The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969 Page: 62
498 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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62 Southwestern Historical Quarterly
The remains of the infantry retreated to this position and beat off every
attempt to break it.
With the help of units of the 82nd A[ir] B[orne] Division and the
shelling delivered by Navy vessels--this position held for five days. On
September 20 the enemy gave up the fight and started his retreat to new
defenses above Naples.'
The engineers spent the next ten days after the Salerno victory get-
ting new equipment and rebuilding the battalion. The Germans, be-
fore retreating from the port of Naples, had destroyed the docks and
mined that entire city of nearly a million inhabitants. On October 1,
1943, Stovall's battalion received orders to proceed to Naples and to
help repair damage and remove mines hidden by the enemy.
[We] arrive[d] Naples via Pompeii. . . . From map study of city I had
selected the RR station as C[ommand] P[ost] because it would be easy
to locate. Upon arrival in town I found a large stadium with high walls
Sc gates. Its use did not meet full approval of officers Se men who looked
at good hotels with visions of soft beds. We worked in Naples until
the 17th [October], opening streets, clearing Harbor, locating and remov-
ing time bombs. . . (missed some).'
Describing this interval, Stovall recorded in his diary:
It isn't at all uncommon to see thousands of people trying to get close
enough to sewers to get water. We do what we can to relieve hospitals
but the job is too big for us alone-very little food in city."
Shortly before the 111th Engineers rejoined the division, a number
of time bombs, secreted by the Germans, exploded and killed men
from the 82nd Airborne Division and the 36th Engineer Regiment.
Thereafter Stovall's men looked with more approval on his choice of
the stadium as their bivouac area. The engineers were relieved of this
assignment on October 16, and rejoined the division near Qualino,
a few miles northwest of Naples.1o
It was then, recalled Stovall, that "General Walker presented me
7Oran C. Stovall Narrative (copy; Archives, Texas State Library, Austin), 44; hereafter
cited as Stovall Narrative. Only minor alterations have been made in punctuation and
spelling.
sIbid., 46.
'Ibid.
l0Ibid., 47"
11Fred Livingood Walker, commanding general of the 36th Infantry Division, assumed
command in September, 1941, and relinquished it in July, 1944. He was born in 1887
and was graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Walker was appointed second lieutenant of infantry in the regular army on February 11,
1911. He commanded an infantry battalion in World War I and was wounded in action
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969, periodical, 1969; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117146/m1/78/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.