The Story of the 34th Infantry Division
Book II • Pisa to Final Victory

Chapter XXVI • BRESCIA - IVREA
Triumphing [pp. 71-75]

   But now the climax pressed imminently upon us. All the enemy forces in Italy had been destroyed or scattered - except one. The elimination of this final group was to be the last battle task of the 34th in World War II. It will be recalled that before the Gothic Line offensive began, the Allied successes in Southern France had obliged the German command in Italy to dispatch a force to the Franco-Italian Alps, there to keep watch against a possible Allied eruption into the plains of northwest Italy. Throughout the long winter the Germans maintained their vigil, built elaborate defenses facing toward France, and strove to keep their lines of communication free from interference by the Partisans. The composition of the enemy force had changed from time to time, but by the spring [of 1945] had solidified into a compact group under command of the LXXV Corps which, besides various auxiliary units, included two full divisions. One was the 5th Mountain Division, a crack unit of hand-picked soldiers admirably suited for Alpine campaigning, who met us first near Mount Pantano and north of Cassino. The other, by the fortune of war, was our enemy counterpart, the 34th German Infantry Division, which had come to Italy in the summer of 1944 to rest and piece itself together after defeat at the hands of the Russians. It was an old division, by German standards, one of those formed during the first expansion of the Nazi Army by Hitler in 1935. It had fought in France, and on several fronts in Russia, gaining a fine reputation. Now, as Germany's homeland was at the point of being overrun, her armies defeated, and her leaders disgraced, the 34th awaited what the 34th would do.

   The LXXV Corps, it must be remembered, was not a beaten force. Its troops, though doubtless gloomy at the state of the war, had confidence in themselves and pride in their past performance. Its supplies were adequate, though transportation was lacking. All told, the Corps Commander, General Schlemmer, had a well-organized force of about 40,000 with which to operate during Germany's last days. When the front south of Bologna collapsed and the Po was spanned, General Schlemmer began gradually to withdraw from his Alpine fastnesses [eastward] and northward toward Turin, possibly hoping eventually to reach the Austrian border and to form part of the last-ditch defense in the "National Redoubt" of the German Alps. Throughout his retirement he defended himself skillfully against the French forces pursuing him from the west and, in return for his promise not to destroy Turin and other Italian towns, he gained immunity from Partisan attacks as he moved out across the valley floor toward the north. But the German progress, limited to the plodding of the draft horses, was slow, and the enemy columns could not shake off the vigilant rings of Partisans who surrounded them and shepherded them on their way. By 30 April, the spearheads of the U.S. 1st Armored Division had reached the Swiss frontier and the escape of the LXXV Corps was cut off.

   It remained but to find the Germans and either force them to battle or to surrender. The 34th, and its old comrades [all the way back to Northern Ireland] of the 1st Armored, were given the job. Moving westward from Bergamo as fast as possible, the 34th crossed the Ticino River without resistance and pressed on to the area of Ivrea, a little village close to the Alpine foothills and about thirty miles northwest of Turin. There on 2 May we waited.

   It will be recalled that the Italian Marshal Graziani, commanding the Ligurian Army, had by this time already capitulated. The extent of the Marshal's authority over German troops was uncertain, but obviously the enemy everywhere was cracking. Secret envoys to General Schlemmer during the preceding few days had learned that, although he agreed that his position was hopeless, and that surrender in the circumstances was neither unreasonable nor dishonorable, he - General Schlemmer - had given his personal oath to Hitler not to give in. The enemy commander considered himself bound by that undertaking so long as his FŸhrer remained alive. Nothing could shake this almost oriental concern with "face", but early on 2 May came the report from Berlin that Hitler had perished in the ruins of his capital. A few hours later, General Schlemmer sent his Chief of Staff through our lines to the CP [Command Post] of the 135th Infantry Regiment to announce his willingness to sign an unconditional surrender. Thus it fell on the 34th to accept this overture, one in a long series of similar acts up and down the battered continent.

   Forty thousand Germans, including our opposite number, were thus, in the nick of time, spared the brief bloody clash which could only have ended in their destruction; for, with full air support and cooperation with the 1st Armored Division already arranged, our attack was imminent.

   The war for us was over. The German surrender in the rest of Italy and then all over Italy followed within a matter of days.

   The war sagged, without much excitement. to an end.

   But the 34th didn't mind. It was not a bad end.

Chapter XXV HIGHWAY 9 Slashing

Introduction Foreword Contents

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