The Drive to Rome

The venereal rate had increased and the hospitals had their own method of tracking down the spreaders of this disease.  When a new case arrived in the hospital, the patient was questioned as to the source of contact, a general description of the girl, and the methods of prophylaxis used.   This information was turned over to the Military Police and they investigated.  If they found the girl, she was examined and treated if found to have a venereal disease.  This was one of the main problems of the Medical Corps in Italy.  It seems that the germ which spread venereal disease in Italy was resistant to most of the drugs now used to combat the disease, especially sulfa drugs.  However, in 99 cased out of 100, penicillin cured the disease in 24 hours.  However, it did not prevent the disease from recurring very often, especially after a strain related to hard work.  Many combat units lost the services of many of its men through this disease.  In fact, two complete divisions were at one time or another hospitalized for venereal disease during the North Africa campaign.  There is no doubt that the high rate of venereal disease and prostitution is a direct result of war.  Married women whose husbands have been in the army for several years, mother of babies whose husbands either can't support them or who must support themselves, single girls who must contribute to the family's support, have been forced to sell their bodies in order to live.  Previous to the war, the Italians held their women in high regard.  The conditions associated with five years of war, where armies lived with the civilians and were the only source of income, have no doubt brought about these present conditions.  The ease with which any soldier could pick up a girl in Italy made many of them wonder whether these same conditions might also be prevalent in the states.

 

 

The Ninth Evacuation Hospital received a commendation from The Surgeon, P.B.S. on the excellent venereal record of the organization during the first six months of 1944.  It had the lowest rate of any in the army in Italy.  There could be no probable explanation for the low rate in the unit.  It was generally agreed that the men were the luckiest of any unit in Italy.

 

 

The unit also was officially commended by Special Service Officer, P.B.S. for having one of the most interesting and well-planned unit newspaper published.

 

 

The stories of the various actions in Italy were quite revealing and interesting.  Late in the year, Bari was attacked by German bombers and eighteen ships in the harbor were sunk.  It seems that American planes were returning to the Bari airport after a bombing mission and following them were a group of German planes.  After the allied planes came in to land, the Germans swerved toward the harbor and let loose.  The anti-aircraft boys were caught off base.  Thereafter, for that reason, all planes were forbidden to land in Italy during certain hours of the day.  All planes, regardless of their identification, were ordered fired upon if they came near the airports during those hours.  As a result, many allied planes were fired upon in the Naples area during and after the hours of dusk.

 

 

The real Anzio story was that the beachhead invasion, although it might have tied up several German divisions, was a military failure.  After the front line had been determined, replacements came directly from the states.  The casualties on the beachhead were extremely heavy.  Deaths from the Third Division alone amounted to thousands.  Their dead were buried in temporary plots and very often the shoes of the dead soldiers stuck up above the ground and a detail had to go out daily to stamp them down so that the Italians wouldn't steal them.  The total amount of soldiers on the beachhead were far less than the enemy presumed.  In fact, American soldiers were urged, for the first time since the war started, to state that they were at Anzio in their letters so as to make it seem that there were more soldiers on the beachhead than there actually were.

 

 

The stories coming back from Cassino intimated that the Germans had excellent defensive positions ever after the bombing it had received at the hands of the Allied bombers.  During the main bombing attack, the American Air Forces mistook Venafro for Cassino and leveled it to the ground, killing at the same time many American troops who were bivouacked there.  A visit to the front lines at Cassino during a lull in the fighting revealed the fact that the monastery still remained standing despite the previous bombings and shellings.  Most of the Americans had left and a Polish division and several English divisions were facing the Germans who had retaken Cassino.  Morale was good in spite of the lack of action.  However, there was an unusual amount of expectation in the air and it was the general impression of the boys at the front that something would happen soon.  This was late in April.

 

 

Things were quiet during April and the early part of May, but during the second week in Many, we began receiving hundreds of patients from the front line hospitals.  This was an indication that an offensive was in the making.  On the afternoon of May 12th, our commanding officer, as well as every commanding officer in Italy, called together his outfit and told us that an offensive was to begin that night, outlining the planned attacks and giving us the objectives and the time table.  The objective was Rome with the Americans moving up the west coast, the French and Poles in the middle and the British and Canadians on the east coast.  No one was to wait for the other but was to push up through Italy until stopped.  Never before was Rome captured from the south, but since we had superiority in manpower and material, the success of the attack was certain.  At Cassino, nine allied divisions faced six German divisions, while on the beachhead, seven American divisions faced five German divisions.

 

 

On May 12th at 2300 hours, the French and Poles began an offensive up Monte Cassino, the British Eighth Army attacked from the Adriatic to Cassino, the American Fifth Army attacked from Cassino to the Tyrrhenean and the beachhead forces began shelling the enemy positions.  Casualties were extremely heavy, especially among the French, and it was explained to us by higher echelons that the plan was to drive all along the front regardless of casualties until Rome was reached by all forces. 

 

 

Rome was captured on June 5th, the exact date set for its fall.  During the offensive, all the allies gave a good account of themselves and proved that teamwork and material could overcome all obstacles.

 

 

While the liberation of Rome was being celebrated by the Italian people, elsewhere on the continent, thousands of American and British boys were landing off the shores of the Normandy coast of France between LeHavre and Cherbourg.  When the news of the invasion of Europe was flashed across the radio, we held a special service of prayer for the boys who were participating in the invasion attack.

 

Neapolitan Nights (Part 2)

A hike to the top of the highest mountain in the Naples area revealed an ancient monastery hidden in the hills overlooking the harbor of Naples.   Camaldoli is the site of an old monastery in the center of which stands a modern church, small but very beautifully decorated.   The homes of the monks are located individually around the church.  A circular staircase to the roof of the church leads the visitor to the balcony from which can be seen Italy for 70 miles around, including Cassino, Naples, Vesuvius, Pompeii, Sorrento and the various islands in the gulf of Naples.

A hike to Solfatara, or "Little Vesuvius", was most interesting.  This is an extinct crater, still emitting sulphurous steam and shooting forth boiling lava.   A small building is still being used as hot sulfur baths for rheumatism and other internal ailments.

The main attraction for peacetime tourists, Mt. Vesuvius was opened for the soldiers early in March.   Sponsored by the Red Cross, it proved to be a most interesting trip.  The "Toonerville Trolley" from Pogliano carried the visitor half way up the mountainside and the "funiculara", or cable car, did the rest of the job.  Snow-covered, although steaming with hot sulphurous smoke, Vesuvius erupted every few minutes and poured forth burning rocks and lava which gave the brave visiting troops of the victorious American Army many an anxious moment.  But it was a trip well spent.  From the top could be seen the city of Naples with its beautiful harbor, Sorrento, Amalfi, Pompeii and the Gulf of Sorrento.

A trip to Pompeii by train was very interesting .  Pompeii was untouched by the war since it was bypassed by the landings at Salerno and everything of the ancient city was still standing as before the war.  The complete village was restored including electric signs, glassware and pottery and furniture.  The one interesting point which very few visitors know about is the sign which appeared in front of the old drug store which was situated next to the "house of ill repute", and into which many Pompeiians accidentally entered mistaking it for the "house next door".  The sign read:  "I don't know what you came here for, what you want is right next door".  This obviously proved to be a very popular place for the American visitor.

Late in March, Vesuvius began to belch forth smoke, fire and lava in greater quantities than it had for 71 years.  Slowly, the lava flowed down the mountainside, taking with it homes and causing the army to aid the people who were in its path.  At night, the sky was lit up a very bright red for miles around the crater and flames could be seen in our area 25 miles away.

On Wednesday March 22nd, the day of the greatest eruption for the past 200 years, a group of our boys visited Torre del Greco, one of the towns which was in its direct path down the mountainside.  Many of the boys climbed the hill in spite of the obvious dangers, but since this phenomenon occurred once in every 200 years, precaution was thrown to the winds.  Half way up the mountain, the boys met the lava which was flowing down the hill at the rate of about three feet per minute.  The lava flow resembled a group of burning rocks being pushed forward by a series of small blasts from within the earth.  The lava itself was a grayish black and burned everything within its path.  From the crater came a series of explosions and eruptions which greatly affected our ears.  Many streaks of lightning caused by the various gasses emanating from the crater could be seen every few minutes.  The noise was constant and resembled the roar of a waterfall but much louder.  Lava streams could be seen coming down the mountainside into several towns to the north and east.  Rocks from the erupting crater fell within 30 feet of us, many of these rocks having a diameter of more than three feet.   The townspeople for many years had built retaining walls just for the purpose of diverting the steams of lava in such an emergency, but the walls weren't strong enough for this eruption and the lava bowled over everything in its path.  The natives of the town were packing and moving out on all available transportation including trucks which were furnished by the American Army.  German propaganda was even working here as we heard some Italian say that Vesuvius was erupting because the Americans had dropped bombs into the crater.  At nights, the skies were bright red and many photographers went up into the nearby hills to take pictures.  During the days, clouds of grey ash could be seen rumbling into the sky and many town within 20 miles of the crater were buried under several inches of ash.  This ash proved to be very good fertilizer ever since it buried Pompeii 1900 years ago.  The lava piles were as high as 100 feet and a quarter of a mile wide.  The towns of San Sebastiano and Massa di Somma were wiped out on March 22nd.  The threat of an earthquake was slim so long as the crater spouted lava, but no one knew (not even the scientists in the observatory located on the side of Mt. Vesuvius) when the flow would stop.   Incidentally, these observers stated only one day before the first eruption that "Vesuvius is dead".  There were few people in the whole world who were fortunate enough to get a good view of the eruption, namely the natives of Italy and the American soldiers who happened to be stationed nearby.  The former were too nervous and excited to appreciate what was happening while the latter were mixed in their emotions.  Some were there for the sole purpose of helping these people while others just came for the sights.  LIFE magazine photographers had a busman's holiday during these history-making days.  The war was completely forgotten by everyone in the vicinity.

The eruption of Vesuvius lasted for eight days during which three towns were evacuated and 21 persons were killed in Salerno by falling roofs caused by an accumulation of ash deposits.  For several days thereafter, there was danger of the vent of the volcano closing.  If that occurred, the mountain might clear it by erupting more millions of tons of lava.  The "funiculara" was destroyed by the lava flow but it appeared that it could be repaired in several months.

The net result of the eruption, as far as the physical contours of Mt. Vesuvius is concerned, was a flatter, broader top with the elimination of about 25% of the crater top.  Probably, not for several years, will the total damage be ascertained.

Because we had the opportunity to treat both French and Arab at our hospital, a few comments regarding these people might be of interest.  The Arab name signifies many things.  Mohammed is the name given to the first born son, Ali to the second born son, "ben" means "son of" and Hadj is a name an Arab assumed after he visits Mecca once or Kairouan seven times.  The Moroccan and Algerian Arabs were pro-Ally but the Tunisian Arabs favored the Axis.  As a result, there was a great deal of friction between them.  This was mainly because of the French system of drafting their colonial troops.  If they didn't enlist, they were thrown in jail for 30 days to make up their minds.  If, at the end of that time, they still refused to join, they were shot.  The French patients whom we treated were unlike the people we used to know.  Eccentric, erratic, very noisy and undemocratic, the French from North Africa were far inferior to those from the continent.  Their treatment of the Arab was very poor and the so-called democratic was where freedom of speech and equal treatment are the slogans seems to have been forgotten.  The French do not want Arabs to be educated.  They claim that they are a degraded race and that all the education in the world could not help them.  They point to the dirtiness and filth of the Arab home, his insistence on wearing the same clothes for years, plus the fact that they refuse to learn the new method of life.  The instinct of maternal care and protection, the most fundamental factor in the life of any nation, is lacking in the Arab.  The mothers teach their children to deform themselves so that they may go out into the streets and beg for the rest of their lives.  The Arab believes in stealing and lying and if he is caught, he is not ashamed of himself, but respects the person who catches him as being at least as smart as he is.  Although held in check by the French at home and in the Army, the Arab loses all of his discipline when he gets to an American hospital because he knows that we will be treated as the Frenchman's equal and that the Americans can't punish him while he remains a patient.  This fact caused bad feeling between the French and Americans since we have a more democratic view of life.  The French soldier is very narrow-minded and is far from the man that the Englishman is.  The more was see the people of the world, the more we realize that the Englishman is a good soldier and above all, a gentleman.

Among the colonial troops of the French Army, the Senegalese and those natives who come from Equatorial Africa and the Lake Chad region proved to the best soldiers and real men.  They were solid black, had gashes in their heads and cheeks as a sign of beauty and high standing in the community, carried long knives instead of guns, were extremely well-mannered, much more so than the other French colonials and even the French themselves.  They had a great deal of respect for women and were quite educated.  They read only the technical books and quite often looked through a book for an hour before deciding to read it.  They had excellent bodies and, unusual as it might sound, were quite attractive.  They kept to themselves and never mingled with the rest of the patients.  Their language sounded like a combination of Arabic and English.  Once convoy of ambulances which arrived at our hospital and which carried these people exclusively, brought with it a note from an American general telling us to give these men special treatment as they were excellent soldiers and were needed again at the front lines.