The River Battles by Mark Zuehlke

Author:Mark Zuehlke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: World War, World War II, Campaigns, Italy, Emilia–Romagna, Riverine operations, Canada, Canadian Army, Canadian Corps, History, Military History, Canadian Battle Series
ISBN: 9781771622363
Publisher: Douglas and McIntyre (2013) Ltd.
Published: 2019-11-08T16:00:00+00:00

15

A Ghastly Failure

As Ravenna was liberated in the late afternoon of December 4, 11th Canadian Infantry Brigade’s Perth and Irish regiments reached Piangipane. At 1730 hours, both battalions passed through the Westminster Regiment lines and struck out for their respective objectives. Each was to cut Highway 16—the Perths at the junction of the road leading directly to it from Piangipane, and the Irish where the town of Mezzano spanned the Lamone River.1 Before the Perths headed out, Lieutenant Colonel Maurice Andrew told his officers that if the lead company “bumped into opposition,” all those following were to “bypass it to the left and continue on.” At 1800 hours, the Perths started marching in a long, strung-out column.2

Tall pines lined the roadsides. Heavy fog reduced visibility to zero. “We had mixed feelings about the fog,” Private Stan Scislowski wrote. “In one way we welcomed it because it hid us from enemy eyes. At the same time it gave us a feeling of uneasiness over not knowing what we might soon run into.

“The long tenuous column ghosted along . . . every eye fixed on the dim outlines of houses on the right side of the road. On our left was a fenced-in field, but we didn’t expect to be fired on from this direction. What demanded more of our attention were the houses. There could be Jerries holed up in them ready to mow us down.”

‘D’ Company’s No. 16 Platoon led, and immediately after passing through the built-up area—called Borgo Fusara—it came under fire from the rearguard of a retreating German formation. Although these Germans were quickly driven off, No. 18 Platoon’s Sergeant Ken “Blackie” Rowe ordered Scislowski and his other men into the “soggy fields” left of the road. This way, if No. 16 Platoon encountered another roadblock, “we’d slide by and take them in the rear. In the time it took us to slog through four hundred yards of the stickiest mud we’d ever floundered our way through, the fog dissipated enough for us to see where we were going.”3

No further opposition was encountered. By 0315 hours, ‘D’ Company was consolidating at Highway 16. The other companies soon dug in nearby. Casualties had been few: one man killed and five wounded.4

The Irish Regiment faced tougher going. Its advance to Mezzano followed a more circuitous network of roads to gain the Via della Lamone, which for two miles paralleled the river. Captain Tony Falzetta’s ‘C’ Company led. Barely a hundred yards out of Piangipane, the men came to a small canal. As the company started wading it, German fire from the opposite bank caused several casualties. Falzetta pulled back, regrouped, and then forced a crossing. Captain Herb Hendrie then pushed ‘B’ Company through and continued the advance, with ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies following. “The night was very dark,” the Irish Regiment’s war diarist recorded, so the companies “moved slowly, feeling out the country as they proceeded.” At 0200 hours on December 5, ‘B’ Company reached the Via della Lamone. ‘C’ Company dug in, while ‘B’ and ‘D’ Companies continued toward Mezzano.

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