Books
about the
88th Infantry Division
and
World War II Italy |
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337th
Field Artillary Battalion
"We Left Home"
Colonel Thomas
St. John Arnold
Colonel
Thomas St.
John Arnold
(Ret.) graduated
from Virginia
Military Institute
(1935) and
entered the
U.S. Army.
From 1944
to 1945 he
served as
the Plans
and Operations
Officer for
the 92nd Division
in Italy,
and from 1945
to 1946 as
Commander,
337th Field
Artillery
Battalion,
88th Division,
on the Morgan
Line between
Italy and
Yugoslavia.
78 Pages
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338th
Field Artillary
Battalion
"Direct
Support"
A Story
of Fighting Men
Read:
105 Pages
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339th
Field Artillary
Battalion
"The
Morning Report"
History
Read: 65 Pages
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349th
Infantry Regiment
"Long
Walk Through War"
by Klaus Huebner
Dr.
Klaus Huebner,
was born in
Bavaria, Germany,
twenty-five
years before
the outbreak
of U.S.-Nazi
hostilities
and served
as battalion
surgeon to
the U.S. 3d
Battalion,
349th Infantry
Regiment,
88th Infantry
Division from
1943-1945.
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The
344 days of combat
of the 88th Infantry
Division were part
of the bitterly contested
struggle for supremacy
in Italy during the
Second World War.
Here is the gripping
story of the first
selective service
division committed
to battle in the European
Theater, seen from
the unique vantage
point of a battalion
physician.
Using notes
hastily scribbled
on the backs of maps
and finished out whenever
he was rotated to
rear areas for rest,
Dr. Klaus Huebner
captured in his diary
the frustration, fear,
boredom, devotion,
and anger that were
the daily portion
of combat infantrymen.
The result is a remarkably
sustained exposition
of combat life. Dr.
Huebner traces the
88th’s activities
from final staging
preparations at Fort
Sam Houston to North
Africa and on up the
Italian peninsula
to the Brenner Pass
in Austria, just fifty-five
miles south of the
Bavarian hamlet where
he was born.
Combat began
for the Division just
north of Naples, Italy.
During combat, the
medical aid station
was set up in any
available farmhouse,
barn, cave, or clump
of trees that offered
some protection for
treating the wounded.
There the battalion
surgeon and his aides
did what they could
under adverse circumstances,
gave by their presence
alone moral support
to the casualties,
and came to know well
the miseries, emotions,
and human drama of
infantry soldiers
in combat. Dr. Huebner
writes: “I walked
with the men who carried
guns and slugged it
out on foot. I treated
the wounded where
they fell.”
His story is terse
and often tense, a
memorable view of
battle and the men
who tried to heal
its wounds right in
the field |
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350th
Infantry Regiment
The Blue Devils
"Battle
Mountain Regiment
in Italy"
by John E. Wallace
A History of the 350th
Infantry Regiment
1944 - 1945
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350th
Infantry Regiment
Battle Mountain
Regiment In Occupation
With the "Blue
Devils" Division
in Italy
A
pictorial review
of the 350th Infantry
in Occupation
Covers the Triest
/ TRUST occupation
period.
69 Pages
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350th
Infantry Regiment
Combat Soldier
by James C. Fry
Between
January 1943
and March
1944 Fry served
as commanding
officer of
the 69th Armored
Regiment and
6th Armored
Division Trains
at Camps Young,
Cooke, and
Coxcomb, California,
and as assistant
G3, Headquarters
Armored Command,
Fort Knox,
Kentucky.
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Then
in April 1944 he was
transferred overseas
to command the 350th
Infantry Regiment, 88th
Infantry Division, in
the North African Theater
of Operations, later
moving with that regiment
to the Mediterranean
Theater (Italy). In
March 1945 he was made
assistant division commander
of the 88th Infantry
Division in Italy.
In June 1944
he received the Silver
Star. On 21 May 1944.
The 2nd Battalion,
350th Infantry, launched
an attack against
the enemy at the mouth
of the valley south
of Monte San Biago,
Italy, and was subject
to intense machine
gun and rifle fire
from well entrenched
positions from which
the enemy was laying
down fields of grazing
and interlocking fire.
Colonel Fry himself
led the forward platoon,
issued his orders
from that position,
and personally led
a tank around the
right flank to attack
a house from which
the enemy was making
determined resistance.
During this time there
were no riflemen in
advance of Colonel
Fry. The courage,
leadership, and personal
example displayed
by Colonel Fry inspired
the battalion and
insured the success
of the attack. His
gallantry in action
reflects great credit
upon himself and is
in keeping with the
high ideals of the
military service.”
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88th
Infantry Division
We Were There
From Gruber To Brenner
Pass
WITH
THE 88TH DIVISION,
ITALY
Published By
Information and
Education Section,
MTOUSA
Compiled By
Headquarters, 88th
Infantry Division
Photos courtesy
Army Pictorial Service,
The Stars and Stripes,
YANK, The Army Weekly,
313th Engineer Battalion
The material in
this story has been
passed by the
United States censor
and may be mailed
home.
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This
short pocket history
of the 88th Infantry
Division was compiled
by the 88th Division
Headquarters and published
by the Information and
Education Section, MTOUSA
in 1945. The history
covers the 88th Infantry
Division in WWI and
WWII from training through
the fighting in Italy
to final German surrender.
98 Pages |
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88th Infantry
Division
Draftee Division
by John Sloan Brown
The
involuntary soldiers
of an unmilitary
people such were
the forces that
American military
planners had to
pit against hardened
Axis veterans, yet
prewar unpreparedness
dictated that whole
divisions of such
men would go to
war under the supervision
of tiny professional
cadres.
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Much
to his surprise and
delight, Army Chief
of Staff General George
C. Marshall found
that the 88th Infantry
Division, his first
draftee division,
"fought like
wildcats" and
readily outclassed
its German adversaries
while measuring up
to the best Regular
Army divisions. Draftee
Division is at once
a history of the 88th
Division, an analysis
of American unit mobilization
during World War II,
and an insight into
the savage Italian
Campaign.
After
an introduction placing
the division in historical
context, separate
chapters address personnel,
training, logistics,
and overseas deployment.
Another chapter focuses
upon preliminary adjustments
to the realities of
combat, after which
two chapters trace
the 88th's climactic
drive through the
Gustav Line into Rome
itself. A final chapter
takes the veteran
88th to final victory.
Of particular interest
are observations concerning
differences connected
with mobilization
between the 88th and
less successful divisions
and discussions of
the contemporary relevance
of the 88th's experiences.
Draftee
Division is especially
rich in its sources.
John Sloan Brown,
with close ties to
the division, has
secured extensive
and candid contributions
from veterans. To
these he has added
a full array of archival
and secondary sources.
The result is a definitive
study of American
cadremen creating
a division out of
raw draftees and leading
them on to creditable
victories. Its findings
will be important
for military and social
historians and for
students of defense
policy. 256 Pages
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88th Infantry
Division
The Blue Devils
in Italy
by John P. Delaney
This book details
the involvement
in Rome-Arno, the
North Apennines,
and Po Valley in
1944 and 1945. Illustrated
with photos and
maps. Includes lists
of battle casualties;
decorations and
awards.
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The
88th Division played
a major role in the
battle of Italy, where
it was rated by the
Germans after the summer
of 1944 as the best
American division in
Italy. Because of the
outstanding job it did
in Italy, the 88th contributed
its share to the winning
of the war. It was the
first of the draft infantry
divisions to enter combat
on any front in World
War II and it was among
the top divisions in
the American Army. It
won its share of territory
and honors during its
344 days of combat.
It paid dearly for all
that it won—it
lost 15,173 officers
and men killed, wounded
and missing in action.
Only thirteen other
divisions in the U.S.
Army suffered heavier
losses. The
88th fought its battles
on what was called
“a forgotten
front.” Some
day history will appraise
the true worth of
the Italian campaign
in the overall war
picture. Military
historians will analyze
and sift and publish
detailed volumes on
the operational contribution
of the 88th in the
battle for Italy.
This book
is not a history,
in the true sense
of the word. It is
not intended to be
such.
It is rather
the story of a combat
division from its
beginning to its end.
It is a story compiled
both from official
journals and from
the personal experiences
of the citizen-soldiers
who made up its squads
and platoons. It is
a story which never
can be told in every
complete detail. For
every one of the incidents
related here, a reader
can remember scores
that are not found
in these pages. There
are not enough words,
or paper, to list
them all. The incidents
related are considered
to be representative
of the experiences
of the majority of
88th men. 384 Pages |
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5th Army
General
Calculated
Risk
by Mark Clark
Mark
W. Clark was a major
figure in World
War II. He was prominent
as one of the top
American commanders.
Together with Dwight
D. Eisenhower, Omar
N. Bradley, and
George S. Patton,
Jr., Clark was widely
regarded as being
responsible for
victory on the European
side of the conflict.
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One
of the great World War
II memoirs by a legendary
American general in
charge of operations
in North Africa and
Italy. General Mark
W. Clark recounts his
wartime exploits and
tells the story of the
battles in Tunisia and
Italy with verve and
attention to key detail.
An unparalleled account
by a great military
leader. 500 Pages |
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5th Army
General
From the Danube
to the Yalu
by Mark Clark
From
the Danube to the
Yalu is General
Clark's personal
story of his seven
years of almost
constant struggle
with the Communists
in the battlefield
and at the conference
table--a struggle
which began when
he first came face
to face with Soviet
duplicity as U.S.
High Commissioner
for Austria in 1945
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Mark
Wayne Clark (May 1,
1896 – April 17,
1984) was a senior officer
of the United States
Army who saw service
during World War I and
World War II and the
Korean War. He was the
youngest lieutenant
general (three-star
general) in the United
States Army during World
War II. During the Korean
War, he took over as
commander of the United
Nations Command on May
12, 1952, succeeding
General Matthew Ridgway.
From 1954 until 1965,
after retiring from
the Army, General Clark
served as president
of The Citadel, the
military college located
in Charleston, South
Carolina. 356 Pages |
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88th
Infantry Division
1992 50th Anniversary
Reunion Book
Blue Devils Association
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88th
Infantry Division
The Blue Devils
in Northern Italy
1944-45
by Valerio Calderoni
and Renzo Grandi
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Northwest
Italy
Final Campaign
00 Pages
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Finito
by
Headquarters, 15th
Army Group - Italy,
1945.
Covers
the winter of 1944-45,
the battle, victory,
story of the eighth
army (breaching
the Senio and Santerno,
capture of Imola,
through the Argenta
Gap, fall of Bologna),
story of the fifth
army (crossing of
the Panaro, reaching
the Po, fall of
Verona). Headquarters,
15th Army Group,
1945. Soft cover.
69 Pages
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The
War Against Germany
and Italy
00 Pages
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North
Apennines
10 September 1944–4
April 1945
The
northern Apennines
fighting was the penultimate
campaign in the Italian
theater. Although
the Allies steadily
lost divisions, materiel,
and shipping to operations
elsewhere, which diminished
their capabilities,
their offensives prevented
the Axis from substantially
reinforcing other
fronts with troops
from Italy. |
Yet
the transfer of units
from Fifth and Eighth
Armies for use in northwest
Europe, southern France,
and Greece, both after
the capture of Rome
and during the North
Apennines Campaign itself,
left Allied commanders
with just enough troops
to hold Axis forces
in Italy but without
sufficient forces to
destroy the enemy or
to end the campaign.
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Naples
- Foggia
9 September 1943–21
January 1944
The Allied
goals, established
before the invasion
of Italy, were to
gain control of the
Mediterranean, keep
pressure on the Germans
while building for
the cross-Channel
attack, and force
Italy to withdraw
from the war. All
agreed that bases
in Italy would provide
support for the air
war against German
sources of supply
in the Balkans and
the German industrial
heartland itself.
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These
sound strategic goals
were valid in 1943 and
have stood the test
of time. By late August,
the Italian government
had decided to withdraw
from the war and break
relations with Germany.
The fall of Sicily had
enhanced Allied control
of the Mediterranean
but had not assured
it. Prior to the invasion
of Italy, therefore,
the Allied goals were
far from being totally
satisfied, and an eager
world watched as the
Allies launched first
Operation BAYTOWN and
then Operation AVALANCHE
to invade the European
continent. 00 Pages |
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Po
Valley
5 April–8 May
1945
For the Allied
armies in Italy, the
Po Valley offensive
climaxed the long
and bloody Italian
campaign. When the
spring offensive opened,
it initially appeared
that its course might
continue the pattern
of the previous months
and battles in Italy,
becoming another slow,
arduous advance over
rugged terrain, in
poor weather, against
a determined, well-entrenched,
and skillful enemy.
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However,
by April 1945 the superbly
led and combat-hardened
Allied 15th Army Group,
a truly multinational
force, enjoyed an overwhelming
numerical superiority
on the ground and in
the air. On the other
side, Axis forces had
been worn down by years
of combat on many fronts;
they were plagued by
poor political leadership
at the top as well as
shortages of nearly
everything needed to
wage a successful defensive
war. By April 1945 factors
such as terrain, weather,
combat experience, and
able military leadership,
that had for months
allowed the Axis to
trade space for time
in Italy could no longer
compensate for the simple
lack of manpower, air
support, and materiel.
By the end of the first
two weeks of the campaign
both sides realized
that the end of the
war in Italy was in
sight, and that all
the Allies needed to
complete the destruction
of Axis forces was the
skillful application
of overwhelming pressure,
a feat largely accomplished
within ten days, by
2 May 1945. 00 Pages |
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Rome
- Arno
22 January–9
September 1944
The Allied
operations in Italy
between January and
September 1944 were
essentially an infantryman’s
war where the outcome
was decided by countless
bitterly fought small
unit actions waged
over some of Europe’s
most difficult terrain
under some of the
worst weather conditions
found anywhere during
World War II. 00
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