Italy 1943 - Salerno

Salerno - a hypothetical landing operation on Italy's western shore - took place on Saturday 20th November 1999 in Bedford.

The Allies

The Allied Order of Battle included:

• Allied 5th Army (landing in Salerno Bay)

  • British 10th Corps

    • 4th Indian Division

    • 48th (South Midlands) Division

  • US 6th Corps

    • 1st Infantry Division

    • 36th Infantry Division

  • Army troops

    • US Heavy Artillery Regiment

    • Two British Medium Artillery Regiments

    • Four US Ranger Battalions

    • Two British Army Commando Battalions

    • Two British Royal Engineer AVRE Battalions

• British 8th Army (advancing from Taranto and Calabria)

  • British 30th Corps (advancing from Calabria)

    • 6th Armoured Division

    • South African Infantry Division

  • British 19th Corps (advancing from Taranto)

    • Two Infantry Divisions

    • 1st Airborne Brigade (in ground combat role)

• Reinforcements

  • US 82nd Airborne Division (D+1)

  • US 1st Armored Division (D+2)

  • US 6th Armored Division (D+5)

• The 16. Panzer-Division was in the Eboli area.

• There were three German Motorised Infantry Divisions on the road from Benevento.

• There were reports of two German Infantry Divisions in the Naples area.

• There were reports that Panzer-Division 'Hermann Göring' was in Capua.

• 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division was in Sala Consilina.

• There were reports of a Panzer-Division in the San Nicolas area.

The Germans

The German Order of Battle included:

• 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division (in the Sala Consilina area)

• 29. Panzergrenadier-Division (in the Salerno Bay area)

• 16. Panzer-Division

• 256. Infanterie-Division (in Naples)

• 305. Infanterie-Division (in San Andrea)

• 15. Panzergrenadier-Division (in Port Sele)

• 3. Panzergrenadier-Division (in Port Sele)

• Panzer-Division 'Hermann Göring' (in Nocera)

• 26. Panzer-Division (in the Sallo de Luciana area)

• 21. Luftwaffe-Feld-Division (in Monte Corvino)

• Batterie 'Thor' (in Nocera)

• 1. SS-Panzer-Division 'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler'

Rail movement:

• The 256. Infanterie-Division in Naples could be moved to Nocera or Salerno by rail overnight. There was not enough railway rolling stock to move motorised or mechanized troops.

To achieve the decisive victory demanded by Hitler, Field Marshal Kesselring’s army had to hold off the Allied forces advancing from the south, while concentrating enough divisions against the beachhead to drive the allies into the sea.

The Allies expected to meet serious opposition during the landings, and hopes that the advancing British 8th Army would divert the enemy's reserves away from the beach head.

The Allies faced an additional dilemma: whether to employ their airborne reserve to reinforce the beachhead (as it did historically) or to launch it into the hinterland.

The threat of additional Allied landings along the Bay of Naples forced the Germans to keep one Infantry Division back.

The 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division and 29. Panzergrenadier-Division fell back from the south, pursued by British armour. In the wake of the ‘Desert Rats’ came British and Indian Infantry Divisions, ferried by a gleaming fleet of new lorries. (The RCT had been expanded greatly since the Tunisia campaign.)

Meanwhile, the assault force landed at Salerno.

The port itself was taken by the US Rangers. Naval gunfire overwhelmed the German defences and broke up their initial counter-attacks.

By the end of D-Day, two British and two US Infantry Divisions were ashore, and a beachhead established to a depth of some 5 km.

Fortunately for them, by the time of the Luftwaffe’s intervention, the beach was dominated by a reassuring line of 25pdrs.

As the battle raged across the plain of Salerno, German reinforcements were massing in the hills.

A fearsome counter-offensive was in the offing, as 1. SS-Panzer-Division 'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler' de-trained from Benevento and moved to its assembly point opposite Salerno.

The German forces in the south had continued their rapid retreat. The link-up between the beachhead and the Eighth Army was imminent, but the SS had the potential to overrun the weakened US Infantry Divisions and possibly get right to the coast.

However, before they could get their beach towels down, there was a roar of low-flying Dakotas. ‘It never snows in September’, as one of the British players observed, anticipating another game planned in this series.

The decision to land the 82nd Airborne Division outside of Benevento was a bold one. The landings went well, glider and parachute troops forming up successfully as their jeep-mounted recce probed the outskirts of town.

By the time the first German reaction occurred, the paratroopers had occupied Benevento — and cut the German supply line. Only the forces based on Naples were still in supply. The Leibstandarte was obliged to swing a 180 degree turn and charge back the way it had come. Its bowsers had fuel for about 48 hours operations.

The Battle - Day 2

D+1 brought a nasty surprise for the US troops in Salerno. During the night, Panzer-Division 'Hermann Göring' had assembled just outside of town.

Just behind their start-line loomed a behemoth: Thor, the largest self-propelled gun ever built. Having been stuck in an Italian railway siding since the cancelled attack on Leningrad, it was shipped to the front for the Salerno counter-attack.

The counter-attack on Salerno was held off, but with punishing losses for the US divisions.

Further round the bay, progress inland came to an abrupt halt as the warships inshore were struck by guided missiles; another ‘wonder weapon’ was making its debut. The Hs 293 radio-controlled flying bombs were launched by German bombers, and steered on to their targets.

Initially deprived of their powerful artillery support, the Allied infantry were thrown back on their own resources.

The Battle - Day 3

Massive US air strikes hampered the German deployment, but the assault, when it came, would have flattened almost any other division. However, the airborne forces had had 24 hours to fortify their positions.

FIBUA eats up ammunition (at a rate of one point per two-hour turn, rather than 1 per day). The gallant 82nd Airborne Division were eventually overwhelmed, but as the few survivors emerged from the rubble in the town’s main square, the consequences of their sacrifice became apparent. Storming Benevento had occupied not just the SS, but most of the assault guns and corps artillery assets earmarked for the attack on the beachhead. While the 82nd Airborne Division did their version of the Alamo, the Eighth Army linked up with the beachhead.

The Battle - Day 4

The River Sele was bridged by assault vehicles of the Royal Engineers, and the German defensive line eventually broken by a series of deliberate infantry attacks, shot in by massed British artillery.

On the Naples Bay front, the Germans suspended their attacks on Salerno and sent Thor back up the railway line. Landing craft were disgorging hordes of M4s south of Salerno, as a US Armored Division came ashore. A nifty German withdrawal followed, but by D+4 their pioneers were blowing bridges on the approach to Naples and the fall of the port was only a matter of time.

The aftermath of the battle

The Allies achieved their objective, sacrificing an airborne division to guarantee the survival of the beachhead. A stiffer German defence in the south might have delayed the link-up between the Allied ground forces, but this would have exposed them to a breakthrough by Allied armour.

Post-battle analysis proceeded all winter, but now it’s spring and there’s nothing between the Allies and Rome but a little hill with a church on top. . .