In May 1944, an American tank halted just before the corpse of a German soldier whose left arm had been blown off. In May 1944, on the Italian front, fighting erupted between some French units and German forces along roads through the fortified hills where German troops were trapped between Cassino and the Tyrrhenian Sea.On May 11, the French Expeditionary Force set the time for the battle to break the long stalemate on the Gustav Line and the Anzio landing zone front for 12:01 a.m. on May 12.
Suddenly, from Cassino to the coast, the roar of approximately 1,000 German artillery pieces lit up the night sky. It was the Gumié unit, composed of French and Senegalese-Algerian soldiers, advancing ahead of other forces. To their right were British troops ordered to capture Cassino, and to their left were American forces aiming to open a path to Anzio.Some American soldiers accompanied the force as crew members aboard Sherman medium tanks. Allied combat aircraft provided powerful support by attacking supply lines and artillery positions. The French-led assault broke through the Gustav Line within two days, pushed on to the Hitler Line, and swiftly breached it during the major sweep towards Rome.
The road on May 18th was near the hamlet of Esperia. Esperia was a cluster of stone houses at the foot of Monte Doro, a key German stronghold on the Hitler Line. As the French approached Esperia during the German retreat, a fierce counterattack commenced, employing German 88mm guns, tanks, and tracked vehicles.One German shell blew up a French light tank. A hundred shells followed in rapid succession, making the entire hill seem to lift off the ground. Hundreds more rained down on other vehicles. Algerian soldiers launched their assault, storming the village. They bayoneted German soldiers out of the houses, taking many prisoners.
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