How the U.S. Army took part in the Italian front during
the First World War (1917-1918)

On April 6, 1917 the U.S.A. declared war on Germany and joined the European Allies. As a result, an American Expeditionary Force (A.E.F.) was created in the U.S.A. The aim was to send this force to the French front to fight against the Germans, who had occupied Belgium and the French territories since 1914. British soldiers had been fighting against the French Army on the same front for years and they were recruiting American soldiers, who wore British uniforms. These soldiers were employed in medical assistance, transport, air force, infantry and artillery.

Some of these American volunteers were present at the Italian front, too. They were either members of the British Infantry and Artillery, who had been sent to Italy to fight with the Allies. Or, they were volunteers, who signed up before the U.S.A. declared war, and who had been wearing Italian uniforms. As the U.S.A. took part in the conflict, some U.S. Military Missions were created. The aim was to cooperate in the creation of logistic services: to support the military tactics, to gain experience, and get to know the military tactics of the Allies. This was done while the big troops were completing their training. In Italy the control of the U.S. Military Mission was in the hands of Major General Eben Swift.

The Medical Assistance, the American Field-Hospital Service, the American Red Cross and the Y.M.C.A. were created to take care of the well-being and the morale of the soldiers (they had their own shops, refreshment and entertainment points). There had recently been many Italian immigrants to the US. That is, there were many Americans with Italian origins, and many were recruited to fight for the Italian Army.

The then future mayor of New York, Fiorello La Guardia, lawyer and member of the Congress, fought on the Italian front as an official pilot of the aeronautics. As well, the writer Ernest Hemingway, was an ambulance driver on the Isonzo river front.

The Italian-American Associations played a big role in recruiting soldiers to be sent to the Italian front. In 1916 there was news that a ship, taking Italian-American soldiers to Albania, had been sunk in the Adriatic sea by a German submarine. 200 Italian-American volunteers died. And at the time, there was no declaration of war between Italy and Germany, as later there was no declaration of war between the U.S.A. and the Austrian -Hungarian Empire, which was allied with Germany. The event was horrifying and generated a great deal of interest in the war for Americans.

Italy declared war on Germany in August 1916. The U.S.A. declared war on the Austrian -Hungarian Empire in December 1917. In November of the same year the first American troops reached the French front. The American volunteers, who had joined the Armies of the Allies, were ordered to go to France to join the American troops. This caused a migration of expert soldiers from the Italian front to France. Only the U.S. Military Mission remained to guarantee medical assistance and transport.

When the U.S.A. declared war, the troops deployed consisted of the Regular Army, officers, NCO's and a small number of troops who were returning from an expedition at the Mexican border. The American troops had had to stop the penetration of groups of Mexican rebels, lead by Pancho Villa, and they had also been active in the Philippines, which were under the American protectorate, to stop groups of local rebels.

The Chief of Staff, General Tasken C. Bliss, ordered an immediate recruitment. In a short time there were enough men to create 90 Infantry Divisions, which were much more than what was needed. 18 centres for soldier training were instituted all around the U.S. One regiment of particular interest in this essay was the 83rd Infantry Division, or "OHIO." The 332nd Infantry Regiment which was sent to Italy was taken from this Division. The Commander of the Division was Major General R.F.Glen, while the Commander of the 332nd Regiment was Colonel William Wallace.
The Regiment ended its training in Camp Sherman in Chillicothe (OHIO), in the midst of many difficulties mostly due to inexperience and ill preparation. In January 1918 the 83rd Division was found suitable for deployment to the front lines, and was at the disposal of the American Expeditionary Force led by General J. Pershing.

In the meantime, the battle of "Caporetto" had taken place in Italy in October 1917 and the front lines had withdrawn from the Isonzo river to the Piave river. In the U.S. the Italian-American public opinion was putting pressure on the Government to send troops to help Italy. But the position of the U.S. Military Chief of Staff was that they were there to give medical and logistical assistance, and not to serve at the front. The same opinion was shared by the Commander of the American Expeditionary Force, General J. Pershing, who thought that the troops had to remain on the French front, which he regarded as the most important. Therefore no decision was taken on the matter.

At the Conference of the Allies, which took place in Chantilly (France) in February 1918, the Italian Prime Minister, Vittorio E. Orlando, officially requested a Contingent of American troops to be put at the disposal of the Italian Army Headquarters. This had been done in the past with the other members of the Alliance. The American President, Wilson, had to send the requested Contingent, even though his Generals and Commanders disagreed. Beyond the moral reasons, the image, and the duties of the Alliance, there was a great deal of political pressure on the Congress from the large Italian-American community. This facilitated the decision to send an Infantry Regiment to the Italian front, which had a full strength regular combat unit created through the organized aggregation and integration of several minor independent units like a battalion of machine-guns, some batteries of artillery and mortars with logistical autonomy, and complete medical units. The 332nd Infantry Regiment was chosen since it was ready to be sent to Europe. The Generals opposed the decision of providing Italy with American troops that were already fighting on the French front, and requested to send troops that were available in the U.S.A. Actually, the German offensive in France took place in March 1918, therefore it would have been impossible for the Allies to move any of their troops to the disposition of the Italian Army.

Owing to reasons of supply priorities, the 332nd Regiment could leave the U.S.A. only in May 1918. Together with the entire 83rd Division, they reached Great Britain in June. While they were getting ready to be transferred to France and then to Italy, news of an Austrian -Hungarian offensive in June1918 on the Piave river postponed their departure from Great Britain. A Contingent of about 2000 Officials and soldiers embarked on the Italian ship "Giuseppe Verdi", and reached Genoa on the 28th June 1918. By train they arrived in Padua where they met with the Command of the U.S. Military Mission. The Headquarters of the U.S. troops in Italy was created in Padua, while the Field-Military-Hospital A.E.F.331 was installed in Verona and the Base Hospital A.E.F. 102 was installed in Vicenza. On the 25th July 1918, the 332nd Regiment, that was in France at the time, was sent to Italy. The Regiment arrived in Milan on the 28th July 1918 and was welcomed with joy by the residents and authorities. The troops at their arrival were welcomed in Villafranca (Verona), too. The 3rd Battalion, the Battalion of Machine gunners and the Companies of Supplies stayed in Villafranca. In Custoza, near the Field-Hospital 331, the 2nd Battalion was quartered. The 1st Battalion and the Regimental Command was quartered in Sommacampagna (Verona) along with the Battalions of Artillery and Mortars. All other minor units were divided among the various Battalions.

The troops were quartered in old Italian Military infrastructures that were put at their disposal, infrastructures that had been used in the past by the Italian Army, but all were lacking in efficiency and safety. In some buildings there was no running water and the hygiene was bad. Some efforts were made immediately in order to improve the buildings and get them to good levels of cleanliness and safety, but some of the soldiers got ill and died of infections and epidemics.

The training for trench warfare started immediately in some areas that had been prepared for this purpose, both for the Infantry and the Artillery, in Valeggio near the Mincio river (Verona). The training took place in August 1918, for all the U.S. units. During the training some accidents occurred and some soldiers were injured. The training had been prepared by the "Arditi" units, a special Italian Army group of assaulters. By the end of August some units of the 332nd Regiment were ready to go to the front. The first to go were the men of the 2nd Battalion, who joined the 37th Italian Infantry Division on the Piave river, in the Candelù sector. The 1st Battalion was kept as reserve, behind the front lines, between Varago and Maserada ( Treviso ), while the 3rd Battalion was finishing the training. By the end of October the whole U.S. Contingent was ready to be sent to the front lines.

During the first weeks of October the units took turns in the trenches on the Piave river between Candelù and Grave di Papadopoli sectors, in an area that was regarded as tranquil, and there was little loss of life. There were, though, some sudden attacks by the Austrian-Hungarian Artillery, which was starting to give in.

When the offensive of "Vittorio Veneto" started on the 24th October 1918, the 37th Italian Infantry Division was in reserve behind the front lines with the U.S. Contingent. On the 29th of October they were ordered to advance and cross the Piave river, to chase the enemies, who were withdrawing. On the 3rd of November the vanguard of the 37th Italian Infantry Division, which included the U.S. 332nd Regiment, contacted some Austrian - Hungarian units that were trying to resist on the Tagliamento river. At the bridge, Ponte della Delizia, the enemy placed their machine-guns to try to arrest the forwarding Allies. On the 4th of November, in the morning, the Infantrymen of 332nd Regiment attacked and conquered the areas that were occupied by Austrian-Hungarian soldiers and forced them to surrender. Then they ran after those who had managed to escape on the road to Codroipo and Udine. There was very little loss of life. On the same day, at 3 p.m., the Armistice stipulated by Italy and the Austrian-Hungarian Empire came into force and the fighting stopped. The agreements were that Italian Army had to reach the old pre-war borders of the Reign of Italy, and they had to penetrate and to occupy several areas of Austrian - Hungarian territory.

It was decided that the U.S. Contingent had to become an Occupation Force of the Allies in the territories that had been under the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Therefore, they advanced to the old Italian-Austrian border by the Judrio river. They crossed on the bridge in locality Trussio, near the village of Brazzano. Then the Regiment marched to the town of Cormòns, the Regimental Band with flying colours leading the march. The soldiers were quartered in the old Austrian -Hungarian barracks in Cancelleria Vecchia Street, near the Primary School building. The Regiment stayed in Cormòns just for a few weeks. In late November 1918, the 2nd Battalion was transferred to Trieste. It was embarked and then sent to Dalmatia, where it became the Occupation Force in Cattaro area. The same happened to the 3rd Battalion. It was sent to Trieste first and then it was embarked and sent to Istria where they become occupants of the town of Fiume. The 1st Battalion, instead, went back to the Treviso area to get all the standing military equipment that had been used during the war to send it back to the U.S.A . In March 1919 the 332nd Regiment assembled all its units in the Treviso area and in April they went to Genoa, where they embarked for the States. The U.S. Military Mission, the ambulances of the American Field-Hospital Service, the members of the American Red Cross, the other institutions that were present in Italy and the 54 American Official Pilots that had fought in units of the Italian Air Force (since the U.S. Air Force units had not managed to get to the front on time) went back to the U.S.A as well.

Even though the American troops arrived in Italy too late to use all their military potential, their presence had an immense psychological impact on the Italian public opinion and the Italian troops. And even though their collaboration did not last long, it was incredibly useful to the Italian Army. Moreover, their neutral presence in the Austrian areas occupied, that were disputed between Italy and Jugoslavia, both winning Countries, was a deterrent that contributed to maintain good relationships among the Allies after the war.
When the members of the 332nd Regiment got back to the U.S.A, they showed off an ornament in red cloth with the lion of Saint Mark in the centre, sewn on the sleeve. The lion keeps a book opened with its claws and 332nd, the number of the Regiment. The ornaments were hand-made most likely in the area around Treviso, but they were unauthorized and out of order unit crests. In the years that followed, these ornaments were officially recognised and authorised by the U.S. Army.

During the time of the Occupation of the Allies in Friuli Venezia Giulia region, until the end of the Second World War, the Headquarter of the 88° Infantry Division, called the "Blue Devils" was in the town of Gorizia. U.S. Official, Lt. Col. Ralph R. Klinger, commanding officer of the 88th Qm.Co. in 1946, he was commander officer of "K" Co. of the 332nd Regiment in November 1918 with the rank of Captain, and he occupied with his men the school building in Cormòns and later he had joined the troops that occupied the former Austrian territories, that were disputed by Jugoslavian. After the war he did not come back to the USA with the 332nd Regiment, but he remained in Europe at the disposal of the Allied Commission for Peace Treaties which ended its activity in 1921. As a W.W.1 veteran, he released an interview to the 88th Infantry Division Army weekly " The Blue Devil " printed in Italy at that time, where he recollected memories of facts and he pictured events of the past as clearly as if they would have happened just recently. He was proud for having been two times in the same location during his career in the U.S.Army. A witness that History is a repeating of events.

By Selvino Ceschia, Sept. 2008