Diary and Letters, 10th Engineers 3d Infantry Division

Earthican · Apr 24, 2013

I found this site by accident. Posts are made on the dates of the diary plus 70 years. Just started preparations for HUSKY (Sicily). Starts with sailing for TORCH. Photos too, not sure if they really relate to the text but seem about right.

http://70yearsago.com/

LRusso216 · Apr 24, 2013

Good find. Had fun reading the entries, but hindsight being what it is, he was in for a rough go.

TD-Tommy776 · Apr 24, 2013

Excellent find, E. Went straight to my Bookmarks.

Earthican · Sep 27, 2013

In case anyone lapsed in their reading, this is an ideal time to return or just start. The 3d ID has just landed in Italy.
http://70yearsago.com/september-20-1943-monday/

This quote from:
Salerno: American Operations From the Beaches to the Volturno (9 September-6 October 1943)
http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/salerno/sal-pursuing.htm

The 10th and 120th Engineer Battalions, with resourcefulness and endurance, did much to aid the VI Corps advance. The engineers swept the roads for mines. They operated supply dumps and maintained water points. They filled in road craters and kept the surfaces passable under the heavy burdens imposed by the restricted road net. Wherever possible they constructed new roads to increase our freedom of action. They posted signs, laid out cemeteries, and at Acerno even constructed a landing strip for the divisional artillery airplanes. They built bridges and bypasses on almost every mile of the roads used by the two divisions.

Each enemy demolition cost our engineers labor. The magnitude of their task may be indicated by the fact that on 2,200 yards of the Acerno road north of that town the enemy blew five bridges. Bypasses, moreover, were not always possible in the mountains. In 2 days Company C, 10th Engineers, rebuilt a bridge south of Acerno, completing on 23 September at 1500 a two-story, two-bent trestle span 80 feet long, capable of carrying 18 tons.

Two days later Company A of the same battalion was confronted by an even more difficult job. In the canyon north of Acerno the Germans blew not only a bridge but also the cliff side, so that for a total

page 87

of 100 feet the road ceased to exist. After 2 days' work the company reopened the road at 1900, 26 September. Forty feet of it was steel treadway bridge; the rest had been cut out of the sheer cliffside.
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LRusso216 · Sep 27, 2013

Good reading, Earthican. My father went into Salerno with the 900th AA. It's nice to read this information. You might find this booklet of interest. I own it, but you can read it online. http://www.lonesentry.com/fiftharmyaa/

TD-Tommy776 · Sep 28, 2013

LRusso216 said:

Good reading, Earthican. My father went into Salerno with the 900th AA. It's nice to read this information. You might find this booklet of interest. I own it, but you can read it online. http://www.lonesentry.com/fiftharmyaa/
Click to expand...

There is also a PDF copy in the CARL Digital Library: 5th Army Antiaircraft, Salerno to Florence

The cover looks rough, but the contents are in good shape. The veteran who owned it added a few personal comments, too.

Earthican · Jan 30, 2014

Earthican said:

I found this site by accident. Posts are made on the dates of the diary plus 70 years. Just started preparations for HUSKY (Sicily). Starts with sailing for TORCH. Photos too, not sure if they really relate to the text but seem about right.

http://70yearsago.com/
Click to expand...

Just landed at Anzio. Pretty amazing to read entries written between bombings.

Also some pictures of destroyed Italian tanks. Did the German use Italian tanks for coastal defenses or could these pictures be from Tunisia or Sicily?

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Diary and Letters, 10th Engineers 3d Infantry Division

Earthican Member

LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

Earthican Member

LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

Earthican Member

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