Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall listened to the civilians, and by late November 1941 the first ski troops were beginning to gather at Fort Lewis in Washington State, to soon train on the slopes of nearby Mount Rainier. He lay unconscious for some time on the battlefield. Belvedere had left him with an abiding hatred of war. Experienced in skiing, mountaineering and cold-weather survival as well as military tactics, the soldiers fought enemy forces in the Italian Campaign of 1945. tured 3 Huns. A night attack also requires trained troops because men must not fire their rifles, must keep quiet, and need skill in keeping contact. Coincidentally, during this quarantine period, I have been working diligently on editing a documentary about the 10th Mountain Division. But they couldn’t take the summit; on the night of February 23-24, the 86th’s 3rd Battalion, under the command of Major John Hay Jr., 28—a former National Park ranger from Montana—relieved them. By dawn on February 20, the battalion reached Belvedere’s summit. In the end, the 10th had gained a reputation as one of the toughest and most competent groups of soldiers to fight in World War II. Over on Gorgolesco, the fighting was more prolonged. Ivan III (the Great), grand prince of Russia. General Hays drew up the final plans for Operation Encore. German counterattacks that began later in the day and continued for five days proved more costly but ultimately futile. Corporal Marty Daneman, having just turned 20 in the days before the battle, was no longer the callow youth who only a month earlier had written fiancée Lois that he was “anxious to get in a hot spot” to test his courage. Army reports, orders, rosters, memos, charts, operations journals and unit histories constitute the bulk of the material. The starting point for the day’s attack was 400 yards from the summit. There hadn’t been much good news from the “forgotten front” in Italy since the previous summer’s fighting. Twice before, other Allied divisions had attempted to overrun the enemy’s positions on Belvedere and failed. from me. Moved over ridge in morning and 1st [platoon] captured 3 Huns. Originally activated as the 10th Light Division (Alpine) in 1943, the division was redesignated the 10th Mountain Division in 1944 and fought in the mountains of Italy in some of the roughest terrain in the country. It starts with the native peoples and covers the arrival of the U.S. Army into the North Country of New York. ON A WINTRY DAY in Italy in the final months of the war against Nazi Germany, Major General George Price Hays, commander of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division, spoke to men from the division’s 85th Regiment. If they ran into opposition, they could use grenades or bayonets, but no one was allowed to load and fire before daybreak. Bodies lie on Belvedere’s slopes at sunset on the first day of attack. Dug in fast. General Hays, then 52, had taken command of the 10th the previous autumn. Images of the U.S. Federal Census from 1790 forward, the American Genealogical Biographical Index, immigration lists and over 9,000 more databases. “Whoever has not gone through it as a frontline infantryman cannot possibly picture it.”. The 10th Mountain Division trained at Camp Hale on Tennessee Pass in the Colorado Rocky Mountains prior to going to Italy to fight in WWII. Around 7 a.m. Stealth and surprise had contributed significantly to the capture of Riva Ridge; the attack on Belvedere would enjoy neither. But an accidental encounter with… “I got up and left, my eyes filled with tears of anger. Chris Dillmann | cdillmann@vaildaily.com What Riva Ridge really was, though, was one of the keys that helped unlock Allied victory in … Never stop. Records document the activities of the 10th Mountain Division from its formation at the beginning of World War II, through its training at various locations including Camp Hale, Colorado and ending with its combat operations in Italy during 1945. Private Robert B. Ellis was part of a machine gun squad in F Company. The 10th distinguished itself in Italy during WWII by defeating German positions in the rugged mountains of northern Italy. The 10th Division deployed in late 1944, in the Apennine Mountains in northern Italy, where the German army had held its ground on top of Mount Belvedere against the U.S. for almost half the year. What also helped was the specialized training the men of the 10th had undergone back in the States, learning how to fight on mountainous terrain and in cold weather. Then “all hell broke loose,” as “artillery, mortars, ‘screaming meemies’ [rockets], and machine-gun, fire enveloped us.” With Captain Smith incapacitated and unconscious, Wright took over as company commander, “a responsibility I really didn’t want.”, C Company stayed in the lead, fighting its way uphill. "Death from a distance, the Mountain Division, with their sharpshooter focus and sniper rifles, is precise and deadly." “I’ve been keeping something from [you], and I think that I’d better tell you…,” he wrote on March 9. And so my 20th birthday rolled around & I feel 30. Their enemies knew and respected their qualities. The three mountains overlook Highway 64, one of the few roads then cutting through the Apennines, connecting the region around Florence to the south—which had been held by the Allies since the previous fall—to Bologna in the north, in the northern third of Italy still controlled by the Germans. The toll in Germans was about eight dead and twenty captured. He left a tersely dramatic narrative in his war diary of the night and days that followed: Dug in on crest of ridge with [Turman] Oldman. During WWII the U.S. Army watched with interest the use of Finnish ski troops against the Red Army during the Winter War and the specialized mountain troops of the German Army and in turn established what would become the 10th Mountain Division, a specialized formation largely formed from prewar skiing and mountain-climbing enthusiasts. The 10th would remain in the vanguard of the Allied drive northward into northern Italy’s Po Valley and the Alps beyond until the German surrender in Italy on May 2. In four months, the division had one of the highest casualty rates of any in the war. “Hell no, we don’t need any help here,” Hay replied. The 10th was the only US mountain division to be raised in World War II, and still has a high profile, being involved in operations from Iraq to Somalia and from Haiti to Afghanistan. Here, engineers build a pontoon bridge across the Po River in late April 1945. By 9 p.m. of the 20th, they were dug in on a forested ridge short of the summit. While the Allied armies in western Europe drove the Germans from France and Belgium, beat back the Nazi offensive in the Battle of the Bulge, and pushed into Germany itself, the Italian front had settled into winter stalemate yet again. Also included are individual memoirs. We were ready. This stencil was used on both WW2 and Korean War Helmets. The Resource Center is the official repository for all records and artifacts related to the World War II-era 10th Mountain Division. Sergeant Evans and his squad, mixed with men from other plat, oons, found themselves just downhill of the final German stronghold on Gorgolesco’s summit. Constituted: 10.07.1943 (as the 10th Light Division) Activated: 15.07.1943: Redesignated: 06.11.1944 (as the 10th Mountain Division: Inactivated: 30.11.1945 The 10th Mountain Division—a full division of the United States Army specializing in mountain and winter warfare—trained at Camp Hale, Colorado during World War II. The 10th Division was originally organized in 1918 as a Regular Army and National Army division for World War I. The 10th Mountain Division trained at Camp Hale, Colorado, where volunteers learned rock climbing, endurance through long distance marches and cross country ski trips, down hill skiing, winter/mountain survival techniques, and combat throughout the winter of 1943-1944. Cold… 3 of us left in my squad. Available remotely with a library card while the library is closed. C Company of 1st Battalion was in the forefront of the assault there, where the fighting began around 3 a.m. Second Lieutenant Herbert Wright was C Company’s executive officer and remembered taking shelter in a wooded slope below Gorgolesco when the Germans discovered their location. It meant there would be no German artillery observers along the ridge to call in shells on them as they advanced toward their objectives that night and in the days to come. Once they had secured the summits of those peaks, the 85th’s 2nd Battalion, held in reserve, would push on to della Torraccia. In 1987, Denver Public Library partnered with History Colorado and the National Association of the 10th Mountain Division to create the 10th Mountain Division Resource Center. The collection at Denver Public Library includes: Use the Name Lookup Index to determine if a person was a member of the 10th Mountain Division, and the company or Regiment with which he served. (The Denver Public Library, TMD-374). The corporal was coming to grips with a new and hard-won maturity. The attack on Belvedere changed that, and the men of the 10th Mountain Division were the heroes of the day. In other words, we were to carry out a night attack on a division scale, which means superb organization and timing on the part of the higher-ups. We had been keyed to this high pitch in all our training. The original plans for the offensive had envisioned it taking as long as two weeks to drive the Germans off Belvedere and adjoining peaks; instead it took the 10th five days. Special to the Daily. “From the frozen spine of the Colorado Rockies to the icy steeps of Riva Ridge in Italy, Maurice Isserman skillfully tracks the birth of the 10th Mountain Division and its harrowing World War II battles. by Flint Whitlock. Throughout the daylight hours, American P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers and British Spitfire fighters buzzed overhead, bombing, rocketing, or napalming any German soldiers or guns they spotted. Horrible slaughter. Moved the gun up to a new position and 1 minute later a mortar hit my old foxhole and wounded [Laverne] Staebell and [Leonard] Giddix…Counterattack surrounded us. While the Allied armies in western Europe drove the Germans from France and Belgium, beat back the Nazi offensive in the Battle of the Bulge, and pushed into Germany itself, the Italian front had settled into winter stalemate yet again. Prayed in my foxhole and read my Bible. Learn about library services available now and the latest COVID-19 information and updates. As the men made their way up the lower slope, there were at first no sounds to be heard but the creaking of gear and an occasional muttered curse. Total German casualties are unknown, but over 400 were taken prisoner. In four months of combat, the division never failed to take its objectives, nor were the mountain troopers ever driven from any objective they had taken. En route, the battalion began taking casualties from mines. “Bob was 20,” Evans recalled. They made their way through minefields, where a misstep could mean death or mutilation. In September 1994, the 1st Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, which included 1-87 Infantry, conducted the Army's first Air Assault operation from the deck of a naval vessel, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), in support of Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. The Allies would not be able to advance into northern Italy without clearing the Germans from the adjoining high ground. On 15 July 1943, the 10th Light Division (Alpine) was activated, it continued to train for the next year and in November 1944 the division was re-designated as the 10th Mountain Division. Despite the chilly February air, the men were soon sweating from exertion, especially the seven-man mortar crews in D Company laden with their 81mm mortars and ammunition. The Tenth Mountain Division Foundation carries forward the legacy and memory of America’s WWII winter warfare soldiers The Foundation was established to memorialize the glorious history and exceptional achievements of the World War II 10th Mountain Division and to perpetuate its memory for future generations. From that point, the regiment’s motto would be “Always Forward,” or, The fiercest fighting on the first day of the assault took place just below the summits of Belvedere and Gorgolesco, the former the objective of the 85th’s 3rd Battalion. Even while fighting continued, the grim task of retrieving the dead was beginning. Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, commander of German forces for most of the Italian campaign, wrote after the war: “To my surprise—in deep snow—the remarkably good American 10th Mountain Division launched an attack against the left flank of [the German defensive line], which speedily led to the loss of the dominating heights of Monte Belvedere.”. Categories: WWII. A vengeful Evans jumped to his feet and, heedless of danger, raced uphill toward the German machine guns, calling for men to follow him. The last German who got up and yelled ‘Kamerad!’ I held with an empty gun. The 10th turned the tide for the Allies in Italy, revolutionized winter mountain warfare & transformed winter sports. The U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division served in World War II combat for only four months, but it had one of the highest casualty rates. Everything about it was unprecedented: It was the sole U.S. Army division trained on snow and rock, the only division ever to grow out of a sport. Near the summit fortifications, Evans and two men with him hurled grenades into the trenches there, then jumped into them, landing on the backs of dead Germans. Belvedere…. The U.S. 10th Mountain Division, initially unwanted, ultimately distinguished itself during the War in Italy. At 11 p.m. on the 19th, the order was given for the mountain troopers to fix bayonets and move out. Please, not now.”, Evans attempted to stop the flow of blood from his friend’s chest wound with a piece of cloth torn from his jacket. 9 in platoon of 32 men. As a young artillery officer in the previous war against Germany, he had been awarded a, Their first weeks on the Italian front had been uneventful. The division was special in a number of ways. Prayed in my foxhole and read my Bible. That’s just an example of the type of people that the 10th Mountain Division attracted.” The men of the 10th following World War II went on to transform the skiing industry into the winter sports mecca that exists today. The three mountains overlook Highway 64, one of the few roads then cutting through the. By dawn on February 20, the battalion reached Belvedere’s summit. 2 Comments. To minimize the possibility of an accidental or premature discharge of gunfire alerting the enemy to their presence, or resulting in friendly fire deaths, the men assaulting Belvedere carried unloaded weapons. The U.S. Army, in contrast, had no alpine troops and had never fought a battle on a snowy mountain. The remainder of the 86th, along with the men of the 85th and of the 87th—some 12,000 men all said—would depart shortly before midnight the next night, February 19, to seize Mount Belvedere and its adjacent peaks. WW2 Photo WWII Coffee Time 10th Mountain Division Soldier Italy 1944 / 1404 This is a nice reproduction of an original WWII photograph showing a soldier of the US Army 10th Mountain Division using his bayonet to stir a canteen cup of coffee during the … The General’s words come back, “When in artillery and mortar fire, drive ahead!”. “The 10th Mountain Division of WWII had the highest ratio of college graduates of any unit in the Army. D.W. [David Wark] Griffith, influential U.S. film director (The Birth of A Nation, Intolerance). By the end of 1942, the ski troops, now expanded to two regiments, had their own newly constructed training camp, Camp Hale, high in the Colorado Rockies. Size: 1 x 1 3/4 inches. Corporal Marty Daneman, HQ Company, 2nd Battalion of the 85th, found himself in the thick of the fighting on the second night on Belvedere; it was more than two weeks before he could bring himself to write about the experience in a letter to his fiancée Lois, back in Chicago. The timeline of my edit and the reality of what took place 75 years ago have been in sync with one another. Some of the division's brigades received more or fewer decorations depending on their individual deployments. Before volunteering for the 10th, Kennerly had played football for the University of Georgia. Drawing largely from letters written by soldiers to their families and friends back home, Isserman provides frontline views not only of such famous battles as Riva … Lieutenant General Lucien K. Truscott, commander of the U.S. Fifth Army in Italy, ordered General Hays to deploy the 10th Mountain Division in the valley and hilltop villages below Mount Belvedere and to begin planning an attack—to be known as Operation Encore—for late February 1945. Search the website, Search for books and materials in the Library Catalog, Search for photographs, maps, historical documents and more, Search newspapers, local histories, biographical works, newsletters and journals, Search for papers and materials in the Archival Collections. Dubbed the "ski troops" by the press, the 10th Mountain Division remains the only military division recruited by a civilian organization, the National Ski Patrol. John D. Magrath. World War II Under the command of Maj. Gen. Lloyd E. Jones, the 10th Light Division (Alpine) was constituted on July 10, 1943, and activated on July 15, at Camp Hale, Colorado. During World War II, the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division served in combat for only four months, but it had one of the conflict's highest casualty rates. The 10th Mountain Division thus far had been spared the brutal mountain fighting that had begun to take its toll on Allied forces in Italy almost immediately after the landings in the Gulf of Salerno on September 9, 1943. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. I spotted one Kraut running across a gully I was covering & shot him. Fischer was badly wounded, with a bullet through his lungs, and kept repeating, “Oh God. The museum covers the history of 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum. I felt no remorse doing it, almost pleasure. It became known as Riva Ridge, for one of the peaks along the ridgeline, 4,672-foot Monte Riva. 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