Skip to content
(Click map to view larger)
The German counterattack on Torbole, from midnight to 0200. 1) A substantial German force comprised of armor and infantry drives into town, 2) pushes K Company into the eastern side of town, and 3) slices L Company in two.
This is the fourth part of a series about the Battle of Torbole.
At the end of April 1945, the Germans mounted their last defense in Italy at the “Blue Line,” which was anchored on it’s western flank on the shore of Lake Garda. The US 10th Mountain Division was tasked with the capture of the north end of the lake, which would then unhinge the entire line. So it was that the small lakeside town of Torbole became the linchpin of the last German defensive line in Italy. The town was captured by the 3rd Battalion of the 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment following over ten hours of battle. Company K succeeded in taking the town after a sharp street-fight, and the German defenders withdrew to the west. Within an hour Company L was beginning to take up a defensive posture directly adjacent to the waterfront, alongside Company K.
It was at this time, about three miles up the valley to the north, near the town of Arco, that a drama of a different sort began to unfold. The Germans had established a strict curfew in an effort to limit partisan activity, and they enforced these measures with draconian punishments. Violators were arrested and shot in the town square. But the Germans had acquired most of the foodstuffs, and instituted harsh rationing that left some of the locals barely enough on which to survive. A teenage girl was out past curfew with a friend who was preparing to become a nun. The two young ladies were delivering un-rationed bread to the houses of some of the especially needy when they were caught and arrested by German soldiers. They were imprisoned in the town jail, and were to be shot in the square the following day.
In Torbole, L and K Company deployed themselves, and the exhausted men looked forward to finally getting some sleep. The last of the machineguns were being placed, completing the defensive preparations, when an ominous sound wafted through the night air. It was a combination of the rumbling of several large diesel engines and the clacking of metal treads striking and grinding pavement under the weight of over twenty-seven tons of steel. Sgt. Clarence Faulkner remembered the moment well.
All at once we heard a clatter of tanks and several loud reports. Everyone began to head for the hospital, a large building down by the lake’s shore; but the two lieutenants got together and decided we could stop a counterattack more easily in the village square. So everyone took off like a herd of turtles for the town square.
Another man from K Company remembered that,
Just as Sgt. Relyea came up to see about setting up his other two machine guns and began to give orders…tanks, up the road about 75 yards, began to fire on the buildings we were in. Until now everyone had been merely standing around; now they raced upstairs and took up firing positions in the windows. The…tanks came steadily down the road, firing as they came. Of course, they didn’t know which buildings we were in; nevertheless, it was very disconcerting to sit there waiting for them with nothing but bazookas for defense.
Sgt. Carroll Provost of Company L recalled it this way,
It was pitch dark, and then we could hear a German tank rattling up the street, and then it stopped in front of the house we were in, and then you could hear the turret squeaking around and all of the sudden, BOOM! They fired a round right into the building we were in, and luckily none of us got hurt.
Three Panzers IVs came rumbling up the street, their 75mm guns loudly erupting into bright balls of flame, punching holes in buildings and tearing open shops, cafes and storefronts and scattering rubble and trinkets across the street. They were accompanied by about one hundred fifty German infantrymen. Although exhausted, the men of L and K companies moved almost immediately to receive the counterattack.
Pfc. John Martin waited in an alley between two houses with his bazooka, covered by another man with a BAR. As the first panzer in line edged by, Pfc. Martin fired a round that penetrated the tank’s side armor. With a groan it ground to a stop. The BAR man then pointed his weapon around the corner and opened fire on the German soldiers riding on and following behind the tank. Some of them dropped writhing to the pavement while the rest scattered for cover. The German attack was temporarily halted while the crippled panzer was removed from the roadway.
The men of K Company now found themselves completely at the mercy of the panzers. Sgt. Clarence Faulkner remembered that,
We had very little ammo left and no artillery support. We were all out of antitank grenades and bazooka rounds and even had to give some of the riflemen’s ammo to the machine gunners to load into belts.
Another man from K Company recalled that,
After that things went from bad to worse. We were beginning to be surrounded and unfortunately we had only one bazooka round left. To top it all off, we found that we couldn’t make contact with the first squad in the next building. Then the order came to withdraw by way of the hospital. That was alright with us. We couldn’t find some of the guys, and some had taken off; we didn’t know who had done what, and it would have made too much noise to yell for them; so after one quick look through our building we took off. Back at the center of town we let L Company take over for a while.
L Company’s Pfc. Cal Canfield took up a position in an alley with a rifle grenade. Covering him was Pfc. William Blair with a BAR. Together they waited for the second panzer in line to draw near before they opened fire. Canfield’s grenade hit the tank, which then began to withdraw making noises as though one of its tracks had been damaged. Its 75mm gun remained fully serviceable, and it continued to fire actively. To guard against further attacks from the many narrow alleyways in town, the panzers moved forward slowly, pausing repeatedly to fire at buildings while the German infantrymen fanned out to protect their flanks.
(Click photo to view larger) A photograph of the street down which the German panzers counterattacked, taken a couple of days after the fighting. Damage from the panzers’ 75mm guns can be seen clearly.
K Company’s withdrawal to the eastern edge of Torbole yielded half the town to the German attackers, who continued their measured advance. Company L lacked sufficient time to extricate itself, and was sliced in two. One portion, comprised of the Headquarters Platoon and parts of the 2nd and 4th platoons, was cut off from the rest of the battalion. Though surrounded, the isolated portion of Company L solidified its position.
Lt. McClintock organized the roughly seventy besieged men into a defensive posture to hold out until they might be relieved. He made his way under fire among the scattered elements of his command, personally directing the placing of machineguns and aiding in firing antitank weapons. They were able to mount a skillful defense that successfully held the Germans at bay.
The Battle of Torbole had entered its critical phase. The next two hours would determine possession of the town, the fate of the surrounded men of L Company, and whether or not the last German defensive line in Italy could be held long enough for the remnants of Army Group C to escape to Austria or form a new line in the Alps.
This blog is part of a larger body of research culminating in the publication of the book ‘Heroes in Good Company: L Company, 86th Regiment, 10th Mountain Division 1943-1945’ which is available in select bookstores and on amazon.
