The Moroccans have already started part of the program by setting foot, as we know, on the Costa San Pietro. In the meantime, other French units have landed on Italian soil, whose name will remain closely attached to this
him of a Gascon gentleman:Goislard de Monsabert.
After the success of the Anzio landing, the American command is still bent on, if not more than ever, to fulfill its dream:to reach Rome by outflanking the enemy by the coastal plain.
Which means going after Monte Cassino. This implies neutralizing the heights that border it to the east:Belvedere and Col Abate. This implies having recourse to "Frenchies".
Despite her internal disagreement, June accepts “what I would have considered at other times an impossible mission. “It is necessary, in fact, to suspend all the operations initiated. It is necessary to bring back, in two days, all the artillery of the Algerian division, hitherto located on the right (from where it could not intervene) on its left, in the bottom of Ce-petto. It is also necessary to start from the bottom of the slopes of
Cifalco, directly climb the sheer drop of the Belvedere overlooking the Rio Secco, undergo the flank fires of the Cifalco taking the attacking infantry from the rear. But "I had to help General Clark, whom I felt was distressed, to get out of a bad situation".
"The Belvedere affair" could only be told here by the commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force:For eight days, the peaks, taken, lost, then retaken, changed hands several times, because the ardor put by the Tunisians in the attack is matched only by that deployed by the enemy in its counter-attacks.
It is only to follow the action of the two Gandoët and Berne battalions in the first days to realize the amount of heroism expended by the men and officers of the 4th regiment during this titanic action.
On January 25, the Gandoët battalion, on the right, had the mission of seizing hill 862 (final objective) dominating the entire Belvedere position. But the battalion must first, with a company, neutralize and occupy, in the Gustav line, hill 470 which, by its flanking fires, prohibits reaching the Rio Secco which must be crossed. It is the 9th company of this battalion (Captain Dennée) who will take care of it while the 11th company (Lieutenant Jordy) will rise towards the Belvedere, supported by the 10th company.
A damp fog rises from Rio Secco, drowning all things. Bad winter weather.
At 8:30 a.m., from the Colonel's PC, at peak 502, we can see skirmishers climbing the rocks of 470. The shooting is lively, because they are already right in the Gustav line.
At 9:30 a.m., the 9th company, after superhuman efforts, maneuvering in small groups, had gained a foothold on the northern hilltops and the 470-degree eastern slopes. But, at the same time, Captain Denée fell, riddled with bullets. He has the strength to shout into his radio device:“I am wounded; the objective will be achieved; I hand over command to Tunisian second lieutenant El Hadi. »
Second Lieutenant El Hadi pushes forward. He has his forearm removed by shrapnel. Half an hour, he still commands the company, pulling it behind him, a real flag. He howls and struggles. The groups follow one by one. They come to the top. Second Lieutenant Hadi then receives a machine gun charge in the body. He shouts to the skirmisher Barelli, next to him:"You, send the rocket!" then he rises, and throwing to the sky the cry of:"Vive la France!" he dies on the conquered peak.