HISTORY of the 87th MOUNTAIN INFANTRY in ITALY George F. Earle Captain, 87th Mountain Infantry 1945 HISTORY of the 87th MOUNTAIN INFANTRY in ITALY 3 JANUARY 1945 — 14 AUGUST 1945 Digitized and edited by Barbara Imbrie, 2004 CONTENTS PREFACE: THE 87TH REGIMENT FROM DECEMBER 1941 TO JANUARY 1945....................i - iii INTRODUCTION TO ITALY .....................................................................................................................1 (4 Jan — 16 Feb) BELVEDERE OFFENSIVE.........................................................................................................................10 (16 Feb — 28 Feb) MARCH OFFENSIVE AND CONSOLIDATION ..................................................................................24 (3 Mar — 31 Mar) SPRING OFFENSIVE TO PO VALLEY...................................................................................................43 (1 Apr — 20 Apr) Preparation: 1 Apr—13 Apr 43 First day: 14 April 48 Second day: 15 April 61 Third day: 16 April 75 Fourth day: 17 April 86 Fifth day: 18 April 96 Sixth day: 19 April 99 Seventh day: 20 April 113 PO VALLEY TO LAKE GARDA ............................................................................................................120 (21 Apr — 2 May) Eighth day: 21 April 120 Ninth day: 22 April 130 Tenth day: 23 April 132 Eleventh and Twelfth days: 24-25 April 149 Thirteenth day: 26 April 150 Fourteenth day: 27 April 152 Fifteenth day: 28 April 155 Sixteenth day: 29 April 157 End of the Campaign: 30 April-2 May 161 OCCUPATION DUTY AND RETURN TO THE STATES..................................................................165 (8 May — 14 August) COMBAT ORGANIZATION OF THE 87TH REGIMENT .................................................................172 CASUALTIES OF THE 87TH REGIMENT ...........................................................................................173 ROLL OF HONOR OF THE 87TH REGIMENT...................................................................................174 MAPS OF THE CAMPAIGN* MAP 1. RIVA RIDGE ........................................................................................................180 MAP 2. MT. BELVEDERE RIDGE...................................................................................181 MAP 3. MARCH OFFENSIVE .........................................................................................182 MAP 4. SPRING OFFENSIVE..........................................................................................183 MAP 5. BREAKOUT..........................................................................................................184 MAP 6. PO VALLEY SOUTH ..........................................................................................185 MAP 7. PO RIVER CROSSING........................................................................................186 MAP 8. ADVANCE TO LAKE GARDA.........................................................................187 MAP 9. LAKE GARDA: THE FINAL BATTLES ..........................................................188 BATTLE ROUTE OF THE 10th MOUNTAIN DIVISION CAMPAIGN IN ITALY December 1944 – May 1945 *Modified by Barbara Imbrie from original battle diagrams published by Armand Casini in 1945. PREFACE THE 87TH REGIMENT FROM DECEMBER 1941 TO JANUARY 1945 he first element of the 87th Mountain Infantry, now part of the 10th Mountain Division, was T officially formed at Fort Lewis, Washington on 8 December 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked. Four days previously, twelve officers and one enlisted man had met and were des- ignated as the “87th Infantry, Mountain, 1st Battalion, Reinforced.” Lieutenant Colonel ONSLOW S. ROLFE was in command. Most of the original officers are now within the 10th Mountain Division, but the identity of the enlisted man is unknown. He was drafted in to stoke the fires, and was the only non-volunteer in the early days of the outfit. During the next few days a large number of volunteer cadre arrived from regular army units—many from the 15th Cavalry, so that by December 8th, there were approximately 75 offi- cers and enlisted men, all attached to A Company, but forming the nucleus of A, B, C, D, Head- quarters, and Service Companies. This first United States mountain organization was the result of efforts of army and civilian groups, which prevailed upon the War Department after more than a year of effort. Most active among civilian groups was the National Ski Patrol Association, headed by MINOT DOLE, who had been in correspondence with General MARSHALL for sev- eral months. This organization, through a special arrangement with the War Department, sup- plied a large proportion of the volunteers. During the previous winter, a ski patrol from the 15th Infantry Regiment had trained on Mount Rainier, and other army skiing had been done at Lake Placid and in Wisconsin. Almost at once, the present communications officer, Captain (then Private) JOSEPH A. HEARST, caught a communicable disease, quarantining A Company for 21 days over Christmas and New Year’s Day, thereby becoming the most unpopular private in the new outfit. This seemed to establish a precedent, for on the following Christmas the outfit was confined because of maneuvers in California; the one after that found most of them on ships returning from the Aleutians; and the Christmas of 1944 was spent in the Staging Area getting ready to ship to Italy. In January of 1942 all manner of ski and winter equipment was issued, and ski calisthenics were given in the mud of Fort Lewis, Washington. Late in the month, Companies A, B, and C moved up to Tatoosh and Paradise Lodges on Mount Rainier for ski training. Tests were devised and a ski school set up. The testing of equipment and mountain techniques were handled by a section of the unit called the Mountain and Winter Warfare Board. Master Sergeant WILLIAM P. JONES, then First Sergeant of Company A, and now regimental Sergeant Major, at this time proved to the satisfaction of Colonel ROLFE and the Board that all soldiers could not be made into skiers. As advised, Sergeant JONES permanently put away his skis. Meanwhile, Company D and the Service Company under Captain GEORGE FLETCHER, now Colonel, G-3 of the 91st Division in Italy, remained down at Fort Lewis, building a corral for the mules. In the spring, Company D moved up for a brief ski period. The Battalion returned to Fort Lewis in May, and by this time, the all-volunteer outfit had grown large enough to form a Second Battalion under the command of Major RICHARD F. READY. Major FLETCHER was given command of the First. At this time, the unit was made up of world-famous skiers, mountaineers, forest rangers and trappers, lumbermen and guides, and a group of cowboys, muleskinners and horsemen, in addi- tion to the regular army cadre. A riding school was begun at Fort Lewis in July. A detachment ii spent two summer months in the Columbian Ice Fields in Canada to develop an over-snow vehi- cle, the great-granddaddy of the present M-29 “Weasel.” Incredible as it may seem to the Infan- try, another detachment made a movie short in Hollywood, the first of several films featuring ski troops of the 87th. At a later date, both Warner Brothers and Paramount made pictures on the Army ski slopes. Intensive military training began in September at the Main Camp in Fort Lewis with rigorous conditioning and range work. Colonel JEFFERSON B. WILLIS took command of the regiment under the over-all command of Colonel ROLFE. On 18 November 1942, the 1st and 2nd Battal- ions entrained for maneuvers at Jolon, California, accompanied by the horses and mules. For six weeks the two battalions maneuvered against a battalion of the First Filipino Regiment. Mean- while, a site had been chosen for a brand new camp to house the 87th, on the Continental Divide in Colorado, at 9,480 feet above sea level. Camp Hale was to be complete with a mile-long ski tow, several rope tows, stables, and even ski waxing rooms in the barracks. The camp was near- ing completion while the 1st and 2nd Battalions maneuvered, and a skeleton 3rd Battalion, formed in September, moved and waited at Camp Hale until rejoined by the rest of the regiment just before the new year. Many new problems in winter-military training were presented by the extreme high altitude and weather. Over a hundred types of equipment and vehicles were tested. Units and detach- ments, to the size of battalions, bivouacked in the surrounding mountains at 12,000 feet, and ran problems and tests in the snow and extreme cold. Unusual schools were set up with experienced men in charge to teach—not only skiing, but snow-shoeing, snow freighting, and trail breaking on toboggan. Dog teams were attached, and men were trained in their handling. Men were trained to build snow caves; taught to cook the mountain ration individually; trained in the pre- vention of avalanches; and instructed in rescue work. Detachments were sent to teach skiing and mountaineering at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, and to a mountain-training center at Seneca Falls, Virginia. Techniques slowly evolved both from winter military operations, and from living suc- cessfully under the extreme conditions. Various manuals were written. A ”Manual of Skis” for drilling and marching in the snow was taught. The Mountain Soldier carried his rifle on his back, and his skis at “right shoulder” while marching. He also gave the “Ski salute,” and learned to stack skis and to mount and dis- mount them “by the numbers.” Also, early in the winter, a nucleus of officers