Name: 36th battlefield Tour in Monte Cassino Area
Brand: Monte Cassino War Tours
SKU: 36th-division-tpur
Price: 90 Eur
Availability: InStock

36th Texas Division Battlefield Tour — The Rapido River next to San’Angelo village

Monte Cassino Battlefield tours for Americans with a WWII historian and tour guide: WHAT YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT OUR TOUR

TOUR DURATION: Approximately 3 to 3.5 hours (from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.)
TOUR PRICE: €90 per person
YOUR TOUR GUIDE: Anna Maria Priora
MAXIMUM GROUP SIZE: 12 people
TRANSPORTATION: 1 or 2 vans
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
ITINERARY:A guided tour lasting approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes of the most significant American World War II sites in the Cassino area:
A) International ridge slopes
B) Rapido river banks and the Peace Bell
C) The war monument dedicated to the 36th Texas Division
D) The Commonwealth war cemetery
E) Cassino town center
F) Castle Hill
G) The Panoramic point
H) The Germans’ caves
I) The Abbey of Montecassino.
REVIEWS: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Read them here)
WHAT ELSE CAN I VISIT NEARBY WITH A TOUR GUIDE?
San Pietro Infine and the Mignano Pass (Mignano gap and Winterline)
HOW TO BOOK:

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36th Texas Division Battlefield Tour with a WWII historian and tour guide: HISTORICAL BACKGROUD

36th Texas Division Battlefield Tour smoke — Smoke bombs used to cover the American Attack to the Rapido River (Nara)

Table of Contents

After the Battle for San Pietro Infine in December, theUS 36th Texas Divisionneeded many replacements to be ready for a new battle. While the Anglo-American amphibious troops under General Lucas were boarding ships to reach the beaches of Anzio, Allied air forces were bombing the positions of the Gustav Defensive Line in the Cassino area. Major GeneralFred Walkerwas worried about the success of the next attack and the lack of time for preparation. The Germans in front of the 36th had excellent observation from the fortified village ofSant’Angelo in Theodice, situated on a high bluff on the far side of theRapido Riverin the center of the valley.

General Clark’s battle plan at Cassino: planning the Rapido River crossing

The plan called for attacking the Rapido River on both sides of the town of Sant’Angelo and advancing about one and a half kilometers into the territory of Pignataro. In that area the Rapido was between eight and fifteen meters wide; the water flowed swiftly and was up to four meters deep, while the village of Sant’Angelo stood on a rise about twelve meters high, providing a perfect vantage point from which to observe the river and the opposite bank.

36th Infantry Division on the Rapido river: Monte Cassino Tour

Major GeneralFred Walkerknew it had to be a nighttime attack, but he was worried about the river itself, which could be a formidable obstacle, as well as the many mines and barbed wire on both sides of the river. The attacking troops would have to carry their own boats to the river’s edge, where engineers would need to construct footbridges to get most of the vanguard troops across. However, such bridges, as General Walker had discovered, were in very short supply, along with other engineering materials.

36th Texas Division Battlefield Tour minefields — On January 20, 5000 soldiers of the 36th Texas Division attacked the Rapido River. Minefields were everywhere, and clearing them was a very hard work (Nara)

36th Texas Division War Tours: the Rapido River crossing on 1944

TheRapido River, south ofHighway 6, was between twenty-five and fifty feet wide, nine feet deep, and fast-flowing, with vertical banks about three and a half feet high from water level. The Germans had diverted enough river water through irrigation channels to turn the eastern, or Allied, bank into a kind of marsh. The German defensive positions at the ruined village ofS. Angeloand on either side of it were well developed and were located between two hundred and one thousand yards from the riverbank.

36th Texas Division Battlefield Tour White Lines on the minefields — The American patrols put White lines on the ground to show the cleared path between the minefields, but the Germans moved them and about 2000 soldiers of the 36th Division were killed (Nara)

Monte Cassino tours: the Germans on the Rapido River

These positions were held by the 1st Battalion, 129th Panzer Grenadier Division, and the 3rd Battalion, 104th Panzer Grenadier Regiment, both of the15th Panzer Grenadier Division, backed by the 3rd Battalion,Hermann Göring Panzer Regiment. There were no covered approaches to the river on the eastern bank, and the bank had been heavily scattered with mines.” (Molony C.,History of the Second World War, p. 618)

36th Texas Division Battlefield Tour rapido river — Rapido River area

36th Infantry Division attack on 20th January 1944

The crossing of the river began at8:00 PMon20th January, and after several hours of fighting, the Americans counted1,300 deadand770 captured. Let’s learn the story of the141st Regimentand the143rd Regimenttrying to cross theRapido River. American newspaper reports described it as the worst disaster since Pearl Harbor. New Zealand officerHoward Kippenbergerbluntly stated two weeks later: “Nothing was right, except the courage.” In an action that lasted just short of 48 hours, the36th Divisionlost more than1,000 menwithout making a dent in the German line.

Montecassino Battlefield tours: after the battles

Bitter arguments about the wisdom of the operation arose immediately, and after the war, veterans of the 36th Division Association called on Congress “to investigate the Rapido River fiasco.” They blamed it onMark Clark, whom they called “inefficient and inexperienced.” Congress duly investigated and found no reason to blame him. The Secretary of War,Robert P. Patterson, declared that the action “was a necessary one and that General Clark exercised sound judgment in planning it and in ordering it.” (Wallace R.,World War II: The Italian Campaign, p. 117)

Rapido River crossing: Alexander supported Mark Clark

Mark Clark learned only at the end of the war, while he was in Vienna, that a group of former veterans had gathered and signed a petition requesting that Congress investigate the causes of the failure on the Rapido. Clark proposed to Alexander that he return home to defend himself, but there was neither need nor occasion to do so. The doubts raised by the veterans did not hinder Mark Clark’s promotion to the permanent rank of Major General.