db84124
Brummophile
The 16th September, 1943 was the cloudiest, blackest day in the honourable history of the British Armed Forces.
From innumerable photographs I’ve seen, there was an overcast sky as tens of thousands of British, American, ex-British Commonwealth and other allied forces battled to gain control of the beaches near Salerno – my adoptive hometown in the south of Italy - from a determined, resolute, tough German defence which did everything it possibly could to push the liberating troops, airmen and sailors back into and across the Tyrrhenian Sea. They didn’t succeed.
“Operation Avalanche” began on 9th September, 1943; within a week - by 16th September - 189,000 allied combatants were directly involved. It is estimated that 100,000 Germans resolutely resisted their noble efforts.
With the threat of being overwhelmed, British reinforcements were necessary; approximately 600 men of the British X Corps, who had been made to believe they were returning to their own units from which they had been separated during the fighting in the North African Campaign - mainly because they had been wounded - refused assignment to new units as replacements for dead and wounded.
The Salerno Mutiny was carried out by men from the British 51st Highland Division and the 50th Northumbrian Division, including some veterans of the war in North Africa. About 1500 of them had sailed from Tripoli on the understanding that they were to join their units based in Sicily. Instead, once aboard ship, they were told that they were being taken to Salerno, to join the 46th Division, fighting alongside Lieut.-General Mark Clark's U.S. Fifth Army. Many of the soldiers felt they had been deliberately misled.
Matters were made worse by the total lack of organisation when they reached Salerno, leaving them angry and frustrated. Most of the soldiers, a thousand or so fresh recruits, were taken off to join new units leaving 500 veterans, 300 of whom were moved to a nearby field. They were still there on 20th September, refusing postings to unfamiliar units. They were addressed by the commander of X Corps, Lieut.-General Richard McCreery, who admitted that a mistake had been made, and promised that they would rejoin their old units once Salerno was secure. The men were also warned of the consequences of mutiny in wartime.
Of the three hundred in the field, 108 decided to follow orders, leaving a hard core of 192. They were all charged with mutiny under the Army Act, the largest number of men accused at any one time in all of British military history. The accused were shipped to Algeria, where the court-martial opened towards the end of October. All were found guilty, and three sergeants were sentenced to death. The sentences were subsequently commuted to 12 years of forced labour and eventually suspended, though the men faced constant harassment for the rest of their military careers.
I have been a member of the Birmingham History Forum since July 2009. Despite several posts regarding the Salerno Landing in1943, I have never received feedback on an interest in this fascinating, crucial and influential phase of World War II (just a handful of kind comments on my posts!). Undoubtedly there are countless Brummies among the 1,846 gallant men and women laid to rest a thirty-minute drive from where I live – I personally have found tens of names of people born or resident in Birmingham on the list of graves in the British Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s list in the Salerno War Cemetery. Please let me know if I could place a flower on a grave of a loved one on – or a day or so before - Remembrance Sunday. I will be placing a wreath.
Lest we forget ………
David
From innumerable photographs I’ve seen, there was an overcast sky as tens of thousands of British, American, ex-British Commonwealth and other allied forces battled to gain control of the beaches near Salerno – my adoptive hometown in the south of Italy - from a determined, resolute, tough German defence which did everything it possibly could to push the liberating troops, airmen and sailors back into and across the Tyrrhenian Sea. They didn’t succeed.
“Operation Avalanche” began on 9th September, 1943; within a week - by 16th September - 189,000 allied combatants were directly involved. It is estimated that 100,000 Germans resolutely resisted their noble efforts.
With the threat of being overwhelmed, British reinforcements were necessary; approximately 600 men of the British X Corps, who had been made to believe they were returning to their own units from which they had been separated during the fighting in the North African Campaign - mainly because they had been wounded - refused assignment to new units as replacements for dead and wounded.
The Salerno Mutiny was carried out by men from the British 51st Highland Division and the 50th Northumbrian Division, including some veterans of the war in North Africa. About 1500 of them had sailed from Tripoli on the understanding that they were to join their units based in Sicily. Instead, once aboard ship, they were told that they were being taken to Salerno, to join the 46th Division, fighting alongside Lieut.-General Mark Clark's U.S. Fifth Army. Many of the soldiers felt they had been deliberately misled.
Matters were made worse by the total lack of organisation when they reached Salerno, leaving them angry and frustrated. Most of the soldiers, a thousand or so fresh recruits, were taken off to join new units leaving 500 veterans, 300 of whom were moved to a nearby field. They were still there on 20th September, refusing postings to unfamiliar units. They were addressed by the commander of X Corps, Lieut.-General Richard McCreery, who admitted that a mistake had been made, and promised that they would rejoin their old units once Salerno was secure. The men were also warned of the consequences of mutiny in wartime.
Of the three hundred in the field, 108 decided to follow orders, leaving a hard core of 192. They were all charged with mutiny under the Army Act, the largest number of men accused at any one time in all of British military history. The accused were shipped to Algeria, where the court-martial opened towards the end of October. All were found guilty, and three sergeants were sentenced to death. The sentences were subsequently commuted to 12 years of forced labour and eventually suspended, though the men faced constant harassment for the rest of their military careers.
I have been a member of the Birmingham History Forum since July 2009. Despite several posts regarding the Salerno Landing in1943, I have never received feedback on an interest in this fascinating, crucial and influential phase of World War II (just a handful of kind comments on my posts!). Undoubtedly there are countless Brummies among the 1,846 gallant men and women laid to rest a thirty-minute drive from where I live – I personally have found tens of names of people born or resident in Birmingham on the list of graves in the British Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s list in the Salerno War Cemetery. Please let me know if I could place a flower on a grave of a loved one on – or a day or so before - Remembrance Sunday. I will be placing a wreath.
Lest we forget ………
David
Last edited:
