Senio Floodbank - 10th to 26th March, 1945

On the evening of 10th March 1945, 38 (Irish) Infantry Brigade (which included my father's mob, 2 London Irish Rifles) moved up to relieve units of the Queens Brigade from 56th (London) Division on the banks of the Senio River, near to Cotignola, just to the south west of Lugo..... Pat Scott recalled:

"We were to have three battalions forward. On the right, 56 Reconnaissance Regiment were opposite Cotignola in considerable depth, having only two positions on the floodbank. Unfortunately, Cotignola overlooked this area and movement by day was not advisable in front of their RHQ. The Faughs were in the centre, up on the floodbank. The Skins were on the left, with all on the floodbank except their left company.

On the Skins’ left was the Lwow Brigade of the 5 Kresowa Division. These were the people who had taken over from us in that vile area near Monte Cassino nearly a year before. We were very glad to see these warriors again, who had done so magnificently in the battle of Cassino. On the Skins’ immediate left were the Carpathian Lancers, who were temporarily under command of the Lwow Brigade. The Polish Corps were not occupying the floodbank and did not intend to do so and so there was no object in trying to get the Skins left up on to the floodbank and did not intend to do so as the Carpathians Lancers would not be conforming.

We carried out the relief of the three forward battalions without incident on the night of 10th/11th March…

…By day, sniping and a few odd stonks were the form but as soon as it got dark, a veritable furore used to start up. It sounded like a rifle meeting gone mad. Grenade duels, machine gun fire and mortar stonks were continually going on from both sides. Most of the raids on our side were swept by spandaus in the forward company areas. This racket used to go on most of the night. There was very little shelling. The real characteristic of this fighting was that the infantry were in very close contact – sometimes only about 8 to 10 yards apart – and that it was the infantryman’s war almost entirely. There was now an enemy that our soldiers could get to grips with, relying on their own skills and their own weapons entirely. There was someone that they could vent their spleen on. Periscopes were very much to the fore and, after strafing the opposite floodbank, it was not difficult to assess the damage to the Bosche by watching the activities of their stretcher bearers through a periscope…"

http://www.irishbrigade.co.uk/pages/brigadier-narratives/irish-brigade-in-italy-by-brigadier-tpd-scott/senio-floodbanks.php

(photo courtesy: 'Algiers to Austria', Cyril Ray.. though not sure if it gives a full impression of the bund).

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No need to merge - this is a "70th anniversary" thread.. James' father was also in attendance

 

17th Mach 1945 saw 38 (Irish) Brigade still on the Senio floodbank:

Brigadier Pat Scott:
"We were in the line on St Patrick’s Day so, of course, we could not do much about it.... 'Jon' produced an excellent 'Two Types' cartoon in the ‘Eighth Army News’ depicting an officer wearing a caubeen and hackle cutting shamrocks out of a billiard table cloth – presumably to make ‘flashes’ for the Irish Brigade, while the other scoundrel said 'Isn’t that going a bit too far, Old Man?' It may have been, but I think the story was founded on fact!"

The Irish Brigade's war diary suggested business as usual:
0300 Enemy bazooka-ed Catania di Sotto 360343 from floodbank.

0430 Enemy attacked night platoon of centre coy 2 Innisks with bazookas. Enemy driven off by DF but he retaliated very quickly with his own DF which caused casualties. At dawn, the coy reported that the existing footbridge at 329334 had been broken.

2 LIR had a quiet night with light grenade duels and Spandau fire along bttn front.

St Patrick’s Day’s greetings were sent to all bttns and units in Brigade Group and many greetings were received.

0800 2 LIR took a deserter from 6 Coy, 289 Regiment. He had been buried by a shell in a dugout on our side of the floodbank for anything up to seven days. His information, therefore, was very much out of date and he was in too weak a condition to talk for long.

0820 Enemy periscope seen at east side of railway embankment at 357339 confirming presence of an enemy outpost on our bank. Explosions in the east floodbank again heard area 359343 in front of the outpost 56 Recce.

1200 Mrs Claire Booth Luce, Congresswoman of Connecticut accompanied by GOC 78 Division visited Brigade HQ. She stayed for about half an hour talking to the Brigade Commander on various subjects and dwelt for some time on Irish politics.

Slight enemy movement and snipers seen along the brigade front and our own mortars and MGs retaliated.

2015 Again, explosions were heard under floodbank at 359362. No conclusive appreciation can be made.

The Irish Brigade eventually got the chance to commemorate St Patrick on 29th March when they got back to Forli: 52 pipers and 20 drummers would then then be in attendance.... http://www.irishbrigade.co.uk/pages/photographic-memories/the-irish-brigade-at-forli-march-1945.php

Fág an Bealach

 

Near the the end of March 1945, the men from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, Canada and South Africa, serving with the Irish Brigade, were still on the banks of the Senio river...

On the 22nd March at 1500 hours, the London Irish Rifles carried out a most successful and very well rehearsed raid:

“The smoke and fire plan went down exactly on time. An observer, from a factory behind the lines, remarked that it was just as if a button had been pressed.

The 25 pounder shells burst along the far floodbank with great accuracy, being fired in enfilade along the various stretches of the river.

The raid party filtered through the tunnel and lined the bank. Each man, just before zero, threw over the bank, one smoke grenade and one homemade bomb consisting of a Boors shell case packed with explosive. At zero, the covering party, consisting of an officer and two men, got on top of the bank, whilst the assault party of a Corporal, five riflemen and two pioneers, rushed over the top at the selected spot. Inside one minute, the assault party was back, having captured five, killed one and wounded three Germans. The pioneers and covering party were back seconds later, the pioneer having laid his charge after getting lost in the smoke. Four minutes after zero, the prisoners were appearing out of the rear end of the tunnel. Several enemy machine guns opened up, most of them too late and also merely fired blind into the smoke. Another section was already digging the new post while pioneers prodded the ground feverishly for mines and a signaller ran out a line. Later, German stretcher bearers were seen on the other side of the bank carting off their dead and wounded.

The prisoners, some of whom were a pale green colour with fear, had no idea how this thing had happened to them. At “Ted’s Bund”, the diversion had more than ordinary success and all periscopes reported at least three more stretcher cases being carted away across a footbridge. The snipers had a busy time with three certain hits…”

Read more about the raid here: http://www.irishbrigade.co.uk/pages/brigadier-narratives/irish-brigade-in-italy-by-brigadier-tpd-scott/london-irish-raid-on-the-floodbank.php

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And a final coda to the Irish Brigade's time on the Senio as Pat Scott remembered:

"On the 26th March 1945, we were relieved by 11 Brigade and went back to our billets in Forli,

We had been in the line on St Patrick’s Day and we had been promised that we could all get together for a proper celebration during this spell …The 29th was the day chosen for our St Patrick’s Day party. We invited the North Irish Horse and the 1st London Irish as well as all the members of the Brigade Group to send representative detachments to spend the day with us.

It was lovely day. We began with Church services, the Roman Catholics in Forli Cathedral and the rest of us in the Asperia Cinema.…General Keightley, in talking to the Brigade, pointed out that the remarkable successes on the Western front were directly due to the great success of our Brigade and all the troops in Italy over the previous eighteen months. We had held down twenty six of the best German Divisions. When he had finished his speech, General Keightley presented a tray of shamrock to each visit on parade and a sprig to each officer personally…

During the afternoon, each battalion had its own diversions. The London Irish held an Officers v Sergeants football match, which to any casual spectator must have appeared like a minor war – perhaps it was merely anticipating Dublin on VE Day….In the evening, the London Irish held an excellent dance in their Mess. Regardless of thick heads and other discomforts, training started again with the same object as before on the next day and went on at high pressure until the big battle started..."

http://www.irishbrigade.co.uk/pages/brigadier-narratives/irish-brigade-in-italy-by-brigadier-tpd-scott/st-patricks-day-in-forli.php

My father also recalled the day's events:

“That afternoon, the London Irish had an officers versus sergeants rugger match. I did not join in, as the last time I almost lost all my teeth. The sergeants paraded in all sorts of weird gear. Roy Prudhoe wore a dispatch rider’s crash helmet. The sergeants produced two Panther tanks stolen from the park of captured German vehicles. The officers retaliated by having our Army Co-operation Squadron dive bomb the match with smoke bombs. By this time, most clothes had been torn off and Prudhoe was left only with his boots and crash helmet. The Italian ladies watching seemed to be appreciative.

We had a sergeants’ mess party in the evening.

I invited Father Dan (Kelleher) who asked: ‘Is it going to be a blinder?’ I truthfully, but inaccurately, said no.

The RSM asked me to provide two reliable mess waiters to serve drinks. I told them to look after the E Company sergeants. They delivered locally-produced gin and lime. The lime was thick and the gin strong. Soon people were passing out and I was one of them. I left the hall to go to the toilet. What happened after I do not know: perhaps I fell down the stone staircase. Anyway, I crawled into the party and, allegedly, my drunk companions playfully rubbed their boots on my face. I was taken home and put to bed by two officers. My face the next morning was a mass of open sores. One sergeant had walked through a plate glass window and was hospitalised. We later found out that much of the drink sold in Italy was made in a laboratory. We were lucky we were not poisoned.

Two days later, an officer asked what I had done to my face.

‘Fell off a tank in the exercises, Sir.’ I replied.

‘Bloody liar. I put you to bed!’ he said.

I resolved never to touch a drink made with cordial and Italian gin.”

My father kept his word over the next 64 years.

Faugh a Ballagh,

 

Bexley were there still Canadians in Italy in March 45? The 1st Canadian Corp was pulled from the line by the end Of Feb 45 and off to NWE...
nice work putting the treads together
Matt

 

Matt,

Thanks for the kind comments.

My "Canadian" reference was slightly parochial as I was referring to Canadian nationals, who had served with the Irish Brigade in Italy.

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