The Battle of Cisterna took place during World War II, on January 29, 1944, near Cisterna, Italy, as part of Operation Shingle.
During this battle, the 1st, 3rd, and 4th US Army Ranger battalions attempted to capture the town of Cisterna, an objective which the US 3rd Infantry Division had failed to take.
After a counterattack by German Mark IV tanks, 755 of 761 soldiers within the 1st and 3rd Battalions were lost.
Cisterna di Latina; 1944(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
Initial battle plans had called for the paratroopers to be parachuted behind enemy lines to secure such objectives as the Cisterna Crossroads and Rail yards on L or D-Day; but, plans were cancelled before the Anzio invasion began; when the British protested against the idea; and the Paratroopers came ashore with the Infantry; instead.
Cisterna was to be a coordinated attack with the other ground troops.
On that morning January 30 on the fringe of Cisterna; the 1st, and 3rd, Rangers were within 800 yards of the town; when they stumbled into a bivouac area of an entire German Motorized Infantry Division; supported by elements of German, Polish and Italian Paratroopers; and elements of Herman Goering's Panzer divisions.
The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas and was intended to outflank German forces of the Winter Line and enable an attack on Rome.
At the end of 1943, following the Allied invasion of Italy Allied forces were bogged down at the Winter Line, a defensive line across Italy south of the psychologically important objective of Rome.
While one force cut Highway 7 at Cisterna before moving east into the Alban Hills, a second was to advance northeast up the Albano Road.
3rd Infantry Division history chapter 7 part 1(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
South of Cisterna they are not so important, the ground being flatter and the ditches shallower; north of the town, however, the ground rises and the ditches become deeper and their banks steeper.
Responsibility for the defense of the Cisterna sector was divided between two German infantry divisions, the 362d and 715th.
The platoon of tanks towing battle sleds, as indicated previously, was committed in this attack, but the tanks were immobilized by mines at the dog-leg in the road south of Ponte Rotto, and the personnel were attached to Company L for its attack on the strong point in Fosso Feminamorta.
The Rangers' defeat at Cisterna was due to several causes, but one of the factors that contributed to the battle's outcome preceded it by several months and is worth examining in detail at this point.
Upon arriving at Cisterna, the battalion was to enter the town, destroy the enemy in it, occupy the ground to the immediate northwest, and prepare to repel enemy counterattacks.
A German officer, who took part in the battle and was later captured, stated in his interrogation that Cisterna had been reinforced by elements of the Hermann Goering Panter Division on the night of 29 January in anticipation of the attack.
A German officer, who took part in the battle and was later captured, stated in his interrogation that Cisterna had been reinforced by elements of the Hermann Goering Panzer Division on the night of 29 January in anticipation of the attack.
The battle for Cisterna was sufficiently jarring to the Germans to force them to delay their plans two days.
Occasional artillery fire fell on the reunited Rangers until midafternoon, inflicting the battle's final few casualties, At 1500, the 94th Infantry Division commander attached the battalion to the 501st Infantry, which was continuing the drive to the east.
Battalions were to infiltrate behind enemy lines along a ravine to a location adjacent to Cisterna.
Battalions involved in the Battle for Cisterna, 6 men were able to return to friendly lines.
It was during the battle of Chipyong-ni, on the night of February 14/15, 1951 that Harold Rinard was killed in action in the frozen snows of Korea by an artillery shell.
As VI Corps prepared to launch its offensive toward Cisterna and Campoleone on 30 January, the German forces were being regrouped for a major counteroffensive.
Thus the Germans were able to destroy or capture the advanced elements that approached Cisterna, and to slow the American drive all along the front.
The battalion reached Pantano ditch, less than a mile west of Cisterna, placing it about the same distance away from the town as the 15th Infantry on the south, when a well-laid 10-minute German artillery concentration forced it to halt and dig in.
WWII | Marauders and Rangers lead the way.(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
He was quick to think up means of harassing the poor weary Rangers, and as he put it, "To give all members the full benefit of the course." The British Commandos did all in their power to test us to find out what sort of men we were.
After killing the enemy sentries, the 1st and 3rd Battalions reached the outskirts of Cisterna when the 4th Battalion, which was advancing up the Anzio-Cisterna Road, became engaged in a night battle, alerting the enemy defenders of the attack.
Unknown to the Americans, the Cisterna Sector had been reinforced by elements of a German parachute division that were supported by heavy tanks.
www.suasponte.com /WWII.htm (4481 words)
3rd Infantry Division history Chapter 6 part 1(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
This was discussed with the Corps Commander, who agreed, and accordingly the Division boundary was moved to the stream north and south through Carano, and the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment was relieved as far north as Bridge 5 by elements of the 179th Infantry of the 45th Division.
They were attacked by tanks and Flakwagons which debouched from Cisterna infantry of an enemy parachute battalion which also emerged from the town, and by enemy machine gun fire from every one of the houses that lined the roads into town.
The 3d Battalion was committed the night of January 30-31, to advance along the axis of the Ponte Rotto Cisterna road, and succeeded in reaching the stream west of Ponte Rotto the morning of January 31.
[No title](Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
July 21 - Battle of Guam - American troops land on Guam starting the battle (ends on August 10).
October 23 - Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines begins (lasts until October 26).
November 12 - The Royal Air Force launches one of the most successful precision bombing attacks of the war and sinks the German battleship Tirpitz off the coast of Norway.
Battle of Cisterna Online Research :: Information about Battle of Cisterna(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
Battle of Cisterna Online Research :: Information about Battle of Cisterna
During this Battle, the 1st Ranger Battalion, 3rd, and 4th US Army Ranger Battalion attempted to capture the town of Cisterna, an objective which the US 3rd Infantry Division had failed to take.
After a counterattack by Germany Panzer IV Tank, 755 of 761 Soldier within the 1st and 3rd Battalions were lost.
Rangers(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
The group was formed, in 1757, as Roger's Rangers.
During World War II, the 1st[?], 3rd[?], and 4th Ranger Battalions[?] unit served in Italy, under William O. Darby, until the Battle of Cisterna.
Even the volcanic and the long lines of the horizontal terraces which remain, have taken place.
www.wordlookup.net /ra/rangers.html (227 words)
Battle of Cisterna - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
During this battle, the 1st, 3rd, and 4th US Army Ranger battalions attempted to capture the town of Cisterna, an objective which the US 3rd Division had failed to take.
Battle of Cisterna at Darby's Rangers website (http://darbysrangers.tripod.com/id6.htm)
Not to mention the fact that Lucas sent 3 battalions of Rangers to Cisterna.
He had bad intelligence and assumed that the Germans wouldn't put up much resistance for the important town.
The Rangers fought a brave battle, inflicting large amounts of causualties on the Germans and destroying something like 14 tanks but only b[seven]b Rangers survived the battle at Cisterna.
