36th Infantry Division - T-Patch Blitz Opens Rhone Valley

Pages 12 and 13

slowly had thinned. Of 11,000 casualties, 2000 were Texans; at Salerno alone: 1900 casualties, 750 from Texas.

But the 36th had made the Germans pay heavily, too — 6000 prisoners in addition to enormous numbers killed and wounded.

T-PATCH BLITZ
OPENS RHONE VALLEY

“I know what you want,” said the mayor of Draguinan. He led the colonel to a beautiful, walled garden, quiet and shaded. “You want a cemetery. All the people of my town have contributed to give you this land. It is the gift of the people of Draguinan to their liberators.”

Aug. 15, 1944, 0800 hours: First Bn., 141st, scrambled ashore on Blue Beach. Unlike Salerno, the way had been paved by overwhelming naval and aerial bombardment. As a covering rocket basrrage lifted, 2nd and 3rd Bns. landed on Green Beach, near the tiny village of Dramont.

For rooting the Germans from the slopes overlooking the beaches, 1st Bn., 141st was a awarded a Presidential Citation.

Following the 141st onto Green Beach, the 143rd swung left toward St. Raphael and Red Beach, to trap the defenders there as the 142nd came in for a landing. But when naval demolition boats failed to knock out the obstacles lining Red Beach, the 142nd put about and landed on Green Beach. All guns, men, trucks, TDs, and tons of supplies were landed on shallow Green Beach, barely 250 yards wide.

By D plus 1, however, supplies could flow steadily; Frejus was taken by the 142nd; St. Raphael by the 143rd. Meanwhile, the 141st pounded east toward Cannes and blocked German reinforcements advancing west. All three regiments battled savagely but skillful tactics, based on hard training and aggressiveness, kept casualty lists low.

The only serious setback was the sinking of an ammu-