Van Lunteren - Spearhead of the Fifth Army: the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Italy, from the Winter Line to Anzio

Published in the United States of America and Great Britain in 2016 by
CASEMATE PUBLISHERS
1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083, USA
and
10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW, UK

Copyright 2016 Frank van Lunteren

Hardcover Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-427-3
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-428-0 (epub)

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

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Dedicated to all the officers and men who served in the 504th Regimental Combat Team in World War II. Their sacrifices will not be forgotten.

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Binyon, For the Fallen (1914)

Pierce took his wallet out and showed a photo of his daughter. He said, I hope to see them again. I said, Sure you will. But about a week later he was killed.

Pvt. Francis X. Keefe, I Company

On the Anzio Beachhead the enemy outposts were only two hundred yards from our front line.

1st Lt. Earnest H. Brown, D Company

When I joined the men along the railroad track I had them Fix Bayonets. This, because I thought we might have some hand to hand contact.

1st Lt. Roy M. Hanna, I Company

CONTENTS

by Capt. (Ret). Roy M. Hanna, 3rd Battalion, 504th PIR

by Col. Colin P. Tuley, 1st BCT, 82nd Airborne Division

LIST OF MAPS

FOREWORD

This new book, Spearhead of the Fifth Army, is about soldiers who spent their days during World War II in combat with the enemyI was one of them. If the reader is interested in getting the real feel of a combat soldier in war, Spearhead of the Fifth Army is the book to read. After a decade of research the author chose to write about one of the outstanding combat teams of World War II, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment [PIR], an integral part of the famed 82nd Airborne Division.

The 3rd Battalion of the 504th jumped into Sicily just before midnight on July 9, 1943 as part of the initial forces to invade Europe. From that day until the end of the war in Europe the 504th accumulated 289 days of front-line combat participating in six major campaigns: Sicily, NaplesFoggia, Anzio, Holland, the Ardennes, and Central Europe.

It was during the Italian Campaign that Gen. Mark W. Clark, commander of the American forces in Italy, singled out the 504th as one of the outstanding combat teams under his command. During the Anzio campaign the 504th acquired the name Devils in Baggy Pants. A captured German officer had written the following in his diary:

American parachutistsdevils in baggy pantsare less than 100 meters from my outpost, they pop up from nowhere and we never know when or how they will strike next. Seems the black-hearted devils are everywhere.

This book is about us, the individual soldiers, and our personal experiences as we went about our mission.

Captain (Ret.) Roy M. Hanna
3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment

INTRODUCTION

Frank van Lunterens new book, Spearhead of the Fifth Army, is about our paratrooper legacy. Vibrant, aggressive, humorous, witty, and with some mischief along the way, this book captures the essence and aura of the American paratrooper. Our veteran paratroopers lived up to the imagination and won glories that many folks simply cannot fathom. These heroes spent their time during World War II in combat, each and every day, facing their enemy in close proximity, with only a weapon in their hand and their fellow paratroopers to their left and right. If the reader is interested in getting the true feel of what life was like for a combat soldier, a 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper, in the complexity and chaos of direct action combat, then Spearhead of the Fifth Army is a must read.

After a decade of research Frank van Lunteren chose to write about the extraordinary exploits of one of our fabled combat teams of World War II, the 504th PIR.

Our airborne leaders and paratroopers today live up to the standards of excellence our forefathers fought for, died for, and won for. We are here today because of the heroic acts the 504th conducted throughout World War II, and specifically on the beaches in Italy.

This book is about the American soldier, the American paratrooper, the hardships, the glories, the teamwork, and the partnership with Italian citizens such as our recent honorary member of the 504th, Antonio Taurelli of Nettuno, an Italian citizen who voluntarily fought alongside F Company, 504th PIR.

Strike Hold! All The Way! Airborne!

Colonel Colin P. Tuley
Devil-6, 38th Colonel of the 504th Parchute Infantry Regiment
(May 28, 2015present) Commander, 1st Brigade Combat Team,
82nd Airborne Division

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

No history book like this can be written without the support of numerous people. Again, like with my first two books The Battle of the Bridges and Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper, I am blessed with the generous support by so many veterans and next of kin. My good friend Roy Hanna led I Companys charge at Anzio on February 8, 1944, and kindly agreed to write the Foreword. Colonel Colin Tuleycurrent commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 504th PIR, wrote the Introduction. Both continue to support methank you guys!

Spearhead of the Fifth Army chronicles the battles in the Italian mountains like Hill 1205 and the Anzio Beachhead that preceded the airborne operations in Normandy and Holland as previously chronicled in The Battle of the Bridges. The veterans of the 504th PIR experienced such severe battles that at different times in Italy rifle company strength dropped to below platoon size. They spearheaded the Fifth Army drive through the Barbara and Bernhard lines, hence the book title.

Anzio was, especially for the 3rd Battalion, a battle of attrition. It earned a Presidential Unit Citation [PUC] for its attachment to the British 1st Infantry Division at Carroceto and the Factory in early February and prevented the total annihilation of the 5th Grenadier Guards Battalion. Although initially held in reserve during the Anzio landings, Col. Tuckers troopers fought in the front lineand patrolled beyond itfor over two months. Borgo Piave, Borgo Sabotino, and Sessano are places they would never forget.

As a writer it is always a wonderful discovery when one finds new pieces of the regimental history that appear to have been forgottensuch as the pure chance connection made through our mutual Belgian Facebook friend Kristof de Geyter with Antonio Taurelli, grandson of the 89-year-old Antonio Tony Taurelli of Nettuno, Italy. Tony Taurelli had served as an Italian guide, interpreter, and assistant machine gunner in F Company for two months. His detailed memory of several events was amazing when checked with the battalion unit journal and other sources. He is the last living veteran of 2nd Lt. Stanley R. Navas fateful patrol of February 27, 1944.