A Sapper’s War - 12 Fld Coy RCE History, Part 4 Jan 1944
A Note on Blog and Book
This
series of blogs, entitled "A Sapper's War" follows some units of the
Royal Canadian Engineers in World War 2, primarily the 12th Field Company,
which was my father's unit. The main sources are the unit War Diary, Daily
Orders, official military histories, and The History of the Corps of Royal
Canadian Engineers Volume 2. I will also include some personal accounts
of his, when this is appropriate to the history.
The
blogs will mostly relate to their time in Italy, from Oct 1943 to Jan 1945,
though it will ultimately be extended to the later events in Northwestern
Europe and the earlier events in the U.K.. They will be put together in
book form eventually, but until that time the blogs will be available for
interested readers on this "Dodecahedron Books" blog site. I
encourage anyone who in interested to read the blogs, and buy the book when it
comes available.
Naturally,
I am claiming copyright, though you can make "fair use" of content,
of course, if you are writing about similar times and events.
Though
the overall history of the war will be noted, as context, the text mainly
relates to the experiences of the 12th Field Company, as indicated in their War
Diary and related orders, and other documents. If you want a more general
history of the war, there are many other sources to more completely fill in
those details.
There
will be a fair bit of focus on what might be called "social history",
in addition to the sometimes routine, sometimes harrowing military activities
of a group of Allied sappers in the Italian Theatre of WW2. The daily
orders and company War Diary often provide an interesting window into this
day-to-day world that the strictly military military lacks.
Though
this account is based is a Canadian engineer company, it is likely that
British, other Commonwealth and American sappers would have lived through
similar experiences at this time, so families and interested parties from those
nations might also find it interesting.
I
will fill in links to the blog series below, as they are posted.
Jan
1944: TBA
Feb
1944: TBA
Mar
1944: TBA
Apr
1944: TBA
May
1944: TBA
Jun
1944: TBA
Jul
1944: TBA
Aug
1944: TBA
Sep
1944: TBA
Oct
1944: TBA
Nov
1944: TBA
Dec
1944: TBA
Jan
1945: TBA
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January 1944
The early part of 1944 was relatively quiet
for Canadian troops in Italy. After the
heavy fighting and losses in the Ortona region, there was a period of relative
rest out of the lines. Also, the weather
made substantial offensive operations basically impossible, due to rain and
snow making many roads and river crossings impassible. In time, 8th Army would join the
effort to capture Rome, but the hard going in winter delayed that.
On the western side of Italy, U.S. 5th
Army was engaged in an effort to fight on up the Italian peninsula, with the
aim of eventually capturing Rome.
Landings at Anzio, which were touch and go for quite a while, were meant
to provide another vector for the capture of Rome. However, things didn’t go as smoothly as
hoped, so U.S. forces were also unable to make substantial progress at this
time.
Troops on the 8th Army Adriatic
front kept up a constant pace of patrolling, harassment of the enemy, and
attempts to obtain POWs for information.
This was intended to tie up German troops, thus relieving U.S. troops of
some of that pressure, as well as maintain some offensive spirit in the troops
and gather general intelligence.
As for Engineer units, they could still
work on roads, bridges and similar infrastructure that supplied the troops and
were needed for later offensive action.
They also provided assault support for some limited actions.
12 Fld Coy was not yet involved in most of these
actions, however. Transport and obtaining
adequate equipment was still a problem.
Nonetheless, they crossed over to the Italian mainland early in the
month and moved closer to the action. By
month’s end they had become involved in bridging and mine sweeping and clearing
operations close to the front.
Following is a condensation of the War
Diary notes for January 1944.
Jan 1 to 3 – Syracuse, Sicily Adrano, Sicily
January 1st
saw the men tidy up any unfinished business that they had in the area, then hit
the barracks early in preparation for a 3:00 a.m. breakfast call, followed by a
march to the wharf. The company then moved
out for mainland, using a convoy of twelve trucks to get to Messina, with some
breakdowns occurring.
There were several
injuries on the road to Messina, when a company truck was accidentally
sideswiped by an English truck. Five
sappers were injured, one seriously (Spr Romhild).
The company then
took a ferry to the mainland, followed by train travel, which was reported to
be quite an enjoyable ride in comfortable continental-style coaches. The trip involved some stops for meals, as
well as numerous halts while the locomotive’s steam engine built up a head of
steam, to tackle some very steep grades.
Jan 4 to 9 – Altamura, Italy
The
lads arrived at the new camp at Quartodipalo, near Altamura, and spent some
time living in tents while setting up their camp. That was disappointing, as there was an empty
country mansion nearby, that they naturally would have preferred.
The company then
scrounged for needed supplies, including from a nearby salvage dump. Work on a water point began and recces of the
area by non-coms were performed, both to obtain local knowledge of the area and
to sharpen the men’s recce skills. However, trucks breaking down, and a general
lack of tools for jobs slowed things down.
Jan 10 to 14 – Quartodipalo, Italy
1 Platoon and
some of 2 Platoon worked on the water point, though adequate truck transport
continued to be a problem. The remainder
of 2 Platoon and 3 Platoon did road maintenance, in and around camp. Truck breakdowns continued, though the unit
was succeeding in getting better transport and equipment. Major wade went to recce a new site, to which
the company would soon be moving.
Jan 15 to 20 – Quartodipalo, Campomarino, Italy
There was another
move to new site, which involved setting up camp, constructing Nissen huts,
constructing camp and perimeter roads and related jobs. The men spent a night in pup tents before
putting up the Nissen huts.
A couple of
officers picked up explosives and other stores for the general use of 1 Cdn
Corps. The company began planning for a
bridging school, which they were to build in the near future. 2 Platoon moved to the town of Carunchio
where they would soon be building a Bailey Bridge.
There was still
a shortage of needed tools and transport, but the unit received a D4 and D7
bulldozer, which helped with road work.
Jan 21 to 26 – Campomarino, Carunchio, Italy
Most of the
company continued to set up camp, which involved pouring concrete by 3 Platoon
and gravelling roads by 1 Platoon. Heavy
winds made Nissen hut setup difficult (the corrugated sheet metal could become
“gone with the wind” and become a menace to the sappers). Heavy rains came down one evening, and the
local clay turned into gumbo. Rain,
flooding, mud and bad weather were to be a continuing problems in Italy, over
the next year.
Jan 27 to 31 – Campomarino, Carunchio, Italy
2 Pl finished
their bridge, a 140 foot Bailey Bridge at Carunchio. They had paid help from Italian civilians, to
grade the bridge approaches.
One of the
officers headed out on a mine clearing job in an area at which a 1 Cdn Corps H.Q.
vehicle had been blown up by a mine. The
Major went out on a recce for another move.
Lt. General
Crerar, who would ultimately command Canadian troops (under Montgomery) in
northwest Europe, paid a visit. A
platoon of Royal Engineers also paid a visit and spent some time working with
the company.
Other Notes and Observations from January 1944
Following are some selected quotes from the
report on Operations during Jan-Apr 1944 in Italy, written by the military in
Report Number 178:
1 - The Static Situation in early 1944:
“The first four months of 1944 saw little action by
Canadian forces in Italy; during the greater part of that time the Eighth
Army's Adriatic front - on which the Canadian formations were serving remained
practically dormant. Two engagements during January themselves relatively minor
in comparison with the scale of the heavy fighting of the previous month - mark
the only active operations in which
Canadian forces in Italy were engaged during the opening months of 1944.” (page
2)
2 - Typical Engineering Support in an Action:
“At approx 2100 hours (17 Jan 1944) the C.O. (Lt.-Col.
J.F. Bingham)... was ordered to H.Q. 11 Cdn Inf Bde for an 'O' Group, and plans
were made for the C.B. Highrs to attack the following morning, 18 Jan, at 0800
hours, supported by an artillery barrage and "A" sqn 12 Cdn Armd
Regt. This attack was to go through the Perth R. bridgehead which was being strengthened
during the night and engineers were laid on to have the mines cleared by
morning.” (page 20)
REPORT NO. 178
HISTORICAL OFFICER
CANADIAN MILITARY HEADQUARTERS
CANADIAN OPERATIONS IN ITALY
5 JAN - 21 APR 44
3 – Canadian Reactions to being Under Montgomery and the
British/Commonwealth 8th Army
Though there was
a considerable national feeling to get all of the Canadian troops under one
command (which would eventually happen, but not until late in the war), during
the Sicilian campaign and the first part of the Italian campaign, Canadian
troops were quite happy to be under General Bernard Law Montgomery’s command,
with the storied British 8th Army.
He liked them and they liked him (though it took a little while and some
tough battles to solidify these opinions).
The Eighth Army
had been the main factor in booting Rommel’s Afrika Corps from North Africa,
and Canadian troops were proud to be associated with it, at least during the
time that Montgomery commanded. Montgomery
was also known to have a deep concern for the lives of his men, something that
the highest levels of army leadership did not always display. This was a very positive factor for morale.
However, he
would be sent to England early in 1944 to plan and command the D-Day landings –
therefore, leadership that was less popular with the troops would soon take
over in the Mediterranean. Hence, morale
would suffer, though that was also due to inevitable war fatigue.
Here are some
quotations from Montgomery, related to that subject from “Monty - Master of the
Battlefield 1942-1944, by Nigel Hamilton:
“The Canadians are going great guns. They are very willing to learn and they learn
very fast; They will be one of the best divisions I have in due course.” (based
on a letter from Montgomery letter to General Alan Brooke, quoted on page 336).
“It is definitely the wish of every
officer and man in Canadian formations here that they should be a part of Eight
Army and be known as such. They
definitely do NOT repeat NOT want to be nominally independent. They consider that the present method by
which they are referred to as Canadian troops of the Eighth Army is quite
satisfactory. This makes it clear that
the Canadians are in the Eighth Army and they are very proud of this fact and
do NOT repeat NOT want and other arrangement.”
(based on a letter from Montgomery letter to General Harold Alexander,
quoted on page 346).
And here is a quote from Colonel Strome
Galloway, a Canadian officer, on the
same subject, also from that book, that supports Monty’s claims. The part about Montgomery being respected and
popular with the troops comes up a lot in literature about the war, as does
material about him not being popular with much of the Allied high command,
especially many Americans:
“In our minds [in 1942] he was an
overbearing martinet – a proper bastard.
He demanded that we undergo hardships.
To toughen us, he broke many in the process. We thought his methods were madness. But his system of training prevailed, and
when we eventually went into action we knew he was right…When we ended our five
weeks of warfare in Sicily successfully, we realized it was because we had been
molded into a hard, discipline force by the hand of Montgomery, the bete noire of our days in Southern
England.
The most remarkable thing about General
B.L. Montgomery, as we Canadians knew him in our early days together, was his
lack of remoteness. Six distinct levels
of command existed between the man with the rifle and ‘Monty’. These levels were platoon, company,
battalion, brigade, division and corps.
Yet, to the private soldier the Army Commander seemed to be his own
personal commander, with no one else really in between…It was this remarkable
ability of Montgomery to project his personality over the heads of all his
subordinate formation commanders, right down into the forward slit trench, that
made him the soldier’s general.” (quoted
on page 347).
Other Notes and Observations from January 1944
Following are some selected quotes from the
documents associated with the War Diaries.
Note that there don’t seem to be many records for January 1944, so I
have used the opportunity to include some from other periods of about that time:
1 – Scrounging
As noted above,
in the War Diary, the company “scrounged” for supplies, when they weren’t
provided in the usual manner, which was likely to involve a fair bit of army
bureaucracy and paperwork. Scrounging
could expedite the process.
Basically, this
meant appropriating materials that didn’t seem to have an actual owner, or
taking them from the owner, sometimes with payment made, sometimes not. That might include things like trading vino
for ammo if one unit had a lot of one and little of the other. It might also include taking materials that
appeared to have been abandoned, or were surplus to requirements and were
therefore in storage (e.g. in a salvage dump).
If the owner was
actually a civilian, and no recompense was made, this could be considered
looting. Looting could entail serious
penalties. If it was army property, it
was more likely to fall under the category of scrounging and would be looked
upon less severely.
The intent of
scrounging was also important in making such distinctions. If the material had a significant and urgent
unit purpose, that was more acceptable than if it was meant for a personal or
non-urgent need. As the order below
states, “use your common sense”.
Scrounging has
long been a military fact of life (e.g. Napoleon’s armies were said to “live
off the land”), and a good scrounger could be a useful fellow to have
around. Engineers might have to do a lot
of scrounging, as they were often in the construction business and needed
things like sand, gravel and lumber.
But, scrounging
could create problems, as outlined in the order below.
Feb 16, 1944
SCROUNGING
1 – Recently
in Corps Troops Engineers, there have been many instances of men taking
equipment and material for personal and unit use. The loss of this equipment and material
seriously inconveniences other units.
Before taking anything, men must be absolutely certain that the material
is NOT being used for any other useful purpose.
In case of doubt, an officer will be asked.
2 – If
any cases arise in this unit of the above and a complaint is received from outside
sources then disciplinary action will be taken against the offender. Use your common sense in what you scrounge.
2 – Relations with Carabinieri
The Italian
Carabinieri are a national military/police force, organized along military
lines but primarily serving a civilian policing role. This force was established over 200 years
ago, so it has a long tradition.
During World War
2, however, this dual role created problems for the allied troops, who were in
the position of being both an occupying military force and a co-belligerent,
now that Italy had switched sides in the war.
It must have been hard to show due respect to personnel who were your
enemy only months before, but without local law enforcement, the Allies would
have to have diverted resources away from the war effort for civilian purposes,
which was obviously undesirable. So,
Allied soldiers had to suck it up, and show some respect, as outlined in the
order below.
Feb 16, 1944
DISCIPLINE
– CONDUCT IN RELATION TO ITALIAN CARABINIERI
1 –
The Italian Carabinieri are essential to the maintenance of law and order
amongst the civilian population. It is,
therefore, of the utmost importance that their efficiency and morale should not
be impaired in any way by conduct of Army personnel. In particular it will be impressed on all
ranks that they will not in any way impede or interfere with Carabinieri
performing their duties.
2 –
Disciplinary action will be taken against all offenders.
3 – Enemy Propaganda
Along
with the “bombs and bullets” war, a psychological war was always being
waged. As we know, this was done at the
national level via radio, newspaper, film and other mass media. For the “home side”, the propaganda was meant
to stiffen support for the war. On the
other hand, the intent of the enemy’s propaganda was to make the civilian and
military population doubt the war aims and strategies of the enemy and
therefore make it more amenable to surrender or at least a negotiated peace
more favorable to the propagandist’s side.
At the unit level,
propaganda leaflets were a common tactic.
They were meant to sap the morale of the opposing troops, sometimes with
messages casting doubt on the opposing sides leadership, or trying to convince
them that their cause was unjust or simply hopeless and not worth fighting for. The “you are fighting and dying for Wall
Street capitalists” leaflet is a good example of this, as it is meant to stir
up both class and nationalist resentments within the Allied forces in Italy. It reads:
“SOLDIERS OF THE UNITED NATIONS IN ITALY
PROUDLY DYING FOR WALL STREET!
This diploma is ornamented with portraits
of prominent Americans for whom you, idealists in the truest sense, are
sacrificing your health and life. It
shall not be the only record that Wall Street is granting you!
For this sacrifice is also to receive
lasting recognition in the shape of the huge memorial depicted below and
created by one of America’s best sculptors.
It will be placed at the foot of Wall
Street as an eternal expression of gratitude for the willingness of those
soldiers who patiently fought and died for Wall Street, although they had the
chance to spend the War in Germany until repatriation!”
The propaganda
could also be designed to prey upon the homesickness, personal and national jealousies
of the troops. They could be summed up
as operating on the age old insecurities of everyone – sex and death, as the
leaflet below shows, which was obviously designed to undermine morale of the
British troops. It reads:
“While you are away, the Yanks are “lease-lending”
your women. Their pockets full of cash
and no work to do, the boys from overseas are having the time of their lives in
Merry Old England.
And what young woman, single or married
could resist such a ‘handsome brute from the wide open spaces’ to have dinner
with, a cocktail at some night-club and afterwards…
Anyway, so numerous have become the
scandals that all England is talking about them now.
Most of you are convinced that the war
will be over in four months. Too bad if
it should hit you in the last minute.”
The order below
requests that anyone coming into possession of these leaflets should pass them
on to the Canadian Psychological Warfare Branch, apparently for purposes of
research. No doubt they also simply
wanted them taken out of circulation, so as not to have them affect the morale
of the troops.
Feb 16, 1944
ENEMY
PROPAGANDA LEAFLETS
1 – Enemy
propaganda leaflets dropped from time to time among our troops are of great
interest to Psychological Warfare Branch.
It is necessary that original of leaflets of propaganda should be
received by this branch as quickly as possible, in order that reply or other
action may be taken by them.
2 – In
future, at least two originals if available, of propaganda leaflets found in 1
Cdn Corps area will be forwarded direct to the PWB 1 Cdn Corps, or through
Intelligence of Fd Security channels, with the least possible delay, together
with details as follows:
a –
Where and when found.
b –
Method of distribution, if known.
c –
Quantities found.
4 – Army Pay
The subject of
pay is always of interest to people, so here is some information about army pay,
for privates in 1944 (higher ranks would make more, of course). I assume sappers would have gotten about the
same pay as privates, though many would also have received trades pay. My father appears to have drawn extra trades
pay as carpenter, concreter and pioneer, though it isn’t clear whether he was
paid separately for each trade:
Private 1944: $1.30 per day.
After
4 months service: $1.40 per day.
After 6 months service: $1.50 per day.
Trades Pay “A” group: $0.75 per day.
Trades Pay “B” group: $0.50 per day.
Trades Pay “C” group: $0.25 per day.
Subsistence Allowance: $1.25 per day.
Multiplying
these numbers out, a sapper with average trades pay would earn about $60 per
month, when serving in Italy. If he was
back in the U.K., and not living in barracks he would earn the subsistence
allowance of $1.25 per day, to pay for meals and accommodation.
For married men,
the situation for wives back in Canada (or the U.K. for those who married British
war brides, as my father did) was:
Dependents Allowance
Wife: $37.20 per month
First Child: $13.92 per month
Second Child: $12.00 per month
Third Child: $10.00 per month
Fourth to Sixth Child: $8.00 per month
For context, a
Canadian government publication that was meant to assist wives in budgeting, estimated
that a mother and child could be fed on about $20.00 per month. Perhaps in Britain, it would be less.
The order below
gives an indication of how pay was accrued and calculated (the paybook) and how
and when it was received (the pay parade).
It also shows that the army limited the amount that a man could spend
while on leave. Presumably, they were
concerned that soldiers would blow their money on vices such as alcohol and
prostitutes. Also, the government
preferred that soldiers would have some savings, to supplement demobilization
grants, once the war was over.
Feb 23, 1944
PAY
PARADE
Pay
parade will be held at 1800 hrs. 26 Feb 44.
All paybooks will be turned into the Orderly room before 0900 hrs. 26 Feb 44.
Men going on leave will be able to draw up to $50.00 providing they have
it in their free balance. They will only
draw it on the day they are due to leave and NOT the payday before.
5 - The Things they Watched:
Here are a
couple of movies that the company got to see during this time. They both have a naval/nautical theme.
“Lady Hamilton”
was also known as “That Hamilton Woman”.
It starred Vivien Leigh and Lawrence Olivier and was directed by
Alexander Korda in 1941, so plenty of big names here. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) summarizes
it as “The story of courtesan and dance-hall girl Emma Hamilton, including her relationships
with Sir William Hamilton and Admiral Horatio Nelson and her rise and fall, set
during the Napoleonic Wars.” It earns
7.2 out of 10 stars. I am sure that the
sappers enjoyed it, if only to gaze upon Vivien Leigh (among other notable
roles, she also played Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind”).
Feb
1, 1944
ENTERTAINMENT
There will be a picture shown tonight in the usual
place (HQ lines), at approximately 1800 hrs..
The title of the picture is “LADY HAMILTON”.
“Gambling
on the High Seas” was filmed in 1940, and was more of a crime film, about a man
who runs a crooked floating casino outside of the then 3-mile limit, and the
efforts to bring him to justice. It received
6 stars out of 10. It starred Jane
Wyman, who later married Ronald Reagan, who would become president and
commander-in-chief of the U.S. military decades later. She wasn’t quite the looker that Vivien Leigh
was, but I imagine the sappers were still impressed.
Feb
24, 1944
ENTERTAINMENT
There will be a show tonight 24 Feb 44 at 1800 hrs. at
the usual place, down by the Officer’s mess.
The name of the picture “GAMBLING ON THE HIGH SEAS”.
Some Family Stories Related to January 1944 Events
Scrounging
According to her
stories, my mother’s brother Peter was an excellent scrounger. He was also a very unlikely soldier. He was drafted into the British Army, rather
than having volunteered. He had no use
for military dress, discipline, or life, considering them all to be part of the
capitalist status quo, which he refused to cooperate with, if at all possible. I suppose the tribulations of the 1930’s did
that to a lot of working class people.
He was once
found away from his post in Northern Ireland, by some officers (at a nightclub
I think). This was a punishable offence,
and when asked why he wasn't in uniform, he basically told them to 'F
off'. He was threatened with
court-martial, but it never happened, as his unit was soon going to be sent to
Sicily, although the regular soldiers didn't know it at the time. I suppose that under the circumstances, an uncooperative soldier was of
more to the British Army in the Mediterranean Theatre than he was in a stockade
in Britain. Interestingly enough, he ran
into my father, by coincidence, while they both disembarked in Sicily in late
1943.
My mother told
stories of how she received packages from him while he was on the continent.
One package contained a dozen pairs of stockings, which were extremely
difficult to obtain in wartime Britain.
Obviously, he must have been involved in black market activities of some
sort, or at least had valuable connections in that regard. It would be interesting to know if he put his
scrounging skills to use for his military unit, in a more appropriate manner,
but I don’t recall any stories along those lines.
My mother said
that he was always something of an operator, whether in civilian or military
life. His black market activities and
general disdain for army life eventually led to a quick discharge from the
British Army, after the war was over. That
meant that he was not eligible for any of the government assistance normally given
to demobilized soldiers. But, a good
scrounger can probably adapt, even to that.
Propaganda
My dad never
mentioned getting propaganda leaflets, though they were common enough that he
probably would have seen them. Likely,
he just laughed them off.
My mother
mentioned sometimes listening to “Lord Ha Ha”, a propagandist that the German
government used against the British, beaming his radio broadcasts across the
channel. She said that everyone knew
that British news sources were also propaganda sources, which hid some truths
from the people, so “Ha Ha” could be useful for trying to guess what was really
going on, triangulating on the truth, so to speak. But, mostly she said that the British people
just laughed off Lord Ha Ha and Nazi propaganda in general. Leaving aside ideology about democracy, they mostly
just thought Hitler and Hitlerism was ridiculous.
Army Pay
My dad often
repeated the “hungry thirties” and the “dollar thirty a day in the army” memes
(we would call them memes now, though the term wasn’t used then). It was a way to tell younger people that they
haven’t seen anything compared to the depression and the war that the earlier
generation had been through. I suppose
every generation does that, but they really did have a point.
The army
(British and Canadian) was quite careful about wartime marriages, though they
obviously couldn’t stop them. No doubt,
the wife’s allowance was a temptation for some British women to enter into a
hasty marriage, just as the vagaries of the soldier’s fate must have influenced
the men into chancy marriages. Eat,
drink and be merry, for tomorrow we might die.
After my mom and
dad married, the army sent an officer up to Scotland to interview her, to see
whether this was a marriage of convenience or a considered decision. Apparently, they passed the interview. My mom did note that the English officer that
was sent to check her out was a strikingly handsome man.
Generals Monty and McNaughton
Montgomery was popular with 8th
Army – I recall my dad talking about him visiting his company, somewhere in
Sicily, if I recall correctly. He was
also popular with the British public, as my mother attested on occasion. He was the general who was seen to have “turned
the war around” with his victory over Rommel at El Alamein.
General Andrew McNaughton was the Canadian
army commander, for the first few years of the war. He was then removed from that position in
late 1943 or thereabouts. Montgomery
didn’t care for him, as he hadn’t had battle command at the level he was now
serving, though he had served in World War 1 at a fairly high capacity. But he was thought to be more of a scientist
than an army commander (he had helped pioneer a number of new artillery
procedures used at Vimy Ridge in 1917, such as the use of acoustic location
technology for counter-battery fire).
Also, he was keen on keeping the Canadian
forces together as one unit, to be controlled by Canadian high command. That didn’t fit with the plans of some of the
British and American planners, Monty for one.
============================================================
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