Rome to the Po River: The 362nd Infantry Division, 1944–45

By Heinz Greiner and Matthias Strohn

Unique account of the German defense of Rome in 1944.

In late 1943, 362. Infanterie-Division was formed around the remnants of 268. Infanterie-Division, which had been disbanded after high casualties on the Eastern Front. It fought at Anzio in early 1944, overrun when the Allied broke through the German lines in April. During its time at Anzio, the division was involved in the Benedicta massacre.

The unit was withdrawn to Rome. Facing the Allied advance, it suffered further losses and had to be rebuilt once more. Returning to the front, it then fought until late April 1945, when it surrendered.

This account focuses on the efforts of 362. Infanterie-Division to turn back the Allied forces from their advance north in late 1944 and early 1945. Its commander, Heinz Greiner led the division in a series of counterattacks against Allied forces outside Rome that slowed Allied progress.

While Greiner did not have access to the unit war diary while writing this account his experience as commander of 362. Infanterie-Division throughout this period means that it offers a unique insight into the battle from the German perspective as well as a thorough account of the reestablishment, training and combat performance of a German division.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Casemate
• Release date: Feb 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781636242293

Heinz Greiner

Heinz Greiner was a general of the Wehrmacht during World War II. His division along with much of Army Group Center was destroyed during Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944 and he was transferred to Italy where he commanded 362nd Infantry Division. Wounded in combat he was released from hospital in April 1945, when he began preparations for the orderly surrender of German troops in Italy and south Germany, deposing Nazi officials who attempted a final defence of Munich. He spent two years as an Allied prisoner of war and was released and retired in 1947.

Book preview

DIE WEHRMACHT IM KAMPF

ROME TO THE PO RIVER

The 362nd Infantry Division, 1944–45

HEINZ GREINER

Translated by

LINDEN LYONS

Series editor:

MATTHIAS STROHN

Philadelphia & Oxford

AN AUSA BOOK

Association of the United States Army

2425 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia, 22201, USA

Published in the United States of America and Great Britain in 2023 by

CASEMATE PUBLISHERS

1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083, USA

and

The Old Music Hall, 106–108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE, UK

© 2023 Association of the U.S. Army

English Language Edition © 2023 Casemate Publishers

Introduction © Matthias Strohn

Originally published as Die Wehrmacht im Kampf: Heinz Greiner, Kampf um Rom – Inferno am Po: Der Weg der 362. Inf.Div. 1944/45 (Neckargemünd: Kurt Vowinckel Verlag, 1968)

Publisher’s note: This text is a faithful translation of the original German and as such includes some language that is now considered offensive. Author’s notes are marked as such when they have been moved from an explanation in the text to a footnote for ease of reading.

Hardcover Edition: ISBN 978-1-63624-228-6

Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-63624-229-3

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

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Front cover: Soldiers manning an anti-aircraft gun in Rome, 1944. (Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-476-2072-10)

Contents

Introduction

Foreword

1Battle for Rome

2Fighting in the Apennine Mountains

3Retreat to the Po River

Afterword

Appendices

References

Index

Introduction

The book that you, the reader, hold in your hands describes and analyses the actions of the German 362nd Infantry Division in the Italian campaign during World War II. The author, Heinrich ‘Heinz’ Greiner, who commanded the division during the campaign, was born in Amberg (Bavaria) in 1895. He joined the Bavarian Army on 3 August 1914 and served with distinction in World War I. Amongst other decorations, he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class. He was taken on by the German Army in the inter-war period and saw the slow but steady rise through the ranks that characterised the life of a German Army officer in this period. From 1936 onwards, Greiner published military literature, in particular on tactical matters, which was a consequence of his posting to the military academy in Munich between 1935 and 1938.

When World War II broke out in September 1939, Greiner served as a battalion commander, followed by regimental command in 1940 and 1941. Between 1942 and 1943, Greiner saw action on the Eastern Front as commander of 268th Infantry Division, which fought, in the battle of Kursk, amongst others, and suffered heavy casualties. During this time, on 1 March 1942, Greiner was promoted to Generalmajor, followed by his promotion to Generalleutnant on 1 January 1943. From November 1943 until December 1944, he commanded the newly formed 362nd Infantry Division (formed partly from the remnants of Greiner’s previous division), on which this book focuses. From January until April 1945, Greiner was part of the Führerreserve (i.e. officers without appointment), and saw his last appointment from 12 April until the end of the war as commanding general of VII Army Corps. On 17 April 1945, Greiner fanatically announced that he was preparing the river Donau as a main line of defence and that he intended to hold the city of Ingolstadt at all costs. In the end, this did not happen and Greiner became a prisoner of war on 8 May 1945 and was released in 1947. He died in November 1977. Greiner was a highly decorated officer: he was awarded the Knight’s Cross on 22 September 1941 and the Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross on 5 September 1944, as the 572nd recipient of this decoration.

Greiner’s account makes clear that the fighting in Italy was hard and that casualties were high. The hardships were not restricted to the military, but also extended to the civilian population. The Germans generally regarded the Italians as bad soldiers and, after the Italian truce with the Allies on 8 September 1943 and the declaration of war on Germany on 13 October, discontent often turned into hatred. The disdain towards the former Italian allies is noticeable in Greiner’s account. Having said this, Greiner remains mute about a consequence of these general developments: a growing partisan movement in Italy was met with extensive force on the German side, and Greiner’s division was no stranger to anti-partisan warfare and the reprisals that often characterised these actions. The 4th Battalion of the 1059th Regiment, which consisted of Russian volunteers, took part in the so-called ‘massacre of Marzabotto’, and it has been estimated that members of the division killed 70 civilians during the fighting in Italy.

These events are not explored in Greiner’s account. Instead, he concentrates on the actions of ‘his’ division in the fighting against the Allied troops. In his book, Greiner follows the view that was predominant in Germany in 1967 when the book was first published: the Wehrmacht had the ‘better’ soldiers, but inferiority in men and materiel resulted in the final defeat of the German forces. The number of tactical examples that Greiner provides are designed to make exactly this point. Greiner is aware of mistakes on the German side and he mentions a few of these, in particularly of the senior military leadership in Italy, but his analysis remains very much in the pure military area of tactical fighting – the area, that, according to writers like Greiner, was characterised by the superiority of the German soldier. While this somewhat narrow-minded approach alone is not enough to contribute to the wider understanding of the Italian campaign, it is also the strength of this book. Military history is more than writing about the smoke of battle, but the events on the battlefield, the killing and the dying, are the central aspects of war and thus need to be studied in order to set the context and the basis for a wider discussion of historical events in times of war. To understand the tactical actions and decisions taken by the Germans during the Italian campaign, Greiner’s book still offers interesting insights, and it is for this aspect that it deserves to be read today.

Prof. Matthias Strohn, M.St., DPhil., FRHistS

Visiting Professor of Military Studies, University of Buckingham

Senior Associate Fellow, Centre for Historical Analysis and

Conflict Research, Camberley

Foreword

The Battle for Rome commenced with the Allied landing near Anzio and Nettuno, and its importance was immediately recognised in a confidential military document delivered by an officer to the commander of German forces in Italy, Field-Marshal Albert Kesselring:

The Battle for Rome will break out in the coming days. It will determine the outcome of the defence of central Italy and the fate of the Tenth Army. Yet the significance of this battle will be even greater, for the landing that has taken place near Anzio and Nettuno represents the beginning of the invasion of Europe that had been planned for the year of 1944.

This account of the operations of the 362nd Infantry Division can make no claim of being complete. Despite the best efforts of the author, access to the war diary of the infantry division, which is currently in safekeeping with the Americans, has been denied. Nevertheless, various documents are at the disposal of the author, like combat reports produced during the fighting, conference notes written in shorthand, diary entries, reports based on personal experience, maps, sketches, and much more. Beyond that, the studies of general staff officers from the headquarters of larger formations, especially of the Fourteenth Army, and the pleasantly objective representations of the fighting from the pens of our former enemies have been used.

After an interval of 23 years, the author now believes that something close to historical accuracy can be achieved and that events as they truly occurred can be described. Some operational and tactical judgements for both sides may require correction, depending on military details that may become known at a later date, but what remains unquestionable is the tremendous bravery of the German troops in the face of an enemy whose strength was greater than ours, especially in terms of tanks, aircraft, and artillery. The infantry is particularly deserving of respect. It was more poorly armed and equipped and tended to be more vulnerable than the other arms of the Wehrmacht. He who served in the war as an infantryman is fully aware of this from his own experience.

The admirable performance and tremendous sacrifice of the German infantry, especially of the 362nd Infantry Division, should be honoured and recognised. The courage and chivalry demonstrated by the enemy in the Italian theatre of war ought also to be acknowledged. Without making any reproach, light shall be shed on the mistakes made by both sides in the conduct of operations so that lessons can be learned from them. A true picture will be painted of the overwhelming superiority of our enemy and of the lamentable weakness of our forces.

It is of great importance that the very many who fell in battle be memorialised. As pointed out by Field-Marshal Harold Alexander, the German troops had fought and died ‘for their Fatherland’.

The author expresses his thanks for the valuable assistance he has received in the preparation of this book, especially from the Military History Research Institute in Freiburg, Colonel-General (ret.) Johannes Frießner, General of Infantry (ret.) Martin Gareis, Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Rudolph Alfred Bogdan Freiherr von Recum, Major-General (ret.) Max Reinwald, Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Eduard Annacker, Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Walter Koeber, Lieutenant Wolf Kispert, and many others. This book is dedicated to wartime comrades, to members of the new armed forces, and to our former enemies.

Rottach-Egern, by Tegernsee, 1 November 1967

Heinz Greiner

Map 1

CHAPTER 1

Battle for Rome

Formation of the 362nd Infantry Division from the remnants of the 268th Infantry Division and coastal defence along the Adriatic Sea on either side of Rimini, 1 November 1943–21 January 1944 (maps 1–2)

In October 1943, the 268th Infantry Division was transferred from the Russian theatre of war to Italy. Two-thirds of its personnel came from Bavaria and the other one-third from Austria, and its headquarters – including the command echelon, signal battalion, and supply troops – was at full strength and well equipped. The infantry division had proven itself during the breakthrough of the Maginot Line in 1940, the heavy fighting in the Yelnya salient in 1941, the battle before the gates of Moscow that same year, and the defensive fighting near Yukhnov in 1942, but it had sustained heavy casualties during the Russian summer offensive of 1943. The divisional commander, Lieutenant-General Heinz Greiner, had requested the transfer of his formation, for it had been constantly committed to battle and had never been relieved or given an opportunity to be refreshed and refitted. While this request was approved by the High Command of the German Army (OKH), the commander of the Ninth Army, Colonel-General Walter Model, decided to retain the combat elements of the infantry division due to the critical situation along the Sozh River at a point to the north-east of Mogilev. Those combat elements included infantry (by that stage barely the equivalent of a full-strength battalion) and artillery. This meant that the divisional artillery pieces, which had already been prepared for transportation by rail, had to be detrained and sent back to the front.

Map 2: Coastal defence along the Adriatic Sea by the 362nd Infantry Division, headquartered in Rimini until November 1943 and Lugo until January 1944

The constitution and training of the 362nd Infantry Division commenced at the end of October 1943 in the Rimini–Ravenna–Forli area and was scheduled for completion by the end of March 1944. The process was overseen by the commander of German forces in northern Italy, General of Infantry Joachim Witthöft, who was at that time stationed in Forli. Only gradually, from November 1943, did 17- and 18-year-old replacements begin to arrive, and they required such extensive training that the division initially needed to be deployed to a quiet sector of the front. However, this task was made difficult by the fact that the division was assigned responsibility for the defence of the coast from Senigallia (north-west of Ancona) to the mouth of the Tagliamento. This distance amounted to approximately 320 kilometres.

The delivery of weaponry and equipment proceeded slowly. This was a result of the state of the wartime economy and the difficulties of transportation through the Brenner Pass. Of great concern was that the guns intended for coastal defence were without telescopic sights for weeks on end. Consequently, the division represented little more than an observation and warning service during that time. A map exercise led by the divisional commander highlighted the weakness of our positions, so the division focused its attention on the consolidation of coastal defensive installations wherever an enemy landing seemed possible. Foxholes were dug, and embrasured emplacements for machine guns, also referred to as ‘Rommel emplacements’, were constructed. Yet such efforts were spread thinly and were to the detriment of the more urgently needed training of the troops.

Another burden was the responsibility for the Italian battalions that had been formed after the Badoglio betrayal.¹ Their training and subsequent employment for coastal defence had to be monitored. The first general staff officer of the 362nd Infantry Division, Lieutenant-Colonel Erich Duensing, was spot-on when he reported: ‘It was disastrous.’ The divisional commander visited the Italian troops and spoke to them via an interpreter by the name of Brandenberger. When he departed in his Fieseler Storch, he was applauded by the Italian soldiers, who shouted theatrical war cries and waved their rifles over their heads. However, desertions shortly thereafter and crimes of all kinds raised doubts about how reliable these troops would be in combat. There was nevertheless some good human material amongst them, typically strong and tall and usually blond north-eastern Italians. The division did not anticipate that any enemy landings would take place in its sector, and although a surprise and unfortunately effective bombardment of Rimini took place in December 1943, it was our assessment that this was just a diversion.

A great advantage for the formation of the 362nd Infantry Division was the inflow of personnel from the old 268th Infantry Division. This included the lightly wounded who had returned from the hospitals and who, thanks to their combat experience, were able to train new personnel. They had wanted to rejoin their old formation, and they certainly preferred the Italian theatre of war to the Russian one. The 362nd Infantry Division made the most of this by sending the divisional adjutant, Major Walter Koeber, to recruit personnel from the garrisons of the reserve units of the old 268th Infantry Division. His success is demonstrated by the fact that there may have been as many as 2,000 men who had fought in Russia who now went to Italy and formed the nucleus of the newly constituted 362nd Infantry Division.

We at the headquarters of the 362nd Infantry Division were aware that any deterioration of the situation in southern Italy or any landing by the enemy along the extensive Italian coast would compel us to commit our forces earlier than would be ideal, for our mostly young troops were at that stage still lacking in adequate training. It was therefore logical that the division focus its efforts on the training of its troops with all the means at its disposal, and that it bear in mind as the most important objective the need to ensure the full preparedness of those troops for combat. No time could be wasted on anything that was not essential. By the beginning of December, formation training and manoeuvres were already being carried out. Orders were soon received to assemble battle groups from the tried and tested personnel of our infantry regiments. They were to be transported by truck and had to reach their destination within 24 hours. Beyond that, preparations were to be made for the transportation of the rest of the division. The general staff and unit officers had their hands full. The first general staff officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Duensing, performed the work he was assigned to a high standard thanks to his organisational skills and utmost commitment. He was ably assisted by his comrades, amongst them the second general staff officer of the division, Major Friedrich von Stülpnagel. So thoroughly were these preparations made that when the transfer of the division from the coast of the Adriatic Sea to that of the Tyrrhenian, near Rome, did take place, it was carried out in what was, given the existing difficulties, the remarkably short time of only six days.

The divisional commander was visited by his oldest son at the end of November 1943. A Luftwaffe officer candidate, 20-year-old Heinz went to see Venice (the commandant of which was Colonel Egid Gehring from Military District VII in Munich, Bavaria), the Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna (where he was given an impressive tour by Brandenberger), and his father’s entry in the Gold Book of the small state of San Marino. Furthermore, he partook in a drag hunt organised by the 362nd Artillery Regiment (commanded by Colonel Ferdinand Gosewisch) on the beach of Rimini, and it was there that he also witnessed the aforementioned enemy bombardment. Not long afterwards, on 10 January 1944, young Heinz was killed in a mid-air collision while retraining in a Bf 109.

Formation training and coastal defence by the Tyrrhenian Sea near and to the north of Rome, 27 January until mid-February 1944 (map 3)

In the early hours of 22 January 1944, strong American and British forces landed to the south of Rome in the vicinity of Anzio and Nettuno. This took Field-Marshal Albert Kesselring, the commander of all German forces in Italy, completely by surprise. He had been informed by the head of the Abwehr, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, that there was no indication an enemy landing would take place. This misleading information had led Kesselring to release two motorised infantry divisions that had been on standby in army group reserve for the protection of Rome in the event of enemy landings, and to transfer them to the southern front along the Garigliano River (which formed part of the Gustav Line), where they were to be committed to combat. The result was that the enemy landing in the Anzio–Nettuno sector seriously threatened not only the deep flank and rear of the southern front but also the city of Rome, the fall of which Churchill aimed for in accordance with his pronouncement that ‘he who has Rome has all of Italy’.² Even before Army Group C could take effective operational counter-measures, an advance by the enemy formations that had landed had to be held in check by weak forces, including standby units composed of wounded men who had been recovering in Rome, that had been hastily thrown forward.

Given this situation, it is of no surprise that the 362nd Infantry Division, despite its unpreparedness, was transferred to the danger zone by the Tyrrhenian Sea and committed to combat.

As early as 0800 hours on 22 January, the first general staff officer of the division, who was at that time in Lugo (near Bologna), was informed of