"The battle of Gela,: the first Italian counterattack" Topic
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Tango01 | 23 Nov 2020 9:41 p.m. PST |
"At 4:37 in the morning of 10 July, the 3rd Battalion of the 33rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division "Livorno", moved from Butera – where it was quartered near the railway station – towards Poggio Lungo, where Captain Riccardo Maccecchini's 552nd Company (112th Machine Gun Battalion) was trying to halt the American advance. The 3rd Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Nicola Bruni, reached the northern slopes of Poggio Lungo at 8:00 in the morning, but was taken under fire from the "A" and "B" Ranger companies (captain Lyle) that had previously captured the southern slopes, along with three intact 75 mm Italian guns that were now being used against their former owners. The light cruiser USS Birmingham also opened fire on the attacking troops. As this was happening, another Italian counterattack was also underway, this one by Mobile Group "E" (Lieutenant Colonel Davide Conti). This attack had begun at 5:40 and was led by twelve Renault R35 light tanks, captured by the Germans in France and ceded to Italy, now belonging to the 1st Company of the 101st Tank Battalion, 131st Tank Regiment. They had moved from Niscemi. These little tanks, that weighed just ten tons and were only armed with one 37 mm gun and one 7,5 mm machine gun, were hopeless against the Shermans or the Grants, and could be easily disabled by pretty much any American anti-tank gun; but this was all the Italian forces in Sicily had left at this point. Their crews could only pray for a miracle. The R35s advanced along State Highway 117 at a speed of no more than 20 km/h, firing widly, followed by the 2nd Company of the 102nd Motorized Anti-Tank Battalion (Captain Luigi Emilio Ferrari), armed with 47/32 guns; the 155th Motorized Machine Gun Company (Captain Giorgio Venturini); the 9th Battery, 3rd Artillery Group of the 54th Artillery Regiment "Napoli" (Lieutenant Francesco Marchegiani), equipped with eight 75/18 mm howitzers; and the 1st Section of the 326th Truck-Borne Anti-Aircraft 20/65 mm Machine Gun Battery (belonging to the 26th Infantry Division "Assietta")…" Main page link Amicalement Armand
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