Changes

==Operation Wintergewitter==

==Operation Wintergewitter==

From 26-31 December, as part of Marshal Rodolfo Graziani's Operation Winter Storm (planned in conjuction with Benito Mussolini), the ''Monte Rosa'' (Alpine) and ''San Marco'' (Marine) Divisions under General Mario Carloni (with supporting Austraian mountain troops) attacked and overran the forward battalions of the US 92nd ''Buffalo'' Infantry Division (under General Edward Almond) entrenched along the Serchio  Valley, with the Italians forming and commanding two of the three Axis Spearheads involved.

From 26-31 December, as part of Marshal Rodolfo Graziani's Operation Winter Storm (planned in conjuction with Benito Mussolini), the ''Monte Rosa'' (Alpine) and ''San Marco'' (Marine) Divisions under General Mario Carloni, with supporting Austrian Gebirgsjäger (mountain) units  attacked and overran the forward battalions of the US 92nd ''Buffalo'' Infantry Division (under General Edward Almond) entrenched along the Serchio  Valley, with the Italians forming and commanding two of the three Axis Spearheads involved.

The Axis force advanced in three columns. The first column moved toward Vergemoli-Calomini, the second toward Treppignana-Castelvecchio, with the third advancing toward Sommocolonia-Barga.  The soldiers from the 2nd Battalion (US 366th Regiment) at Sommocolonia were hit first, with several forward platoon positions overrun and Bebbio and Scarpello captured. The American battalion had no option but to withdraw toward Coreglia.

The Axis force advanced in three columns on the night of 25 December. The first column moved toward Vergemoli-Calomini, the second toward Treppignana-Castelvecchio, with the third advancing toward Sommocolonia-Barga.  The soldiers from the 2nd Battalion (US 366th Regiment) at Sommocolonia were hit first, with several forward platoon positions overrun and Bebbio and Scarpello captured. The American battalion had no option but to withdraw toward Coreglia.

 

In the early hours of 26 December, a company of American soldiers from the 92nd US Infantry Division and Italian Communist Partisans  in Sommocolonia (a village of 200 inhabitants) found themselves pinned down by heavy softening up fire from Axis mortars fire.  29-year-old Lieutenant John R Fox, an artillery officer, reported the streets of Sommocolonia filled with soldiers from the Austrian 4th Gebirgsjäger (Mountain) Battalion. The elite Austrian soldiers expected little resistance as many Black American troops had been reported in the area. However, much fierce resistance was encountered in Sommocolonia.