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Post by Jim Lowell on Apr 7, 2020 16:26:28 GMT
Hi Gary,
Are there any narratives that you are aware of or diaries from February and March of 1944? In my Dad's diary, he says he was "up front" and "way up front" during March, but I cannot find where the 88th/349th may have been located in Italy. Thoughts?
Thanks and stay quarantined and safe, my friend.
Regards,
Jim Lowell
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Post by Admin on Apr 7, 2020 17:37:00 GMT
Not sure. I'll take a look this afternoon and let you know.
gs
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Post by jimlowell on Apr 9, 2020 17:08:08 GMT
Thanks so much. By the way, I have been in touch with curatorial assistant Catilin Page at the National WWII Museum who told me about your group and has been very helpful....
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Post by Admin on May 4, 2020 18:20:27 GMT
Ok, Thanks for the info on the Museum. Feb / Mar '44 is pretty early in the 349th. Not much out there. You'll want to read everything you can find on the other units of the 88th and the other divisions in Italy like the 34th, 36th and 45th and read up on General Mark Clark, Gen. Montgomery and General Kesselring. You never know where you'll find something and if you read all that you'll know a lot about the invasion of Italy. In looking at the 338th FA history on another question today I came across this 350th Battaglia narrative I don't remember seeing before. mtmestas.com/338th-fieldartillerybattalion/338th-fa-history/338th-fieldartillerybattalion-history-41.htmHave you checked out "We Were There"? There's some early history in that. mtmestas.com/88th-infantrydivision/wewerethere/88th-infantrydivision-wewerethere-00.htmHere's some links to the 350th and 351st histories for that period. mtmestas.com/350th-infantryregiment/1944-350th-3rd-bn-history/4403-350th-ir-3rd-bn-history-01.htmmtmestas.com/350th-infantryregiment/4403-01-350th-historicalnotes/350th-historicalnotes-mar44-pg1.htmmtmestas.com/351st-infantryregiment/1942-1945-351st-history/351st-history-09.htmCHRONOLOGY 6 Feb- The main body of the 88th was transported to Italy in early February and concentrated around Piedimonte d'Alife for combat training. 27 Feb- The first 88th Division unit into the line was 2nd Battalion, 351st Infantry, which relieved elements of the Texas Division’s 141st Infantry Regiment near Cervaro. 28 Feb- The first artillery round fired in combat by an 88th DIVARTY unit was sent downrange by Battery C, 913th Field Artillery Battalion. It's target was a registration point at the Monte Cassino Abbey, the rubble of which was occupied by the Germans after the Allies bombed it. 4 Mar- The entire Division moved into the line at 1000 hours. 5 Mar- The division assumed responsibility for the sector previously occupied by the British 5th Division. At the same time, the 88th came under the control of the British X Corps, and deployed its three infantry regiments on line from the Mediterranean into the foothills to the east. Opposing the 88th in the strong fortified positions of the Gustav Line, were the German 71st and 94th Infantry Divisions. The Blue Devil infantry spent the next two months occupying and improving defensive positions and patrolling, while DIVARTY fired harassing and interdiction missions at German positions and suspected and known lines of communication. gs |
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Post by jimlowell on Jun 3, 2020 17:16:42 GMT
Thanks, Gary, very helpful. My Dad did not make the trip from Casablanca to Naples until late November or December of 1944 so was not with the first wave of the 88th.
Jim
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Post by Admin on Jun 6, 2020 4:25:12 GMT
Thanks, Gary, very helpful. My Dad did not make the trip from Casablanca to Naples until late November or December of 1944 so was not with the first wave of the 88th. Jim You mean 1943, right? Dec 44 they were way up in northern Italy gs |
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Post by jimlowell on Jun 7, 2020 22:47:10 GMT
Gary,
In case you have not had the opportunity to read Ernest Fisher's very detailed summary of the 88th Division's involvement in the Italian Campaign titled "Cassino to the Alps" it is a very long narrative but really good and includes so many of the regiments I have a PDF version, how do I upload or attach it?
Jim
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Post by jimlowell on Jun 9, 2020 14:09:12 GMT
Thanks, Gary, very helpful. My Dad did not make the trip from Casablanca to Naples until late November or December of 1944 so was not with the first wave of the 88th. Jim You mean 1943, right? Dec 44 they were way up in northern Italy gs That is correct, 1943. |
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Post by Admin on Jun 9, 2020 14:54:57 GMT
Gary, In case you have not had the opportunity to read Ernest Fisher's very detailed summary of the 88th Division's involvement in the Italian Campaign titled "Cassino to the Alps" it is a very long narrative but really good and includes so many of the regiments I have a PDF version, how do I upload or attach it? Jim Here's the book info and a link people can download it free from. ia801904.us.archive.org/8/items/CassinoToTheAlps/CassinoToTheAlps.pdfCassino to the Alps, written by Ernest F. Fisher, Jr., published in 1977 and updated in 1989. This volume continues the story of the Italian campaign with the Allied spring offensive in May 1944 which carried two Allied armies, the U.S. Fifth and the British Eighth, to Rome by 4 June and to the final German capitulation in May 1945. Represented in these armies were Americans, Belgians, Brazilians, British, Canadians, Cypriots, French (including mountain troops from Algeria and Morocco), Palestinian Jews, East Indians, Italians, Nepalese, New Zealanders, Poles, South Africans, Syro-Lebanese, and Yugoslavians. The Fifth Army also included the U.S. Army's only specialized mountain division, one of its two segregated all-black divisions, and a regimental combat team composed solely of Americans of Japanese descent. gs |
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Post by Admin on Jun 9, 2020 15:20:44 GMT
Gary, In case you have not had the opportunity to read Ernest Fisher's very detailed summary of the 88th Division's involvement in the Italian Campaign titled "Cassino to the Alps" it is a very long narrative but really good and includes so many of the regiments I have a PDF version, how do I upload or attach it? Here's another Apennines book from the same series you can download for free. North Apennines ia802601.us.archive.org/29/items/NorthApennines/NorthApennines.pdfAnd another good one with free download with an email address ... 19 Days: From the Apennines to the Alps: The Story of the Po Valley Campaign payhip.com/b/hcozgs |
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