Battle of Assoro

Sweat poured off the exhausted and dehydrated men of the Hastings and Prince

Edward Regiment as they approached the nearly 3,000-foot summit of Assoro in the

early morning of July 21, 1943. Their khaki battle dress was filthy and their boots in

tatters. These men, affectionately known as "The Hasty P's" had not received any fresh

clothing or replacements since landing near Pachino two weeks prior during Operation

Huskey. The salt water from the landing beaches and the long-forced marches across

the rough Sicilian landscape had taken their toll on the men and their equipment.

Nonetheless, The Hasty P's were about to get their first real taste of combat and

conduct one of the first large offensive attacks by the Canadian army since the start of

the war.

At 1300 hrs on July 20, Lt-Col. Sutcliffe, Commanding Officer of the Hastings

went forward north of the Dittano river to gather reconnaissance for the assault on

Assoro. Sutcliffe was a soft-spoken man from Peterborough, Ontario who was admired

by the men in the regiment and had been the troops boss since their training in

England and Scotland prior to the invasion. Knowing the dangers of being exposed to

the enemy from the steep Assoro mountain, he nonetheless led by example in

conducting reconnaissance to determine how the regiment was to go about assaulting

the well defended town. Sutcliffe, along with the regiment's intelligence officer Captain

Cockin, had limited visibility from their position in a slit trench and decided to move

forward into a shallow gun pit in front of them. The tight and shallow pit forced their

bodies to be partially exposed. Their presence was spotted by German observers and

at 1430 hrs accurate mortar and eighty-eight fire zeroed in on them. Both Sutcliffe and

Cockin were killed as a result. Sutcliffe's death came as a shock to the regiment. For Lt.

Mowat, commanding Hasting's 7th platoon, this shock turned to anger for the enemy.

The reality of war began to hit him and the rest of the regiment. "It (Sutcliffe's death)

shredded the pale remnants of the illusion that real war was not much more than an

exciting extension of battle games, and it fired us with rage against the enemy".

Immediately following the death of Sutcliffe, the regiments 2 IC was placed in

charge for the assault on Assoro scheduled for that night. Major Lord Tweedsmuir was

thrusted into this new position and was tasked with leading the attack. "Tweedie" as

the troops called him behind his back, was an adventurous man who before enlistment

had experience working in the Artic with the Hudson's Bay Company and in the African

Veldt. Tweedsmuir's name was known throughout Canada as his father, John

Buchanan (1st Baron of Tweedsmuir), was Governor General of Canada from 1935-

1940. Buchanan died in his position as Governor General, slipping and hitting his head

on a bathtub in Rideau Hall after suffering a stroke. His father's death, while tragic, did

not stop Tweedsmuir from carving his own personal successes during his time in

service with the Canadian army. Tweedsmuir weighed his options for the quickly

approaching assault on Assoro. He believed that even with the cover of darkness,

approaching the mountain town head-on was suicide. To save lives and increase the

probability of success, the Hastings would instead maneuver to the eastern side of the

Assoro mountain and scale its steep contours, hoping to take the German defenders

in the town by surprise. Brigadier Graham, Sutcliffe's predecessor, thought the plan to

be madness. He must have thought the German defenders would at least have

listening posts on the eastern ridges of Assoro, no matter how unlikely an assault from

that direction might be. Although he had his reservations, holding his breath, Graham

gave the green light to Tweedsmuir to carry on with his plan.

Before embarking, Tweedsmuir selected 20 men from each of the regiments

platoons to form a special "Assault Company". Made up of the most fit and active men

from the regiment, this company would be tasked with navigating themselves to the

base of Assoro and then scaling it under the cover of darkness. At 2100 hrs on July 20,

Canadian medium artillery opened fire, marking the beginning of the attack. The

medium artillery targeted the crossroads beyond Assoro and the communications

leading into the town. The entire divisional artillery then conducted a large

bombardment on the approaches to the town and on the mountain of Assoro itself.

Map of Canadian army movements in Sicily, including the capture of Assoro.

The bombardment would help conceal the real location of the main assault,

convincing the Germans that the Canadian attack would still occur from the main

approaches to the town. Bren Gun Carriers from the 48th Highland Division were also

sent to the approaches of Assoro to confirm German suspicions about the direction

of the attack. The carriers drew German fire, then withdrew as planned. Perched on

the peak of Assoro lay the ruins of a Norman castle which dates back to about 1200

AD and was no stranger to military action throughout its history. Though instead of

swords and spears, these attackers were equipped with Enfield's and Bren guns. At

2130 hrs the Hastings Assault Company began their forced march towards the

eastern base of the Assoro mountain. This was the toughest forced march for the

regiment to date, following a winding goat path at a speed of no more than two miles

per hour. The men, who dropped all kit besides their weapons, ammunition, and

emergency chocolate rations navigated in the darkness for hours before reaching the

base of Assoro at 0400. Exhausted, the Hastings men now had to climb the mountain

as quickly and as silently as possible, for dawn was about to break. Exhausted and

hungry, the Assault Company pulled themselves up the mountain. Just before

reaching the top, their silence was momentarily broken. The unmistakable sound of a

Thompson sub-machine gun rattled out, echoing through the valley and breaking the

silence of the early dawn. The burst came from Hasting's member A.K Long who

stumbled upon a German artillery observation post during his climb. He had killed

one of the German observers with the remaining three surrendering with their hands

in the air. "The crazy bastard went for his damn gun" Long exclaimed to Farley

Mowat. Although the Thompson burst gave an audible alert to the German

defenders, the warning must have been passed off as the Hastings location remained

concealed. At 0525 hrs the Hastings had reached the summit of Assoro, the ruins of

the Norman castle now right next to them.

In this Ogilvie painting, the Hasty P's are seen digging into their position at the top of Assoro.

As the Assault Company peered down into the town below from the peak of

Assoro, they realized the plan had worked. The defenders, members of the 104.

Panzer Grenadier Regiment were walking about their morning without caution. Cooks

were preparing breakfast while others were shaving, preparing for the day. Not

wasting any time, a Bren gun from the company opened fire onto the defenders

below followed up by gunfire from the rest of the Hastings Assault Company. All hell

broke loose with the unprepared Germans scrambling to find their weapons and

return fire. The Hastings poured down effective fire into the town, inflicting casualties,

destroying vehicles and forcing a retreat. Weapons fell silent for a short while before

the Germans counter attacked. This time, the Germans communicated with guns from

the 33. Artillerie Regiment that was focused on defending Leonforte to the west. The

guns turned their sights to Assoro and began bombarding the Hastings on top of the

Assoro mountain. Taking several casualties from the ensuing artillery fire, Hastings

A.K Long remembered the German spotting periscope that was left in the

observation post that he had captured a few hours earlier. Using this periscope, along

with a large wireless set that was lugged up the mountain that night, the Canadians

were able to pinpoint the locations of the German artillery and radio their positions

back to friendly arty. The 7th Medium Regiment responded to the issued coordinates

and opened fire. By 1030 hrs the German guns were silent. The afternoon was

greeted with another sudden German counterattack which reached close to the

Hastings positions before it was repelled by Canadian artillery. Sustained only from

the emergency chocolate rations they had; the Hastings stood to throughout the

night in their positions near the castle ruins. On the morning of the 22, the Hastings

regimental Seargent Major went back down to Battalion Headquarters to inquire

about a resupply party. Hastily organized, the Sargent Major led a party of Royal

Canadian Regiment men back up to the mountain to resupply the Hastings with food

and ammunition. While the resupply occurred, the 48th Highlanders of Canada were

engaged in clearing the German defenders from the South-Western heights of

Assoro. This action allowed Canadian engineers from the 1st Field Company along

with the help of Prisoners of War to repair the main road into the town. The road was

now open for Sherman tanks of the Three Rivers Regiment to make their way up the

winding narrow roads into Assoro. The combined arms effort from the infantry,

artillery, engineers, and armour resulted in the firm capture of Assoro by the middle

of the day on the 22nd.

The battle and capture for Assoro was as daring as it was exhausting for the

Canadians. The fighting at Assoro was occurring simultaneously with the fighting to

the west at Leonforte to secure the western approach to Agira. The men of the

Hastings pulled off a risky operation that can be compared to the tactics of the First

Special Service Force, the joint Canadian-US special operations unit. Casualties were

still taken, mostly from artillery, mortars, and sniper fire. However, the capture of

Assoro was still a resounding success and an example of how critical communication

leadership and training is for success in battle. The Toronto Star reported after the

battle that the efforts of the Hastings at Assoro were "like a repeat of Wolfe at

Quebec".