I. Activation and
Training
in the States
The 310th Engineer Battalion was
activated as a unit of
the
85th Infantry Division on May 15, 1942, at Camp Shelby,
Mississippi.
Basic training was accomplished in that year at Camp Shelby.
The
following year, unit training was undertaken in winter maneuvers in the
cold swamps of Mississippi, Spring maneuvers in the rainy Louisiana,
and
summer maneuvers in the scorching desert sands of California. Fall
found
the Battalion at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where a brief "polishing" was
undertaken
in preparation for overseas movement. Elements of the Battalion left
for
that duty on December 16, 1943. All of the unit was overseas early in
January,
1944.
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II. North Africa
The first overseas assignment was North Africa, vicinity of St.
Denis
du Sig and Arzew. At St. Denis du Sig, the Battalion tackled the
job of Post Engineering in the reconstruction of a prisoner of war camp
to meet the needs of the Division, wherein all the numerous utility
tasks,
water supply, sewage disposal, electrical power distribution, surveying
and construction, and supply of engineer equipment, were undertaken. At
the Engineer Training Center, vicinity of St. Denis du Sig, the
majority
of the unit received a thorough training in mine warfare methods and
Bailey
Bridge construction. At the Invasion Training Center, vicinity of
Arzew,
extensive training was gained in amphibious operations. The unit became
a heavy construction outfit as it undertook the tasks of constructing
elaborate
beach obstacles; for the jobs of quarrying, construction of huge and
extensive
reinforced concrete obstacles, and the fabrication of steel
tetrahedrons
were encountered. This was followed by training in the breaching of
these
obstacles, and conducting of a school in this operation for the
infantry
regiments of the Division.
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<>
III. Italy and
Minturno Front.
<>The Battalion arrived in Italy on March 29,
1944; and after a brief
period of reorganization and adjustment, went into the front at
Minturno
with other elements of the Division on April 9, 1944. Here the
Battalion
received its "baptism", performing operations under fire for the first
time. Road maintenance, minefield clearance, and construction of hasty
fortifications were among the major engineer tasks performed. Company
C,
in particular received a real "baptism"; for in one instance when
marching
(and dispersed) toward a minefield, the enemy threw over one hundred
rounds
of artillery along the road. Although not one man was injured, there
was
praying and aging.
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IV. Breaching
the
Gustav Line
When the offensive started, on the night of May
11, 1944, the
Battalion
played a most important part. Company A, operated one of the ferries
across
the GARIGLIANO River, which, at the time, was continually under shell
fire.
Just prior to the attack, Company C, sent several mine clearing parties
into "No Man's land" to clear paths for the Infantry. A member of one
of
these details was captured by the enemy, but escaped in the course of a
fire-fight, slightly wounded by a hand grenade. Men of Company B, were
attached ot the infantry. This was, indeed, a rough assignment, to act
as second scouts, their job to search the terrain for trip wires and
mines
and guide the Infantry. And of the twelve men assigned to the task, two
were wounded and three killed. Another fine accomplishment occurred two
nights later, when the Second Platoon of Company C erected a
pre-fabricated
timber bridge across a small stream while under mortar and artillery
fire
and an enemy air attack, which was close enough to cause one of the men
to be burned by a fallen flare. The platoon leader was awarded the
Bronze
Star for his brave deed. On the second day of the attack, the advance
toward
"S" Ridge and SOLACCIANO were slowed down effectively, and tanks were
badly
needed to assist the Infantry. River Capo di Acqua and a small
tributary
in the vicinity proved to be effective tank obstacles. D-7 and R-4
Bulldozer
operators succeeded in making crossings while under heavy shell fire;
and
the operators received the Silver Star for their gallant work. Here,
too,
two officers were awarded the Silver Star and one the Bronze Star for
their
efforts. On one occasion, an extensive "S" mine field on a hill known
as
"131" had to be breached to allow the Infantry passage. The men of the
third Platoon of Company B, were under tension as they went about their
task; for mortar fire was frequent in the vicinity. The strain must
have
been too much for one man who caused a mine to explode and was killed
instantly
causing excitement and the explosion of another mine, which took the
lives
of the platoon leader and another man, wounded two others. And the sad
part of it all is that the job had just been completed.
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V. The Drive on Rome
After the last defenses of the Gustav Line were cracked and
the
advance
continued, the Battalion was busily engaged in constructing and
maintaining
minor roads and trails, often under artillery fire. During this work,
Lt.
General mark W. Cark, personally commended the First Platoon of Company
C, which at that time was engaged in constructing a ford to enable
tanks
to move forward and support the Infantry.
Two operations in the struggle for Highway 7 were outstanding.
One
was
the construction of a jeep trail up the steep CASTELONORATO by company
A. The other occurred at SCAURI where the two dozer operator of Company
C accomplished the task of filling craters in heavily mined areas,
continuing
their efforts though one dozer was disabled by mines and the operator
wounded,
until the other dozer was, too, disabled.
The advance continued through FORMIA and onto ITRI. Company B,
supported
by the 235th Engineer Battalion, breached numerous road
blocks
and filled several extensive craters in the course of one morning. The
First Platoon of Company B, then lead a reconnaissance troop into
GAETA.
They cleared the extensive obstacles in their path and then grabbed
their
weapons to help round up some thirty of the enemy from the town. At
ITRI,
the Third Platoon of Company A, constructed a hundred-foot span of
Bailey
bridge while often under artillery fire. The platoon leader was awarded
the Bronze Star for his brave deed.
At ITRI, the Second Platoon of Company C was attached to the
Task
Force
and cleared Highway 7 of obstacles in the rapid advance on FONDI.
Between
FONDI and TERRACINA, there were numerous bridges blown, necessitating
the
construction of numerous culverts and by-passes.
At TERRACINA, the advance of tanks was held up by a road
crater,
which
was found to be under extensive small arms fire when a detail of
Company
A starting work was fired upon by machine guns and forced to withdrew,
two men having been wounded. And there, two of the men of Company
showed
outstanding bravery. In face of machine gun fire, one the wounded men
accompanied
by the first sergeant returned to the crater and located the enemy
strong
point in a house. In the bitter engagement with the enemy, which
followed,
the wounded man killed eight machine gunners and two snipers and the
first
sergeant accounted for two snipers and wounded several others, then
organized
a group of infantry and tank men to neutralize the position. Needless
to
say, they received the Silver Star.
The rapid advance along Highway 7 was temporarily held up east
of
TERRACINA
due to the heavily fortified, rugged mountainous terrain and the
defile,
through which the highway passes between the mountains and the sea,
strewn
with numerous road blocks and tank traps well-covered by enemy fire.
One
particular blown bridge prevented tanks from moving in toward the
resistance.
Bulldozers operators (from Company A) and the 235th Engineer
Battalion, working under fire, dozed in an effective crossing. The
bulldozers
operators were quickly awarded the Silver Star by the Corps Commander
for
their gallant efforts.
Meanwhile an amphibious task force, of which the First Platoon
of
Company
B was the engineer component, had been started to TERRACINA by sea.
Enroute
on one of the DUWK's carrying the engineers suddenly sank. Twenty-one
men
in the water at one time and most of them still laden with equipment.
Rescue
was rapid, but one man was lost. The trip from then on was uneventful,
the landing being made short of TERRACINA; for land forces were already
there. There were some cold engineers, sworn land fighters, that night.
At TERRACINA the advance was temporarily held up. An alternate
route
through the mountains was needed to link Highway 7 with SONNINO. Almost
super-human effort was exerted in carving a road suitable for all
Division
traffic from the solid rock slopes of the mountains; for there
necessitated
much hand labor, especially in demolition work-- which required
hand-carrying
of heavy explosives up the rugged heights. And, of course, long hours
were
demanded of the dozer operators. Then a break-through at TERRACINA
presented
no need for the road and construction was stopped with but about one
mile
to go. In six days of toil, however, six miles of road had been
constructed.
This greatly reduced the mule-carrying and enabled artillery to move
several
miles forward: and so the efforts were, by far, not in vain.
A rapid advance was made to PRIVERNO and little engineer work
was
necessary.
At this point the Division moved to vicinity of SABAUDIA for a short
rest.
The Division re-entered the offensive near CORI and the
advance on
Rome
continued. During the advance several roads were constructed through
wooded
terrain in order to by-pass enemy resistance at VELLETRI and LARIANO.
A platoon from each company accompanied task forces on the
final
drive
on ROME. The most important of these was the Cole Task Force,
of
which the Second Platoon of Company B was a unit. The mission of this
task
force was to drive on ROME and secure three of the bridges across the
TIBER
River before they could be destroyed by the enemy. This force was
motorized
and traveled by motors to within five mils of ROME where it de-trucked
and took to traveling on foot. The Infantry then started marching
forward
on Highway 6 with the engineer platoon serving as the rear guard, its
mission
to "clean out" any snipers left behind by the Infantry, to secure the
rear
of the force, and to keep all civilians moving to the rear. This was
the
first time the platoon had been committed as Infantry and the men
"armed
to the teeth", were quite enthusiastic as they went about their task.
As
the platoon entered the outskirts of ROME, the men were spread out to
the
right and left of Highway 6 for several blocks; but the Infantry did
their
job too well and left them no "Jerries"; however, they were busied with
sending the over-joyed civilians(who hugged them and kissed them and
decorated
them with flowers) to the rear-- quite a problem. And the job continued
until the early morning hours. Rest was granted the majority of the
platoon,
which had the good fortune of bedding down in the lobby of the Plaza
Roma
Hotel, which was needless to say, highly appreciated. However, three
men
and the platoon leader continued on the job and proceeded to the
bridges
to check them for mines and demolitions. These had already been secured
by the Infantry; and the group feeling protected, proceeded to check
them.
One bridge was checked and nothing found. On their stepping around the
abutment of the near side of the LITTORIA bridge, they found nine
frightened
Germans greeting them with frantic cries of "Comrade". As they marched
them to the rear, the Infantry who were guarding the bridge, too,
showed
great surprise. Soon all members of the platoon were enjoying the
comforts
that "Jerry" had lavished in so long; and well had they earned them!
And the road clearance work continued along Highway 2 to LAGO
di
VICO.
Very little engineer work was necessary, it consisting mostly of
removing
enemy vehicles which had been knocked out by our air forces.
The Battalion then, with the other units of the Division, went into
a rest area south of ROME. The day was June 10th. A month of
extensive combat operations had gone by.
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VI. Bridging
Operations
The middle of July found the Division in IV
Corps reserve as the
advance
on Pisa was in progress. During this period, there was practical work
in
bridge construction in the erection of two fixed timber bridges and
three
Bailey bridges on Highway 1. Company A built the timber bridges, spans
of seventy and fifty feet, a 70 one-way, a 40 two-way, and completing
all
work in four days. The Bailey bridges were constructed while
intermittent
shelling was in the vicinity. Company B constructed seventy feet of DS
Class 40, and one hundred and ten feet of DD Class 40. Company C
erected
one hundred and thirty feet of DD Class 40.
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VII. The Arno Front
The first of August found the Division in reserve in the
vicinity of
the ARNO River. Here the Battalion, with the First Battalion of the 19th
Engineer Regiment attached, conducted training in river crossing on the
ELSA River near CERTALDO in preparation for a proposed crossing of the
ARNO. Reconnaissance patrols were sent to the river to study the
proposed
crossing sites. During this patrolling, one officer of the 19th
Engineer Regiment was killed and two enlisted men were wounded by enemy
small arms fire.
Plans changed from a river crossing to a holding action; and about
the
middle of August, the Division was employed in defending the ARNO
front.
Here the Battalion had the dual mission of maintaining the road net and
acting as Infantry. This latter mission called for holding a sector of
twenty-five hundred yards. Indeed, after a short four day stay, all
members
of the unit gained a greater appreciation of the Infantry. Vivre la
Engineers!
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VIII. Breaching the
Gothic
Line
On September 12, 1944, the Battalion, supported by the First
Battalion,
19th Engineer Regiment, took its place in line with the
other
units of the Division in preparation for breaching of the Gothic Line.
The road from SAN PIERO (PIETRO ?) to
FIRENZUOLA
was selected as the main supply route and its opening was to be the
concentration
of the engineer effort. Company B, supported by Company C, 19th
Engineer Regiment, was assigned this task. The road was very winding
(for
it ascended the steep Mt. Altuzzo, one of the key defenses of the
Gothic
fortifications) and offered the enemy numerous and excellent demolition
sites, of which he did not fail to take advantage. The resultant
craters
again demanded much hand labor and bulldozer work, often in zones of
enemy
observation; and so, there was frequent artillery fire. In one
instance,
the commander of Company B and one of his platoon leaders were caught
in
small arms fire while on a reconnaissance of the road. Several craters
were placed along sheer cliffs; and pick and shovel work was necessary
to allow even the passage of mules, extensive blasting was necessary to
fill the craters and permit vehicular traffic; for some of these were
over
two hundred feet in length. A tank dozer of the 752nd Tank Battalion
was
often used for dozing under fire. On September 17, the Infantry reached
the summit of the mountain; and the following morning, the road was
open
for all traffic. Meanwhile Company A and Company C had been struggling
with the construction of jeep trails over the extremely rugged terrain,
each having competed about three miles of such construction.
By September 22, the key road junction town of FIRENZUOLA had
been
reached;
and again the road clearing had involved the filling of several craters
and by-passing of bridge and culvert demolitions. At one demolition
site,
about one and one-half mies south of FIRENZUOLA, the Third Platoon of
Company
B attempted to span a ninety foot gap with Bailey Bridge. The site was
under direct observation of "Jerry", who held the heights north of
FIRENZUOLA,
and shelling was frequent and intense. However, the bridge was erected.
Again Company A and Company C had been busied with road
construction
over the mountains. The road, which Company C opened for over two miles
along a ridge and in plain site of the enemy, was later used as the
main
approach road by the 88th Infantry Division.
At FIRENZUOLA, the Division sector was without established
roads;
and
again extensive construction work was necessary. The existing trail
from
FIRENZUOLA north had to be converted into a two-way road for a stretch
of six miles. This task fell the lot of Company B and Company C. The
rains
came and there resulted a struggle with "Old Man Mud", but again
victory!
Further to the right, Company A constructed three miles of
one-way
road
by extensive demolition and dozing operations through a creek bottom.
This
road became a vital regimental supply line.
After a surprise tank attack, for which Company C was partly
responsible
in constructing a suitable stretch of road over rugged terrain, Mt.
CANADA,
from which the enemy had observations on practically all the Division
sector,
fall on September 28 and more road work was presented.
Company B and Company C had the mission of opening the road
along
Mt.
CANADA, 6529, to its junction with Highway 65; and again there was need
for night operations, for again the road was under enemy observations.
Company C was assigned the task of improving the lateral road
from
6529
to the TORRENTI IDICE valley road, 6531 and the opening of the latter.
Minefields had to be gapped, the lateral road widened, and the valley
road
necessitated several by-passes. All this work was under mid a
torrential
rain; but five miles of road were opened in two days.
At the same time, Company A had again been assigned the job of
road
construction, this time along a ridge which extended about ten miles
north
on the right boundary of the Division sector. And in spite of many days
of rain, the Company succeeded in opening and maintaining a one and
one-half
way road for all traffic, for a stretch of six miles and in the course
of eight days! Following this, the company opened several laterals from
the newly-constructed ridge road to the valley road.
In order to eliminate the long, six mile stretch of poor road
leading
into the IDICE valley, reconnaissance was pushed forward to find a
lateral
road from Highway 65 to the valley road. A road was found through
CAMPGEEIO
and after the filling of a crater and by-passing a bridge demolition;
it
was opened for traffic. But again came torrential rains which ruined
the
road and caused it to be abandoned. Another lateral through SAN
MARTINO,
opened by the First Battalion, 19th Engineer Regiment was
used
instead.
As the Infantry pushed forward to C SPETTRA ( in the immediate
vicinity
of the present front lines) more road craters and blown bridges were
encountered;
and by-p[asses were constructed by Company B, the 19th
Engineers
following up and constructing numerous Bailey bridges. One of the
bridges,
sixty-feet of double-single Bailey bridge, was constructed by the Third
Platoon of Company B over a small stream just north of BORGO di BISANO.
Again there was engineer heroism to enable a tank attack. A
road was
needed from the valley road to the dominating Mt. FORMICHO to allow
tanks
to fire directly on enemy positions and lessen the chances on
counterattack.
A stretch of three miles, all that was necessary, was opened by
demolitions
and bulldozer work, the men working though often under artillery,
mortar
and small arms fire. And the tanks got through!
On about October 21, Company B opened a supply and evacuation
route
from C. SPETTRA to CASTELVECCHIO, a distance of about three miles and
right
on the front lines (the construction led to a line of entrenched
doughboys).
The Company was shelled heavily several times and shot at by snipers;
but
no casualties occurred, and the job was completed in one day.
Meanwhile, Company C had extended the ridge road of Company A,
another
three miles to a town named MIGLIARINA. From here very rugged terrain
was
undertaken for the purpose of advancing tanks. And again the rains
came,
and the road was washed out beyond MIGLIARINA far beyond any hope of
immediate
repair.
The ridge road and its laterals to the valley road were now
deep in
mud. In order to secure one supply route, the entire Battalion was put
to work on the four mile stretch of road from BACCANELLO, on the valley
road, to MIGLIARINO. Amid pouring rains, which once washed out a
culvert
and necessitated the hasty construction of thirty feet of double-single
Bailey bridge from spare parts, and constant traffic, this road was
gradually
improved from a one-way dirt road to a one and one-half way all weather
road. Extensive quarry operations provided several thousands of loads
of
rock, which have gone into the making of the metalled surface.
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IX. Corps
Engineering
in the Apennines
On 21 November the Battalion moved to VILLA de
MEZZA, near
MONGHIDORO,
was transferred from Division control to II Corps control to repair and
maintain the lateral road west of Hwy 65 from MONGHIDORO. Company A and
Company B worked on this road until 26 December. Company B, 310th
Engineer Battalion, erected a Class 40, 250' Bailey Bridge on this road
during the period 1-4 December. This was a three span bridge, with the
two end spans being 70' and 40' respectively of DS(double span) bridges
while the middle span was 140' of TS bridge. Other Bailey bridges
erected
during this period were 60' DS; a 50' SS and a 50' SS near GAGLIANO.
During
the first 25 days of December an average of 13 trucks a day from the
3591
Prov. Trk Co. were used and an average of 250 Italian laborers were
used
for road maintenance.
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X. Lucca -- Defensive
Action
On 26 December the 310 Engineers reverted to control of 85th
Division and moved to the vicinity of LUCCA. CT platoons of Companies
A,
B, & C were attached to their respective CT's. At this time Lt.
Col. JOHN
D. COLE, Jr., who had commanded the battalion since shortly after
its
activation became commanding officer of the 19th Engineer
Regiment.
And the 310th's new Commanding Officer was Major HUGH K.
BURCH, formerly Executive Officer.
Defense plans against the threatened German attack down the
SERCHIO
VALLEY and the LIGUREAN coastal plain were put into effect as bridges
and
culverts were prepared for demolition and craters were prepared in all
roads that might be used in such an attack. The attack failed to
materialize
and the first week of 1945 was used by the Battalion in training with
steel
treadway bridge.
On 8 January the Battalion moved to the Division assembly area
in
the
vicinity of GAGLIANO and spent the following week preparing to take
over
the work of the Royal Engineers of the 1st
British
Division, which they did on 16 January, establishing headquarters
at
VILLA di SASSANERO.
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XI. Mt. Grande Sector
During the period 16 January - 13 March, 1945,
the Battalion
operated
in support of the Division in active defense. The engineer work during
this time consisted of maintaining, (1) the Western Valley Road, (2)
the
Boston Byway, and (3) The Division MSR, the Bow Route. This maintenance
included the quarrying and spreading of well over 3000 truck loads of
gravel,
the construction of 2 Baileys and 1 fixed bridge, 20 culverts of
various
sizes; 600 yards of Sommerfield matting was laid and 700 yards of
revetting
was completed. Defensive positions, minefields, and demolitions were
prepared
as part of the division defense plan. Much of this work was done within
200 to 400 yards of the enemy outposts. The Battalion was relieved by
the R.E.
of the 10th Indian Division and returned to the
Division
rest area near GAGLIANO on 14th of March. While in that area
the companies were rotated between the Battalion river crossing
training
site on the ARNO, where intensive river crossing training was
practiced,
and another site near PISA where RCT(regimental combat team) assault
river
crossing was rehearsed, and the MONTECATINI rest area.
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XII. The Po Valley
Campaign
On 1 April, minus all unit and divisional
markings, the Battalion
moved
to CALCI. During the period 1-16 April the Battalion trained in river
crossing
technique, firing off all weapons, road and bridge maintenance, and
physical
hardening. On April 17th, the Battalion moved to the
vicinity
of RIOIA. Combat team attachments were made only to be changed the
following
day putting Company A in direct support of 337th Infantry
Regiment,
and Companies B & C in direct support of the 338th
Infantry
Regiment. During the period 18-24 April the 310th Engineers
swept the cleared at least 30 miles of road of mines. They also built a
division air strip, constructed numerous by-passes and widened the
secondary
roads, the Division was forced to use as an MSR. Arrangements were also
made for bridging material to use in crossing the PANARO and PO Rivers.
The heriosm of an engineer soldier of this Battalion, Corporal Anthony
J. Augustine, saved the permanent bridge across the PANARO at
CAMPOSANTO.
Corporal Augustine swam across the PANARO River under heavy enemy small
arms fire and neutralized seven demolition charges the enemy had set
before
they could be detonated.
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Photo of a bridge over the
PANARO
River near BOMPORTO. By 1600 on 21 April,
a task force secured
this
bridge before the German could set the demolition charges.
(View Looking South)
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| The battalion was all set up to
bridge the PO on 23 April, 1945, when
higher
headquarters deemed it wise not to allow the 310th to have
the
bridging equipment that had been ear-marked for the 85th
Division.
Using any expedients that could be fashioned from the raw materials at
hand, the 310th constructed four infantry support rafts and
three improvised rafts. The engineers planned and carried out their
part
of the assault crossing so successfully that not a casualty was
suffered.
After the assault elements had established themselves on the north bank
of the PO, the 310th unsupported with its 7 rafts, crossed
all
the combat units of the 85th Division with the exception of
the medium artillery. The difficulty of this task cannot be exaggerated
as the units of the battalion worked over 48 hours without a break to
accomplish
it.
On the 26-27 April, the engineers of the 85th
Division
spanned
the ADIGE River at VERONA with 2 ferries and also a permanent bridge
built
by constructing earth ramps to a partially destroyed railroad bridge
and
by the judicious use of a bulldozer and demolition clearing the roadway
of the bridge of such extraneous matter as derailed cards, rails and
ties.
From the is time on to V-I Day (2 May) the battalion continued
its
engineer
reconstruction work along Highway 509 through FELTRE and BELLUNO to the
Austrian border and helped establish road blocks. The next six days
were
spent at VILL BASSO conducting extended reconnaissance of captured
engineer
equipment. 64 installations were discovered and reported. They included
over three million board feet of lumber, sawmills, power plants,
machine
tools, air compressors, printing presses, etc. On May 8th,
the
battalion moved to the vicinity of POLPET on occupation duty.
To give a few words of credit to the ADE section, the section
delivered
a monthly average of between 800,000 and 900,000 gallons of purified
water.
The engineer supply section , particularly during the periods when the
division was in an active defensive status, was called upon for vast
quantities
of lumber, mines, barbed wire, camouflage materials, demolitions, etc.,
which it delivered without a hitch.
Map Supply was another engineer function that was difficult
during
the
drive from the Apennines to the Alps, but no unit in the 85th
Division was without maps at any time.
The End
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