September 1943
The 45th Infantry Division, minus C Battery, 189th Field Artillery Battalion loading for Salerno, Italy. (1)
Full Letters may be read Here.
The beginning of September found the 189th Field Artillery Battalion *FA BN)in Trabia, Sicily, gearing up for Operation Avalanche, the invasion into Italy. Dean wrote to Aileen on 3 September 1943, letting her know he was sending home a few items for his scrapbook; though he doesn’t identify what those were, he does say “They are valuable to me…They are all I can send on ac’t of censorship.” He is off to a band concert, then a movie. He says there are “no new films, but the pictures are always good.” He refers to the war as ”this thing” many times throughout his letters, this time saying, “I don’t think this thing will last much longer.” He was also proud of his battery, calling it “tops by far.”
Charlie Battery received four new 155mm M-1 Howitzers on 4 September, which helped change the plans for their deployment to Salerno. When the rest of the 189th FA BN left for Salerno on the 8th, Charlie Battery remained behind due to a “shortage of shipping space and a desire for them to become more familiar with their new howitzers.” (2)
The trip between Sicily and Salerno took two days by boat with a distance of 350 Kilometers/216 Miles. (3)
Unknown Units unloading at Salerno, 10 September 1943. (4)
This delay allowed Dean to send off one more letter to Aileen dated 8 September 1943, still in Trabia. He’s gotten pictures of Aileen and his daughter in matching dresses and “especially liked” them. He wrote that Aileen’s brother Chas was “in the CP tent now doing some of his work.” He wishes they were on the way to California, he’s seen a lot of the country but “none of it compares with the US.” He says they have a shower, they made it out of “a captured German tank truck and some pipes and buckets.” (I really tried to find an example of this, but came up empty.) Dean puts it best when he says “It sure does work swell.” They had a “swell dinner,” pork chops, gravy, cocoa, and beans.
Charlie Battery finally rejoined the rest of the unit, landing in Salerno at midnight on the 15th of September, then 3 hours later on the morning of the 16th of September; they were in position with the 189th FA BN and firing within a few hours. The unit moved several times throughout the rest of the month
From September 10 to September 30, the 189th moved a distance of approximately 41 Kilometers/26 Miles as the crow flies. (5)
1) “SC 182837 Salerno Operation, 1943.” Naval History and Heritage Command. accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/SC-182000/SC-182837.html.
2) 189th Field Artillery Battalion History, September 1943, World War II Operations Reports, 1940-1948, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, Record Group 407, National Archives at College Park, MD.
3) Elizabeth Mesa, Sicily to Italy, 7 June 2024.
4) “80-G-54600 Salerno Invasion, 1943.” 80-G-54600 Salerno Invasion, 1943. accessed June 11, 2024. https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nara-series/80-g/80-G-50000/80-G-54600.html.
5) Elizabeth Mesa, Distance traveled in September 1943, 7 June 2024.