171st Artillery Regiment rather than tanks, which would have had to have come from 26th Panzer Division and may have been less easily deterred.
p. 144-46 As well as the Forester’s war diary, the detail of the Monte Zaccarelli action is primarily from Verity, OASpp. 198-99 and Tulloch, OAS, p. 181; also Les Lowe, OAS p. 192 and IWM Tape #15589, Reel 8. Tulloch mistakenly identifies the wounded on M. Zaccarelli as being from B Company. The 51 RTR war diary for this period is WO 170/0865.
p. 146 Although Verity, in OAS, p. 198, indicates a pre-dawn attack, both 5th SF and 51 RTR war diaries say the attack was at 10.00 as planned.
p. 146 Lieutenant Greenwood died on 11 September 1944 and is buried in Montecchio War Cemetery along with twenty-five other Foresters who fell during the Gothic Line actions. Although the war diary gives the date of his wounding as 4 September, both the casualty lists and Coombs notebook indicate 2 September.
pp. 146-47 Thompson’s wounding appears in the 5th SF war diary, Tulloch, OAS p. 181; Mellors’ diary in MSFMp. 134; and William Sheppard IWM Tape #13455, Reel 8. The details of exactly how the accident occurred vary slightly between accounts.
p. 147 There are twenty-one casualties recorded in WO 417. The 5th SF WD gives thirty-six for the two days; but some of these seem to be unreported casualties from 31 September.
p. 150 The Croce action is described in Lord, OAS, p. 190. MacDonald is buried at Montecchio War Cemetery.
p. 149 The Royal Fusiliers action at Croce is covered in Orgill, pp. 125–26, but not the Foresters’ involvement.
p. 149 Both the 139 Bde war diary, WO 170/0623, and ‘The Battle of Il Trebbio’ say that there were sixty-four PW taken by the Foresters 4–5 September. There are discrepancies with the Foresters’ own war diary which gives fifty-eight as the total taken on 4 September; and then a further eighteen POWs on 5 September, the others may have been taken by other companies.
p. 150 Casualties calculated from WO 417. For comparison, Hart, Heat of Battle, p. 130 says that the 16th DLI lost a roughly equal number (137) from 27 August to 4 September, while the 2/5th Leicesters war diary, WO 170/1427, gives 11 officer and 201 OR casualties over the eight days.
p. 150 The reference is WO 170/0459 46th Div WD, August 1944, Intelligence Report #22 30 Aug 1944.