The 2nd Brigade

The 2nd Brigade had been halted in its previous advance in hills around San Bartolommeo and Foiano di Val Fortore; rising waters of the Fortore River and demolished bridges had delayed further progress. Their sole support, operating in isolation from the rest of the division, was the 165th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, 90th Anti-Tank Battery, RCA, and "B" Squadron of the 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards, the divisional reconnaissance regiment. The commanding officer of The Seaforth Highlanders was in temporary command of the brigade, as Brigadier Vokes was acting in command of the division in the absence of General Simonds, in hospital.

Foiano di Val Fortore and surrounding terrain as it appeared in 2007. Wikipedia photo

German intentions were to hold the ground in the area as long as possible, as tanks and vehicles of the 26th Panzer Division were using a lateral road 10 miles west of San Bartolommeo to withdraw to the north. In the early morning of 6 October, the 2nd Brigade was ordered to seize and hold the crossroads at Decorata; the Seaforth Highlanders were tasked to carry out this mission with a battery of the 165th Field Regiment in support (as well as a 4.2" mortar platoon and a Vickers machine gun platoon of the Saskatoon Light Infantry).

From Foiano the road to Decorata (which consisted only of a church and half a dozen scattered houses) climbed in succession over the northern shoulder of two sprawling, windswept hills- Mount San Marco, whose bald top reached 3300 feet above sea-level, and the slightly lower Toppo Felici beyond. The Seaforth plan provided for a leapfrog advance by three companies to take these two heights and exploit to the crossroads. Any doubts as to the enemy's defensive intentions were quickly cleared up. Before the infantry attack started, two troops of the Princess Louise reconnoitring along the road to Decorata drew heavy machine-gun and mortar fire from Mount San Marco; one officer and seven other ranks were killed and four armoured cars and a carrier were knocked out. A prisoner captured at ten that morning said that a company from the 3rd Battalion of the 71st Panzer Grenadier Regiment was holding the hill to cover the regiment's withdrawal. At 3:00 p.m. the Seaforth "D" Company led the advance on Mount San Marco.²

The regimental history of the Seaforths elaborated on the ordeal of seizing Monte San Marco, also known as Hill 1007. "C" Company had left the road and circled Foiano, making contact with "Popski's Private Army" - a special forces unit of the British 8th Army used for raiding and reconnaissance missions. Major Thomson, commanding "C" Company, had difficulty establishing exactly which feature was San Marco owing to poor Italian maps, and falling rain. Scout cars of the P.L.D.G. had come under fire from Hill 910 during the afternoon as well, and the Scout Platoon under Lieutenant Gray sent several patrols down two dry streams, finding the run-off from the ran quickly filling the beds, but also noting that while 910 was clear of the enemy, German tanks and infantry were assembling to the north. The battalion commander ordered the remaining three companies to follow the scouts back and occupy Hill 910, and by last light on 4 October, "A" and "D" Companies had moved to the top without the enemy being aware. Patrols were sent out and harassing fire laid on the road out of San Bartolommeo north as German vehicles continued to flee to the north.

Patrol reports early on 5 October seemed to confirm that the enemy had vacated the area of Foiano-San Bartolommeo-Monte San Marco, as only a single German prisoner, a deserter, was rounded up. Reports of enemy troops and armour in the near vicinity continued to cause worry as the poor condition of the roads left armour support far to the rear. Small clashes with German infantry took place on the 5th as engineers struggled to build bypasses and get vehicles forward. The arrival of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry provided some measure of relief also. "B", "C" and "D" Companies of the Seaforths moved west of the Benevento-Decorata road into more suitable positions.

Click to enlarge

On the night of 5-6 October engineers constructed a diversion around a major road block and finally permitted the Seaforths' anti-tank guns to join the battalion positions; "B" Squadron of the P.L.D.G. followed behind and their armoured cars were sent forward to seize the Decorata crossroads. Losing four vehicles in rapid succession, they returned fire and artillery was brought down in support. It was at this time that the Seaforths realized they were not occupied San Marco (Hill 1007) as thought, and they prepared to advance on it with the support of 4.2-inch mortars, MMG and artillery fire, then swing north once the feature was taken, taking a successive sequence of hills, company by company.³

The first bound was completed with little difficulty, but "C" Company, following up, met a storm of fire "such as had never before been experienced by this battalion." The commander, Major S. W. Thomson (who was awarded the M.C. for his part in the action), called down all available support, and thus aided his men pressed up the long slope and took the hill by early evening, at a cost of some 30 casualties. Here "C" Company was joined by "B" and "D", and shortly after nightfall all three pushed on towards the Toppo Felici. The leading troops dealt effectively with various enemy machine-gun posts, but they were still a mile from their objective when they encountered the more serious opposition of German armour; fire from a German armoured car inflicted several casualties on "D" Company, killing the company commander and a sergeant.⁴

 

Private J.E. McPhee of The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, armed with a Lee Enfield No. 4 Mk 1(T) sniper rifle, comes under German mortar fire at Foiano di Val Fortore, Italy, on 6 October 1943. The battalion was still clad in khaki drill summer uniforms at this time; on 8-9 October, they exchanged the tropical uniforms for their winter issue of battle dress. LAC photo.

The assault began just after 13:00hrs when "D" Company under Captain McMullen moved to a knoll 500 yards from Monte San Marco to cover the advance of "C" Company. One soldier was killed by a sniper during this move. "D" Company settled in to its fire positions when "C" Company and the Scout Platoon began the advance under the cover of their weapons on Hill 1007. By this time, German artillery and mortars were active, and medium machine guns were brought to bear as well, pinning the company until Major Thomson called for the concentration of all supporting fires on Monte San Marco. Thomson had previously arranged for smoke cover from the 4.2-inch mortars, and he personally rallied the platoons and drove them 600 yards up to open slope onto the objective, despite the fact four enemy AFVs were encountered on the right flank, halfway to the top of the hill.

"C" Company, with the sun in their eyes, stormed up Hill 1007 and by late afternoon seized what the enemy had obviously considered to be a highly prized objective. The company suffered a number of casualties in the 1,000- yard advance over open, muddy ground, but there seems to be little doubt that these casualties would have been much higher had a less capable officer led the assault. Shortly after 1800 hours "C" Company was joined by "D" and "B" Companies near Hill 1007 to help consolidate the hard-won objective but not until after darkness had settled were the unit's anti-tank guns able to get forward to give close support against any further attacks by enemy tanks or self-propelled guns. By eight o'clock that evening Hill 1007 or Mt. S. Marco was firmly in Seaforth hands and Major Forin (the acting battalion C.O.) was having a conference with the Brigadier about the attack to the north.⁵

Aftermath

The C.O. of the Seaforths, Major J.D. Forin, wanted to push forward strong patrols and leave three companies in its positions on Hill 1007 until he could determine enemy strength to the north. The acting Brigadier, however, was more optimistic in his assessment, and having pushed the Germans back from Foiano was determined to keep him moving back and prevent a firm defensive line from crystallizing. To that end, the Seaforths were ordered to mount a night attack on the cross-roads at Decorata with the Scout Platoon leading. Direction keeping was to be aided by having the artillery fire on Decorata through the night. While the sound of the artillery fire did help in keeping the companies oriented, when the companies set off that night ("D", followed by "C" and "B"), thick cloud obscured the moon before they were halfway to the objective, and thick fog or ground mist began to settle. The companies had to march single file, and enemy machine gun posts began to be encountered. The night became increasingly darker as the fog increased, and then vehicle noises were heard. "D" Company lost a number of troops in one encounter with what was believed to be three tanks, and instituted a search, with one platoon sweeping the ground holding hands.

This action began a rather nightmarish, confused affair. Enemy tanks, or self-propelled guns, were obviously protecting the crossroads. The Seaforths could hear them, they could hear the commands being given and the clang of metal turrets but it was impossible to see them so that even if the Piats were available - and they were not - it is questionable if hey could have been used even though the men were at times only a few yards from the enemy's vehicles. The enemy, on his part, was in a far more favourable position. He could not see the Seaforths, but he could hear them, and when he did he brought his machine guns to bear on the direction of the voices and swept the area with fire. As might be imagined, the majority of the casualties were caused by the latter, but the darkness also prevented many more casualties.⁶

The force was withdrawn, a particular concern being the lack of anti-tank weapons and what would happen come daylight. The Army history added:

The Highlanders were without anti-tank weapons (although somewhere to the rear bulldozers and oxen were collaborating in strange partnership to get the 17-pounders forward). Faced with the probability of a strong armoured counter-attack across the open moorland at first light, the acting battalion commander, Major J.D. Forin, withdrew his three companies under cover of fog to Mount San Marco.⁷

The attack cost 11 dead, 26 wounded, and two captured. By October 8, when a plan for a full-scale attack by the P.P.C.L.I. was drawn up, with support by a full squadron of Shermans of the 14th Canadian Armoured Regiment (The Calgary Regiment), the Germans had already pulled out, and little resistance was met. The Seaforths spent the 8th and 9th of October exchanging their khaki drill uniforms for their winter uniform of warm wool battle dress.

Battle Honours

The following Canadian units was awarded the Battle Honour "Monte San Marco" for participation in these actions:

2nd Canadian Brigade

• The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada

Notes

1. Roy, Reginald. The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada 1919-1965 (Evergreen Press, Vancouver, BC, 1969) p.215

2. Nicholson, Gerald. Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. Volume II: The Canadians in Italy, 1943-1945 (Queen's Printer, Ottawa, ON, 1957) pp.244-246

3. Roy, Ibid, pp.216-218

4. Nicholson, Ibid, pp.245-246

5. Roy, Ibid, pp.219-220

6. Ibid, p. 221

7. Nicholson, Ibid, p.246