Securing the First Objectives

CHAPTER III ••-••*»..»,..*,. Securing the First Objectives U N all but the extreme right flank Fifth Army had reached the line of the Tiber River during the night of 4-5 June, and troops were poised to exploit the capture of the capital. II Corps, under the command of Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes, held the northeastern part of Rome and country to the east. VI Corps, com manded by Maj. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott, Jr., was stretched along the river from the center of the city southwest toward the sea. On the left flank of VI Corps the British 5 and 1 Divisions were still short of the river line, but on the right elements of the 45th, 34th, and 36th Divisions had reafched it. The 1st Armored Division held the river from the center of Rome to points west of the city. The 85th and 88th, Divisions of II Corps were along the river with the 3d Division east of Rome some distance from the Tiber. The FEC, which had been pinched out in the convergence of the two American corps on the city, had been moving up along the right flank of Fifth Army until British troops of Eighth Army came up abreast of II Corps. The French were beginning to assemble their divisions between Highways 6 and 7 south of Rome. IV Corps Headquarters, under Maj. Gen. Willis D. Crittenberger, was in Army reserve. Rome, a major prize, was safely under control except for scattered mopping up. The next immediate objective was the seizure of the seaport of Rome, Civita vecchia, and the group of enemy airfields lying around Viterbo. Civitavecchia lay some 40 miles northwest of the city on Highway 1 while Viterbo was approxi mately the same distance from Rome and about 20 miles inland from the sea. An excellent road net led to Viterbo, Highway 2 being the major route, but other parallel hard-surfaced roads also ram to this city. Civitavecchia was in the VI Corps zone on the Army left and Viterbo in that of II Corps on tihe right flank of Fifth Army. Few troops had gone far beyond the Tiber bridges on 4 June, and all units were ordered to push out the following day to obtain a secure bridgehead over the 19 river to a minimum depth of six miles. On 6 June the chase was continued by all units in their respective zones until the publication of Operations Instruction No. 28 by General Clark late that day which directed that faster, more mobile troops be employed in the pursuit. This order alerted the FEC to prepare for relief of II Corps and directed IV Corps to prepare plans immediately to take over direction of the attack in the VI Corps zone. A. VI CORPS BEGINS THE PURSUIT 5-11 JUNE The territory to the northwest of the city on the left of the VI Corps zone consisted of a comparatively flat coastal plain, traversed by Highway 1 leading to Civitavecchia and on up the coast. (See Maps Nos. 2 and 3.) Low rolling hills made up the right half, offering little natural assistance for a delaying action and favoring the employment of armor. The 34th Division was given the coastal zone, and the 36th Division was allotted the inland zone. The main axis of advance in land was along a good secondary road, branching northwest off Highway 2 about seven miles beyond the city and running through Bracciano, Oriolo Romano, and then back into Highway 2 about four miles below Vetralla. Highway 2 at Ve tralla turned almost due north into the II Corps zone, ran through Viterbo and continued on to the north. The 1st Armored Division, under the command of Maj. Gen. Ernest N. Harmon, was given the mission of spearheading the pursuit of the enemy beyond Rome in the IV Corps zone. Combat Command A under Col. Maurice W. Daniel, made up primarily of the 1st Armored Regiment and supporting division troops, and the 135th Infantry, attached from the 34th Division, was given the zone of the 36th Division on the right flank of the Corps. Combat Command B under Brig. Gen. Frank A. Allen, Jr., consisting of the 13th Armored Regiment, the 6th Arm ored Infantry, and supporting units, was to work in the 34th Division zone on the left flank. The two infantry divisions were to follow the armor in their respective zones as rapidly as possible, with the 45th Division in Corps reserve behind the 34th Division. The two Brtish divisons were also placed in reserve, preparatory to being detached from Fifth Army, and took little part in the action above Rome. On 5 June the 1 Reconnaissance Regiment of the 1 Division crossed the Tiber and advanced some six miles to the north, but the following day it was pulled back to the south bank. Both divisions then assembled between Rome and the sea. 20 All units moved out early on 5 June to secure the bridgehead line over the Tiber. Combat Command A and the 36th Division used intact bridges across the river, the Ponte Giuseppe Mazzini, Ponte di Ferro, Ponte Vittorio Emanuele, Ponte Sisto, and Ponte Sant'Angelo, all inside the Rome city limits. Most of their dif ficulty in advancing came from the dense throngs of citizens who crowded into the streets of the capital to celebrate their new freedom. It was necessary for the Combat Command B column to move partially into the Combat Command A zone to cross the river since the bridges in the lower reaches of the river either were damaged or would not take heavy traffic. The 34th Division, sending a light task force consisting of the 34th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, the Reconnaissance Company, 894th Tank Destroyer Battalion, and a platoon of tank destroyers, also used this route. The 180th Infantry (45th Division) had crossed to the north bank in some strength over a partially demolished bridge west of Rome at 0200, 5 June. En gineers erected a treadway bridge over the Tiber for use of the main body of the 34th Division. This bridge was in operation by mid-morning, and speedy repairs were made on damaged crossings in the 34th Division zone about four miles west of the city. The British 1 Reconnaissance Regiment crossed on footbridges and had some light armored vehicles across by the end of the day. Only light enemy resistance, consisting of a; few towed 88-mm and smaller antitank guns, an occasional self-propelled gun, a tank here and there, and scattered infantry and snipers, was encountered all along the VI Corps front during the day, but the bottleneck of traffic in Rome did not allow the full striking power of the divisions to be deployed widely until well into the afternoon. At darkness, which at this time fell between 2130 and 2200, the initial line based on strategic road junctions a,bout six miles northwest of Rome had been secured across the front. The 157th Infantry (45th Division) moved up abreast the 1 Reconnaissance Reg iment; tanks of the 13th Armored Regiment and 34th Division infantrymen held the central portion; and Combat Command A's tanks and infantry, closely followed by the 36th Division, covered the right flank. The 1st Armored Division recon naissance unit, the 81st Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, operated over the minor road net between the two combat commands, sending mobile patrols over much of the countryside. 1. Progress Along the Coast. At 2100, 5 June, VI Corps was directed to capture Civitavecchia as rapidly as possible. Day attacks were to be led by the tanks; the infantry was to pass through the armor at night and press forward during the hours of darkness. Combat Command B's armored and motorized units the next day pushed rapidly up Highway 1. They made little contact with the enemy but were slowed considerably by blown bridges and other demolitions. 21 In the interest of speed and reduction of traffic each combat command of the 1st Armored Division was limited to one medium tank battalion, one infantry battalion, one reconnaissance company, one engineer company, one light tank company, and one armored field artillery battalion of self-propelled howitzers. Progressing rapidly, the armored units were nearly 25 miles north of Rome at darkness on 6 June. The 26. and 3d Battalions, 168th Infantry, motorized in trucks, passed through the tank units at 2200 and moved on up the highway. Ad vancing all night, the battalions encountered nothing more serious than occasional small-arms fire and mines and by 1030 the following morning had secured Civi tavecchia. Around this port the Germans put up only a short fire fight on the road northeast of the city. Combat Command B turned over the entire zone to the 34th Division, assembled, and began to move into the 36th Division zone behind Combat Command A. Having set the policy of leapfrogging units to keep fresh troops always in the lead, Maj. Gen. Charles W. Ryder, 34th- Division commander, moved the 133d In fantry under Col. William Schildroth in column of battalions through' the 168th Infantry at 1700, 7 June, and pressed the attack northward toward Tarquinia. Without opposition the 133d Infantry had advanced within five miles of the town by midnight. Prisoners captured indicated two previously unidentified German di visions, the i62d Grenadier Division and the 20th GAF Field Division, were now in the fight, and on the morning of 8 June, while moving through a stretch of rough country toward Tarquinia, the 133d Infantry met the stiffest opposition yet en countered north of Rome.

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