90-624: Operation Buffalo may refer to: Operation Buffalo, a 1944 military operation, part of the Battle of Anzio in World War II Operation Buffalo (1956) , four open-air nuclear tests at Maralinga, South Australia Operation Buffalo (1967) , a Vietnam War operation Operation Buffalo (TV series) , 2020 drama series based on the 1956 Operation Buffalo nuclear tests See also [ edit ] Operation Büffel (Buffalo),
180-549: A 1943 withdrawal of the German 9th Army Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Operation Buffalo . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Buffalo&oldid=1241937349 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
270-538: A few days earlier. All available reserves from the southern front or on their way to it were rushed toward Anzio and Nettuno; these included the 3rd Panzer Grenadier and 71st Infantry Divisions , and the bulk of the Luftwaffe's Hermann Göring Panzer Division. Kesselring initially considered that a successful defence could not be made if the Allies launched a major attack on January 23 or January 24. However, by
360-582: A fighting retreat at 5pm to the Factory with the aid of artillery, and a successful assault launched by the London Scottish, of 168th Brigade, supported by the 46th Royal Tank Regiment (46 RTR). From February 5 to February 7 both sides employed heavy artillery concentrations and bombers to disrupt the other side and at 21:00 on February 7 the Germans renewed their attack. Once more
450-735: A landing in the Anzio area, followed by an advance into the Alban Hills , to cut German communications and "threaten the rear of the German XIV Panzer Corps " (under Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin ). It was hoped that such an advance would draw German forces away from the Monte Cassino area and facilitate an Allied breakthrough. Planners argued that if Kesselring (in charge of German forces in Italy) pulled troops out of
540-441: A prolonged barrage of shrapnel, machine-gun fire and bombs. The gun crew fought back with shellfire and shot down five German planes. Further troop movements including the arrival of U.S. 45th Infantry Division and U.S. 1st Armored Division , brought Allied forces total on the beachhead to 69,000 men, 508 guns and 208 tanks by January 29, whilst the total defending Germans had risen to 71,500. Lucas initiated
630-446: A rapid, focused thrust to cut it off. Some hours after the attack started the coherence of the front line had been completely shattered, and the fighting for the salient had given way to small unit actions, swaying back and forth through the gullies. In the morning of February 4 the situation was becoming more serious, with the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards (of 24th Guards Brigade ), only having one cohesive rifle company left and on
720-462: A second American corps, II Corps , commanded by Major General Geoffrey Keyes . By the end of November Clark's Fifth Army had almost doubled in size, with the addition of French General Alphonse Juin 's French Expeditionary Corps , from 130,247 men to 243,827. With the failure of the first operations to capture Monte Cassino, an attempt was made to exploit the Allied preponderance in seapower before
810-561: A seven-mile wide front, but failed to break through or capture Cisterna. On the right, ahead of the main assault, two Ranger battalions made a daring covert advance towards Cisterna. Due to faulty intelligence, when daylight arrived they were engaged and cut off. A brutal battle with elements of the Fallschirm-Panzer Division 'Hermann Göring' followed. Rangers began surrendering individually or in small groups prompting others, acting on their own authority, to shoot them. Of
900-512: A subordinate Contingency Command Post (CCP), known as Task Force-51, which is responsible for responding to all hazards incidents that require DOD assistance. TF-51 can be employed as an all-hazards task force or a Joint Task Force (JTF) with joint augmentation. In 2020, ARNORTH mitigated the COVID-19 pandemic by setting up hospitals using 15 Urban Augmentation Medical Task Forces. The current organization of US Army North as of 21 December 2021
990-497: A surprise, Kesselring had made contingency plans to deal with possible landings at all the likely locations. All the plans relied on his divisions each having previously organised a motorized rapid reaction unit ( Kampfgruppe ) which could move speedily to meet the threat and buy time for the rest of the defenses to get in place. At 5 a.m. he initiated Operation "Richard" and ordered the Kampfgruppe of 4th Parachute Division and
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#17327810979591080-587: A two-pronged attack on January 30. While one force was to cut Highway 7 at Cisterna di Latina before moving east into the Alban Hills, a second was to advance northeast up the Via Anziate towards Campoleone. In heavy fighting British 1st Division made ground but failed to take Campoleone and ended the battle in an exposed salient stretching up the Via Anziate. The main attack by the U.S. 3rd Division captured ground up to 3 miles (4.8 km) deep on
1170-504: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Battle of Anzio Allied victory [REDACTED] 15th Army Group [REDACTED] Army Group C Invasion of Italy Winter Line Gothic Line 1945 Spring Offensive The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that commenced January 22, 1944. The battle began with
1260-537: Is the joint force land component of NORTHCOM. ARNORTH is responsible for homeland defense and defense support of civil authorities. ARNORTH is headquartered at Fort Sam Houston , Texas . Redesignated ARNORTH in 2004, it was first activated in early January 1943 as the United States Fifth Army , under the command of Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark . The first iteration of the Fifth Army
1350-552: The 167th Brigade , of the recently arrived 56th (London) Division, and virtually destroyed X and Y Companies of the 8th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers , each of which was reduced from around 125 down to a single officer and 10 other ranks. One of the men killed was Second Lieutenant Eric Waters, whose son Roger Waters of Pink Floyd , created a song ( When the Tigers Broke Free ) in memory of his father and describes his death. By February 18, after desperate fighting,
1440-583: The Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle , and ended on June 4, 1944, with the liberation of Rome . The operation was opposed by German and by Italian Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI) forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno . Allied landings on the Italian mainland began in September 1943, and after slow gains against German resistance, the progress was stopped in December 1943 at
1530-533: The Allied Armies in Italy , had already considered such a plan since October using five divisions. However, the 5th Army did not have the troops nor the means to transport them. Clark proposed landing a reinforced division to divert German troops from Monte Cassino . This second landing, however, instead of failing similarly , would hold "the shingle" for a week in expectation of a breakthrough at Cassino, and so
1620-756: The British Mandate in Palestine , South Africans, Rhodesians ), as well as Brazilians and exiled forces from Poland, Greece, former Czechoslovakia and anti-fascist Italians. The Germans reestablished their line across Italy at the level of Pisa and Rimini . The Allied forces spent another winter, after fierce fighting in the summer and autumn in front of the Gothic Line , frustrated at their lack of ability to break through. This time Fifth Army, with British XIII Corps under command, led by Lieutenant-General Sidney Kirkman (whose relationship with Clark
1710-553: The German Tenth Army 's units fighting at Monte Cassino , Truscott, on Clark's orders, reluctantly turned his forces north-west towards Rome, which was captured on June 4, 1944. As a result, the forces of the German Tenth Army fighting at Cassino were able to withdraw and rejoin the rest of Kesselring's forces north of Rome, regroup, and make a fighting withdrawal to his next major prepared defensive position on
1800-488: The Gothic Line . The battle was costly, with 24,000 U.S. and 10,000 British casualties. At the end of 1943, following the Allied invasion of Italy , Allied forces were bogged down at the Gustav Line , a defensive line across Italy south of the strategic objective of Rome. The terrain of central Italy had proved ideally suited to defense, and Field Marshal Albert Kesselring took full advantage. Operation Shingle
1890-526: The Hermann Göring Fallschirm Panzer Division to defend the roads leading from Anzio to the Alban Hills via Campoleone and Cisterna whilst his plans expected some 20,000 defending troops to have arrived by the end of the first day. In addition, he requested that OKW send reinforcements, and in response to this they ordered the equivalent of more than three divisions from France, Yugoslavia , and Germany whilst at
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#17327810979591980-542: The Via Latina , running along the eastern flanks of the Monti Laziali, risking entrapment. The marshes were turned into cultivatable land in the 1930s under Benito Mussolini . Canals and pumping stations were built to remove the brackish water from the land. These canals divided the land into personal tracts with new stone houses for colonists from northern Italy. Mussolini also founded the five cities destroyed by
2070-586: The 767 men in the 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions, six returned to the Allied lines and 761 were killed or captured. By early February, German forces in Fourteenth Army numbered some 100,000 troops organised into two Army Corps, the 1st Parachute Corps under Schlemm and the LXXVI ;Panzer Corps under Lieutenant General Traugott Herr . Allied forces by this time totalled 76,400 (including
2160-552: The Allies and destroy them by epidemic . For weeks a rain of shells fell on the beach, the marsh, the harbour, and on anything else observable from the hills, with little distinction between forward and rear positions. After a month of heavy but inconclusive fighting, Lucas was relieved and sent home. His replacement was Major General Lucian Truscott , who had commanded the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division. The Allies broke out in May. But, instead of striking inland to cut lines of communication of
2250-424: The Allies were forced to give ground and by February 10 they had been pushed out of the salient. Lucas ordered attacks on February 11 to regain the lost ground but the Germans, forewarned by a radio intercept, repelled the Allies' poorly coordinated attack. On February 16, the Germans launched a new offensive ( Operation Fischfang ) down the line of the Via Anziate, supported by Tiger tanks . They overran
2340-419: The Allies' Final Beachhead Line (prepared defenses more or less on the line of the original beachhead) was under attack. Numerous attacks were launched on 1st Battalion, Loyal Regiment (2nd Brigade) and they lost a company, overrun, and the day after had suffered 200 casualties. On the same day Major-General Ronald Penney , General Officer Commanding (GOC) British 1st Division, had been wounded by shellfire and
2430-461: The Anzio beachhead. By early summer, Allied forces were well on their way to capturing Rome. At this point, one of the more controversial incidents in the history of Fifth Army occurred. The strategic conception of General Sir Harold Alexander , commanding the Allied Armies in Italy (later redesigned 15th Army Group ), was that the forces of VI Corps, coming out of Anzio, would trap the retreating German forces, and leave them to be annihilated by
2520-787: The Anzio-Nettuno area, especially since March; the land units were part of the German 14th Army: only the paratroopers of the "Nembo" Battalion were there since February, participating in the German counterattack. In March the infantrymen of the "Barbarigo" Battalion (from Decima Flottiglia MAS under Captain Junio Valerio Borghese ) joined the frontline along the Canale Mussolini . Churchill had continued to bridle at Lucas' perceived passivity. He had written on February 10 to General Alexander encouraging him to exert his authority and Alexander had visited
2610-578: The Army Service Component Command of United States Northern Command. Joint Task Force-Civil Support , a subordinate command, is designated as the Department of Defense (DoD) command element for Department of Defense assistance to the overall federal response to a state governments request for assistance in the event of a catastrophic chemical, biological, nuclear or high yield explosive CBRNE emergency. The command also has
2700-696: The Army from 16 December 1944 until the war's end. Another change came in January 1945 when XIII Corps reverted to control of British Eighth Army, which had also seen many changes in composition and command, and was now commanded by Lieutenant-General Richard L. McCreery. In the final offensive of the Italian campaign, launched in April 1945, against the German Army Group C , the Eighth Army initiated
2790-552: The Brenner Pass, where they linked up with elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, under Lieutenant General Alexander Patch . Its role in Italy cost Fifth Army dearly. It suffered 109,642 casualties in 602 days of combat, of which 19,475 were killed in action. The Fifth Army headquarters returned to the United States in September 1945. Fifth Army was inactivated on 2 October 1945 at Camp Myles Standish , Massachusetts. In
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2880-470: The Fifth Army staff they felt that Shingle was properly a two corps or even a full army task. A few days prior to the attack, Lucas wrote in his diary, "They will end up putting me ashore with inadequate forces and get me in a serious jam... Then, who will get the blame?" and "[The operation] has a strong odour of Gallipoli and apparently the same amateur was still on the coach's bench." The "amateur" can only have referred to Winston Churchill, architect of
2970-485: The German defensive Gustav Line , south of Rome. The operation was initially commanded by Major General John P. Lucas , of the U.S. Army , commanding U.S. VI Corps with the intent to outflank German forces at the Winter Line and enable an attack on Rome . The success of an amphibious landing at that location, in a basin consisting substantially of reclaimed marshland and surrounded by mountains, depended on
3060-564: The Germans had over 40,000 troops in prepared defensive positions. Three days after the landings, the beachhead was surrounded by a defence line consisting of three divisions: The 4th Parachute Division to the west, the 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division to the center in front of Alban Hills, the Hermann Göring Panzer Division to the east. Von Mackensen's 14th Army assumed overall control of the defence on January 25. Elements of eight German divisions were employed in
3150-413: The Germans had sustained some 5,400 casualties, the Allies 3,500. Both had suffered nearly 20,000 casualties each since the first landings, and it was " far the highest density of destruction in the Italian campaign, perhaps in the whole war " . Also on February 18 while returning to Anzio the light cruiser HMS Penelope was struck by two torpedoes and sunk with a loss of 417 men. Despite
3240-495: The Gustav Line began on January 16, 1944, at Monte Cassino . The operation failed to break through, but it partly succeeded in its primary objective. Heinrich von Vietinghoff, commanding the Gustav Line, called for reinforcements, and Kesselring transferred the 29th and 90th Panzergrenadier Divisions from Rome. The landings began on January 22, 1944. Although resistance had been expected, as seen at Salerno during 1943,
3330-525: The Gustav Line to defend against the Allied assault, then Allied forces would be able to break through the line; if Kesselring didn't pull troops out of the Gustav Line, then Operation Shingle would threaten to capture Rome and cut off the German units defending the Gustav Line. Should Germany have adequate reinforcements available to defend both Rome and the Gustav Line, the Allies felt that the operation would nevertheless be useful in engaging forces which could otherwise be committed on another front. The operation
3420-719: The US 3rd Division penetrated 3 miles (5 km) inland. In the first days of operations, the command of the Italian resistance movement had a meeting with the Allied General Headquarters: it offered to guide the Allied Force through the Alban Hills territory, but the Allied Command refused the proposal. It is clear that Lucas' superiors expected some kind of offensive action from him. The point of
3510-418: The advancing Fifth and Eighth Armies. However, in contravention of orders, Clark diverted units of VI Corps towards Rome, leaving a small blocking force to attempt to stop the Germans. It failed to do so, and the German forces were able to escape and reestablish a coherent line to the north of Rome. Clark claimed that there were significant German threats which necessitated the diversion, but many believe that he
3600-666: The approach of the British Eighth Army , under General Bernard Montgomery (the Eighth Army had landed further south in Operation Baytown , six days before Avalanche), the German 10th Army began to retreat. On 20 September, by which time the Fifth and Eighth Armies had linked up, Major General Dawley, VI Corps commander, was relieved of his command by Clark. Dawley was temporarily made deputy army commander, and
3690-419: The area, although U.S. 5th Army intelligence severely underestimated the German 10th Army's fighting capacity at the time, believing many of their units would be worn out after the defensive battles fought since September. Task Force 81 Allied forces landed: approx. 40,000 soldiers, and 5,000+ vehicles Naval losses: 2 light cruisers, 3 destroyers, 2 minesweepers, 1 hospital ship The Fifth Army's attack on
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3780-551: The assault landings at Salerno , part of the Allied invasion of Italy , in September 1943. Due to the comparatively low numbers of American troops available in the Mediterranean Theater it was made up of one American and one British corps. They were the U.S. VI Corps , under Major General Ernest J. Dawley and the British X Corps , under Lieutenant-General Richard L. McCreery . At Salerno, VI Corps landed on
3870-481: The battle. When Lucian Truscott 's 3rd Division was first selected for the operation, he pointed out to Clark that the position was a death trap and there would be no survivors. Agreeing, Clark canceled the operation, but Prime Minister Churchill revived it. The two allies had different concepts: the Americans viewed such a landing as another distraction from Cassino, but if they could not break through at Cassino,
3960-718: The beaches in the vicinity of Rome with the object of cutting the enemy lines of communication and threatening the rear of the German XIV ;Corps [on the Gustav Line]." His written orders to Lucas did not really reflect this. Initially Lucas had received orders to "1. Seize and secure a beachhead in the vicinity of Anzio 2. Advance and secure Colli Laziali [the Alban Hills] 3. Be prepared to advance on Rome". Clark's final orders stated "... 2. Advance on Colli Laziali" giving Lucas considerable flexibility as to
4050-646: The beachhead on February 14 to tell Lucas he wished for a breakout as soon as the tactical situation allowed. After his visit Alexander wrote to the Chief of the Imperial General Staff , Alan Brooke , saying: United States Army North The United States Army North (ARNORTH) is a formation of the United States Army . An Army Service Component Command (ASCC) subordinate to United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM), ARNORTH
4140-743: The coming invasion of Normandy robbed the Mediterranean of the naval forces necessary for an amphibious assault to seize Rome . VI Corps, with its experience of amphibious landings at Salerno, was chosen for the assault and withdrawn from the line, replaced by the French Expeditionary Corps. They made a second attempt to capture Monte Cassino in conjunction with the amphibious assault by VI Corps, which again failed. VI Corps landed at Anzio , unopposed, on 22 January 1944 in Operation Shingle , and suffered many of
4230-599: The defence line around the beachhead, and five more divisions were on their way to the Anzio area. Kesselring ordered an attack on the beachhead for January 28, though it was postponed to February 1. Liberty ships , which were never intended as warships, were involved in some fighting during the Battle of Anzio. On 22 to 30 January 1944 the SS ; Lawton B. Evans was under repeated bombardment from shore batteries and aircraft throughout an eight-day period. It endured
4320-492: The difficulties of the fighting in Italy so far, which could be said of the whole campaign. They were, he claimed, " Terrain, weather, carefully prepared defensive positions in the mountains, determined and well-trained enemy troops, grossly inadequate means at our disposal while on the offensive, with approximately equal forces to the defender. " The Fifth Army first saw action during the Salerno landings (Operation Avalanche),
4410-468: The disastrous Gallipoli landings of World War I and advocate of Shingle . One of the problems with the plan was the availability of landing ships . The American commanders in particular were determined that nothing should delay the Normandy invasion and the supporting landings in southern France . Operation Shingle would require the use of landing ships necessary for these operations. Initially Shingle
4500-458: The division was temporarily commanded by Major-General Templer, GOC 56th (London) Division, which had arrived complete. However, a counterattack using VI Corps' reserves halted the German advance, and on February 20, Fischfang petered out with both sides exhausted. An important contribution was the Allied artillery, outshooting the German by a ratio of about ten to one which had broken up attacks hitting German assembly areas. During Fischfang
4590-425: The element of surprise and the swiftness with which the invaders could build up strength and move inland relative to the reaction time and strength of the defenders. Any delay could result in the occupation of the mountains by the defenders and the consequent entrapment of the invaders. Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark , commander of the U.S. Fifth Army , understood that risk, but he did not pass on his appreciation of
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#17327810979594680-407: The end of January 22, the lack of aggressive action convinced him that a defence could be made. Nevertheless, few additional defenders arrived on January 23, although the arrival on the evening of January 22 of Lieutenant General Alfred Schlemm and his 1st Parachute Corps headquarters brought greater organisation and purpose to the German defensive preparations. By January 24,
4770-407: The exhausted state of the troops, Hitler insisted that 14th Army should continue to attack. Despite the misgivings of both Kesselring and von Mackensen, a further assault was mounted on February 29, this time on LXXVI Panzer Corps' front around Cisterna. This push achieved little except to generate a further 2,500 casualties for the 14th Army. Some Italian RSI units fought in
4860-841: The field forces of the U.S. Seventh Army for the invasion of the French Riviera , Operation Dragoon . The French Expeditionary Corps was also withdrawn, to allow its men to be used to for the French First Army , a follow-up formation for Dragoon. In slightly less than two months, the strength of the Fifth Army dropped from 248,989 down to 153,323. However, the 25,000-strong Brazilian Expeditionary Force , under Marshal J.B. Mascarenhas de Morais , as well as other divisions had arrived to align with U.S. IV Corps (which had arrived in June) under Major General Willis D. Crittenberger , so two corps were maintained within Fifth Army. In
4950-481: The fighting was fierce and they managed to infiltrate between the 5th Battalion, Grenadier Guards (24th Guards Brigade) and the 2nd Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment (2nd Brigade) and nearly surrounded them; it was for his leadership of British counterattacks during this period that Major William Sidney , a company commander in the 5th Grenadier Guards, was later awarded the Victoria Cross . Slowly
5040-554: The informal athletic competitions held between units of the European and North African theaters, the Fifth Army was among the most successful, winning titles in baseball, boxing, swimming and football during the 1944 season. The football championship was gained after a victory over 12th Air Force in the Spaghetti Bowl on 1 January 1945. (Part of 15th Army Group ) The Army's next role was considerably less violent, and it
5130-478: The initial landings were essentially unopposed, with the exception of desultory Luftwaffe strafing runs. By midnight, 36,000 soldiers and 3,200 vehicles had landed on the beaches. Thirteen Allied troops were killed, and 97 wounded; about 200 Germans had been taken as POWs . The British 1st Division penetrated 2 miles (3 km) inland, the Rangers captured Anzio's port, the 509th PIB captured Nettuno, and
5220-478: The landing was to turn the German defences on the Winter Line, taking advantage of their exposed rear and hopefully panicking them into retreating northwards past Rome. However, Lucas instead poured more men and material into his tiny bridgehead, and strengthened his defences. Winston Churchill was clearly displeased with this action. He said: "I had hoped we were hurling a wildcat into the shore, but all we got
5310-651: The main offensive on the Adriatic coast, and then the Fifth Army also broke through the German defenses around Bologna. The German units, in the main, were pinned against the Po River and destroyed, or at the very least deprived of their transport and heavy weapons, which effectively made many of them useless. II Corps units raced through Milan towards the French frontier and the great port of Genoa . IV Corps pushed due north through Verona, Vicenza and as far as Bolzano and to
5400-515: The men at Anzio would be trapped. Churchill and the British high command envisioned an outflanking movement ending with the capture of Rome. Mediterranean Theatre commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower , leaving to take command of Operation Overlord , left the decision up to Churchill with a warning about German unpredictability. The final plan called for Lucas to lead the US VI Corps in
5490-639: The operation was named Shingle. The Anzio beachhead is at the northwestern end of a tract of reclaimed marshland, formerly the Pontine Marshes , now the Pontine Fields (Agro Pontino). Previously uninhabitable due to mosquitoes carrying malaria , in Roman times armies marched as quickly as possible across it on the military road, the Via Appia . The marsh was bounded on one side by the sea and
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#17327810979595580-533: The opposite side of the salient, the 6th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders (of 2nd Brigade ) was beginning to crumble and later lost three complete companies as prisoners . Even though the base of the salient was nearly broken, Lucas was able to bolster the British 1st Division's defenses with the newly arrived 168th Brigade (from the 56th Division, containing 1st Battalion, London Irish Rifles , 1st Battalion, London Scottish , 10th Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment ). The 3rd Brigade had been tasked with holding
5670-653: The other by mountains: the Monti Albani, the Monti Lepini , the Monti Ausoni , and further south the Monti Aurunci (where the allies had been brought to a halt before Monte Cassino ). Overall these mountains are referenced by the name Monti Laziali, the mountains of Lazio , the ancient Latium . Invading armies from the south had the choice of crossing the marsh or taking the only other road to Rome,
5760-435: The recently arrived British 56th Infantry Division , under Major-General Gerald Templer , which arrived complete on February 16). After making exploratory probes on the Campoleone salient on the afternoon of February 3 the German forces launched a full counterattack at 23:00 in order to reduce the salient and "iron out" the front line. Von Mackensen had planned for the salient to be ground away rather than employing
5850-410: The right flank, and X Corps on the left flank. Progress was initially slow, due in part to a lack of initiative by Dawley, the VI Corps commander, and due also to heavier than expected German resistance. However, heavy naval and air bombardment, along with a parachute drop by elements of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division , had saved the forces from any danger of being driven back into the sea, combined with
5940-548: The same problems as had been seen at Salerno. A perceived lack of initiative on the part of the commander, Major General Lucas, combined with worries about the Germans catching VI Corps off balance if it advanced too far inland resulted in the beachhead being bottled up. The Germans launched a series of attacks and counterattacks, with both sides sustaining heavy losses, and nearly breached the last beachhead defences before again being driven off by heavy naval and air support. The fault, however, "was not due to Lucas's incompetence; it
6030-414: The same time releasing to Kesselring a further three divisions in Italy which had been under OKW's direct command. Later that morning, he ordered General Eberhard von Mackensen ( Fourteenth Army ) and General Heinrich von Vietinghoff ( Tenth Army – Gustav Line) to send him additional reinforcements. The German units in the immediate vicinity had in fact been dispatched to reinforce the Gustav Line only
6120-408: The second half of 1944, the Allied forces fighting on the Italian Front within the U.S. Fifth Army and British Eighth Army resembled more a multi-national force being constituted by: Americans (including segregated African/and/Japanese-Americans), British, French, members of French and British colonies (New Zealanders, Canadians, Indians, Gurkhas, Black Africans, Moroccans, Algerians, Jews and Arabs from
6210-416: The situation to his subordinate Lucas, who preferred to take time to entrench against an expected counterattack. The initial landing achieved complete surprise with no opposition and a jeep patrol even made it as far as the outskirts of Rome. However, Lucas, who had little confidence in the operation as planned, failed to capitalize on the element of surprise and delayed his advance until he judged his position
6300-402: The timing of any advance on the Alban Hills. It is likely that the caution displayed by both Clark and Lucas was to some extent a product of Clark's experiences at the tough battle for the Salerno beach head and Lucas' natural caution stemming from his lack of experience in battle. Neither Clark nor Lucas had full confidence in either their superiors or the operational plan. Along with most of
6390-476: The tip of the salient 2 miles long and 1,000 yards wide on the road going north of Campoleone, but after the German attacks in the early hours of 4 February, the 2nd Battalion, Sherwood Foresters , 1st Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry and 1st Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment (all of 3rd Brigade) had been cut off and were surrounded in the pocket. They held the line all day, taking heavy casualties, but were eventually ordered to pull back and made
6480-477: Was a stranded whale". Lucas' decision remains a controversial one. Noted military historian John Keegan wrote, "Had Lucas risked rushing at Rome the first day, his spearheads would probably have arrived, though they would have soon been crushed. Nevertheless, he might have 'staked out claims well inland." However, "Lucas did not have confidence in the strategic planning of the operation. Also, he could certainly argue that his interpretation of his orders from Clark
6570-404: Was achieved during the spring of 1944. Coordinated assaults by all the Allied forces , except V Corps, which was confined to a holding action, broke through. II Corps attacked along the coast, the French Expeditionary Corps, in a classic demonstration of mountain warfare , broke through on the right flank of Fifth Army, and VI Corps, now commanded by Major General Lucian K. Truscott , broke out of
6660-543: Was apparently very stormy) was straddling the Apennines, with many of its units occupying high, exposed positions which were miserable to garrison. That winter also saw a significant change of command. Lieutenant General Clark moved to command 15th Army Group (previously styled the Allied Armies in Italy), and Lieutenant General Lucian K. Truscott was appointed to command Fifth Army in his place. Truscott would command
6750-514: Was as a command and control headquarters for U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard units, formally responsible for the training of many Army troops and also the ground defense of part of the continental United States. In June 1971, the Fifth Army moved to its current base at Fort Sam Houston , Texas . In 2004, Fifth Army transferred its Reserve preparation obligations to First Army , and became responsible for homeland defense and Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) as United States Army North,
6840-669: Was authorized by the National Defense Act of 1920 , and was originally to be composed of Organized Reserve units primarily from the Fourth , Fifth , and Sixth Corps Areas . The Headquarters and Headquarters Company were constituted in the Organized Reserve on 15 October 1921 and allotted to the Fifth Corps Area. Columbus , Ohio , was designated as headquarters upon organization, but the headquarters
6930-685: Was deleted from mobilization plans on 1 October 1933 and demobilized (disbanded). Its subordinate units were reassigned to the Second Army, the General Headquarters Reserve, or demobilized. The United States Fifth Army was one of the principal formations of the U.S. Army in the Mediterranean during World War II , and was the first American field army ever to be activated outside of the United States . It
7020-542: Was due instead to wishful thinking, faulty operational planning, and the German army 's ability to respond forcefully and aggressively. " After the failure of Shingle, a large reorganization took place. Previously the Apennines had been the rough dividing line between Fifth and Eighth Armies. However, the dividing line was shifted westwards, to allow the concentration of both armies on the western side of Italy for maximum firepower to break through to Rome. British V Corps
7110-706: Was initially commanded by Lieutenant General Mark Clark, who would lead the Fifth Army for nearly two years, and was to experience some of the toughest fighting of World War II , where it was engaged on the Italian Front , which was, in many ways, often more reminiscent of the trench warfare of the Western Front in World War I . Writing to Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers (American deputy to Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland Wilson , Mediterranean Theater commander) in late March 1944, Clark explained
7200-475: Was left on the Adriatic coast to pin down any German units there. Fifth Army was relieved of responsibility for Cassino and the final phases of that battle saw Indian , New Zealand and finally Polish troops thrown against the fortress. Fifth Army also lost McCreery's British X Corps at this time, since it was felt that having exclusively American-organised units under Fifth Army and British-organised units under Eighth Army would ease logistics. The breakthrough
7290-456: Was never organized at that location. The Headquarters Company was initiated in 1922 in Columbus. Columbus remained the Fifth Army's designated headquarters location upon the event of its activation until 16 July 1932 when Indianapolis , Indiana , was designated as the army's new headquarters location. Due to the abandonment of the “Six Army” plan in favor of the “Four Army” plan, the Fifth Army
7380-416: Was not an unreasonable one. With two divisions landed, and facing two or three times that many Germans, it would have been reasonable for Lucas to consider the beachhead insecure." But according to Keegan, Lucas's actions "achieved the worst of both worlds, exposing his forces to risk without imposing any on the enemy." Kesselring was informed of the landings at 3 a.m. January 22. Although the landings came as
7470-506: Was officially activated on 5 January 1943 at Oujda , French Morocco and made responsible for the defence of Algeria and Morocco. It was also given the responsibility for planning the American part of the invasion of mainland Italy , and therefore was not involved in the Allied invasion of Sicily (codenamed Operation Husky), where it was instead assigned the role of training combat troops destined for Sicily. The United States Fifth Army
7560-445: Was officially cancelled on December 18, 1943. However, it was later reselected. Clark did not feel he had the numbers on the southern front to exploit any breakthrough. His plan therefore was relying on the southern offensive drawing Kesselring's reserves in and providing the Anzio force the opportunity to break inland quickly. This would also reflect the orders he had received from Alexander to "... carry out an assault landing on
7650-587: Was originally conceived by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in December 1943, as he lay recovering from pneumonia in Marrakesh . His concept was to land two divisions at Anzio, bypassing German forces in central Italy, and take Rome, the strategic objective of the current Battle of Rome. By February he had recovered and was badgering his commanders for a plan of attack, accusing them of not wanting to fight but of being interested only in drawing pay and eating rations. General Harold Alexander , commander of
7740-403: Was primarily glory-seeking by being the first to liberate Rome. On 6 June 1944, two days after Rome fell, Operation Overlord was launched. The strategic conception of Overlord called for a supporting operation to be mounted by invading southern France. In order to do so, forces would have to be withdrawn from the Allied Armies in Italy. In the end, VI Corps was withdrawn, forming the nucleus of
7830-597: Was reactivated on 11 June 1946 at Chicago under the command of Major General John P. Lucas , who had commanded U.S. VI Corps in the early stages of the Battle of Anzio ( Operation Shingle ) during World War II before being relieved. The Army provided trained units and replacements to the U.S. forces in the Korean War from the summer of 1950 to late 1952. It was redesignated as the Fifth United States Army on 1 January 1957. Its postwar role
7920-729: Was soon replaced in command of VI Corps by Major General John P. Lucas . Progress was then good for a couple of weeks and the Fifth Army crossed the Barbara Line and the Volturno Line until the Germans turned, stood and fought. They had established a position on the Winter Line (also known as the Gustav Line), which included the formidable defensive positions at San Pietro Infine in the Liri Valley and at Monte Cassino . By this point, Fifth Army had been reinforced by
8010-424: Was sufficiently consolidated and he had sufficient strength. While Lucas consolidated, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring , the German commander in the Italian theatre, moved every unit he could spare into a defensive ring around the beachhead . His artillery units had a clear view of every Allied position. The Germans also stopped the drainage pumps and flooded the reclaimed marsh with salt water, planning to entrap
8100-443: Was to release these assets by January 15. However, this being deemed problematic, President Roosevelt granted permission for the craft to remain until February 5. Only enough tank landing ships (LSTs) to land a single division were initially available to Shingle . Later, at Churchill's personal insistence, enough were made available to land two divisions. Allied intelligence thought that five or six German divisions were in
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