Posted on Jul 18, 2022
The 45th Infantry Division's Desperate Defense at Anzio
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“Those are Krauts coming after us,” Sparks told his men. Behind the enemy infantry, the sound of tank engines echoed through the chill morning air. It wasn’t long before enemy artillery began pounding Company E’s foxholes. Shells landed for 10 solid minutes, but the troops were so well dug in that casualties were light.
When the barrage lifted, three German panzers, unsupported by infantry, came forward and attacked. “They made a mistake,” Sparks said. Company E had the support of an antitank gun and two M10 tank destroyers (TDs). Sparks yelled to the TD commander, “Get ‘em!”
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the fog of war!
When the barrage lifted, three German panzers, unsupported by infantry, came forward and attacked. “They made a mistake,” Sparks said. Company E had the support of an antitank gun and two M10 tank destroyers (TDs). Sparks yelled to the TD commander, “Get ‘em!”
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the fog of war!
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Wow, what an incredible account from Warfare History Network. People forget what a terrible fight it was to win Italy. The Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS both had very capable units in Italy, and the terrain was very strongly in favor of the defense. Remember that the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the single most decorated unit in the U.S. Army, won those awards in Italy, and they were hard-earned.
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MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D.
They sure were. We had many, many 442d RCT vets in our MOPH Big Island Chapter and the Department of Hawaii. The majority, of course, are on Oahu (Honolulu), but we had a dozen active members on the Big Island until the last of them died in 2018. They still have a couple in the Honolulu Chapter. I got to know all of them quite well in my service as Big Island chapter commander and as the Sr. Vice and Commander of the Dept. of HI for a period of 12 years.
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Great history and fantstic photos and artwork. I really enjoyed reading this piece of history. I wish that I had talked more to my dad and uncles who fought in that awful war. We had it easy compared to what they had to deal with.
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