August 30th, 1943
Italian Front - With strong naval support, the CCA of the 1st Armored crosses the Cecina River and captures San Petro in Palazzi. However, the attack falls on empty: the Germans anticipated the American bombardment and withdrew in order to better be able to counter-attack. Elements of the 6th Armored Infantry Btn find themselves trapped all day in the village, cut off from the rest of the division. The 13rd Tank Btn has to come and clear them, with the timely intervention of the 57th FG. In the evening, elements of the 81st Cavalry Btn even manage to push to the fishing village of Vada, south of Rosignano Marittimo.
On the other side of the mountains, the Texans of the 141st Infantry Regiment of the 36th US-ID seize the positions of the Poggio al Pruno (or what is left of it). The CCB of the Old Ironside then takes the risk and forces the last cuts to arrive in sight of Cecina at the level of Route 68, thus regaining contact with its division.
Meanwhile, the 143rd Infantry Regiment occupies a deserted Montecerboli village and explores Hill 480 west of the town, while the accompanying armor pushes on to the next compartment. The 142nd comes out of the hills abandoned by the Germans but heavily trapped, and cuts Route 35 south of San Dalmazio.
Task Force Bender, still at the top of its game, cuts through the German position south of Casole d'Elsa after having cut Route 28. The rest of the 34th US-ID advances in its wake, clearing the ground. Thus, the 135th Infantry Regiment reaches Montecastelli Pisano.
But the hot spot of the day is on the Italian side. The Friuli has advanced too far in relation to the Bari, which could only advance slowly in the hills. The Germans notice this and mount an attack on the flanks of the small Italian division at Colle di Val d'Elsa. The Italian staff pulls out all the stops to get air support. All day long, American, French and Belgian support aircraft make their presence felt in the area. Lieutenant Charles Goffin of the 53rd EACCS scores his seventh victory, making him the number one Belgian ace on P-47. The other feat of the day is achieved by Commander Papin Labazordière, who scores a double victory against an Fw 190 in the morning and a Bf 109 later in the day.
On the ground, the 87th Infantry Regiment of the Friuli has to fight on a reverse front, while the 88th detaches some elements as reinforcements to the south. The Italian command sends the 187th Rgt of the Folgore, held in reserve until then, supported by the last Semovente 75/18 of the corps, to take position at Castellina Scalo. He orders the Bari to move northwards as quickly as possible, on the flank of the German attack.
On the eastern side, the 1st Alpini of the Cuneense reconnects with the Friuli, emerging from the woods at the level of the Lucarelli farms, south of Panzano in Chianti. The 2nd Alpini, on the other hand, pitons on and around Hill 850, near the provincial road 68: the village of Lucolena in Chianti is visible below.
Faced with this situation, the French reposition the 4th Spahis in Siena to respond to the Italian calls for help. While clearing the area, the 83rd DIA redeploys its device to the foot of the hills to the west, where it reaches Ponte Agli Stolli.
The 2nd Brigade of the 4th Belgian ID continues to survey the hills and reaches the hamlets of Carda and Calleta. On the ground, the men are surprised by the little fighting they have to do, unlike the rest of the division, in the valley. Indeed, if some reconnaissance elements reach Chitignano in the east without too many problems, the rest of the 3rd Brigade blocked in front of Rassina, decides to overrun the village through the hills to the west. But on this side, the Germans are entrenched on a large hillock that has to be taken out with great difficulty. Night falls and the fighting continues.
The Granier Brigade, of the 86th DIA, pitches all day and reaches the next hill without too many clashes. The other brigade reaches Caprese Michelangelo, where infantrymen of the 65. ID have set up a hedgehog position.
On the British side, the fighting ends in Scheggia and the men of the 1st Army Tank Brigade set out to exploit the success dearly paid the day before by the men of the British 44th ID. But soon, it proves impossible to advance, the Abote bridge having been blown up on Route 3. The tankers know the maneuver and start to advance through the fields and woods along the road, taking care of the mines. Suddenly, when more than a kilometer has been covered, several anti-tank positions are revealed on both sides of the valley. One does not count any more the vehicles which are detoured or on fire, without mentioning the artillery fire which pursues the retreating armoured vehicles for a while. The brigade has the greatest difficulty to get out of this trap.
The Indians of the 161st Brigade advance cautiously toward Monte Molette while the Indians of the 125th Brigade pass the monastery of Pascelupo but are blocked just after, at the Coldipeccio constriction.
Further east, the West Nova Scotia Rgt advances to the next cut-off point - a small stream in front of Route 360 - but cannot go further, held in check by a powerful artillery barrage.
A few kilometers away, the Canadian armoured brigade tries to overrun Sassoferrato to attempt a turning movement to the east. But as soon as the armoured vehicles come out in the open they are lit up at more than 2,000 metres by what the Canadian tankers describe as "self-propelled 88s". They are in fact Hornisse, a cobbled-together unit made up of a Pz-IV chassis and an 88 Flak 36 gun (the machine has not yet been renamed Nashorn).
Only one abteilung, the 525. Schwere Panzerjager abt. was sent to Italy, where it is in army reserve (there is no Hornisse in Greece - yet). The unit landed in Bologna only on the 25th, the first day of the Allied offensive. The German staff did not panic and assigned these tank fighters to the eastern front, as planned, where they had taken up position only the day before. The Canadian brigade has to return to its starting positions after having lost more than a dozen tanks.
On the plain, the 3rd and 4th Armoured Brigades try to cross the Esino River again with more air support and by using a lot of smoke during the crossing. They pass Monsano and advance towards San Marcello when several unmarked German anti-tank positions are revealed. To crown it all, a company of Leopards of the 10. Panzer flanks the brigade. More than thirty vehicles are destroyed and the attackers risk being cut off from their bases. The British have to withdraw once again to their starting positions, pursued by the sinister howling of the Nebelwerfers.
