The Last Farewell - 196th SPC Veteran's History Project

Open photo galleries of other selected 196th Signal Photo Company Photographers

The Mediterranean campaigns have long been overshadowed in the American consciousness by Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and the ultimate fall of the Third Reich. Yet three-quarters of a million American soldiers served in Italy; 23,000 of them were killed there. Total Allied casualties in the Italian campaign exceeded 300,000. The co-authors continue to search for photos taken by the 3131st Signal Service Company and the 196th Signal Photo Company depicting the Italian Campaign. Three-man photo teams were assigned to cover Allied units throughout Italy. In this section we include links, resources and an Order of Battle index to Allied units.

The Veterans History Project is a project of the Library of Congress aimed at collecting oral history interviews, memoirs, letters, diaries, photographs, and other original materials from veterans of World Wars I and II, and the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf Wars and the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts (2001-present). Those U.S. citizen civilians who were actively involved in supporting war efforts (such as war industry workers, USO workers, flight instructors, medical volunteers, etc.) are also encouraged to contribute their personal narratives. Members of the public become part of the Veterans History Project after they donate their materials. To learn more, click on the banner above or go to: http://www.loc.gov/vets/vets-home.html

Co-authors Julie Whitman Jones and Thomas J. Sullivan encourage veterans and their families to support the Veteran's History Project of the Library of Congress. Their primary focus is collecting first hand accounts of U.S. veterans from the following wars:

In addition, those U.S. citizen civilians who were actively involved in supporting war efforts (such as war industry workers, USO workers, flight instructors, medical volunteers, etc.) are also invited to share their valuable stories.

In the second volume of his epic trilogy about the liberation of Europe in World War II, Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson tells the harrowing story of the campaigns in Sicily and Italy. Explore http://www.liberationtrilogy.com/day_of_battle.htm and view interactive maps, view historical photos and read original historical documents pertaining to the Italian Campaign. NOTE: 196th Signal Photo Company

The second volume is The Day Of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944, covering the Allied invasion and liberation of Italy. NOTE: Major General Matthew B. Ridgeway (right), commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, with a Signal Corps cameraman in central Sicily, July 25, 1943. Don Wiedenmayer identifies the photographer as Frank L. Morang who later received a battlefield commission.

The third volume, a history of the war in Western Europe, will be published in the future.

The following tables provides a brief description of each Army, Corps and Division that was associated with the American troops. The first table explains the higher commands that were in Italy, but the main purpose is to provide a quick reference for each of the U.S. divisions.

15TH ARMY GROUP	The 15th Army Group was the highest command in Italy and commanded the 5th US Army and 8th British Army. General Mark Clark was promoted to command the Group late in 1944.
5THARMY	The 5th Army was organized in North African, which shows in the design of the patch. The design of the patch was submitted by General Mark Clark. The 5th Army fought along the west coast of Italy, until the Allies reached the Po Valley, where it spread out in both directions. The 5th Army bore the brunt of many of the battles as the British 8th Army was tired from fighting in North Africa. The current Headquarters of the 5th Army is located in the Quadrangle at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX.
II CORPS	The II Corps (usually written with Roman numerals) began its operations in North Africa. Later, in Italy the II Corps consisted of mostly US troops until more units appeared in 1945.
IV CORPS	The IV Corps arrived Italy in March 1944 and entered combat in June 11, 1944. Fought continuously for 401 days. CG was Lt-Gen A. M. Patch and Maj-Gen Wilis D. Crittenberger. 1945 Po Valley Campaign: 10 Mtn, 34, 85, 92, 1 Armd, 6 S. African Armd, 1 Brazilian Divisions, 442 RCT, 473 RCT, 91 Cav Recon Sqd, 751, 756, 758, 760 Tnk Btln, 679, 791, 894 Tnk Destroyer, Legnano Group, 424 FA Btn, 1108 Engr Btn, 84 Chemical Btn, 7th Para? (Brit) Italy, March 1944
VI CORPS	The VI Corps was the American half of the 5th Army invasion of Italy at Salerno. It was commanded by Maj. Gen. Ernest J. Dawley and consisted of the 36th and 45th divisions and part of 82nd Airborne Division. Maj. Gen.John P. Lucas commanded the corps during the Anzio landings. Later it was composed of American and British.
8TH ARMY British	The British 8th Army had fought a long hard campaign in the desert of North Africa before going into Sicily and then to Italy. The 8th Army landed on the "toe" of Italy a few days before the 5th landed at Salerno. From there, they progressed up the east coast of Italy. Many of the experienced units were transferred out of Italy, but the 8th Army remained during entire war. CG- General Bernard 'Monty' Montgomery until 31 Dec 1943. Lt.-Gen Sir Oliver Leese. Gen Sir Richard L. McCreery from 1 Oct 1944 - end of war.

After the fall of Rome, the Germans retreated back across the Arno River and into the natural defenses of the Appenine Mountains. Several experienced Allied divisions were pulled out of Italy and sent to southern France. The Allied Army launched an attack against the well-prepared GOTHIC Line defenses without a man-power superiority required for victory.
The Germans were able to hold the Allied advance and prevent them from entering the Po Valley before the fall rains and winter came. This is the organization of the Corps and Divisions during the fall of 1944. The commanders names are listed in (paranthesis).

II CORPS        (Keyes)
34TH INFANTRY DIVISION   (Walker)
88TH INFANTRY DIVISION   (Kendall)
91ST INFANTRY DIVISION   (Livesay)

IV CORPS           (Crittenberger)
6TH SOUTH AFRICAN ARMORED DIVISION   (Poole)
85TH INFANTRY DIVISION   (Coulter)
442ND REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM

XIII BRITISH CORPS    (Kirkman)
1ST (BRITISH) INFANTRY DIVISION   (Loewen)
6TH (BRITISH) ARMORED DIVISION   (Murray)
8TH (INDIAN) INFANTRY DIVISION   (Russell)

RESERVE
BRAZILIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE (Mascarenas de Morais)
1ST U.S. ARMORED DIVISION (Prichard)

V CORPS          (Keightley)
1ST ARMOURED DIVISION (Hull)
4TH INFANTRY DIVISION     (Ward)
4TH (INDIAN) INFANTRY DIVISION    (Holworthy)
46TH INFANTRY 'NORTH MIDLAND' DIVISION    (Hawkesworth)
56TH INFANTRY 'LONDON' DIVISION    (Whitfield)
7TH ARMOURED BRIGADE
25TH TANK BRIGADE

I CANADIAN CORPS (Burns)
1ST INFANTRY DIVISION (Vokes)
2ND NEW ZEALAND DIVISION (Freyberg)
5TH ARMOURED DIVISION (Hoffmeister)
21ST TANK BRIGADE
3RD GREEK MOUNTAIN BRIGADE

II POLISH CORPS (Anders)
3RD CARPATHIAN RIFLE DIVISION
5TH KRESOWA INFANTRY DIVISION
2ND ARMOURED BRIGADE

X BRITISH CORPS (McCreery)
10TH (INDIAN) INFANTRY DIVISION (Reid)
9TH ARMOURED BRIGADE

British Eighth Army, commanded by General Sir Richard L. McCreery, included the Polish 2d Corps and the British 5th, 10th, and 13th Corps, and controlled eight divisions from four different nations, as well as four free Italian battle groups and a Jewish brigade.

DIADEM - Allied attack on 11 May 1944,
    Fifth Army casualties
             17,931 US casualties: 3,145 KIA, 13,704 WIA, and 1,082 MIA.
            10,635 French (5th Army) casualties
             3,355 British (5th Army) casualties
     Eighth Army casualties 11,639
     Total Allied - 43,000
    German 38,000, for 10th and 14th Armies, not including 15,606 PW.

GOTHIC LINE - Apennine Mountains
September 12-18 - Attack to capture Il Futa Pass
II Corps(91st & 85th Divisions) had sustained 2,730 casualties.
September 22 - 31, 88th Division suffered 2,105 casualties.
October 4 - 91st Division lost over 1,730 American casualties in just four days.
October 5-9 - Fifth Army units advanced only three more miles, taking an additional 1,400 casualties.
    In Summary, between 10 September and 26 October, 1944
         II Corps(4 divisions) over 15,000 casualties ( 88th Division alone over 5,000 men).
        Eighth Army - 14,000 casualties for about same period.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES - 5th Army
     189,000 casualties within all US and foriegn units of the US 5th Army.
      American Casualties: 109,642 including 19,475 Killed.
                                                                  Source: "Calculated Risk" by Gen Clark