Return to the Rapido: Company D/F, 81st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Armored Division

Merriam Press Military Monograph 47. Fourth Edition (August 2012). This is a remarkable memoir of service in the U.S. First Armored Division, specifically, Company D (which after a reorganization became Company F) of the 81st Reconnaissance Battalion, equipped with the M3 light tank. This is also a personal history of the unit's service, from pre-war training, through shipment overseas to England, Northern Ireland, back to England and then to North Africa, where it fought at Station Sened, Faid Pass, Sidi bou Zid and the debacle of Kasserine Pass, El Guettar, Gabes, Beja, Mateur and the Axis defeat in Tunisia. Then on to Italy, landing at Naples, then to the Volturno River; landing at Anzio, the breakout from the beachhead and on to Rome; cross the Arno River, winter in the Apennines and Arno Valley, the final push over the Po River, and the surrender of the German forces in Italy. This book was written by a person who saw the war unfold from the lowly rank of a $21.00 a month private who was denied the opportunity to apply for officers candidate school, but who eventually rose to the modest rank of "sergeant." Seen through the eyes of a menial "enlisted man" army life and the war itself appear in a different light. 2 photos, 6 maps.