April 28, 1944 — Planning for two massive campaigns at once
April 28, 2024April 30, 1944 — Final training for the upcoming breakout from Anzio begins
April 30, 2024Starting on April 29, Phil’s 3rd Battalion was relieved to prepare for an offensive that they hoped would break the beachhead stalemate. At first light, Phil and his men presented gifts to the family that had shared their farmhouse and their mules with them for the previous month. This earned Phil a kiss on both cheeks by every member of the family. As the men began to depart, a disaster unfolded.
Suddenly, a shell zipped in, sailed over the farmhouse, and exploded. Then another arrived short of the barn. A third blew up in front of them, too close for comfort.
As Phil and some of his men raced to take cover behind stone walls, Phil instantly knew what was happening.
German artillery was bracketing ii the house. [Bracketing is a method of adjusting fire in which a bracket is established by obtaining a spot over and a spot short of a target along the spotting line, and then successively splitting the bracket in half until the target is hit.]
“Move out!” Phil yelled. He turned to the farmer. “Get your family into the drainage ditch! Now!”
The family quickly sprinted across a narrow blacktop road and leaped into a drainage ditch about ten feet deep. As the Jeeps and half-track filled up with American soldiers, Phil screamed to the stragglers, “Double-time! Move it!”
Phil knew there was very little time. “Run, damn it!” he cried out.
Then he saw a huge cloud of colored dust rise from the barn, followed by another as the concussion of the blasts hit him.
Lord Almighty! Direct hits! Phil thought, realizing he still had men inside. When the artillery barrage ended, he counted eight dead and eleven wounded men, a near wipeout of his platoon.
Fortunately, Phil’s rapid action saved most of his men, but there was no time to grieve the losses or say goodbye. He needed to get his men to safety and leave the dead behind to be picked up and buried by the GR men.
Phil prayed they would never have to come for him.[1]
[1] At First Light, page 102.
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