Battle of Biscari-Santo Pietro Airfield
| Battle of Biscari-Santo Pietro Airfield | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Allied invasion of Sicily, World War II | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |
 Kingdom of Italy Nazi Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Roger Denman |
unknown unknown | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 260/300 | around 400−1,400[citation needed] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 12 KIA or WIA (Company C) |
73 (massacre) 80/90 (total estimate)[citation needed] | ||||||
The Battle of Biscari-Santo Pietro Airfield (Italian: Battaglia di Biscari-Aeroporto di Santo Pietro, German: Schlacht von Biscari-Santo Pietro Flugplatz; 10–14 July 1943) was a military engagement between the U.S. 180th Infantry Regiment and a joint Italian-German force for control of the Biscari-Santo Pietro Airfield during the Allied invasion of Sicily of World War II. At the end of the battle, it saw the massacre of 71 Italian and 2 German POWs.
Background[edit]
The Biscari-Santo Pietro Airfield was the Regia Aeronautica's 504 air base between the Italian town of Biscari (now Acate) and the village of Santo Pietro. During World War II, the airfield was fortified and defended by a joint Italian-German force, numbering around 400−1,400.[citation needed] On 10 July 1943, the defenses of the airfield were tested when the Allies launched an invasion of the Italian island of Sicily. Among the forces attacking Sicily was the U.S. II Corps, under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley. Just before the invasion, he made an alleged speech that promptly ordered the soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division, mostly with little combat experience, to be merciless against the Axis defenders. As it turned out, he would not know of the trouble that would cause in the battle ahead.
Immediately after landing, the U.S. units headed for the airports located in the southern part of the island, and some massacres of civilians were reported; one happened in the Sicilian town of Vittoria, where 12 Italians were killed, which included Giuseppe Mangano, podestà of Acate, and his seventeen-year-old son Valerio, who was killed by a bayonet shot in his face.[1]
As part of Bradley's II Corps, the 45th Division was given a difficult task despite the fact that, of the divisions participating in the invasion, it was the only one to be "green," with no previous combat experience. The 45th Division's 157th and 179th Infantry Regiments were given the task of capturing several coastal towns and the Comiso Airport before they linked up with the 1st Canadian Infantry Division.
The 180th Infantry Regiment was given the task of capturing the Biscari airfield and linking up the US 1st Infantry Division.[2] Little did the regiment know that the fight was to be brutal, with them suffering many casualties.
Battle[edit]
On 10 July 1943, the same day the invasion began, the 180th Regiment commenced their assault on the airfield. The regiment performed so badly in the first two days of the landing that Major General Troy Middleton considered relieving its commander from duty. However, it was decided that the assistant division commander was sent to exercise close supervision over the regiment.[3] By 13 July, the American soldiers began suffering from the effects of battle, but however continued the assault. By 14 July they were pouring in on all sides while still suffering casualties, and the Italian and German force were about to retreat from the area. That same day, the A Company advanced in their operational zone and captured 45 Italians and 3 Germans in their advance. The executive officer for the 1st Battalion, 180th Regiment, Major Roger Denman, ordered an non-commisioned officer (NCO), Sergeant Horace T. West, who was age 33, to take that group of prisoners "to the rear, off the road, where they would not be conspicuous, and hold them for questioning." The POWs were without shoes and shirts, which at the time was a common practice to discourage escape attempts.[4]
After the Sergeant, with several other U.S. soldiers assisting him, had marched the POWs about 1 mile, he stopped the group and directed that eight or nine of them be separated from the rest and taken to the regimental intelligence officer (the S-2) for questioning. West then took the remaining POWs "off the road, lined them up, and borrowed a Thompson submachine gun" from the company first sergeant (the senior NCO in the Company). When the First Sergeant asked West what he wanted it for, West responded that he was going to "kill the sons of bitches." West then told the soldiers guarding the POWs to "turn around if you don't want to see it."[5]
What followed was no more than a war crime. West murdered the POWs by shooting them with the Thompson. When the bodies were discovered a half-hour later, it was noted that each POW had been shot through the heart, which indicated that it had been close range. Investigators later learned that after West had emptied the Thompson into the group of POWs, he "stopped to reload, then walked among the men in their pooling blood and fired a single round into the hearts of those still moving."[6] This was the first part of the Biscari massacre.
The atrocities did not end there. A few hours later, the C Company also committed a mass killing. At the beginning of the battle, they had landed south of the Acate River amidst sporadic mortar and small arms fire. Pursuing his first objective, the commander of the company, Captain John Compton, pushed his company towards Highway 115, joined with some 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers, and attacked several German defenses. During the first three days of the invasion, Compton did not sleep during the first three days of the invasion. He was simply "too excited to sleep." On the fourth day, he managed about an hour and a half of sleep before the attack on the airfield. Around 23:00 on 13 July, C Company set off and reached the airfield around 11:00 the next day. Immediately they began to receive artillery, mortar, and sniper fire. The sniper fire was especially efficient in blood. From a concealed position in a nearby draw, the snipers targeted wounded American soldiers as well as the medics attempting to aid them. Out of the 34 men in Compton's 2nd Platoon, 12 were either wounded in action (WIA) or killed in action (KIA).[7]
In an attempt to locate the snipers' firing position, a Private, named Raymond C. Marlow, crept down into a nearby draw. He had gone only about 25 yards into the draw before he spotted an Italian soldier with a rifle. Marlow raised his rifle and shouted at the Italian. The Italian ran away and entered a dugout farther in the draw. After a minute or two, the Italian soldier emerged with 35 others, several of whom were in civilian clothing. Marlow walked them up the hill to his outpost and reported to his squad leader, Sergeant Hair. "I told him that I had gotten those fellows that were shooting at us while we were getting out from under that artillery fire," Marlow reported. Acting as an interpreter, another Private, John Gazzetti, asked the prisoners if they had been acting as snipers. He got no response. Hair herded the prisoners out of the draw and asked 1st Lieutenant Blanks what he should do with them. Blanks, in turn, asked Compton for instructions.
Compton asked Blanks if he was sure that they were the same snipers that had been shooting at them all day. When Blanks answered in the affirmative, Compton said bluntly, "Get them shot." Without hesitation, Blanks ordered Hair to assemble a firing squad and shoot the prisoners.[8]
Compton accompanied the firing squad of around 11 men to the ridge overlooking the draw.[9] He told the American soldiers to line up and they positioned themselves about six feet away from the prisoners. The prisoners started pleading for them not to shoot. Gazzetti, the interpreter, asked Compton if he had anything to say to the prisoners. Compton did not have anything that he wanted to ask them. Compton told the men to start firing on his order and stated that he "didn't want a man left standing when the firing was done." Seeing that their fate was sealed, a few of the prisoners began to run. The firing squad opened fire and murdered all of the prisoners.[10]
On the same day of the massacre, the U.S. troops finally took the airfield, but at a heavy loss of life. Around 100 or 200 were killed or wounded.[citation needed]
Aftermath[edit]
After the battle, the 180th Regiment continued advancing into Sicily. The Italian and German force retreated, and the U.S. soldiers advanced forward. While the U.S. did suffer many losses, the Italians and Germans also met a similar fate, despite having a strategic and numerical advantage. Almost all of their casualties resulted from the Biscari massacre, though this is still up for debate.[citation needed] The only casualty of the battle that probably didn't result from the massacre was Luz Long, a German Obergefreiter who was famous for his involvement in the 1936 Summer Olympics. On 10 July 1943, he had been wounded at Acate, and died 4 days later of his wounds. However, it is possible that the Italian-German force may have suffered some other casualties not related to the massacre. The smallest estimate is approximately 80/90.[citation needed]
In mid-late 1943, West and Compton were tried for their crimes. West was imprisoned while Compton was sent to the 179th Regiment and subsequently killed on 8 November 1943. On 24 November 1944, due to West's brother writing to the Army and his local U.S. representative, Horace West was released from prison. He was restored to active duty and continued to serve during the war at the end of which he received an honorable discharge.[11] He lived a quiet life after that, and on 24 September 1994, at the age of 84, West, full name Horace Theodore West, died in Mayer, Arizona.[12] However, the massacre West and Compton committed will live on as one of the most infamous Allied war crimes of the Second World War.
See Also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Fabrizio Carloni (April 2009). Le atrocità alleate in Sicilia. Storia e battaglie. p. 13. Search this book on
- ↑ Atkinson, (2007), pp. 37–8.
- ↑ Garland, Lt. Col. Albert N. (1965). Sicily and the Surrender of Italy. Washington DC: Department of the Army. pp. 189–190. Search this book on
- ↑ Borch, (2013), p.1
- ↑ Borch, (2013), p.1
- ↑ Borch, (2013), pp.1–2; Atkinson (2007) p.118
- ↑ U.S. Department of the Army, Compton testimony, Trial Proper, Compton Court-Martial, 60–62.
- ↑ U.S. Department of the Army, Marlow, Hair, Gazzetti, and Blanks testimony, Trial Proper, Compton Court-Martial, 27–34, 15–6, 35, 7–9.
- ↑ The exact number of men who participated in the firing squad is still a mystery, but statements made during the ensuing investigation revealed the involvement of Lt. Blanks, Sgt. Jim Hair, Sgt. Kern Jones, Sgt. Freeland Douglas, Sgt. Jack Wilson, Sgt. Julius Thompson, Pvt. John Carroll, Pvt. Raymond Marlow, Pvt. John Gazzetti, Pvt. Earl Barnett, and Pvt. Salcidu. U.S. Department of the Army, "Statement made by Pvt John Gazzetti, 32204829, Co. C, 180th Infantry," and "Statement made by Sgt Jim Hair, 20828237, Co C, 180th Infantry," Inspector General's Report, Compton Court-Martial.
- ↑ U.S. Department of the Army, Gazetti and Compton Testimony, Trial Proper, Compton Court-Martial
- ↑ Borch (2013), p. 5.
- ↑ https://tjaglcspublic.army.mil/war-criminal-paroled-horace-t.-west-and-the-final-chapter-of-the-biscari-massacre
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