At the Trident Conference in January 1943, FDR and Churchill both agreed that a push into Italy was absolutely nesscary. It would cut off Germany's main ally, give direct access to the Fatherland and please Stalin and the storming Red Army.
In Tunis 4 American divisions were mustered from the victorious, tired 7th Army. The 1st (Big Red One) Division, 3rd Division, and 45th Division plus the 2nd (Hells on Wheels) Armoured Division, making a total of 60 000 strong force to form the new Fifth Army, which was placed under command of Clark after long debate.
In Tripoli, another three British and one Canadian division was brought forth from the long African War, except for the Canadian corps which was transferred to the Medirterranean due to demands from the Canadian Chief of Army.
These two army, the Fifth and Eighth, were tasked to enter Italy in early July, sailing with the Western and Eastern Medirterranean Fleets respectively, under Hewitt and Ramsey. After a quick voyage pass Sicily, they would arrange themselves off the Italian coast, and the Eighth Army would assault Salerno, with the ultimate objective of Naples.
This was Operation Avalanche. The Fifth would follow up in reinforcement, landing all of the army by July 15th, upon which date both armies were to move further inland and somehow, Clark was to secure and hold Naples while Monty would move towards Bari, on the opposite coast.
Log of Lieutenant General Mark W Clark
This morning I got the finalization from Ike; Operation Avalanche was too go ahead. In disregard of weather or chance, now all I can do is pray to God those boys make it ashore. Nothing I can do will change it. I can't cancel it. There is every chance of it stuffing up, but I have complete confidence in the Fifth Army to succeed.
I made sure that Hewitt was ready, and he was too excited honestly. I could hardly believe that, near the first invasion of Europe!, that he was happily preparing for some sort of great naval battle. This is impossibly hard to expect, seeing as the Italian Navy has been restricted to the far north Tyrennhean Sea.
But he was ready, at least. The ships sailed on the 8th, and the meterologist is sure no freak storm could possibly develop. I'm hoping the same doesn't happen in Command; if Montgomery dare displays any act of complaining, I'll happily bombard his position on invasion day.
I can only hope that nothing goes wrong. Hell, it feels like a hundred and fifty years of America is hanging on my shoulders.
~
On July 8th the Western Mediterranean Fleet sailed from Algiers, Oran and Tunis. They carried the combined strength of 60 000 Americans, and the ships themselves thousands of crew. Not to mention the hundreds of bombers flying in close formation overhead, it was a spectacle which was titanic.
Another surprise waited for Clark. On the 7th, Eisenhower suddenly revealed a fleet of air transports which could supply the invading armies, along with the addition of the experienced 82nd Airborne Division, under Ridgway, waiting in Tunis.
The troops entered the ships; scared and anxious. No seaborne invasion had happened since Torch, and that was a feat which had been carried over huge Atlantic swells, into harbours which were undecided whether friend or foe.
On July 9th, the air fleets dropped their loads of bombs, and they screamed and whistled away. The approaching ships, Royal Navy or USN, and their sailors stood at the decks and gaped at the bright orange flashes thundering along the Italian and Sicilian coastline. The fury and destruction they wrought was not discovered until days after the invasion; it was devastating.
Late at night on the 11th, the Fifth Army loaded onto Higgins and LSTs and rumbled into the Gulf of Salerno. Using the roars of war in front, from the entrenched and two day old Eighth Army, the craft tumbled onto kilometres of beaches along Salerno, and 40 000 men rushed onto the beach.
Though the Italians were outnumbered and outgunned, they still put up a tough defense to the initial British and Canadian landings.
The invasion, simply described, was a chaotic hell. By the time the Americans were established, the 1st Canadian Division was straining heavily on the left flank, nearly bursting under the pressure of several Italian divisions. Freyberg, sent urgent requests to the 45th to reinforce them, seeing as Monty stubbornly refused Yankee help, and the Americans rolled into action.
With the action days old, the Germans and Italians soon melted under the hot advance of the Allies. With rocket artillery and the USN added to the RN and heavy Royal Artillery, the insanity of action which followed was enough to rupture the gunners eardrums, within minutes. By the 12th, the only combat was the Royal Marines, as they surged forward with the aid of the Hells on Wheels, cheering them as the heavy tanks crashed into battle. Soon the scars of war was all the Axis troops left behind, as they withdrew late on the 12th.
Bernard Freyberg was in command of the Canadian Corps during Operation Avalanche. A veteran soldier who was rumoured to be the 'first ashore at Gallipoli', he was raised in New Zealand and has spent over seven years fighting Germany.
The combat experienced by the 5th Army had been relatively weak compared to the power the 8th Army had taken. Casualties were put down to at least 1500 dead, mostly from the Royal Marines and 51st Highlanders, but the logistics were disorganized and in need of recovery.
Relieved, Operation Avalanche was deemed a success, and on the 15th Montgomery sent a telegram to Alexander, informing him that 'due to the heavy combat of the 8th Army, we succeeded in holding and defeating the Hun horde.' Clark was less joyous about the victory though, 'We were lucky to arrive at that time.'
By the 18th the Allies had recovered enough to push outwards in force, capturing Naples on the 19th in a victorious entry, something which Churchill hoped 'would be repeated in Rome', and the British Prime Minister was soon paying close attention to the Italian theatre, to the chagrin of Monty.
Late at night on the 21st Clark transferred the 5th Army HQ to Naples, where he immediately ordered the reconstruction of Naples, due to the intense bombing on the 9th, it was mostly destroyed and denying the Allies a vital port. They were soon having hard troubles in pulling back from the invasion, trying to regroup.
To help with this effort, the 82nd Airborne 'All American' division was, strangely, shipped to Naples on the 21st, as well, under command of Ridgway. The Americans 5th Army was soon up to 75 000 strong, a heavy force ready to prove itself in European combat.
The Americans troops after Salerno were largely positive. Many viewed the reinforcement of the 8th at Salerno as a 'relief force' and as Allen, commander of the 1st Division said, 'We saved the damn battle!'. Unlike the British logistical effort, the Americans were at full strength, had more manpower and were well supplied and stock due to the transport fleet. Soon Clark was pushing for the conclusion of Avalanche; the liberation of Bari.
A message arrived on the 22nd from Eisenhower, 'Unforunlty, due to constraints placed by requests from specific commanders, I have to deny this request, Mark. Instead, Montgomery will take the 8th into Bari to solidify the supply line'.
Operation Avalanche had been a huge success, considering how catastrophic it could have been. With the biggest town in Southern Italy in Allied hands, now they needed to supply their 200 000 strong armies. Naples alone, was not enough.
