SICILY

“THE GHOST MARCH”

From the African harbor at Mers el Kebir, twelve ships carried the 9th Infantry to the capital city of Sicily on July 28th. The voyage was peaceful, the skies and seas of the Mediterranean were dominated by the Allies. But on August 1, as they entered the harbor of Palermo, a German bombing raid unloaded on them in the darkness of early morning. The Junkers Ju 87s or “Stuka” dive-bombers succeeded in sinking one ship in the convoy and killing a handful of Americans on the ship decks, but lost planes from the anti-aircraft return fire. The 60th Regiment escaped entirely unscathed. Captain Matt Urban was on deck of the S.S Orizaba, and assisted in spotting for the gunnery crews as their spotter was killed in the first wave. Pvt. Simpson of the 9th Reconnaissance Group manned a gun and managed to shoot down a plane. As the sun rose, the 9th began to disembark into the city taken by Patton’s 2nd Armored days earlier. The harbor was in shambles, destroyed by bombings and the men bivouacked 12 miles east of the city. The next day they move inland to the town of Nicosia where their mission assignment awaited.

The plan had been to use the 9th to relieve the 1st Infantry that had arrived earlier in the initial invasion landings south of the island. The 1st had fought its way north and by August 1st was just outside the town of Troina. General Bradley saw the perfect opportunity to use the 60th Infantry Regiment’s expertise in mountain fighting for the final push through the Caronie Mountains to the German’s stronghold at Messina.

The Germans had the town of Troina heavily defended and drove back numerous attempts by the 1st Infantry to break through, despite its own sizable force pushing along the well-paved highway leading to town. The German weakness was to the north, an area of steep mountains and mule trails believed to be unaccessible to any armed units. General Bradley decided the 60th would need to trek these mountains to force the enemy to retreat by cutting the one road leading to Randazzo from the north coast. The flanking attack from Capizzi would have to be done in complete silence and darkness to achieve total surprise from Mt. Pelato – a battle tactic called “a ghost march”. The total distance would be about 40 miles for 4,000 men to cover, with the minimum equipment of a few rations and one blanket per man to survive the cold mountains. Behind them, the 15th Engineers would follow to build a road behind the flanking regiment.

Captain Urban again led F Company’s 150 men in the mountain march. He recalled: Cattle could not even be disturbed. German scouts were known to wear cowbells as a way to remain undetected in these hilly pastures. Frequently we found ourselves crouching in the underbrush, waiting for a herd of scrubby dairy cows to pass. Even the singing of birds and the routines of wildlife had to be undisturbed. Most difficult of all were the necessary halts during twelve hours of daylight. We were already cramped by the penetrating cold of the mountain altitude and had to crouch in awkward positions, squeezed together, almost motionless. We were forced to endure long, drawn-out days. Areas infested with biting insects made our flesh twitch and suffer painful stings.

It was late on the third night that a weakened Captain Urban had a misstep and began to slip down the steep mountainside. He caught himself with the roots of a shrub and held on over the rocky drop below. Since it was dark and the men had been spaced in intervals, he feared recuse wouldn’t arrive. Luckily a few attentive soldiers noticed the captain was gone and and reached him, pulled him back up and saved his life.

The ghost march had worked. German artillery north of Troina got word of the flanking battalion and chose to withdraw from their position. The removal of the artillery forced the rest of the defenders of Troina to withdraw the city as well, allowing the 1st Division to move in and occupy the stronghold.

“RACE TO MESSINA”

The 60th continued their ghost march from Mt. Pelato to Mt. Camolato, just north of Cesarò, the Goums steadily protecting their flank on the north. The 1st Battalion ran into German artillery early in the morning before reaching the mountain. They sustained high casualties in the shelling – 27 dead and least 100 wounded. The battlion was completely pinned down by the Germans on the high ground. Lawrence’s 2nd Battalion took up positions just behind the 1st when a strong patrol of Germans ambushed the rear squads and killed five men. Fortunately, the 60th’s artillery was able to reached a position to counterattack in a deep ravine. Using air plane observers, they could locate the German artillery in its own ravine and shelled the position, freeing the trapped battalion. The German guns had been the new Nebelwerfer rocket gun, nicknamed the screaming meenie by American troops for its high-pitched wailing sound the six-barreled weapon produced. It could fire much quicker than the 88’s they used in Africa and were much more agile, allowing for swift directional changes.

By the next morning, American patrols found the Germans had withdrawn again, leaving Mt. Camolato for the 2nd Battalion to occupy. Meanwhile the 47th Regiment moved on the city of Cesaro to the south. The Germans had left a trail of blown bridges and mine fields, but did little to stop the advance and quickly the 47th gained control of the city. With the 60th quickly trekking over the Caronie Mountains in a constant flanking maneuver, the Germans were forced to retreat from their positions near the Mt. Etna volcano. Once again, their rear guard focused on artillery shelling and mine fields to slow the progress of the advance.

They were full of ‘teller mines’, ‘S’ mines, booby traps, and some of the dead Germans were booby-trapped because they knew the Americans were looking for souvenirs, blowing up in their face. We had several people trapped in a mine field and one of them called for a medic and I went in with Maganelli, I believe his name was, from California. He was the first-aid man working with me. First thing he did was kneel down on a teller mine and blew his leg off. He laid there and I put a tourniquet on and the first thing he asked for was a cigarette. I gave him one and he lit it and took about three puffs and died. – 9th Infantry Medic Robert Hughes, north of Randazzo.

With the smoldering and smoking volcano to their south, the 60th continued its long footslog under artillery bombardment and reached the town of Floresta. They moved further to take the mountains of Monte Moro and Monte Pomarazzo, facing excessive artillery shelling zeroed-in on the latter. They soon took Monte Albano and on August 14, they pushed on the town of Basico. With the remaining island of Sicily narrowing towards Messina, the 9th halted and was pinched-out by the 3rd Infantry Division to the north and the British to the south. The 9th’s campaign in Sicily was over and three days later, Messina fell and all of Sicily was liberated from Nazi rule.

It was cold up in the mountains, especially when the clouds came down at night. Many a supply mule had his hooves tied, was flopped to the ground, and a couple of GIs hunkered down beside the mules to keep warm. The after-smell on the GIs wasn’t too great. On some days, there would be heavy artillery fire, blown bridges, and roads that were heavily mined. During this campaign, although we did have our supply problems licked, it was probably tougher on the men than the Sedjeanne, owing to the extreme rugged areas of the country. We hiked long distances each day, and the men were generally exhausted. However, we did eat everyday. – Charles Willsher

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TO ALL TROOPS, 9TH INFANTRY DIVISION - - 18 AUGUST 1943

With the campaign in Sicily drawing to a close, I can tell you that once AGAIN you have brilliantly justified my confidence and pride in you as courageous, efficient, fighting organization. The mountainous terrain over which you so successfully attacked must have been a challenge to your spirit and stamina - a challenge, I want to say, you met in the highest tradition of the United States Army. The problems you were forced to solve in supply alone would have stopped a less determined division. You have accomplished almost impossible feats of engineering, communication, and evacuation. The lessons you learned in Tunisia have served you well in Sicily. In every branch you have well earned in the minds of your commanders, your country, AND YOUR ENEMIES, the title of “the VETERAN Ninth Division.”

You have all witnessed the wretchedness, the suffering, and the want that war brings to the people of the land in which the war is fought. God forbid that our loved ones at home will have to experience what peoples of Sicily, Italy, and Germany are now experiencing. It is up to everyone of us to see that this war is brought to a quick and successful conclusion. This can be brought about only by determination for vigorous action in that direction by every individual of this command.

– Major General Manton S. Eddy

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By August 26th, the 9th had moved to the picturesque sea town of Cefalu on the northern coast of Sicily. It was a much needed rest and the men engaged in light daily training, recreation, and daily passes to travel to Palermo – which was still the bustling capital city despite the damage done by bombing raids. Food was now in abundance and provided much more variety than the rations of spam they had in the mountains. The popular ‘Donut Girls’ from the Red Cross made deliveries and men bought cows and pigs from farmers to butcher. Men were able to put weight back on that they had lost in the previous weeks. The 9th marched in a victory parade in front of the town’s main attraction – the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Cefalu. On the 26th, General Patton arrived to address the 9th with a stirring speech of total victory and just days later Italy surrendered unconditionally, leaving the Nazis as the sole enemy of the Allies in Europe. The rest also allowed commanders to catch up on paperwork, rank promotions were given out and medals were awarded.

Above is the picture Lawrence had taken in Palermo. He’s standing just outside of the Porta Nuova, the ancient triumphal arch and tower gate built in 1570 marking the entrance to the city. Ironically, it was built under the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to celebrate his conquest of Tunis in 1535. Here, Lawrence is celebrating his own conquest of Tunisia, as well as Sicily, and his promotion to private first class. The ribbon pinned above his left pocket is his newly awarded Good Conduct Medal for one full year in the service of the Army. On his finger is likely a military signet ring, current location unknown.

Earlier in the fall, the invasion of Italy had stalled with the Allies struggling to secure the beachhead at Anzio. The 9th had been alerted to head to Italy to back them up, but the health of the entire division was still a problem in Sicily. The vast majority of the men hadn’t slept in a bed in months and combined with the rigorous miles they had marched, their hips were calloused and breaking down. Their knees had rheumatism and they suffered from amoebic dysentery and various other gastrointestinal disorders. It was decided in September to bring them to England instead and allow them more months to rest and recover. The Allies had suffered great losses at Anzio, but they soon had secured the beachhead and were pushing the Germans out of Italy.