2 Commandos Part 3

No.9 & 43 Commandos fought side by side

The previous page was: "Army Commandos"

Two-Commandos-3; On the morning of the 20th January 1944, at Naples Two Commandos, No. 9 Commando Army and No. 43 Commando Royal Marines, embarked on H.M. Transport Derbyshire, whose officers and crew were their tried and trusted friends. They numbered six-hundred and seventy men, all ranks. They landed unopposed at 05:30 on the next day, while it was still dark.

The country of the coast on which the Commandos had landed was featureless. It was a flat plain with gullies and shallow ravines; the farms and villages were scattered far and wide. The most prominent landmarks were, a church tower and a factory. It was across this unpromising landscape that the two Commandos advanced.

They met with little opposition, killed a number of German dispatch riders during the morning. By early afternoon they had captured the high ground, which was their objective.

That night they made contact with the third Ranger Battalion, and within three days they were back in Naples. A few days later the Commandos were ordered to the front line once more, to support the 46th Division under General McCreary.

Army Commandos

Monte Ornito,

Two-thousand four-hundred feet high, and an unnamed peak, Point 711 close by were to be one of the objectives. While Monte Faito; which was the highest mountain in the area being more than three-thousand feet high would be the other.

These were the two objectives allotted to the two Commandos.

while the Commandos were moving up from Naples, Brigadier Churchill, and Lieutenant-Colonel Tod, commanding No. 9 Commando, went ahead to reconnoitre the ground.

"It was a fearsome climb to get to the front line," said Churchill, "and once there, we had to crawl about among the boulders seeking out the best approaches to our objectives."

They were soon to discover that the enemy's defensive barrage was designed to fall on the thousand-yard wide valley before them. Churchill decided on an attack from the flank.

43 Commando Royal Marines task was to capture the two mountains, and No. 9 Commando was then to move forward and seize the third mountain, Monte Faito, from the east.

Though ordered to attack

Within forty-eight hours, Churchill was able to postpone the operation for a further twenty-four hours. Because the ground was so difficult, the Commandos took two days and nights to reach their assault positions, and they had had no sleep.

While the Commandos were resting Churchill took both leaders, and made a second reconnaissance and established his headquarters in the front line in a pigsty nine feet square made of loose stones.

It was the target of shells throughout the day, but without effect. The enemy fired an occasional round of smoke to make his observation of the fall of the shot.

43 Commando RM set off

At 18:30 no. 43 Commando RM moved forward, followed an hour later by No. 9 Commando. The going was very slow and difficult. Presently they reached the eastern slopes of Monte Ornito and pushed on to secure the summit.

'C' Troop, protecting their flank, fought a series of small engagements and cleared a passage for the rest of the Commando. 'A' and 'B' Troops came up, and soon they were established on Monte Ornito, 'D' Troop and half of 'A' moved forward and secured point 711.

Both the objectives of 43 Cdo RM, had been taken before daylight.

The Commando set about digging in; but this was no easy matter; in most places the soil was only one foot deep above solid rock. They constructed 'sangers' a protective wall built up with large boulders and large stones which would give them cover from splinters of flying shrapnel.

No. 9 Commando reached Monte Ornito,

Held by their comrades the Royal Marines, then they moved north-west towards a comparatively small hill which was held by the enemy, and which they would have to seize before they could move onto their final objective. The towering mass of Monte Faito. When they reached this position they captured it.

Then the enemy retaliated with a heavy barrage of artillery and mortar fire. Undeterred they moved forward until they came under fire from a house occupied by the headquarters' of a German infantry battalion. Also inside was a German mortar and artillery observation officer. He called on his guns to open fire.

That morning fire deluged the thinning ranks of No. 9 Commando. Major F. Clarke, leading the attack, was wounded. Soon afterwards Tod was hit, and then in rapid succession six officers and the regimental sergeant major, who was killed. Casualties among the rank and file began to mount rapidly; No. 9 Commando had to withdraw to the forward slopes of mount Ornito.

Churchill came up from his HeadQuarters

To see what was happening, he had been out of touch because of problems with the wireless, with him was Admiral Cowan, wearing his green beret. The Brigadier found what remained of the Commando under the orders of Captain M. Allen, the adjutant.

All but one of the Troop leaders had been killed or wounded, Churchill went back to get in touch with divisional headquarters'.

On the way down he and his party helped with the wounded; as they stumbled slowly along over the rough slopes, the enemy maintained his mortar and artillery fire.

Churchill decided that in view of the heavy casualties, no further advance could be made. The surviving Commandos held on, in the afternoon they beat off with heavy losses a sharp German counter-attack.

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This action cost the Commandos

eleven officers and one-hundred and seventy-two other ranks; it had been an expensive battle, yet the capture of Monte Ornito and Point 711 had been a notable achievement, for these heights were the key to the defence of the Garigliano River.

Though Monte Faito had not been captured, McCreary was loud in praise of the Commandos who said. "The Commandos had displayed so much courage, enterprise and endurance."

The next Link below will be: "Two Commandos Part Four"

Two Commandos Part 3 Two Commandos Part Four

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