Royal Artillery and the Coldstream Guards 22 Jan 44

 3 Coldstream Guards War Diary

22 Jan 44 – 0630 

Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. W.A.G. Burns MC and his group left the Assembly area. They went to the Battalion HQ of 1 Green Howards which were in slit trenches behind Tremensuoli. The HQ was under intermittent shellfire and aerial bombardment.

98 Field Regiment Royal Artillery War Diary

22 Jan 44 – 0650

SOS Category continuous: 471 Battery report strong counterattack making progress coming up road 781969 and at 780968 [Santa Maria Infante road, a kilometre North of the Cemetery]

Major G.H. Peile Adventures of 392 Battery, 98^th Field Regiment (1945 IWM)

“On January 22 after a long and exhaustive recce by the Commanding Officer, the position of the Observation Posts, which had been obscure, had ended by Capt. Palmer manning the Observation Post with the Battery Commander, with the Battalion Commander of 3 Coldstream Guards, as the Regiment had now taken over support of 201 Guards Brigade, then under command of 5 Division..  

The position was extremely unpleasant.   The Coldstreams had their Battalion H.Q. in Tremensuoli, which was being subjected to constant shelling and mortar fire, and the O.P. was in a very muddy slit trench rather than in advance of the Front Defence Lines.   This O.P. was manned alternately by Capt. Palmer and Capt. Stride.   During the next four days some excellent shooting was done both by the forward O.P. and the rear O.P., the latter being able to engage hostile Batteries which could actually be seen firing.   The whole of the forward position was overlooked.”  

 

German Position 17 Jan 44 as they saw it!

 German Position 17-23 Jan 44 as the Germans saw it.

German tanks coming from Santa Maria Infante. 22 Jan 44

 22 Jan 44

The German tanks were coming down this road from Santa Maria Infante. 40 Royal Tank Regiment had to stop them getting to this corner of the Cemetery. (Photo John Strafford)

Ortona, Italy. December 1943.

 

Ortona, Italy.   December 1943.   1 York and Lancs. were based just west of here at this time.

Michael Pare:

The artist was Major Charles Comfort, an official Canadian war artist and member of the Group of Seven. He painted this in London from his sketches in November 1944. It is part of the war artist collection of the Canadian War Museum.

It shows tanks of the 14th Canadian Armoured Regiment (Calgary Regiment) passing through Piazza Plebiscito in Ortona.

Grenadier Georg Duscher was killed on 22 Jan 44 at Solacciano

 

NEW INFORMATION RECEIVED SINCE BOOK PUBLISHED.

Book: Battle For Monte Natale Page  133

Translation of the German Text

Grenadier Georg Duscher was killed on 22 Jan 44 at Solacciano which is one kilometre West of the (Minturno) cemetery and two kilometres North of Tremensuoli.   He was with the 361 Grenadier Regiment.

**In pious remembrance of our dear

Senior Grenadier

Georg Duscher

Farmer’s son from the Basen farm in Achleiten,

Parish of Schardenberg,

who, in his 20th year of life, met a hero’s death in the heavy fighting in southern Italy.**

 

Poetic Verse

You left us with a courageous heart

And hoped for a reunion.

But now our pain is greater,

Since this can no longer happen.

Yet when the bell from the tower tolls

That death has been ordained for me so soon,

Then do not weep, my loved ones—

You must be where I am now.

I went with two of my brothers

As a hero to the homeland of heaven.

Grid HQ 5 Infantry Division

 Map of the Minturno area, each square is one km in width and length. this is the grid used by HQ 5 Infantry Division. Some units used slightly different grids. (Map TNA)

5 Infantry Division Revised Plan of attack 18 Jan 44

 XBR Corps War Diary.

18 Jan 44

5 Infantry Division Revised Plan of Attack showing 15 Infantry Brigade moving ahead to take Tufo and Minturno. 13 Infantry Brigade are to the right of them. No area was safe from mines.  (TNA)

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