The Liberation Trilogy Box Set Read online

  The Liberation Trilogy Box Set

  AN ARMY AT DAWN

  THE DAY OF BATTLE

  THE GUNS AT LAST LIGHT

  Rick Atkinson

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  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  AN ARMY AT DAWN

  Praise

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  LIST OF MAPS

  MAP LEGEND

  ALLIED CHAIN OF COMMAND

  PROLOGUE

  PART ONE

  1. PASSAGE

  A Meeting wivth the Dutchman

  Gathering the Ships

  Rendezvous at Cherchel

  On the Knees of the Gods

  A Man Must Believe in His Luck

  2. LANDING

  “In the Night, All Cats Are Grey”

  In Barbary

  VILLAIN

  To the Last Man

  “Glory Enough for Us All”

  3. BEACHHEAD

  A Sword in Algiers

  A Blue Flag over Oran

  “An Orgy of Disorder”

  Battle for the Kasbah

  “It’s All Over for Now”

  PART TWO

  4. PUSHING EAST

  “We Live in Tragic Hours”

  A Cold Country with a Hot Sun

  Medjez-el-Bab

  Fat Geese on a Pond

  5. PRIMUS IN CARTHAGO

  “Go for the Swine with a Blithe Heart”

  “The Dead Salute the Gods”

  “Jerry Is Counterattacking!”

  6. A COUNTRY OF DEFILES

  Longstop

  “They Shot the Little Son of a Bitch”

  “This Is the Hand of God”

  PART THREE

  7. CASABLANCA

  The Ice-Cream Front

  Speedy Valley

  “The Touch of the World”

  The Sinners’ Concourse

  8. A BITS AND PIECES WAR

  “Goats Set Out to Lure a Tiger”

  “This Can’t Happen to Us”

  “The Mortal Dangers That Beset Us”

  “A Good Night for a Mass Murder”

  9. KASSERINE

  A Hostile Debouchment

  None Returned

  “Sometimes That Is Not Good Enough”

  “This Place Is Too Hot”

  “Order, Counter-order, and Disorder”

  “Lay Roughly on the Tanks”

  PART FOUR

  10. THE WORLD WE KNEW IS A LONG TIME DEAD

  Vigil in Red Oak

  “We Know There’ll Be Troubles of Every Sort”

  “One Needs Luck in War”

  “The Devil Is Come Down”

  11. OVER THE TOP

  “Give Them Some Steel!”

  “Search Your Soul”

  Night Closes Down

  “I Had a Plan…Now I Have None”

  12. THE INNER KEEP

  Hell’s Corner

  Hammering Home the Cork

  “Count Your Children Now, Adolf!”

  Tunisgrad

  EPILOGUE

  PHOTOGRAPHS

  NOTES

  SOURCES

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Copyright

  THE DAY OF BATTLE

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  LIST OF MAPS

  MAP LEGEND

  ALLIED CHAIN OF COMMAND

  PROLOGUE

  PART ONE

  1. ACROSS THE MIDDLE SEA

  Forcing the World Back to Reason

  Calypso’s Island

  “The Horses of the Sun”

  Death or Glory

  2. THE BURNING SHORE

  Land of the Cyclops

  The Loss of Irrecoverable Hours

  “Tonight Wear White Pajamas”

  “The Dark World Is Not Far from Us”

  3. AN ISLAND REDOUBT

  “Into Battle with Stout Hearts”

  “How I Love Wars”

  Snaring the Head Devil

  Fevers of an Unknown Origin

  A Great Grief

  “In a Place Like This”

  PART TWO

  4. SALERNO

  “Risks Must Be Calculated”

  Plots, Counterplots, and Cross-plots

  The Stillest Shoes the World Could Boast

  The Moan of Lost Souls

  A Portal Won

  5. CORPSE OF THE SIREN

  “I Give You Naples”

  “Watch Where You Step and Have No Curiosity at All”

  The Mountainous Hinterland

  “The Entire World Was Burning”

  6. WINTER

  The Archangel Michael, Here and Everywhere

  “A Tank Too Big for the Village Square”

  A Gangster’s Battle

  Too Many Gone West

  PART THREE

  7. A RIVER AND A ROCK

  Colonel Warden Makes a Plan

  “Nothing Was Right Except the Courage”

  The Show Must Go On

  8. PERDITION

  “Something’s Happening”

  Through the Looking Glass

  Jerryland

  9. THE MURDER SPACE

  This World and the Next World at Strife

  The Bitchhead

  “Man Is Distinguished from the Beasts”

  PART FOUR

  10. FOUR HORSEMEN

  A Fairyland of Silver and Gold

  The Weight of Metal

  Dragonflies in the Sun

  11. A KETTLE OF GRIEF

  Dead Country

  “Put the Fear of God into Them”

  “You Are All Brave. You Are All Gentlemen”

  “On the Eve of Great Things”

  12. THE GREAT PRIZE

  Shaking Stars from the Heavens

  A Fifth Army Show

  The Cuckoo’s Song

  Expulsion of the Barbarians

  EPILOGUE

  PHOTOGRAPHS

  NOTES

  SELECTED SOURCES

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  INDEX

  Copyright

  THE GUNS AT LAST LIGHT

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  LIST OF MAPS

  MAP LEGEND

  ALLIED CHAIN OF COMMAND

  PROLOGUE

  PART ONE

  1. INVASION

  The Far Shore

  First Tide

  Hell’s Beach

  A Conqueror’s Paradise

  2. LODGEMENT

  “This Long Thin Line of Personal Anguish”

  A Gunman’s World

  Terror Is Broken by Terror

  How Easy It Is to Make a Ghost

  3. LIBERATION

  A Monstrous Blood-Mill

  The Bright Day Grew Dark

  Ministers of Thy Chastisement

  The Loveliest Story of Our Time

  PART TWO

  4. PURSUIT

  “The Huntsman Is Hungry”

  The Avenue of Stenches

  “Harden the Heart and Let Fly”

  5. AGAINST THE WEST WALL

  “Five Barley Loaves and Three Small Fishes”

  Every Village a Fortress

  A Market and a Garden

  The Arrow That Flieth by Day

  6. THE IMPLICATED WOODS

  Charlemagne’s Tomb

  “Do Not
Let Us Pretend We Are All Right”

  The Worst Place of Any

  PART THREE

  7. THE FLUTTER OF WINGS

  A Town Too Small for the Tragedy

  Faith in a Friendly Universe

  To the Land of Doom

  “Providence Decrees and We Must Obey”

  8. A WINTER SHADOW

  “We Are All So Human That It Is Pitiful”

  Staking Everything on One Card

  The Light Line

  “Go Easy, Boys. There’s Danger Ahead”

  9. THE BULGE

  A Rendezvous in Some Flaming Town

  “Why Are You Not Packing?”

  War in the Raw

  Glory Has Its Price

  The Agony Grapevine

  PART FOUR

  10. ARGONAUTS

  Citizens of the World

  A Fateful Conference

  “Only Our Eyes Are Alive”

  11. CROSSINGS

  The Inner Door to Germany

  Two If by Sea

  “The Enemy Has Reason to Fear Him”

  Lovers’ Quarrels Are a Part of Love

  12. VICTORY

  Mark of the Beast

  Dragon Country

  “God, Where Are You?”

  A Great Silence

  EPILOGUE

  PHOTOGRAPHS

  NOTES

  SELECTED SOURCES

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  INDEX

  COPYRIGHT

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Also by Rick Atkinson

  An Army at Dawn

  THE WAR IN NORTH AFRICA, 1942–1943

  VOLUME ONE OF THE LIBERATION TRILOGY

  Rick Atkinson

  Praise for

  An Army at Dawn

  “A monumental history of the overshadowed combat in North Africa during World War II that brings soldiers, generals, and bloody battles alive through masterful storytelling.”

  —citation for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for History

  “A book that stands shoulder to shoulder with the other major books about the war, such as the fine writing of Cornelius Ryan and John Keegan.”

  —Associated Press

  “Atkinson’s writing is lucid, vivid…. Among the many pleasures of An Army at Dawn are the carefully placed details—shells that whistle into the water with a smoky hiss; a colonel with ‘slicked hair and a wolfish mustache’ a man dying before he can fire the pistols strapped in his holster.”

  —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

  “One of the most compelling pieces of military history I’ve ever read, An Army at Dawn will become a military history and strategy studies classic. Atkinson writes with incredible insight and mastery of the details, and he is always mindful of the larger picture. He goes from the highest political levels to the deepest foxhole without missing a beat. This is history at its finest.”

  —General Wesley K. Clark, U.S.A. (ret.), former NATO supreme commander

  “An engrossing narrative…Atkinson has an impressive command of words, a flair for simplifying complex issues, and a vast reservoir of information…. This is a fascinating work which any reader can enjoy, and professional historians will find perusal of it eminently worth their while.”

  —Arthur L. Funk, Journal of Military History

  “A masterpiece. Rick Atkinson strikes the right balance between minor tactical engagements and high strategic direction, and he brings soldiers at every level to life, from private to general. An Army at Dawn is history with a soldier’s face.”

  —General Gordon R. Sullivan, U.S.A. (ret.), former Army chief of staff

  “What distinguishes his narrative is the way he fuses the generals’ war…with the experiences of front-line combat soldiers.”

  —Raleigh News & Observer

  “Atkinson’s book is eminently friendly and readable, but without compromising normal standards of accuracy and objectivity. More than a military history, it is a social and psychological inquiry as well. His account of the Kasserine Pass disaster alone is worth the price of the book and stands as an exciting preview of the rich volumes to come. I heartily recommend this human, sensitive, unpretentious work.”

  —Paul Fussell, author of Doing Battle and Wartime

  “Rick Atkinson’s An Army at Dawn is a superb account of the Allied invasion of North Africa. From the foxhole to Eisenhower’s supreme headquarters, Atkinson has captured the essence of war in one of the most neglected campaigns of World War II.”

  —Carlo D’Este, author of Patton and Eisenhower

  “Given his success with modern military history, the penetrating historical insights Atkinson brings to bear on America’s 1942–43 invasion of the North African coast are not surprising…. The most thorough and satisfying history yet of the campaigns in North Africa.”

  —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

  “This is a wonderful book—popular history at its best. It is impressively researched and superbly written, and it brings to life in full detail one of the vitally important but relatively ‘forgotten’ campaigns of World War II. What Bruce Catton and Shelby Foote did for the Civil War in their trilogies, Rick Atkinson is doing for World War II in the European Theater.”

  —Professor Mark A. Stoler, author of Allies and Adversaries

  “Atkinson’s book puts him on a fast track toward becoming one of our most ambitious and distinguished military chroniclers….[He] has unpacked facts that will lift many eyebrows.”

  —Bookpage

  “For sheer drama, the Tunisian campaign far overshadowed any other phase of the Second World War. Rick Atkinson has told the story with zest and brutal realism. His account will be a monument among accounts of World War II.”

  —John S. D. Eisenhower, author of Allies and The Bitter Woods

  “An Army at Dawn is an absolute masterpiece. Atkinson conveys both the human drama and historical significance of this campaign with a power and intensity that is nothing short of electrifying. This book is storytelling—and history—at its most riveting.”

  —Andrew Carroll, editor of War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars

  “Rick Atkinson has done a beautiful job of research and writing in An Army at Dawn. This is the North African campaign—warts, snafus, feuding allies, incompetents, barely competents—unvarnished. It whets my appetite for the rest of the Liberation Trilogy Atkinson has promised us.”

  —Joseph L. Galloway, coauthor of We Were Soldiers Once…and Young

  “Rick Atkinson combines meticulous research and attention to detail with an extraordinary ability to tell a story. It is a rich and powerful narrative which is certain to become a classic.”

  —Ronald Spector, author of At War at Sea and Eagle against the Sun

  An Army at Dawn

  To my mother and father

  At last the armies clashed at one strategic point,

  They slammed their shields together, pike scraped pike

  With the grappling strength of fighters armed in bronze

  And their round shields pounded, boss on welded boss,

  And the sound of struggle roared and rocked the earth.

  The Iliad, Book 4

  MAPS

  1. Mediterranean and European Theaters in World War II

  2. Operation TORCH, Invasion of North Africa, November 1942

  3. Seizure of Oran, November 8–10, 1942

  4. Landings in Algiers, November 8, 1942

  5. Landings at Fedala, November 8, 1942

  The Capture of Casablanca, November 8–11, 1942

  6. Attack on Mehdia and Port Lyautey, November 8–10, 1942

  7. First Allied Attempt to Reach Tunis, November 15–30, 1942

  8. Tébourba Engagement, December 1–3, 1942

  9. German Attack on Medjez-el-Bab, December 6–10, 1942

  10. Battle for Longstop Hill, December 22–26, 1942

  11. The Winter Line in Tunisia, February 1943

  12. Battle of Sidi bou Zid, Febru
ary 14–15, 1943

  13. Battles of Kasserine Pass, February 19–22, 1943

  14. Battle of Mareth, March 16–28, 1943

  15. Battle of El Guettar and Maknassy Pass, March 16–25, 1943

  16. Continuing Fight near El Guettar, March 28–April 1, 1943

  17. Battle for Fondouk Pass, April 8–9, 1943

  18. Final Victory in Tunisia, April 22–May 13, 1943

  19. Battle for Hill 609, April 27–May 1, 1943

  An Army at Dawn

  PROLOGUE

  TWENTY-SEVEN acres of headstones fill the American military cemetery at Carthage, Tunisia. There are no obelisks, no tombs, no ostentatious monuments, just 2,841 bone-white marble markers, two feet high and arrayed in ranks as straight as gunshots. Only the chiseled names and dates of death suggest singularity. Four sets of brothers lie side by side. Some 240 stones are inscribed with thirteen of the saddest words in our language: “Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God.” A long limestone wall contains the names of another 3,724 men still missing, and a benediction: “Into Thy hands, O Lord.”

  This is an ancient place, built on the ruins of Roman Carthage and a stone’s throw from the even older Punic city. It is incomparably serene. The scents of eucalyptus and of the briny Mediterranean barely two miles away carry on the morning air, and the African light is flat and shimmering, as if worked by a silversmith. Tunisian lovers stroll hand in hand across the kikuyu grass or sit on benches in the bowers, framed by orangeberry and scarlet hibiscus. Cypress and Russian olive trees ring the yard, with scattered acacia and Aleppo pine and Jerusalem thorn. A carillon plays hymns on the hour, and the chimes sometimes mingle with a muezzin’s call to prayer from a nearby minaret. Another wall is inscribed with the battles where these boys died in 1942 and 1943—Casablanca, Algiers, Oran, Kasserine, El Guettar, Sidi Nsir, Bizerte—along with a line from Shelley’s “Adonais”: “He has outsoared the shadow of our night.”

  In the tradition of government-issue graves, the stones are devoid of epitaphs, parting endearments, even dates of birth. But visitors familiar with the American and British invasion of North Africa in November 1942, and the subsequent seven-month struggle to expel the Axis powers there, can make reasonable conjectures. We can surmise that Willett H. Wallace, a private first class in the 26th Infantry Regiment who died on November 9, 1942, was killed at St. Cloud, Algeria, during the three days of hard fighting against, improbably, the French. Ward H. Osmun and his brother Wilbur W., both privates from New Jersey in the 18th Infantry and both killed on Christmas Eve 1942, surely died in the brutal battle of Longstop Hill, where the initial Allied drive in Tunisia was stopped—for more than five months, as it turned out—within sight of Tunis. Ignatius Glovach, a private first class in the 701st Tank Destroyer Battalion who died on Valentine’s Day, 1943, certainly was killed in the opening hours of the great German counteroffensive known as the battle of Kasserine Pass. And Jacob Feinstein, a sergeant from Maryland in the 135th Infantry who died on April 29, 1943, no doubt passed during the epic battle for Hill 609, where the American Army came of age.