One of Many

The Story Of 46 Division during WW2

Summary

The map above indicates the travels of 46 Division during WW2

North Africa 1942

The Division saw bitter winter fighting in Tunisia against some of Germany's best troops. They were asked to take part in tough defensive fighting at Hunts Gap and Sedjenane, and then after heavy losses and barely a pause, they were ordered to take to the attack.

128^th Infantry Brigade played a gallant part with the 6^th Armoured Division in the first round of the First Army's final offensive. This was the breakout into the Kairouan Plain from Fondouk which harassed and upset the withdrawal of Marshal Messe's army, which the Eighth Army was driving Northwards towards Enfidaville.

Soon afterwards the 46^th Division took an active and important role in the main attack which opened up a way into the Tunis Plain, and which led to the mass surrender of the whole German force in Tunisia.

About the middle of August, General Hawkesworth took over command of the Division, and great tribute has been given to his magnificent qualities as a man, and as a soldier. Throughout his command of the 46^th Division, he showed himself to be a master of infantry tactics, and was a great believer in the use of artillery support. He also realized that Italy was an ideal terrain for the well trained infantry soldier. In the mountainous country which afforded wonderful cover from view, and where the enemy was often not thick on the ground, he varied his methods and was always ready to encourage surprise, a silent night approach, and fieldcraft in officers and men.

Italy 9^th Sept. 1943

After the successful landing on the beaches of Salerno (Operation Avalanche) 46^th Division hung on to their wide but shallow beachhead position in the hills around Salerno.

For two weeks they encountered heavy German counter attacks and bombardment, but on the night of the 23^rd September they turned to the offensive and after several days fighting in precipitous tangled hills they reached the edge of the Naples Plain, enabling the 7^th Armoured Division to pass through.

The next major objective for the Division was the assault across the River Volturno on the Western flank near the sea. However, by the 12^th October the autumn rains had already started and the river was a formidable obstacle to be crossed. That night the Division succeeded in crossing on a wide front; the first of their many opposed river crossings in Italy. Before our tanks could support the infantry on the far side of the river, the Germans counter attacked fiercely but the 46^th Division held firm and the bridgehead was steadily enlarged.

More than once a captured German officer said. "We never expected any attack; there was no warning, you had no artillery barrage."

These winter campaign brought out, due to good leadership of both junior and senior officers, all the traditional qualities of the British infantryman, determination, endurance, cheerfulness and a tough fighting spirit.

Sometimes it could be said that too much had to be asked of too few. Why was it necessary to battle on with forces which were barely more than those of the enemy? The answer was that:-

1. The Russian Eastern Front was placing a great strain on the Russian Allies.

2. A Second Front in the West (Overlord) had not yet started.

Therefore it was essential to continue the strongest possible pressure in Italy, the only front where the Western Allies were in a position to fight the Germans. The German command were having to deal with the Eastern Front, and Italian campaigns and aware of a possible landing in France, the forces were thus stretched rather than concentrated on one front at a time.

The bridgehead over the River Garigliano was held by 10 Corps with the 46^th Division always on the mountainous right flank. The 46^th Division held against repeated counter-attacks just enough of these hills to give covered crossings of the river. The reward for this effort came some months later when in May from this bridgehead the French Corps, under the command of 5th US. Army, launched a tremendous attack across the mountains with four Divisions, an attack which turned the whole of the German positions in the Hitler Line in the Liri Valley.

After nearly six months since the landing at Salerno, the Division now had a brief spell of rest and change in the Middle East. It returned to Italy to take part in another long drawn out and fierce battle, which broke through the enemy's Gothic Line on the Adriatic front, but owing to very early and heavy autumn rains a breakout into the Po Plains was not achieved.

During this fighting North of the Gothic Line, the Germans, with good interior lines, along the Via-Emilia, was able to rush Divisions, and much artillery from the Bologna front, which until now had been the most threatened. The Germans also had the advantage of excellent observation on the gradually rising high ground on the Western flank, and also copied our methods of big artillery concentrations. During the fierce fighting of September 1944, the enemy's artillery and mortar fire was the heaviest experienced at any time during the Italian campaign.

Following the capture of Cesena, General Hawkesworth took over command of l0th Corps and General Weir, who had had great battle experience with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, took over command of 46^th Division.

The weather during the autumn of 1944 was no better than 1943. In October eight inches of rain fell; in November nine inches. The rivers sometimes rose some ten feet in a single night with a tremendous current. The valleys became flooded, or a sea of mud, and the hills between the rivers, often with steep eroded sides, were heavy clay. The going for tanks became almost impossible as two consecutive days without rain were extremely rare.

However, during this wet autumn, 46^th Division again achieved notable objectives, including the crossing of the River Lamone, in co-operation with Second Polish Corps. Again as on the Volturno, the Germans soon counter-attacked and the famous 90 P.G. Division launched a Divisional attack, the biggest German attack since Anzio. 46^th Division, remained firm, and resulted in the Germans suffering exceptionally heavy losses.

The Division was now due for a well-earned rest, but just as Christmas barely finished the division was bound for Greece. Fortunately no large scale fighting ensued there, but the first brigade to land did a valiant and difficult job in clearing the Piracus area. They performed a policing role, and countered uprisings by local groups until national law and order could be re-established.

46^th Division returned to Italy for the final stage of the campaign in April 1945. It moved to join the Eighth Army ready to take part in the attack on the "Venetian Line", North of the River Po. The Germans had been badly beaten to the South of the Po, however, that they were not able to organize any defence North of the river, and the final surrender came on the 2^nd May.

For a brief time in Greece the Division renewed their association with General Hawkesworth, but he died suddenly on his way home soon after the end of the last great battle in May. He had worn himself out in the service of his 46^th Division, and country.

Two months after the surrender 46^th Division moved to the occupational zone in the Styria region of Austria. Here it fully upheld its great reputation, with a variety of tasks undertaken, many of them new and unfamiliar, in a Europe now recovering from war.