9 SEP--This Day in US Military History

2015-09-09T09:41:22-04:00

1943 – Operation Avalanche, Western Naval Task Force under VADM Hewitt, USN, lands Allied forces at Salerno, Italy.

The US 5th Army (General Clark) lands at on beaches to the south of Salerno. His forces include the British 10th Corps (General McCreery) — the Northern Assault force, and US 6th Corps (General Dawley) — the Southern Assault Force. Naval support for the operation is under British Admiral Cunningham and a covering force (4 battleships and 2 carriers) under Admiral Willis, a support group (5 small carriers) under Admiral Vian and Admiral Hewitt commands the landing ships.
There is some resistance to the landings. To the north of the main landing, US Rangers and British Commandos land at Maiori and Vietri to secure mountain passes. In addition, the British 1st Airborne Division comes ashore at Taranto and seizes the port. To the south, the British 8th Army continues a slow advance. German forces near Rome engage the Italian garrison. The Italian government is forced to flee, leaving Rome under German occupation. Coast Guard units, including LCI(L) Flotilla 4 (a landing craft force manned and commanded entirely by the Coast Guard) participated.
As part of the Allied invasion of Italy the Americans land four divisions south of Naples. Three of these were the Guard’s 34th (IA, MN, ND, SD), 36th (TX) and 45th (AZ, CO, NM, OK) infantry divisions. Little resistance was expected since the Italian government had surrendered just prior to the landings. However strong German forces contest the invasion and inflicted heavy causalities on the Americans. During this operation the 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry, 36th Infantry Division earns a Presidential Unit Citation for its determined advance in spite of concentrated enemy fire. The 36th and 45th divisions would later take part in the invasion of southern France and end the war deep inside of Germany, while the 34th Division would continue fighting up the Italian “boot” securing the Po River Valley by war’s end.

https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/09/09/september-9/

September 9

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Response by SGT Scott Bell made Sep 9 at 2015 9:46 AM

2015-09-09T09:46:41-04:00

Cool