Since their initial landings in Salerno, Italy on 1st September 1943, the Allies had been pitted against a battle hardened enemy in a war of rain, mud, and endless mountains as they advanced north towards Rome. By November they where up against Field Marshal Kesselring's Winter Line, a formidable barrier that stretched over mountains and hills accross the breadth of Italy. Defending this was some of the Wehrmacht's best, fighting a savage and bitter delaying action that had stopped the Allied advance on the approach to the Liri Valley, through which ran Highway 6 to Rome.
The key to penetrating the Winter Line was a steep, rocky mountain spur named Monte La Difensa, the dominating feature of the Camino Hill mass overlooking the Mignano Gap, the gateway into the Liri Valley. For weeks the Allies had been pitted against this 3,100ft lump of volcanic rock only to be repulsed at every attempt. La Difensa itself was a dead volcano, the north side having a collar of rock and then a series of sheer climbs up to the lip which overlooked a saucer shaped depression about the "size of a football pitch" with connecting saddles over towards Camino to the south and Remetanea to the west. Every conceivable approach had been covered, except the north side, the Germans reckoned it was too steep for anyone to attempt, and so left it comparitively unguarded.
It was decided that the job would now be handed to Col. R. T. Frederick's unit, the "First Special Service Force" (see Skirmish February 2002). A unit made up from US and Canadian personnel which other GIs had viewed with sceptism whom they called "maverick" and untested, they where soon to be proved wrong. A Force recon of the mountain concluded that the only way to attack with any chance of success would be the cliff face, the German back door.
On December 2, the Force began the ascent. Spending the next day hidden in the tree lines, the final ascent resumed with the begining of dark. The final approach being almost vertical, in the freezing rain, loaded down with packs and ammunition the Forcemen silently scrambled up. Led by the 2nd Regiment, 1st and 2nd companies emerged at the top and formed up. As the 3rd company was emerging and forming up themselves, some rocks got knocked over, and "all hell broke loose" the Germans who were completely taken by surprise, were quickly overrun and were on the retreat to the adjoining Remetanea and Camino hills. The Force had achieved within two hours what the Allies had been trying to do for weeks.
The whole adventure to re-enact this historic moment began with an email from the re-enactor John Dallimore, he and Kyle McNally from the Canadian Section of the FSSF Living History Group were going to climb La Difensa and lay a plaque commemorating the battle of 60 years ago. Then, meeting the Canadian William "Sam" Magee, a Force veteran of 6-3, in Gatwick Airport, London and to meet with the guys from the FSSF Living History Group UK at my home. Spending the evening talking, refreshments and later, a short nap, myself and Sam where off to Rome in the early hours of the next day, arriving in Rome to a glorious sunny day we were met with John and Kyle who flew in from Ontario, Canada. We all then met up with Mike McGuire (Chicago Tribune) and an Italian historical researcher and our host, the FSSF enthusiast Gianni Blasi (Proffesor in English), and spent the evening planning the next days climb up La Difensa at his place.
At this point it is worth noting that Sam was a member of 6 Co. 3rd Regiment. He was with us on a consultancy basis because, as he put it himself, this was "our show", he was with us to observe. We where the ones performing this historical task, there had been people up there since the War, but no re-enactors, and to our knowledge, no representatives from the descendent units of the Force, and certainly no one up the north face.
The next day, we headed to the base of La Difensa where we where met with our guide, Angelo Andreoli. After a very welcome lunch and refreshments , we then proceeded to ascend around the same route the Force had taken so many years ago. Angelo, an ex-Italian Para, had been up on several occasions and this was to be "just another" for him..whilst for us, a first.
Sam and Gianni bade us a farewell, and dressed in our jump boots, Mountain Trousers and M43 jackets we began our ascent. The climb itself was fairly easy once we all got our pace set but we still sweated with our packs. Once we were in the tree line the going got more vertical and the ground became rough with loose rocks everwhere. To top it all off, it then poured from the heavens! With nowhere to shelter we got completely soaked (which I found out was to be a regular occurence up there), and the ground now became slippery and extremely hard going. The last stretch being almost vertical in parts, our final climb was on the adjoining escarpment the Force took. Although the rock was wet and slippery, we had full daylight, there wasn't freezing sleet on our faces, and we weren't loaded down with weapons and ammunition - And there weren't any German's looking down on us, nervous trigger fingers at the ready.
I have to say, at times my heart was in my mouth especially when Kyle, when a rock came lose in his hand, slipped and fell nearly four feet onto a ledge, almost into the cliff bellow. I had a 50 lb Mountain Ruck , the others their Musette bags and I later found out one of the others, along with me, was scared of heights!!
We finally emerged from the climb onto the lip overlooking the saucer, on the side that the 2nd Company made their attack. The view before us was one of an oblong saucer shaped depression just about the size of a football pitch (as correctly described in one of the books about the FSSF), with a rise on our right (where the 1st Co. emerged) and to our left, a series of interlocking rocky buttresses leading to the actual summit. I have to say, it is smaller than I and the other guys thought, and one can imagine that it was indeed very close quarter fighting, which at the time 60 years ago, was covered in a thick blanket of intermittent fog.
We found a few items of interest, some of them being a coffee can (with petrified coffee inside), some live and spent rounds, lost's of shrapnell, a large depression the size of a bunker which, upon reading the accounts, might have been where Ed Thomas took shelter for four days after being wounded in the leg. There was a cave nearby, with a smaller one above on the rise, where it was said that a sniper emerged to shoot down a few Forcemen, and are buried on the spot. We came across an area which we reckon was where Sam told us of an instant where he delivered some cigarettes to some comrades. One thing that became apparent was there was virtually no cover, and from the written recollections, and from what Sam told us, men where sheltering behind small rocks which would become big boulders in the heat of battle.
The remainder of the day was spent roaming the battlesite and just simply taking everything in. The Germans knew exactly what they where doing up there as one can see the whole of the countryside on either side of the valley, right up to Cassino and beyond, it certainly was a commanding position and how these men did the job of taking it in complete surpise, in the middle of the freezing Italian winter is totally amazing. One thing which surprise us was the amount of well trodden paths up there, at first I thought it could be goats, but John pointed out the "little messages" left everywhere and said they belonged to cattle, being a vet,he knows, and was later justified when we heard the tinkling of cowbells in the distance.
The evening was spent in the rain, it was as if the Gods looked down on us and said "well, if you want to experience how it was like, here it is", and it poured!! After a brief respite, the heavens really opened up and there was a heavy downpour accompanied by tremendous lightning, which passed over us and carried on down the valley. The Gods where really giving us a show as it looked to us like a rolling artillery barrage as it moved away into the distance. We all got soaked through, but at least it wasn't freezing. The night was spent in soaking wet sleeping bags, and the morning sunshine was a welcome sight. After breakfast, and with the cow bells tinkling nearby we had another look around. The previous evenings rain had washed the topsoil from one of the paths and exposed yet some more artifacts including the remains of some US webbing which had been discarded perhaps by a wounded soldier.
We chose a suitable site for the commemorative plaque which John and Kyle had brought from Canada (see photos), right on the area of where we actually arrived on the lip, in a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. Angelo arrived, and we began our descent down the mountain, heading in the direction of Camino and the prospects of a more gentle, easy descent, but we were in for a surprise. We took in the saddle connecting the two peaks, reconnoitred the area where the US 3rd Division made their attempts, descending down a sheer slope to a cave where a live 105mm round was reported to be. We found it, and made our way again. Went back up into the British sector, Camino area and it was then a gentle walk to Angelo's car and a ride back to end the day with a late lunch, after which we visited Cassino Museum run by Alessandro Capagna, with lot's of displays and artifacts. Well recommended if you ever go there.
The next day was breakfast at the Canadian Ambassador's residence with Gianni Blasi, Alessandro Campagna, Mike McGuire, Paul Dray, John Dallimore, Kyle McNally, William "Sam" Magee, and offcourse, Ambassador Fowler. We arrived in our Class A uniforms and had some informal discussions about our climb and the whole campaign of 60 years ago. Later, we visited the excellent Museum of "Piana Delle Orme" just outside of Latine on the area of the Anzio beachhead, and we were greatly impressed.
I will never forget this "adventure", the chance to meet with William "Sam" Magee, John Dallimore, Kyle McNally, our Italian and North American friends and the night I spent up Monte La Difensa. Later, it was brought home to us the historical significance of our climb and the laying of the plaque. Certainly (and until recently) no one had been up the mountain since WW2, and we hope that we have set a precedence. I recently learned that a few days later, Mike McGuire climbed La Difensa, and I would like to take this opportunity to commend him.
