Engineer Memoirs
Q ..
Was this when you became the division G-3?
A ..
Yes. Colonel McCaffrey, who had been the division G-3, became the division
chief of staff and I took his place. Our newly formed division worked like a
charm. The 442d, a crack outfit, would lead the attack and cut through the
Germans like a hot knife through butter. The 473d would back up the 442d, and
the 370th would bring up the rear. Our artillery had always been pretty good, but
we didn't have good forward observers. Once the 442d and 473d joined us, we
drew our forward observers from their ranks. From then on we enjoyed good
artillery support.
The real stars, the true professionals, were the Japanese-Americans. They fought
incredibly well. They scaled hills and otherwise got in behind the Germans by
coming from directions where the Germans didn't expect them. Normally they
would pin Germans down by fire in the front and move around one or both flanks.
Q ..
When you were G-3 was there any particular action or event that you recall?
A ..
Yes, I do recall one event. We were moving up the west coast of Italy rapidly.
One of the battalions of the 473d Regiment didn't pay enough attention to security.
Instead of making a careful reconnaissance, the entire battalion entered a long
tunnel. The Germans blew up both ends of the tunnel and trapped the battalion
inside. It was a massive carnage. But it taught us a useful lesson. After that,
instead of going through a tunnel, we would send scouts over the high ground to
make sure the far end of the tunnel was secured before we marched a unit into it.
Since that part of the Italian coastline was one long series of tunnels, we moved
rather slowly. Fortunately we met only light resistance from Massa to Genoa. The
Italian partisans had already taken Genoa and we didn't have to fight for it.
Our
only actions were against scattered German units which had been cut off.
A humorous incident occurred when we entered Genoa. There was a huge banner
across the road with the "N's" backwards. It said: "Welcome Americans. One
of our boys discovered your country."
I remember another humorous incident. After we'd taken Genoa, several German
units surrendered en masse. To guard them more easily, we put them into a
cemetery surrounded by a wall and placed sentries on top of the wall. The
partisans were still burying members of their unit who had been killed taking
Genoa. When they fired a grave-site salute, our guards thought the German
prisoners were shooting at them, and they ran away. However, the German
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