The Fall of Rome: The Forgotten Day!

June 5, 1944: The Forgotten Day!

Rome Diary

Friday, June 5, 2020

Partly Cloudy 72°F/22°C in Roma, Lazio, Italia

Buongiorno amici miei!

“The first of the Axis capitals is now in our hands. One up and two to go!” Franklin D. Roosevelt

Headline: June 5, 1944

The whole world remembers what took place on 6 June 1944! What took place the day before was eclipsed by the Allies’ invasion at Normandy. If 6 June 1944 is The Longest Day, as author Cornelius Ryan called it, the day before – il giorno prima- has become Il giorno dimenticato - The Forgotten Day! While everyone remembers General Dwight Eisenhower as the commanding general of Allied forces at Normandy, the American commander of the forces that liberated Rome has been overshadowed as well.  In leading the U.S. Fifth Army in the liberation of Rome, General Mark Clark had disobeyed his orders to cut off retreating German forces and instead marched into Rome. Ask what happened on 5 June 1944 and who was in charge and you will draw a blank. But, if you ask any Roman, or any Italian, for that matter, 5 June 1944 was the day that freedom returned to the Eternal City.

In persuading FDR to launch an offensive from North Africa, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill referred repeatedly called Italy The Soft Underbelly of Europe. But, as U.S. Fifth Army Commander Mark Clark would write in his memoirs that “soft underbelly” turned into a tough, old gut!  The Allies launched their first Italian invasion, Sicily in July 1943. When they landed on the Italian mainland at Salerno in September, the Italian Army surrendered, but the hard-fought battles between Allied and German forces continued. Both the Allies and German forces suffered heavy casualties along the roads to Rome, and it took the Allies four major offensives between January and May 1944 before Rome was in their sights.

After the fall of Mussolini, Italy came under the complete control of Nazi forces and any Italian resistance to German control was ruthlessly dealt with by the forces of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring. Numerous atrocities were committed by Nazi troops against Italian civilians, and it was feared by many that the Germans would destroy the historic city rather than surrender it intact.  By the time that American forces under General Clark had reached the outskirts of Rome on June 4^th, 1944, Kesselring had declared it an Open City. Beginning on the fourth of June 1944, Allied troops were pouring into Rome for a victory celebration before continuing northward for the bloody battles that would lead to the liberation of all of Europe.

June 5, 1944 - at the Coliseum!

 Field Marshal Kesselring had earned his reputation as being a ruthless soldier, but he had displayed a sense of history, and he seemed to understand the historical importance of Rome.

While June 5^th, 1944 is forever etched into the memories of every Italian, General March Clark’s moment of glory was soon overwhelmed by the events of the following day when General Dwight Eisenhower gave the order and initiated the largest seaborne invasion of human history at Normandy.

Ciao,
MikeBo

© 2020 Mike Botula

[Mike Botula, the author of LST 920: Charlie Botula’s Long, Slow Target!  Is a retired broadcast journalist, government agency spokesperson and media consultant].

The Roll of Honor: LST 921, LCI(L)99, U-667

The Roll of Honor:
LST 921, LCI(L)99, U-667
Brushy Creek Journal
Memorial Day
Monday May 25, 2020
Partly Sunny 63°F/ 13°C off Falmouth, UK
Sunny 61°F/ 16°C off La Pallice, France
Buonagiornata,

We have a shared responsibility to look directly into the eye of history,

and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again!

President Barack Obama at Hiroshima, May 27, 2016

When I was a little boy, Memorial Day was still called Decoration Day and it fell on May 30^th. My 

mother told me it was a memorial event that started at the end of the Civil War, because that’s when Americans would pay tribute to the fallen who wore both blue and gray by decorating their graves with flowers. The observance began with former slaves celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation by decorating the wartime graves of African Americans who fought for their freedom from slavery. Decoration Day quickly became a Memorial Day honoring Americans who fell in all our country’s wars. After World War I, we honored the fallen of The Great War on each November 11^th.  For many years, November 11 was Armistice Day, and on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month of the year there was a moment of silence to commemorate the end of The War to End All Wars. In 1968 Congress revamped our national holidays, combining these hallowed days into a pair of three-day weekends. Decoration Day is now Memorial Day and Armistice Day is now Veterans Day. Today we will again honor those who fought and died for their country. But, as the years pass, the real meaning of both days is sometimes lost in the holiday atmosphere that accompanies any long weekend.

When my father returned from his US Navy service in World War II, he told my brother and I a story that is retold to each new generation in my family as every new Memorial Day approaches. It begins with a few terse lines from the LST 920’s Ship’s Log:

LST 920 Ship’s Log: Monday 14 August 1944

1654 hours:  First hit on LST 921, directly astern of us. Presumably by torpedo.

1654 hours: General Quarters sounded

1656 hours: LCI #99 (British) hit by torpedo presumably

1657 hours: All stations manned and ready; approximate position…50°54’ North, 4°45’ West

1657 hours: Relieved on conn by Captain Schultz and went to GQ station

Ensign John J. Waters, Officer of the Deck

My father, Lieutenant Charles Botula, Jr. died in 1965 without ever knowing the full story about the afternoon of August 14^th, 1944 off the west coast of England. It has taken me years to research it. Neither my Dad nor his Captain – Harry N. Schultz ever knew which enemy submarine attacked them or what happened to that U boat after the LST 921 and HMS LCI(L)99 were torpedoed. Most of the survivors of that terrible afternoon have also faded from our midst, but their story is well worth the retelling. For in the retelling, we can pay them a long overdue honor.

Monday, 14 August 1944 -16:54 hrs. - USS LST 920, commanded by Lieutenant Harry N. Schultz and USS LST 921, under the command of Lieutenant John Werner Enge were underway in convoy EBC 72 from Milford Haven, Wales to Falmouth, England. They were suddenly attacked by the German submarine U667, was under the command of Kapitӓnleutnant Karl-Heinze Lange. LST 921 was hit by the first torpedo and broke in two with the aft section sinking minutes later. Some survivors scampered to safety on the bow section. Others went overboard into the chilly water. When the aft section sank, it took half of the ship’s crew to the bottom.  General Quarters was sounded on the LST 920 and Captain Schultz came to the bridge. Seeing survivors in the water, Schultz ordered his radioman, Seaman Fred Benck to send a request for permission to turn his ship around to pick up survivors. Permission was denied and the LST 920 was ordered to proceed to Falmouth. Shortly after receiving these orders, Schultz ordered Radioman Benck to send the message again. This time, Captain Schultz disregarded the order to proceed and ordered the LST 920 to turn around to rescue any survivors of the attack.

As my father watched from the bridge of the LST 920, he spotted a torpedo coming straight at him. Just then, a British escort vessel, LCI(L)99 came alongside, took the full brunt of the torpedo and was blown out of the water. There is no way of knowing if the Captain of that British escort vessel deliberately  steered his ship into the path of that oncoming enemy torpedo or if it was happenstance that put the crew of LCI(L)99 into harm’s way. Either way, the Skipper, Lt. Commander Arthur John Francis Patrick Reynolds, Royal Navy, died a hero.

The 920 came about and Captain Schultz ordered two small boats into the water with Ensign John Waters in one and Ensign Harold Willcox in the other, along with nine other sailors to rescue survivors. Willcox tied a line around his waist and jumped into the water numerous times to help pull survivors aboard. In his After-Action Report, Captain Schultz singled out Waters and Willcox and the nine seamen for outstanding performance during the action. In all, 48 survivors were rescued and brought aboard the LST 920.  Seaman Joe Wallace tells this part of the story, I remember one of the 921 crew members coming up to the bridge all wet and oily. I gave him my locker keys and location, and he showered and put on some clean dry clothes. By this time it was dark. We gathered the survivors and were on our way to Falmouth. There, I had the task of counting the departing survivors - 42 walking and 6 stretcher cases.

A number of other survivors from the 921 as well as the LCI(L) 99 were rescued by a British ship that joined in the rescue operation. All told, about 65 survivors were picked up, but fully half of the LST 921’s complement of 107 officers and crew had been lost. Years would pass before a dusty and forgotten archive* would reveal the names of the sailors – Americans, British and German who lost their lives on that August afternoon more than seventy years ago. I would like us to remember:

        

LST 921

Baker, Thomas A., USNR                              Seaman First Class           

               Banit, Roman J., USNR                                 Seaman Second Class      

               Bennett, Frederick W., USNR                      Seaman First Class            

               Bent, Eugene E., USNR                                 Seaman First Class           

               Clements, Charles M., USNR                       Seaman First Class            

               Dove, Raleigh J., USNR                                 Seaman Second Class     

               Feeney, Lawrence E., USNR                         Fireman Second Class      

               Fitton, Edward Joseph, USNR                      Seaman Second Class     

               Freely, James Joseph, USNR                        Boatswain's Mate 1st Class  

               Furino, Louis A., USNR                                  Coxswain             

               Guthrie, Edward J., USNR                             Ensign   

               Guziak, Walter V., USNR                               Seaman Second Class      

               Hoak, William K., USNR                                Gunner's Mate Third Class 

               Jerzewski, Chester R., USNR                        Seaman Second Class      

               Jones, Oscar R., USNR                                   Coxswain             

               Kozlik, John H., USNR                                    Seaman First Class           

               Lowe, Samuel M., USNR                               Seaman Second Class      

               Micheline, Carmine A., USNR                      Seaman Second Class      

               Mindlin, Daniel, USNR                                   Ensign   

               Monaco, Robert Chester, USNR                 Radioman Second Class 

               Moore, Charles H., USNR                             Seaman Second Class      

               Mulholland, William P., USNR                     Seaman Second Class      

               Newberry, Clyde, USNR                                Seaman Second Class      

               Pizon, John J., USNR                                      Seaman First Class          

               Potasky, Joseph E., USNR                             Seaman First Class           

               Progy, Henry, USNR                                       Motor Mach Mate 3^rd Class 

               Richard, Donald James, USNR                     Gunner's Mate 3^rd Class  

               Siring, Ronald John, USNR                            Ship's Cook Third Class    

               Smith, Kenneth J., USN                                  Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class 

               Smith, Lee I., USNR                                        Seaman Second Class     

               Smith, Ray R., USNR                                      Seaman First Class          

               Sprague, Herbert K., USNR                           Seaman Second Class     

               Suazoe, Ray M., USNR                                  Seaman Second Class      

               Totulis, Albert G., USN                                  Gunner's Mate 3^rd Class  

               Trachsel, Ernest W., USNR                           Seaman Second Class     

               Van Why, Henry, USNR                                 Seaman Second Class      

               Verity, Edward C., USNR                               Seaman Second Class     

               Vitense, Glenn, USNR                                    Seaman First Class           

               Widmer, Richard C., USNR                           Seaman Second Class     

               Yavornitzky, Andrew J., USNR                     Shipfitter Second Class

The British escort vessel – LCI(L) 99 was a much smaller ship than the wounded LST 921. It was about 150 feet long compared to the LST’s 328 feet. And, instead of a ship’s complement of 110 officers and crew, LCI(L) 99’s casualty list shows a crew of eight – two officers and six enlisted men, including the 19-year-old ship’s cook, Able Seaman William Todd. Todd’s great-niece, Gillian Whittle told me in an email, Bill as he was known was only 19 when he died, and he came from Chorley, Lancashire, England. I imagine he was called up when he turned 18. He was acting able seaman and he was the ships cook. We as a family are enormously proud of him and I go to Kent, England when I can to lay flowers at the naval memorial. I am afraid I do not know much else about my Uncle, but I have his medals and I had the privilege of wearing them proudly on remembrance parade for him one year and we keep his memory going.

Also, aboard the Escort Ship LCI(L) 99 on that deadly August 14, 1944 were:

Lt. Commander Arthur John Francis Patrick Reynolds, RN, Age 24

Sub-lieutenant Douglas Edwin Swatridge, RNVR, Age 25

Leading Seaman Gordon Henry Astor House, RN, Age 21

Able Seaman James Quine, RN, Age 21

Able Seaman Francis Ernest Dennis Shacklock, RN, Age 19

Ordinary Seaman John Shields, RN, Age unknown

Ordinary Seaman Donald Maurice Thompson, RN, Age 20

Able Seaman William Todd, RN, Age 19

Toward the end of November 2018, I received an email from Able Seaman William Todd’s great-niece, Gillian Whittle. In her correspondence, she admitted that she never really knew her great-uncle, but she thanked me for my efforts to keep the memories of all who died that day fresh in the memories of Americans and Britons alike. She wrote, We, as a family are immensely proud of him and I go to Kent, England when I can to lay flowers at the naval memorial. I am afraid I do not know much else about my Uncle, but I have his medals and I had the privilege of wearing them proudly on remembrance parade for him one year.

Diver Christophe Moriceau at
wreckage of U 667

The attacking submarine, U 667, had sunk four ships including the LST 921 and LCI (99), the Liberty Ship SS Ezra Weston and HMS Regina on what turned out to be its most successful cruise, as well as an RAF bomber on a previous mission. But as it headed back to its base and a hero’s welcome, its jubilant crewmen could not know that their luck was about to change. In all the research I did for this story, the US Navy and German Kriegsmarine archives revealed only that U 667 struck a mine on or about August 25^th on the way back to its home base. But, as I researched further, I found the answer on a specialty internet site: uboat.net, which is devoted to the archives of the Kriegsmarine and its unterseebooten. According to the archives, the RAF had carried out a series of aerial mine-laying missions off the coast of France in an area code-named Cinnamon right after the U 667 left port on its final cruise. The RAF dropped mines into the U 667’s inbound route back to base. An RAF report that I read showed that the coordinates of that August 1944 mine-laying sweep matches the location where the U 667 was finally found and examined by diving crews. The loss of the U 667 was recorded by the Kriegsmarine after it missed a scheduled radio check-in on August 25^th. When any U boat failed to meet its daily radio check-in, Admiral Karl Dönitz’ high command assumed that the sub had been lost. And so it was when U 667 missed its scheduled radio check on 25 August 1944.

The exploding mine sent U 667 to the bottom of the Bay of Biscay, where it remains with its entire crew. Along with the U 667’s Kapitӓnleutnant Karl-Heinze Lange, the identities of the other sailors in his crew are listed from the roster of all the sailors who served aboard her.  They are:

Name	Rank (In German)	Age
Lange, Karl-Heinze	Kapitӓnleutnant	26
Bauch, Walter	Omasch	30
Bensel, Rolf-Rudiger	Olt.z.S.	21
Borowsky, Helmut	MaschMt	23
Brübach, Friedrich	MtrOGfr	20
Brunk, Kurt	MaschOFfr	21
Drewes, Gustav	MaschMt	23
Eder, Franz	MaschOGfr	21
Ederer, Hans	OfkMt	24
Ehrenfeld, Kurt	OfkMt	25
Erasimus, Johann	MaschOGfr	20
Faust, Erich	Olt.z.S	23
Fickert, Wilhelm	MtrOGfr	23
Figlon, Herbert	MechOGfr	22
Flach, Hans	OsanMt	23
Grimm, Kurt	MaschOGfr	20
Hagelloch, Hans-Georg	OLt.ing.d.R	23
Hahl, Adam	MaschOGfr	21
Hantel, Artur	MtrOGfr	22
Hochstetter, Wilhelm	OMaschMt	23
Holle, Oswald	MaschOGfr	20
Kabs, Helmut	MaschOGfr	21
Krӧller, Helmut	Olt.z.S	23
Laschke, Kurt	MaschMt	21
Leisler-Klep, Jürgen	Lt.z.S	n/a
Matthias, Heinz-Karl	OMaschMt	25
Mӓurer, Ludwig	FkOGfr	21
Mittler, Arnold	MaschOGfr	21
Mrziglod, Heinrich	BtsMt	22
Oehler, August	MtrHGfr	38
Proske, Walter	MtrOGfr	21
Reiβach, Werner	StOStrm	30
Reitor, Emil	MechOGfr	21
Richter, Georg	OMasch	32
Richter, Helmut	OMechMt	24
Sauer, Helmut	MtrOGfr	21
Schӓfer, Richard	MaschOGfr	19
Scheit, Reinhold	ObstMt	27
Schӧmetzler, Rudolf	MaschOGfr	20
Schrӧder, Gerhard	MtrOGfr	21
Schrӧder, Günther	Olt.z.S	30
Schulz, Kurt	OMaschMt	24
Seeliger, Willi	MtrOGfr	20
Senden, Wilhelm	MtrOGfr	21
Steigerwald, Wilhelm	FkOGfr	20
Warmbold, Adolf	MtrOGfr	23
Weiβ, Rudolf	MaschOGfr	21
Witzel, Hans	BtsMt	23

Christophe Moriceau, the French diver who has explored the U 667’s final resting place and photographed the site extensively for his dive organization L’Expédition Scyllias and its web site www.scyllias.fr explained to me that unlike the United States and Great Britain, France has no legal protection for wreck sites that might contain human remains. War graves carry the protections of international law. But that protection does not exist in France’s territorial waters.

It is fitting that we remember all who perished.

 Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

     US Navy Hymn

[Mike Botula, the author of LST 920: Charlie Botula’s Long, Slow Target! is a retired broadcast journalist, government spokesperson and media consultant.   Mike’s book is available from Amazon or Barnes and Noble Books. You can read more about Mike Botula at www.mikebotula.com]

*LST 921; LCI(L)99; U 667 casualty lists via US Navy Archives, Royal Navy and Uboat.net.

© By Mike Botula 2019