This is Rifleman Bowlby's account of life in an infantry platoon in Italy in 1944. The battalion in which he served had been renowned throughout the 8th Army, but by the time it arrived in Italy it had been stripped of its core of regulars and its specialist role. Now used as heavy infantry, it lost its first battle, then its second, and the reputation that had taken three years to build fell apart in a few weeks. Only in its last battle, when it was smashed to pieces on the Gothic line, did the battalion regain its esteem.

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Bowlby, Alex

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The Recollections of Rifleman Bowlby

In 1944, having distinguished itself in the North Africa campaign, Rifleman Bowlby's battalion of Greenjackets was sent to Italy. But instead of being used in the specialised role for which it had been trained, most of the battalion's vehicles were taken away on arrival, and the riflemen were told that they were to be used as ordinary infantry. Stripped of its hard core of regulars, the battalion suffered one disastrous defeat after another until its hard-won reputation fell in tatters. 'Quite extraordinary realism in this worm's eye view ... The sweating, slogging, frightened infantryman in conditions of extreme stress and horror. It is a book to bring a shiver to the most grizzled veteran.' Sunday Times

Leo Cooper

Due to the emotive appeal of the battles for Monte Cassino and the controversy which surrounded the destruction of the ancient Benedictine abbey which crowned it, the importance of the preceding battle for the Mignano Gap has been largely and unjustly ignored by military historians. In this book Alex Bowlby sets out to restore the balance. In the autumn of 1943 the German Bernhardt Line ran through the Mignano Gap and there the XIV Panzer Korps held up the advancing US 5th Army, of which a third was made up of British troops, while defensive positions were prepared at Cassino. Had the Allies broken through before the fortifications were complete, the Road to Rome would have been open. In the event, however, it took eight divisions two months to advance seven miles at a cost of 16,000 battle casualties and 50,000 non-battle casualties caused by the appalling weather, inferior equipment and the strain of mountain fighting. The 5th Army had exhausted itself. On 13 November the Germans actually thought that they had lost the battle but on that same day the American Commander, General Mark Clark, called off the attack. By the time it was resumed the defences of Cassino were complete. Bowlby, who has interviewed and corresponded with many of the battle's veterans, skilfully weaves into his text many first-hand accounts of the bloody fighting in the rugged and inhospitable terrain around Mignano. His book fills an important gap in the story of the Italian campaign and pays long-overdue tribute to the bravery of the men - British, American and Canadian - who fought in this curiously neglected overture to the battles to come. It certainly deserves to stand beside Fred Majdalany's classic account of Cassino on the shelves of all military historians.

Countdown to Cassino: The Battle of Mignano Gap, 1943

History

Americas

Review One of the great Second World War memoirs ... will be read as long as that war is remembered―John KeeganA touch of the Somme and more than a hint of Wilfred Owen―TLSExtraordinary realism ... The sweating, slogging infantryman in conditions of extreme stress and horror ... a book to bring a shiver of horror to the most grizzled veteran―SUNDAY TIMESAuthentic with the reek, panic and dignity of action―OBSERVERFew accounts have portrayed the gruelling reality of war so vividly―James Holland Product Description 'One of the great Second World War memoirs ... will be read as long as that war is remembered' John Keegan'Extraordinary realism' SUNDAY TIMES'A touch of the Somme and more than a hint of Wilfred Owen' TLSA classic of WWII, this is the vivid memoir of Private Bowlby, who came through the North Africa campaign only to have to battle in bitter fighting against a stubborn and skilled German defence in Italy. It is a truly authentic account of what it was like to fight your way through one of the most gruelling and dangerous campaigns of the Second World War, where so often the hunters became the hunted.A superb first-hand account of the the second world war. About the Author Editor and author Alex Bowlby spent much of his early career serving in the British Armed Forces, first as a member of the Royal Greenjackets during the Second World War and then as a member of the 21st Special Air Service regiment. He later drew on his military experiences to write a number of books, including a memoir and a novel.

The Recollections Of Rifleman Bowlby (CASSELL MILITARY PAPERBACKS)

Historical

With the U.S. Fifth Army advancing toward the Mignano Gap, the Allies were poised to break through. The road to Rome would be open. By the time the Gap was won, however, it had taken eight divisions two months. There was no greater trial for the Allied soldiers in the course of this difficult war.

Countdown To Cassino: The Battle Of Mignano Gap

Da Capo Press

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