Cassino to the Alps - US Army Center Of Military History

DIADEM'S FIRST DAY-II MAY
stalled attack under wav, Colonel
Champeny ordered his reseI:ve battalion
(commanded by Maj. Charles P. Furr)
to move along the wesr side of the
Mintumo road, pass through Company
F, and envelop Santa Maria Inbnte
from the left.
With Company K leading, Major
Fun's battalion advanced beyond the
left Tit, but there it came to' a halt in
the bce of ubiquitous German machine
gun fire. Furr then ordered Company I
to swing further to the left in an effort
to en velop the German defenses. He
ordered Company K to regroup and
support the envelopment with a renewed
frontal assault.
Inf(xmed that elements of rhe H5th
Division on his left had by that time
occupied the S-Ridge, Major Fun anticipated
little difficulty from that direction.
Yet hardly had Company I begun
its maneuver when the tragic inaccuracy
of the information became apparent.
Machine guns from the S-Ridge joined
with guns to the fronl, as well as a
bypassed machine gun somewhere
along the road to the battalion's right
rear, to strike Fun's companies from
three directions. Again the attack
ground to a halt.
The regimental commander realized
at that point that until the enemy's
positions on the S-Ridge were destroyed,
any attempt to envelop the
German defenses from the left was
doomed to failure. The nature of the
terrain and divisional boundaries precluded
a wider envelopment maneuver
from the left; therefore when Colonel
Champeny asked permission to divert
his attack to take the crest of S-Ridge
his request was denied. A staff officer
at division headquarters assured him
53
rhat the 338th Infantry of the neighlx)ring
85th Division would soon take
the ridge. Unfortunately that regiment
was having as much difficulty on the
slopes of the S-Ridge as was rhe 351st
bef(xe Santa Maria Infante.
At that point Champeny called on his
attached tank company to help smash a
way up the Minturno road. Working
throughout the rest of the night, the
regimental mine platoon by daylight
had succeeded in dearing I he road to a
point just beyond the Tits. Around
noon a second platoon of five tanks,
advancing along the road, destroved
two machine gun positions, but when
the tanks tried to continue their advance,
concealed antitank guns, firing
from the outskirts of Santa Maria Inbnte,
knocked out three and f(m:ed rhe
others to withdraw behind the Tirs.
Several hours later a third platoon of
tanks also attempted to force its way
further along the road, only to encounter
a similar bte. Concentrated fire by
the guns of the 9l3th Field Artillery
Battalion on the suspected icx.-atioll of
the German guns alxmt 700 yards east
of the town likewise bilcd either to
destroy the guns or to drive the Germans
from their positions.
At the culvert near Tame, meanwhile,
the Germans at the first light of
day on the 12rh discovered Captain
Nelson's small f()l"ce and quickly surrounded
it. Throughout the day a
beleaguered Company F fought back,
its ammunition rapidly dwindling. At
one point enemy self-propelled guns,
advancing along the road from Spigno
toward Tame, pounded the company
with point-blank fire. All appeared lost
until American arlillery observers, soaring
alx)Ve the battlefield in small obser-