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Explore history with Army Pictorial: San Pietro, a classic World War II documentary full movie. Witness authentic wartime footage, army operations, and the real-life challenges faced during the battle of San Pietro. This film is perfect for history enthusiasts, students, and anyone interested in vintage war documentaries.
All visuals are sourced from public domain archives, preserving the genuine historical atmosphere of the 1940s. Experience the courage, strategy, and events that shaped one of the pivotal moments in World War II.
All visuals are sourced from public domain archives, preserving the genuine historical atmosphere of the 1940s. Experience the courage, strategy, and events that shaped one of the pivotal moments in World War II.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00In 1943 it was one of our strategic aims to draw as many German forces as
00:15possible away from the Russian front and French coastal areas and to contain them
00:21on the Italian peninsula while liberating as much of Italy as might be
00:26possible with the means at our disposal. As the bulk of our supplies was directed
00:32to England for the forthcoming invasion, operations in Italy had to be conducted
00:38on an extremely limited scale. Thus it came about that during the winter months
00:45the number of Allied divisions in Italy was greatly reduced. Yet so determined
00:52was their effort that they succeeded in holding in Italy a very large number of
00:57German divisions during the pre-invasion period. San Pietro in the Fifth Army sector
01:05was the key to the Leary Valley. We knew it and the enemy knew it. We had to take it
01:12even though the immediate cost would be high. We took it and the cost in relation
01:18to the later advance was not excessive. By its very nature this success worked bitter
01:25hardships upon each individual soldier, calling for the full measure of his
01:31courage and devotion. The response of our Fifth Army troops provides an inspiring page
01:37in our military history. To these individuals living and dead and to those
01:44who now continue in their tradition, this picture is dedicated.
02:14Leary Valley lies in the Italian Midland, some 60 miles northwest of Naples to some 40 miles southeast of Rome. A wide,
02:31flat corridor enclosed between four walls of mountains. In winter, the highest peaks of the Leary Range ascend into the snows, but the valley floor with its olive groves and ancient vines, its crops of wheat and corn,
02:38is green the year around. That is in normal times.
02:45closed between four walls of mountains.
02:48In winter, the highest peaks of the Liri Range
02:52ascend into the snows, but the valley floor
02:55with its olive groves and ancient vines,
02:58its crops of wheat and corn, is green the year around.
03:03That is in normal times.
03:07Last year was a bad year for grapes and olives,
03:11and the fall planting was late.
03:14Many fields lay fallow.
03:18There are two ways from the south into the valley,
03:21one a narrow pass, the other a high scenic road over the mountains.
03:27They converge before the site of the ancient village of San Pietro,
03:32which for 700 years has stood at the threshold of Liri Valley,
03:37welcoming the traveler.
03:39The stones of its walls were quarried out on the parent hill
03:43from whose slopes it rises.
03:47Population 1412 of the last census.
03:52A farming community.
03:55Patron Saint, Peter.
03:58Point of interest, Saint Peter's, 1438.
04:02Note, interesting treatment of Chancel.
04:14From the end of October 1943 until the middle of December,
04:18San Pietro and the surrounding ground was the scene of some of the bitterest fighting on our 5th Army front.
04:23The Italian campaign had entered its second phase,
04:27to push forward again after a static period brought on by heavy seasonal rains.
04:32Our battle lines were haphazard as the terrain itself,
04:36with its flood swollen rivers that twisted back and forth across our line of march so that each river seemed like five.
04:42And where there was no river to cross, a mountain blocked our going,
04:48each peak ahead being a few meters higher than the last we had won,
04:52so that each new peak had to be fought for, the hard uphill way, with the enemy looking down our throats.
05:00They had had time to fortify and camouflage their positions.
05:04No amount of artillery fire or aerial bombardment could force them to withdraw.
05:09That was for the infantry to do, employing those weapons that can find and destroy life in narrow trenches, caves and fighting holes.
05:18It was up to the man with the rifle, the man under fire from all weapons,
05:23the man whose way all our weapons, land, air and sea, serve only to prepare.
05:29It was up to the foot soldier to attack a hidden enemy over ground that was sewn with mines,
05:36the anti-personnel S-mines that fly up at a footfall to explode beneath the groin.
05:42Nowhere along the entire front were enemy preparations more elaborate than the San Pietro area.
05:49For San Pietro stands at the threshold of Leary Valley,
05:54and through Leary Valley, wide and level, runs the most highly prized length of road south of Rome.
06:01By early December, we had taken and were holding high ground to the northeast, east and south of San Pietro,
06:08the Camino Maggiore hill mass being last to fall.
06:11An Italian brigade under allied command had made a vain attempt to capture Mount Lungo,
06:16possession of which would have acted greatly to our benefit in the impending action.
06:20The Italians were all but annihilated.
06:23In view of their excessive losses, further operations against Mount Lungo's strategic heights were abandoned.
06:30And it was decided to make a direct frontal assault on enemy positions in and around San Pietro.
06:43Elements of the 36th Texas Infantry Division were rotated from position to position,
06:48overlooking the valley, so the troops might study the terrain ahead from various viewpoints.
06:53Patrol activity was continuous.
07:08Day and night, units went out to reconnoiter the ground, draw fire, take prisoners,
07:14thus adding to the sum of our information about the enemy.
07:19High points, Mount Lungo's 351 and Mount Sanucro's 1205 and 950 were all manned in force.
07:29The town itself was strongly garrisoned with numerous mortar, machine gun, and heavy weapon emplacements.
07:37Four enemy battalions were dug into a line of connecting trenches and mutually supporting pillboxes in depth
07:44that extended from the base of Mount Lungo, northeast across the valley floor to the base of Mount Sanucro.
07:51Another battalion was organized to defend the high ground northwest of San Pietro.
07:57Areas before these positions were heavily mined and held a confusion of barbed wire and booby traps.
08:05On the afternoon before, D-Day and H-hour were communicated to battalion commanders.
08:12December 8th, at 0620 hours, the 1st Battalion of the 143rd Infantry Regiment to attack the summit of 1205,
08:26having moved up the mountain under cover of darkness and upon achieving its objective to attack along the ridge to a point northwest of San Pietro.
08:36The 3rd Ranger Battalion likewise to attack 950, another feature of the Mount Sanucro hill mass.
08:44The 2nd Battalion of the 143rd to attack over the terraced olive orchards northeast of San Pietro.
08:51The 3rd Battalion acting in support to follow the 2nd at 400 yards.
08:57Of the original force to establish the beachhead of Salerno, the 143rd had since spent all but a fortnight in action under extremely bitter weather conditions.
09:09At Salerno, at the Volturno crossing, it had taken mortal punishment.
09:16The task ahead promised no less bloodshed, yet it was undertaken in good spirits and high confidence.
09:27The 1st Battalion began the long, rugged climb up Mount Sanucro.
09:32As night fell, our artillery opened up, and throughout the night hours, intense fire was laid down on the enemy's main line of resistance.
09:50It had rained most of the night, and it was raining at 8 hours when the 2nd and 3rd Battalions crossed the line of departure.
10:13Some 200 yards forward, they encountered mines and automatic fire from pillboxes.
10:29Mortar and artillery were deadly accurate by reason of excellent enemy observation from Mount Lunga overlooking our advance,
10:50which continued another 200 to 400 yards.
10:57Men gave their lies in attempts to reach pillboxes and throw hand grenades through the narrow gun openings.
11:22The 3rd Battalion was committed.
11:25The 3rd Battalion was committed.
11:28But the advance never got more than 600 yards past the line of departure.
11:49But the advance never got more than 600 yards past the line of departure.
11:56Our initial assault on San Pietro had been repulsed with heavy casualties.
12:04The attack on Hill 1205, however, was a brilliant success.
12:20Leading elements of the 1st Battalion had gained the summit of the objective
12:24before a strongly entrenched enemy knew that an assault was in progress.
12:34To the right of 1205, the 3rd Ranger Battalion had also captured its objective.
12:45But only after successive attacks and costly casualties.
12:49For on 950, the enemy was not taken unaware.
12:54Counter attacks were to be expected on both 1205 and 950.
13:02They were not long developing.
13:05The 1st was launched during the early daylight hours, and even as it was beaten off, another took form.
13:24Day and night they followed in unremitting violence.
13:35The toll of enemy dead mounted with each new attempt.
13:43The toll of enemy dead mounted with each new attempt.
13:54The German prisoners captured on 1205 and 950 said they had been ordered to remake those positions at all cost.
14:04In addition to defending Hill 1205, the 1st Battalion, obedient to the field order,
14:10undertook the reduction of enemy defenses which were organized along the ridge running west.
14:15The 1st Battalion, 3rdEST Battalion,
14:24the 2nd Battalion,
14:25the 3rd Battalion and the 5th Battalion,
14:28the 1st Battalion,
14:32On the 12th of December, the 1st Battalion was reinforced by the 504th Parachute Battalion,
14:58which took over and maintained the defenses of 1205 and 950, thereby enabling the 1st Battalion
15:07to throw its entire remaining strength into the assault along the ridge.
15:14But the first strength had dwindled and shrunk in the five days past,
15:19and there was now a question as to whether its existing numbers were sufficient to prevail.
15:25Reports during the night of the 14th of December stated that the enemy was offering bitter resistance
15:31and that the issue was in grave doubt.
15:35Meanwhile, on the olive terraces below, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions had twice again attempted to reach their objective.
15:44Both times they had come up against a wall of automatic weapon, mortar and artillery fire.
15:55Volunteer patrols made desperate attempts to reach enemy positions and reduce strong points.
16:01Not a single member of any such patrol ever came back alive.
16:13Our attacking forces were furnished excellent aerial cover by Allied fighter patrols.
16:20But now and then, enemy planes were able to slip through and to bomb and strafe our positions,
16:27which to all purposes had remained unchanged since the first day.
16:34To break the deadlock, orders were given for a coordinated divisional attack.
16:39The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 143rd to proceed in the execution of the original orders.
16:46Acting in conjunction, Company A of the 753rd Tank Battalion to attack San Pietro from the east over the high road.
16:55One battalion of the 141st to attack over the flat valley floor.
17:01After nightfall on D-Day, the 142nd Infantry Regiment to attack Mount Lungo.
17:07The earlier decision not to attack those strategic heights having been reversed in view of the present critical situation.
17:17In preparation for the attack, all 5th Army artillery within range, including tanks and all-tracks,
17:25was directed against San Pietro and the surrounding area.
17:37The 143rd Tank Battalion to attack the
18:01Oh, my God.
18:31H-hour, 1,200 hours. D-day, the 15th of December.
18:46The 141st Infantry advanced some 400 yards from its line of departure
18:52to be borne down and held powerless under the weight of enemy fire.
18:58The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 143rd advanced some 100 yards beyond their former positions
19:08to a point almost directly before forward enemy defenses.
19:13And for the third time they were forced to take such cover as the quaking earth could offer.
19:19And the tanks.
19:23Orders were for them to enter the town and to locate and destroy the heavy weapons there
19:30which were leveled against our attacking foot soldiers.
19:34The high road into San Pietro is a narrow mountain road
19:39and from the beginning of its winding descent in O'Leary Valley
19:43it was under direct enemy observation.
19:53Sixteen tanks started down that road.
19:56Three reached the outskirts of the town.
20:11Of these, two were destroyed and one was missing.
20:17Five tanks were immobilized behind enemy lines
20:20their crews having to abandon them.
20:24Five tanks hit enemy mines within our lines
20:27and were thereupon destroyed by enemy gunfire.
20:31Four tanks returned to the bivouac area.
20:37After dark, two companies, one from the 2nd Battalion
20:40and one from the 3rd,
20:41finally succeeded in penetrating enemy positions before San Pietro.
20:45But receiving both frontal and flanking fire, they were forced to retire.
20:55Company E having been reduced in strength to a handful of riflemen.
21:00And Company L fairing little better.
21:03On the Mount Simokro ridge, the 1st Battalion fought its way
21:20to within a few hundred yards of the objective.
21:23But it had paid for ground gained at the rate of a man a yard.
21:36And it did not have strength to carry the fight any further forward.
21:43On Mount Lungo, however, despite bitter resistance,
21:46battalions of the 142nd in successive waves kept pushing upwards.
21:54Until, in the early daylight hours of the 16th of December,
21:59its foot soldiers had gained a summit
22:01and were wiping up what remained of a stubborn enemy.
22:05And that height proved to be a key position in the enemy plan of defense.
22:09For even as Mount Lungo fell,
22:12the enemy throughout the San Pietro area made preparations to withdraw.
22:18Almost invariably, the enemy will counter-attack to cover a withdrawal.
22:24The first violent thrust was delivered within a few hours.
22:27And thereafter, counter-attacks came in waves.
22:41The roar of the last mingling with the rush and fury of the next to break.
22:46Many companies lost all their officers.
22:49Enlisted men came forward as inspirational leaders
22:52to rally their battered companies and resisting yet one more onslaught.
22:58Our own artillery was brought to fall within a hundred yards of our frontline elements.
23:05After five hours, during which the earth never ceased to tremble,
23:12counter-attacks ended, indicating the withdrawal of the enemy's main body had commenced.
23:19FIRE OF CLOCK
23:22In an effort to maintain contact with the enemy
23:50our patrols immediately pushed ahead.
24:20Entering the town they discovered that San Pietro was ours for the taking.
24:46The 2nd and 3rd battalions, less than a rifle company in strength, weary to death who were
24:55alive, stumbled forward past San Pietro to consolidate gains and re-establish contact
25:02with the enemy, now taking up new positions some five kilometers beyond.
25:08That is the broad shape of the Battle of San Pietro, which was the first of many battles
25:17in the Erie Valley.
25:20It was a very costly battle.
25:24After the battle, the 143rd Infantry Regiment alone required 1,100 replacements.
25:31The lives lost were precious lives to their country, to their loved ones, and to the men
25:58themselves.
26:05For the living of the 143rd Infantry Regiment, more than 100 decorations were acts of power
26:11above and beyond the call of duty.
26:17Many among these you see alive here have since joined the ranks of their brothers in arms who
26:24fell at San Pietro.
26:26For ahead, Le San Vatore, and the Rapido River, and Casino, and beyond Casino, more rivers,
26:34and more mountains, and more towns, more San Pietros, greater or lesser, a thousand more.
26:46As the battle passed over and beyond San Pietro, westward, townspeople began to appear, coming
26:51out of their caves in the mountains where they had stayed in hiding during the enemy occupation.
26:57They were mostly old people and children.
27:04They were mostly old people and children.
27:14By the time they were lost to England, they were mostly golden daughters in their hands,
27:17but they were mostly golden daughters in their arms.
27:22The townspeople were warned against enemy mines and booby traps, which were in the process of being cleared.
27:52The townspeople were warned against enemy mines and booby traps, which were in the process of being cleared.
28:22Children are able to forget quickly.
28:46Yesterday they wept.
28:48Today there are smiles and even laughter.
28:52Tomorrow it will be as though the bad things have never happened.
29:02The townspeople were warned.
29:11The townspeople were warned against enemy mines and booby traps, which were in the process of being cleared.
29:21The townspeople were warned against enemy mines and booby traps, which were in the process of being cleared.
29:30The townspeople were warned against enemy mines and booby traps, which were in the process of being cleared.
29:40The townspeople were warned against enemy mines and booby traps, which were in the process of being cleared.
29:49The townspeople were warned against enemy mines and booby traps, which were in the process of being cleared.
29:59The townspeople were warned against enemy mines and booby traps, which were in the process of being cleared.
30:08The townspeople were warned against enemy mines and booby traps, which were in the process of being cleared.
30:11Our prime military aim being to engage and defeat the enemy, the capture of the town itself and the liberation of its people is of an incidental nature.
30:20But the people in their military innocence look upon us solely as their deliverers.
30:25It was to free them and their farmlands that we came.
30:31Behind our lines, southwest to the sea, the fields are green with growing crops planted after our coming by other people of other towns who believed likewise.
30:47The new one earth at San Pietro was plowed and sown.
31:06It should yield a good harvest this year.
31:11And the people prayed to their patron saint to intercede with God in behalf of those who came delivered them and passed on to the north with the passing battle.
31:27The founders of the year the arise and the leaders at San Pietro was president.
31:33On this together, the undercated battle.
31:51Thank you for that and drive to our Hebrews through.
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