(Click photo to view larger)

In grainy black and white, the shadow of the photographer darkens the ground where two men of the 10^th Mountain Division can be seen processing at least nineteen German prisoners for transport to the rear. One of the mountain troops appears to be motioning to the prisoners that their hands are to be clasped behind their heads, while the other gathers together some of their effects into a pile on the ground. A faint outline of mountains in the background is broken by a distant plume of rising smoke. Nothing was written on the reverse side of the image. 

In the early morning of April 17, 1945, the company commanders of the 3^rd Battalion, 86^th Mountain Infantry Regiment were called to the largest of the buildings in the tiny village of Monzuno. They munched on captured German bread while they heard the briefing on the day’s planned operations. The objective was Monte Nonascoso, a 2,365 foot hill one mile to the northeast.

The 3^rd Battalion officers expected a fierce battle, but German confusion was to greatly aid their efforts. During the night, a German force had been scraped together to defend Monte Nonascoso, comprised of the remnants of various units of the Grenadier-Regiment 274 of the 94.Infanterie-Division. They arrived on the mountain at 0300 hours, but the darkness hampered their ability to set up effective emplacements. In any event, they were not aware that they were the front line. They believed they were in reserve nearly two miles behind the front, and that other German units still held not only Monzuno, but the ridge beyond it as well. They were unaware that the 86^th Mountain Infantry had driven the Grenadier-Regiment 276 out of the area the previous afternoon and had occupied Monzuno, where they were reinforced by the 751^st Tank Battalion. When the American attack began, the Germans had neither fortified their positions nor set up communications.

The spring morning dawned clear, and there were air attacks going on to the north when 3^rd Battalion moved forward at 0630 hours. The tanks led the way, with I Company providing infantry support and the rest of the battalion following right behind. At first there was almost no opposition. They advanced into an area that had been hit the previous day by Allied fighters. The ground along the roadway was strewn with dead men, horses, and smoking German vehicles.

The movements of the 86th Mountain Infantry on April 17, 1945. (Click map to view larger)

The German force offered stiff resistance to I Company in an area of underbrush just south of Monte Nonascoso. L Company moved to slip around their western flank, with 1^st Platoon leading the advance. Before long, they ran into heavy fire from enemy riflemen and machine-gunners, well concealed in treelines and by the rolling nature of the ground. The German positions were situated in such a way that it was difficult for the machinegun crews of the Weapons Platoon to find targets. As the gunners ran through the fusillade in search of favorable firing positions, S/Sgt. Robert Schoonmaker and Pfc. Raymond Hagen were wounded, and Pfc. James Parker was wounded mortally.

S/Sgt. Homer Miller ran forward until he found a point from which he could see the enemy positions and direct fire onto their emplacements. After one German machinegun was knocked out, the rest of the enemy troops began to dematerialize into the woodlot on the mountain’s crest. Thus freed from enemy fire, elements of L Company were able to drive rapidly forward around their flank and cut off their withdrawal. In a matter of minutes, they had forced the surrender of one hundred fifty German soldiers, losing only three men in the process.

The soldiers of 3^rd Battalion immediately set to work processing the prisoners for transport to the rear. Soon piles of German rifles, machineguns, clothing, packs, and helmets littered the ground. As this was happening, someone snapped this photo. The prisoners’ names, ranks and serial numbers were recorded, and some were questioned for intelligence. A defense was established along the steeply sloping northern side of the mountain, which provided stunning panoramic views of the Apennine countryside.

The relative ease with which 3^rd Battalion was able to accomplish the day’s mission bought the men a restful afternoon atop Monte Nonascoso. The men relaxed in the sunshine, and lay down in the green grass. Flowers rose above the greenery and swayed in a warm breeze that carried the sounds of war. They could see where Allied artillery was firing on enemy positions to the north. To the west, Allied planes dropped bombs and fired rockets until a very wide column of smoke rose three thousand feet into the sky. The beginning of this plume can be seen in Everett’s photograph. During the afternoon, jeeps arrived carrying ammunition and rations.

Pfc. Lloyd Fitch recalled an event that left more than one man wholly startled.

We set up a machine gun nest and flares with a trip-wire about a hundred yards down the slope. Since it was still daylight, some of the boys were permitted to go around to nearby farmhouses to try to scrounge up some food and wine. However, they were cautioned not to go very far and to be back before dark.

Meanwhile, we were all keyed up, expecting a German counterattack from the north. Shortly after dark, the wire was tripped. A flare shot off, and the machinegun cut loose. Suddenly there was a cry, “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot!”

Our squad leader called out in German for the stranger to come forward. As the man approached our lines everyone was on the alert, expecting an English-speaking German leading a group of enemy troops. We were stunned when the guy turned out to be one of our own men. He had been out searching for food and became lost. The kid was shaking so much that he could barely talk. A nearby officer grabbed the soldier, shook him, and told him to get back to his company and not to leave it until the war was over.

Following the original publication of this post, I was contacted by Cameron Vaughan, who recognized this photograph as being one taken by his Grandfather, Wilbur Vaughan. Wilbur was in the 3rd Battalion HQ Company. 

The original copy of the photo bears a written notation on the reverse reading, “German POWs arrive at 3rd Bn 86th HQ near Gualandi, April 6, 1945.” This cannot be true. There were no major combat operations in early April that could have resulted in the capture of large numbers of enemy soldiers, and although 3rd Battalion had been stationed near Gualandi for a time, they were in reserve.

While there is some chance that this photograph was taken on April 18th farther to the north, there are several reasons to believe this photo can be identified as having been taken on April 17th. The capture of Monte Nonascoso was one of several times when the 3rd Battalion took large numbers of prisoners at once during the spring offensive; but it was the only time that it happened in mountainous terrain during the morning. The angle of the shadows in the photograph, and the direction of matching topography clearly indicate that it is early in the day. Further, an examination of Monte Nonascoso today matches the photograph.

The view from Monte Nonascoso, 1945 and today. These photos were taken within yards of each other. (Click to view larger)

This blog is part of a larger body of research culminating in the publication of the book ‘Heroes in Good Company: L Company, 86^th Regiment, 10^th Mountain Division 1943-1945’ which is available in select bookstores and on amazon.

Sources:

“3^rd Battalion, 86^th Infantry Regiment Killed and Wounded in Action.” Excel spreadsheet provided in 2013 by Archivist Dennis Hagen. 10^th Mountain Division Resource Center. Denver Public Library. Denver, CO.

Brower, David. Remount Blue: The Combat Story of the Third Battalion, 86th Mountain Infantry, 10^th Mountain Division. Unpublished Manuscript, c. 1948. Digitized version edited and made available through the Denver Public Library by Barbara Imbrie, 2005.

Carlson, Bob. A History of L Company, 86^th Mountain Infantry, expanded in the year 2002. Self-published Manuscript, 2002.

Feuer, A.B. Packs On!: Memoirs of the 10th Mountain Division in World War II.Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2006.

Meinke, Albert H., Jr., Mountain Troops and Medics: Wartime Stories of a Frontline Surgeon in the US Ski Troops. Kewadin, MI: Rucksack Publishing Company, 1993.

Steinmetz, Berhard. Erinnerungsbuch der 94. Infanterie Division an die Kriegsjahre 1939-1945: Lieferung 4, 1943-1945, Einsatz in Italien. Hannover, Germany, 1973.

US Department of the Army. Company L, 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment. 1945. Morning Reports of 14 April through 20 April. Box 11, 10^th Mountain Division Collection, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO.

_____. Headquarters 10^th Mountain Division. 1945. Citation for Bronze Star Awarded to Homer G. Miller, for Meritorious Service in Combat on 17 April 1945. By command of Major General Hays. 10^th Mountain Division Collection, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO.

_____. Headquarters 10^th Mountain Division. 1945. Citation for Bronze Star Awarded to Robert E. Wiezorek, for Meritorious Service in Combat on 17 April 1945. By command of Major General Hays. 10^th Mountain Division Collection, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO.

         Vaughan, Cameron. e-mail messages to author. September-                         November, 2017.

Wellborn, Charles. History of the 86^th Mountain Infantry Regiment in Italy. Edited by Barbara Imbrie in 2004. Denver, CO: Bradford-Robinson Printing Co.,1945.