The Last Great Cavalryman

by Richard Mead

  X Corps was to play no part in the early and critical stages of Operation Diadem, in which Alexander launched Fifth and Eighth Armies at the Winter Line on 11 May. II US Corps and the FEC broke out of Dick’s Garigliano bridgehead at last, the former driving up Route 7 with the objective of meeting US VI Corps south of Anzio, the latter carrying out one of the most stunning advances of the campaign, through and over the Aurunci Mountains, turning the German flank in the Liri Valley: this gave Dick great pleasure as he admired the FEC enormously and was delighted that X Corps had created for them their jumping-off point. He wrote a letter of congratulation to Clark, who replied to say that, flying over the area: ‘I could not help but give a prayer of thanks for the fine pioneer work which 10 Corps did for Fifth Army in obtaining the bridgehead from which we debouched.’

  XIII Corps was the battering ram at the door of the valley, forcing the Rapido and capturing at last the town of Cassino, whilst the Poles restored their national pride by taking the monastery. Von Senger and the Tenth German Army commander, von Vietinghoff, were both on leave and rushed back to find that the Allies had broken right through the Winter Line and, with I Canadian Corps also in the field, were poised to attack the last defensive line across the Liri Valley, after which there was nothing until beyond Rome. At the same time Truscott ordered a breakout from Anzio. To his dismay and that of many others, only part of his force was sent to cut off the retreating Germans at Valmontone, Clark ordering a switch in direction towards Rome, which he was determined to liberate in person. A great opportunity to destroy the German Tenth Army was missed.

  On 25 May Dick flew to Eighth Army’s Tac HQ to meet Alexander and Leese and to be given orders for X Corps’ future participation in the campaign. In the centre of his sector, the CIL had already taken a long contested position across the Sangro as the Germans withdrew, whilst Dick met Freyberg to put his division on notice to move. X Corps Main HQ relocated on 28 May to Venafro and on the following day to near Cassino. On 1 June the corps joined the Allied advance.

  Chapter 20

  The Tiber Valley

  The next four months, as the AAI advanced from the Gustav Line to the Gothic Line, tend to be dealt with briefly by most historians, as they lack the drama of Salerno, Cassino or Anzio. For those involved, the advance was no picnic. The Germans were as skilled as ever in their withdrawal, mining roads and tracks, demolishing bridges and embankments, blowing up passes and cuttings and leaving unpleasant booby-traps everywhere. Moreover, at well-selected positions they dug in with the intention of forcing as long a delay as possible. The Allies had no alternative but to move with caution and, although their progress occasionally developed a momentum and fluidity which was unusual in the Italian campaign, they continued to be hampered by the topography, which favoured the defenders.

  In Dick’s case, this period demonstrated his skills as a corps commander probably better than any other. Divisions, independent brigades and smaller units arrived and left with great rapidity. Set-piece attacks for the whole corps, such as on the Volturno and the Garigliano, were almost non-existent, being replaced by brigade, battalion or even company-sized actions which responded to the requirements of the situation. All this required a great deal of flexibility, a focus on priorities and very close liaison with the divisions under command. Dick’s various HQ’s, and especially his Tac HQ, all moved very frequently, but there was never a moment when he and his staff were not in complete control of their situation.

  The first two weeks were chaotic in terms of the command structure, the only consolation being that the Germans were at this stage in headlong retreat. On the very first day, 1 June, the CIL and Hermonforce were transferred to V Corps, leaving X Corps effectively just with 2 New Zealand Division and a single squadron of the 12th Lancers, but Dick was shortly to lose the New Zealanders into army reserve. Brief appearances in the corps were made by 4 Division, 1 Canadian Armoured Brigade, 7 Armoured Brigade and 25 Tank Brigade, none for more than a few days. However, towards the end of the first week of June both the composition of the corps and the direction of its advance became clearer. It was to take under command 6 Armoured Division and 8 Indian Division, the former moving on the left up the east bank of the Tiber north of Rome, skirting the Sabine Hills with its intermediate objective as Narni, the latter pushing forward on the right, using relatively minor roads on an axis Alatri – Subiaco – Rieti – Terni. Both divisions would then advance side by side on Perugia. The 12th Lancers were restored to X Corps in their entirety and ordered to protect the right flank.

  THE TIBER VALLEY

  X Corps was now one of five advancing up the Italian peninsula towards the Gothic Line, which ran roughly from Pisa to Rimini. On the coast heading towards Leghorn and Pisa was Willis D. Crittenberger’s IV US Corps and next to it, heading through Tuscany towards Siena, was Juin’s FEC. Both of these were still in Fifth US Army. The left hand corps of Eighth Army was Sydney Kirkman’s XIII Corps, moving to the east of Lake Bolsena and the west of Lake Trasimene, with its final objective as Florence. On its right, with orders to take the whole of the Tiber valley, to Perugia and beyond, was X Corps, whilst on the other side of the Apennines on the Adriatic coast was Wladislaw Anders’s II Polish Corps.

  Dick now had two new formations with which to familiarize himself. As a former armoured division commander the more straightforward of the two from his perspective was 6 Armoured Division, which he had come across frequently in Tunisia. The GOC, Vivyan Evelegh, had commanded 78 Division during that campaign, so was personally known to Dick. The division’s 26 Armoured Brigade contained two lancer regiments, the 16th/5th and the 17th/21st, together with a yeomanry regiment, the Lothians and Border Horse. There were not one but two infantry brigades, 1 Guards Brigade, which had come under Dick’s command for a brief period in February and March, and 61 Brigade, which had just joined and consisted of three battalions of the Rifle Brigade. The division had made rather heavy weather of the breakthrough in the Liri Valley, but Dick was confident that it could now do what he wanted.

  On the other hand he had no experience of Indian divisions. He was soon to learn that the only significant difference between these and their British infantry counterparts was the composition of the troops. About two-thirds of the men in each division were from the Indian Army, which provided two battalions in each of the three brigades, the reconnaissance regiment, the machine-gun battalion, all the engineers and a large part of the services. The artillery, except in the case of 8 Indian Division the anti-tank regiment, were all from the British Army, as was one battalion in each brigade. The overwhelming majority of the commissioned officers were also British, although Indian officers were now beginning to come through at an increasing pace.

  A long spell in Iraq had meant a slow start to the war for 8 Indian Division, but it had been in Italy on the Adriatic coast since the previous autumn, had fought on the Sangro and was the division which had crossed the Rapido in the breakout through the Winter Line, thus achieving, albeit not without great difficulty, what 36 US Division had failed to do in January. The GOC was Dudley ‘Pasha’ Russell,1 whom Dick had met socially in Cairo in 1942. Dick visited the division for the first time on 5 June, writing in his diary, ‘they seem a jolly good show’. Not only did this initial impression prove right, but he very quickly came to admire the men in this Indian division and two others as well.

  Terni and Narni were both reached against light opposition on 13 June. The crossings over the Tiber’s tributary, the Nera, had been destroyed and it took valuable time to construct Bailey bridges, but on 15 June the advance was underway again, 6 Armoured Division making very good progress and capturing Todi. The 12th Lancers reported that Rieti was clear and by the next day their armoured cars had gone right through Spoleto and were in Foligno. On 17 June 8 Indian Division found Assisi in the hands of Italian partisans and Dick was able to visit the Basilica of St Francis two days later to marvel at Giotto’s frescoes. His Tac HQ was moving daily and on the day of the v
isit to Assisi was relocated to just south of Perugia, where it was already apparent that the Germans had turned to face the corps and were contesting any further advance.

  The Albert Line ran east and west of Lake Trasimene and was intended to stop or at least delay both X and XIII Corps. In X Corps’ sector it ran along the top of the hills north of the road between Perugia and the lake, incorporated the hilltop city itself and then ran for 5 miles to the north-east along the Ripa Ridge, a 1,000 ft high escarpment between the Tiber and the River Chiascia which blocked the road into the Apennines. Breaking the line was substantially a job for the infantry, so 6 Armoured Division directed 1 Guards Brigade on the city and 61 Brigade on the hills to the west, whilst 8 Indian Division tackled Ripa Ridge.

  Fighting was fierce on the night of 19 June, as the Riflemen attacked the key position of Monte Malbe and the Guards tried to shake up the defences in front of the city itself. Much to the surprise of the latter, on the morning of the following day it was found that the Germans had abandoned Perugia. On the same day the 7th Rifle Brigade took Monte Malbe. 1 Guards Brigade now directed its weight north-west of Perugia, where 3rd Welsh Guards took the village of San Marco with the help of a squadron of the 16th/5th Lancers.

  This proved to be the swansong of 6 Armoured Division within X Corps as Leese now decided to switch the division to XIII Corps, which was experiencing difficulty with penetrating its sector of the Albert Line and which offered better country for an armoured division. When Dick flew in his Piper Cub to discuss the move with Leese and Kirkman on 27 June, he learnt that he was also to give up 8 Indian Division, which had endured a very tough fight on the Ripa Ridge, captured on the afternoon of 19 June, but only after the division had incurred heavy losses. The arrival of the Shermans of the 3rd Hussars enabled a brilliantly executed attack to carry the division as far as Piccione, 5 miles to the north, on 26 June, taking the enemy completely by surprise. Dick was very sorry to be losing it.

  As a replacement he received 10 Indian Division, a relatively new arrival in Italy, which for a short time took over the whole corps sector. Like 8 Indian Division it had spent much time in Iraq, although it had been hurried to the Western Desert in the aftermath of the disaster at Gazala, only to see its brigades thrown piecemeal into the battle and consequently mauled by the enemy. It had reformed in the Levant, where it had trained extensively for mountain warfare. Its GOC was Denys Reid, like Russell an Indian Army officer, but one who knew Italy well from personal experience. Reid had been captured with his brigade HQ near Fuka during the retreat to El Alamein and had been incarcerated in Northern Italy. Released after the armistice in September 1943, he had made his way on foot through the mountains with a fellow brigadier until they reached the Allied lines. With this and some earlier experience of fighting the Italians at Keren, there was little he did not know about the defensive properties of mountains and his troops were taught all the techniques required to infiltrate and penetrate enemy positions, to capture high ground and to hide in dead ground. The next few months were to prove that they had learnt their lessons well and as mountain troops were as good as the best, until now the Algerians and Moroccans of the FEC.

  The loss of 6 Armoured Division did not mean Dick lost all his tanks. The arrival of the 3rd Hussars on 8 Indian Division’s front heralded that of 9 Armoured Brigade, whose three regiments of Shermans, the others being the Warwickshire and the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, gave him the punch he was to need. With the brigade’s tanks in support, 10 Indian Division began the move into the Upper Tiber Valley, which became narrower and more hemmed in by high ground the further north it stretched.

  By 2 July the Germans had pulled back completely from the Perugia area and, after some fighting on the intervening hills, they broke contact and withdrew north of Umbertide, partly at least because XIII Corps had now broken through the Albert Line and was moving forward fast, requiring the units facing Dick to conform to their retreating comrades. His next objective was Citta di Castello, which blocked any further progress up the valley. As 10 Indian Division began a series of attacks on the mountain positions in front of and to the east of the city at the end of the first week of July, X Corps received a welcome reinforcement in the shape of 4 Indian Division. This was the most experienced of its type in the theatre, having been in action more or less continuously since June 1940. With experience at Keren, the Mareth Line, Wadi Akarit and Cassino, it had learnt mountain warfare in the field rather than in training and it was to form an incomparable team with 10 Indian Division, highly suited to the task ahead. Its GOC was an experienced Gurkha officer, ‘Hol’ Holworthy.

  Dick welcomed the addition as his front was about to expand. As well as forcing a route to the top of the Tiber Valley past Sansepolcro and up the mountain pass which carried the main road to Rimini, he was now to divert a significant part of his strength towards Bibbiena, some 15 miles north of Arezzo in the Upper Arno Valley. Dick decided that 10 Indian Division would continue for the time being up the Tiber Valley, whilst 4 Indian Division forced its way across the nearly trackless hills towards Arezzo. Before this happened, Citta di Castello needed to be taken and this was a task for both divisions, with 10 Indian Division taking one by one the strong points to the east of the main road and 4 Indian Division those to the west. Lengthy battles developed for the former at Monte della Gorgace and the latter at Monte Cedrone before the city fell on 22 July, following which the Germans made a general withdrawal to the north.

  In the meantime the lack of roads towards Arezzo meant that 4 Indian Division’s engineers had to construct a jeep track across the hills to Palazzo del Pero, a few miles short of the town. Nicknamed ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, it was completed in time for Dick to drive up it on 15 July. Two days later 4 Indian Division began its attack on the Alpe di Poti, a line of hills north of the lateral road between Arezzo and Citta di Castello, whose possession was vital to any further advance. Meeting complete success allowed Dick to switch more of his strength towards the advance on Bibbiena, and he moved his Tac HQ to a hill overlooking Palazzo del Pero so that he would be close to the action.

  ‘Cookie’ Cooke had now been relieved as BGS by Reggie Hewetson, a gunner officer, whose attention was partially diverted by the preparations necessary for the arrival of a distinguished visitor, known by his code name ‘General Collingwood’. This was none other than King George VI, who was making a tour of the Italian front and arrived at X Corps on the morning of 25 July in company with Oliver Leese. The corps war diary described the visit succinctly:

  HM THE KING visited 10 Corps landing by plane at PERUGIA airfield this afternoon. He saw comds and tps of 46,2 10 Ind and 4 Ind Divs and during his time motored up the 10 Corps Jeep track from VOLTERRANO 4421 by the PALAZZO DEL PERO rd. He was entertained to tea at Tac HQ 10 Corps est 3825 where the Corps Commander received the accolade of knighthood. He left the Corps area at Arezzo shortly after 1800 hrs.

  In his letter describing the event to Lettice, Dick was hardly more forthcoming, other than to say that he had dined with Leese that night, sitting next to the King and that ‘I was knighted during the tea interval,3 most embarrassing!’4 The visit had been arranged so that the King, driven by Leese himself in an open car through Perugia and then by Dick in his jeep up Jacob’s Ladder, could be seen by as many of the troops and meet as many of their commanders as possible. He was in his element, delighted to be on an active front and among military people, with whom he always got on well. He was particularly thrilled to be taken to an OP near Palazzo del Pero, where he was able to watch the field gunners of 4 Indian Division fire in support of an attack which was taking place at Campriano, north of the Alpe di Poti.

  In addition to losing Cooke, Dick had said goodbye temporarily to Hugh Smith. He wrote to Lettice that he would miss him, as he was so nice, but that he was really rather relieved as Smith was poor at the details which were the heart of the ADC’s job, such as knowing the names of the people Dick would be meeting and the whereabouts of the units he w
as visiting. He was particularly hopeless at map reading, which was very necessary as Dick usually drove himself. Dick had high hopes of his new ADC, Walter Jones. He had been put forward by Andrew Horsburgh-Porter, who was now commanding a new cavalry regiment, the 27th Lancers, which had been formed on a cadre of the 12th.5 For a time both regiments were in X Corps, but Dick had little time to visit them as they were operating on the right flank up in the mountains.

  During one of his rare visits to the 12th Lancers, Dick left one indelible memory with Kate Savill. The two of them were standing outside the RHQ where Savill was telling Dick about how he planned to convert one of the large rooms into a canteen for the men:

  Suddenly a sapper sergeant rushed out and shouted ‘Everyone get well clear; there is a huge mine in the cellar that is overdue to go off.’ Dick stood his ground and I did the same, though with inward trepidation. Then he said ‘You were telling me about the canteen. Let’s go in and have a look at it.’ And in we went and spent what seemed like an age looking around. All was well, because the sappers de-fused the mine, but I just wonder if he was trying me out!

  It is more likely that this was another example of Dick’s fearlessness, on which so many commented during the campaign.

  In early August there were a number of changes to the composition of the corps: 46 Division joined it for five days, before being transferred to V Corps, and 6 Armoured Division for eight days until it was recognized that the country it was entering was not suitable for tanks. During this time the latter was under the all too brief command of Gerald Templer. Appointed as GOC on 24 July, he was in the course of gingering up the division, which was showing signs of exhaustion, when he was wounded on 5 July as the result of a mine set off by a 1 Guards Brigade lorry on the other side of the road.6