Friday, August 9, 2013

The Battle of San Pietro, Part 3 (for Super Film Geeks Only)

Here's a comparison between the earlier 38 minute version of SAN PIETRO, and the "standard" 32 minute version:


Long Version, 38 minutes
Corresponds closely to script of November 3, 1944
LS = Long Shot
MS = Medium Shot
CU = Close Up
LR = Left to right
RL = Right to left

Text

Official Historical Film / H.R. 2 / War Department

The War Department Presents

SAN PIETRO

Produced by the Army Pictorial Service / Music: The Army Air Force Orchestra / The Mormon Tabernacle Choir / St. Brendan’s Boys Choir


Lira Valley lies in the Italian midland,

some sixty miles northwest of Naples, to some forty miles southeast of Rome –

a wide flat corridor, enclosed between four walls of mountains.  

In winter, the highest peaks of the Liri range ascend into the snows,

but the valley floor, with its olive groves and ancient vines, its crops of wheat and corn, is green the year around.

That is, in normal times.

Last year was a bad year for grapes and olives

and the fall planting was late.

Many fields

lay fallow

There are two ways from the south into the valley: one a narrow pass

the other a high scenic road over the mountains

They converge before the site of the ancient village of San Pietro

which for seven hundred years has stood at the threshold of Liri Valley, welcoming the traveler.

The stones of its walls were quarried out of the parent hill from whose slopes it rises. Population, fourteen hundred and twelve at the last census.

A farming community.

Patron saint: Peter

Point of interest:  Saint Peter’s, 1438

Note interesting treatment of chancel


As Saint Peter’s was erected by those who were to worship there,

so each original dwelling was built by the ones who were to live there.

And this practice had endured down through the centuries.

The Italian peasant is a born mason.

He cuts and lays and mortars in the stone with great skill and patience, building not for himself alone,

but for future generations.

From the end of October, 1943, until the middle of December, San Pietro and the surrounding ground was the scene of some of the bitterest fighting on our Fifth Army Front.

The Italian Campaign had entered its second phase, the push forward again after a static period brought on by heavy seasonal rains.

Our battle lines were haphazard as the terrain itself, with its flood swollen rivers

that twisted back and forth across our line of march

so that each river

seemed like five. And where there was no river to cross,

a mountain blocked our going – each peak ahead being a few meters higher than the last we had won

so that each new peak had to be fought for the hard, uphill way

with the enemy looking down our throats.

They had had time to fortify and camouflage their positions

No amount of artillery fire or aerial bombardment could force them to withdraw…

that was for infantry to do,


employing those weapons that can find and destroy life in narrow trenches,

caves and fighting holes.  It was up to the man with the rifle, the man under fire from all weapons

The man whose way all our weapons -  land, air and sea  - serve only to prepare

It was up to the foot soldier – to attack a hidden enemy

over ground that was sown with mines…the anti-personnel “S”

mines that fly up at a footfall to explode beneath the groin.

Nowhere along the entire front were enemy preparations more elaborate than in the San Pietro area.

For San Pietro stands at the threshold of Liri Valley

 and through Liri Valley wide and level runs the most highly prized length of road, south of Rome.


By early December, we had taken and were holding high ground to the northeast, east and south of San Pietro…the Camino-Maggiore hill mass being last to fall. Italian troops under Allied command had made a vain attempt to capture Mt. Lungo.

Possession of which would have acted greatly to our benefit in the impending action.

But so excessive were the losses incurred


that further operations against Mt. Lungo’s strategic heights were deemed

unwarranted.

No narration.

It was thereon determined to make a direct frontal assault on enemy positions, around and within San Pietro

Battalions of the 36th Texas Infantry division were rotated from position to position overlooking the valley

so the troops might study the terrain ahead from various viewpoints

No narration








Patrol activity was continuous

No narration

Day and night, units went out to reconnoiter the ground, draw fire,

take prisoners,

thus adding to the sum of our information about the enemy.

High points – Mt. Lungo’s 351 and Mt. Sammucro’s 1205 and 950, were all manned in force.  The town itself was strongly garrisoned with numerous mortar, machine gun and heavy weapon emplacements.  Four enemy battalions were dug into a line of connecting trenches and mutually supporting pill boxes in depth that extended from the base of Mt. Lungo northeast across the valley floor to the base of Mt. Sammucro. Another battalion was organized to defend the high ground northwest of San Pietro. Areas before these positions were heavily mined and held a confusion of barbed wire and booby traps.

 On the afternoon before, D-Day and H-Hour were communicated

to battalion commanders

No narration



December 8th at 0620 hours, the 1st Battalion of the 143rd Infantry Regiment to attack the summit of 1205, having moved up the mountain under cover of darkness. And upon achieving its objective to attack along the ridge to a point northwest of San Pietro.  The 3rd Ranger Battalion likewise to attack 950 – another feature of the Mt. Sammucro Hill Mass.  The 2nd Battalion of the 143rd to attack over the terraced olive orchards northeast of San Pietro. The 3rd Battalion, acting in support to follow the 2nd at four hundred yards.

Of the original

force to establish the beachhead at Salerno,

the 143rd had since

spent all but a fortnight in action under

extremely bitter weather conditions.

At Salerno --

at the Volturno crossing

it had taken mortal punishment.

The task ahead promised no less


bloodshed, yet it was undertaken in good spirits


and high confidence.

The 1st Battalion began the long, rugged climb up Mt. Sammucro.

No narration







As night fell our artillery opened up and throughout the night hours intense fire was laid down on the enemy’s main line of resistance.

No narration

It had rained most of the night and it was raining at “H” hour when the 2nd and

3rd battalions crossed the line of departure 

No narration








Some 200 yards forward they encountered mines and automatic fire from pill boxes

No narration






Mortar and artillery fire were deadly accurate by reason of excellent enemy observation from

Mt. Lungo overlooking our advance.  Which continued

another 200 to 400 yards.

No narration




































Many men gave their lives in attempts to jump the wire,

reach pill boxes and throw hand grenades through the narrow gun openings.

The 3rd Battalion was committed.

No narration

















The advance never got more than

600 yards past the line

of departure.

Our initial assault on San Pietro had

been repulsed with heavy casualties.

No narration.









The attack on Hill 1205, however, was a brilliant success.

Leading elements of the 1st Battalion had gained the summit of the objective before a strongly entrenched enemy knew

that an assault was in progress.

No narration








To the right of Hill 1205 the 3rd Ranger Battalion

had also captured its objective, but only after successive attacks

and costly casualties – for on Hill 950

the enemy was not taken unaware.

Counterattacks were to be expected on both 1205

and 950. They were not long developing.

No narration






















The first was launched during the early daylight hours

and even as it was beaten off, another took form.

No narration





Day and night they followed in unremitting violence.

No narration




The toll of enemy dead

mounted with each new attempt…

no narration






But German prisoners captured on 1205 and 950 said that they had been

ordered to retake those positions at all costs.

No narration











Acting in excellent

cooperation,


the artillery’s


supporting


power disrupted numerous enemy counterattacks while they were in the

process of being formed.

No narration

In addition to defending Hill 1205, the 1st Battalion obedient to the field order, undertook the reduction of enemy defenses which were organized along the ridge running west.

No narration

























On the 12th of December the 1st Battalion

was reinforced by the 504th Parachute Battalion,

which took over and maintained the


defenses of 1205 and 950,

No narration


thereby enabling the 1st Battalion to

throw its entire remaining strength into the assault along the ridge.

But the 1st’s strength had dwindled and shrunk in the five days past

and there was now a question as to whether its existing numbers

were sufficient to prevail.

Reports during the night of the 14th of December


stated that the enemy was offering bitter resistance and that the issue was in grave doubt.

Meanwhile, on the olive terraces below, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions had twice again attempted to reach their objective.

No narration

Both

times they had come up a

wall of automatic weapon, mortar and artillery fire.

No narration





Volunteer patrols made desperate attempts to reach enemy positions and reduce strong points.

 No narration





Not a single member of any


such patrol ever came back alive


No narration




Our attacking forces were furnished excellent aerial cover by Allied fighter patrols,

but now and then enemy planes were able to slip through

and to bomb and strafe our positions.

Which to all purposes, had remained unchanged since the first day.

To break the deadlock, orders were given for a coordinated divisional attack.

The 2nd and 3rd Batttalions of the 143rd to proceed in the execution of the original orders.  Acting in conjunction, Company A of the 753rd Tank Battalion to attack San Pietro from the east over the high road. One battalion of the 141st to attack over the flat valley floor. After nightfall on D-Day the 142nd Infantry Regiment to attack the heights of Mt. Lungo.

In preparations

for the attack, all

Fifth Army artillery

within range


including tanks and

all-tracks was

directed against San Pietro

and the surrounding area.

No narration














































































[midway through shot] “H” hour, 1200 hours

“D” day, the 15th of December

[midway through shot] The 141st  Infantry advanced

some 400 yards from its line of departure

no narration





to be born down and held

powerless under the weight of enemy fire. 

No narration


The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 143rd advanced some one hundred yards

beyond their former positions

to a point

almost directly before

forward enemy

defenses…



and for the third time

they were forced to take

such cover

as the quaking earth could offer.

And the tanks…Orders were for them to enter the town and to locate and destroy the heavy weapons

there, which were leveled against our attacking foot soldiers.

No narration

The high road into San Pietro is a narrow mountain road

 and from the beginning of its winding descent into Lira Valley it was under direct enemy observation.

No narration






Sixteen tanks started down that road.

Three reached the outskirts of the town.






Of these, two were destroyed

 and one was missing.

Five tanks were immobilized behind

enemy lines, their crews having to abandon them.

Five tanks hit enemy mines within our lines and were thereupon destroyed by enemy gunfire.

Four tanks returned to the bivouac area.

After dark two companies, one from the 2nd Battalion and one from the 3rd Battalion finally succeeded in penetrating enemy positions before San Pietro.

But receiving both frontal and flanking fire, they were forced to retire,

Company “E” having been reduced in strength to

eight rifleman and Company “L” faring little better.

No narration





On the Mt. Sammucro ridge the 1st Battalion fought its way to within a few hundred yards of the objective,

but it had paid for ground gained

at the rate of a man a yard,

and they did not have strength to

carry the fight any further forward.

On Mt. Lungo, however, despite bitter resistance, battalions

of the 142nd – in successive waves, kept pushing upwards

 No narration
















Until in the early



daylight hours of the 16th of December


 its foot soldiers had gained the summit

and were wiping up what remained of a stubborn enemy.

No narration



And that height proved to be a key position in the enemy plan of defense.

For even as Mt. Lungo fell, the enemy


throughout the San Pietro area made preparations to withdraw.

Almost invariably the enemy will counterattack

to cover a withdraw. The first violent thrust was delivered within a few hours.

No narration

(midway through shot) And thereafter, counterattacks came in waves, the roar of the last mingling with the rush and fury of the next to break.

Many companies lost all their officers. Enlisted men

came forward as inspirational leaders to rally their battered companies

 into resisting yet one more onslaught.

No narration







Our own artillery was brought to fall within a hundred yards of our front line elements.

No narration



























After five hours during which


the earth never ceased to tremble,

counterattacks

ended,

indicating that the

withdrawal of the enemy’s main body


had commenced.

No narration


















In an effort to maintain contact, our patrols immediately pushed ahead.

No narration























(begins halfway through shot) Entering the town they discovered that San Pietro was ours for the taking.

No narration


The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, less than a rifle company in strength,

weary to death, who were alive, stumbled forward past San Pietro to consolidate gains and re-establish contact with the enemy,

now taking up new positions some five kilometers beyond.

That is the broad shape of the battle of San Pietro, which was but the first of many battles

 in Lira Valley.  It was a very costly battle.

After the battle the 143rd Infantry Regiment alone required eleven hundred replacements.

No narration

(starts halfway through shot) The lives lost were precious lives,

to their country, to their loved ones

…and the men themselves.

For the living of the 143rd Infantry Regiment more than one hundred decorations for acts of valor above and beyond

 the call of duty. Many among these you see alive here have since joined the ranks of their brothers in arms who fell at San Pietro. For ahead lay San Vittori and the Rapido River

 and Cassino and beyond Cassino

more rivers and more mountains and more towns…

more San Pietros…greater or lesser…

a thousand more.

As the battle passed over and beyond San Pietro, westward, townspeople began to appear, coming out of their caves in the mountains where they had staying in hiding during the enemy occupation.

No narration







They were mostly old people…And children.

No narration











































































Living was resumed in San Pietro.



Children are able to forget quickly. Yesterday they wept

Today there are smiles and even laughter…

tomorrow it will be as though the bad things had never happened.

No narration
























Our prime military aim

being to engage and defeat the enemy, the capture of the town itself

and the liberation of its people is of an incidental nature.  But the people,

in their military innocence, look upon us solely as their deliverers.

It was to free them, and their farmlands, that we came.  Behind our lines, southwest, to the sea

the fields are green with growing crops planted after our coming…

by other people, of other towns,
who believe likewise.




The new won earth of San Pietro was plowed and sown. It should yield a good harvest this year.

(starts midway through shot) And the people


prayed to their patron saint to intercede with god on behalf of those

who came, delivered them, and passed on to the north, with the passing battle.

No narration



Image

Text title

Text

Main Title

Credits




LS valley with sun streaming

Second LS of valley


Third LS of valley


Closer shot of valley with buildings


Dead trees (track right)



Dead tree

CU of dead tree and wooden frame

Fallen dead tree

LS of field with shell holes

LS of blasted field with water filled hole

LS through pass to valley


LS of valley with box or truck(?) in right foreground

Shot of map, zoom in to San Pietro


LS of valley with shadows


Low angle uphill of bombed out town (pan left)



LS of fields

Blasted statue of St. Peter

LS, blasted church

Looking up through bombed out dome, the rest of church (pan down)

LS of church with dead tree in foreground


Low angle of part of bombed out church


Lowish angle, outlined piece of wreckage in upper middle of frame.

High angle looking down on peasants with shovels.

MS of peasants moving stones.



LS of dead body in rubble. MS of dead body

LS of valley with smoke (pan right)




Trucks travelling through foggy street



Map with pointer at line of squares


LS of floodwaters


Floodwaters, with dead trees in foreground

Trucks crossing flooded river.


Aerial shot of valley, moving left.



MS, camouflaged artillery post


CU, troops raising artillery piece

LS of mountainside with smoke


LS hillside with smoke, through trees


CU of soldier affixing bayonet to rifle, pointing right

CU prone soldier reaches for bayonet in belt (pan left) and affixes to rifle

CU soldier attaching grenades to belt.


MS field with barbed wire, soldier advances LR
(LH)

CU,  head of soldier moves RL


CU head and shoulders of soldier with rifle (RH) moves RL

CU head of soldier moves RL


LS of hillsides and valley, pan LR



LS of San Pietro half in shadow

Trucks on road. LR



Map of area. Pointer shows troop locations






LS of smoke and explosions in valley


MS Soldiers carrying stretcher with corpse down hillside, RL

Longer shot, carrying stretcher down hillside, LR


Loading corpses into truck

CU of bodybags.

LS line of troops walking RL



CU of line of troops, toward camera, but RL



MS three soldiers looking into the valley


CU, two soldiers with maps

LS of valley with smoke

Two soldiers with maps (one pulls out binoculars) they look left.

CU, soldier on phone

Soldier going up bush hill, LR (gun in right hand )

CU soldier sliding on stomach through bushes, LR

MS. Two soldiers talking, they salute and walk away

MS, interviewing Germany prisoners

CU, two German prisoners (helmeted one on left)


Map with pointer













CU of soldier on phone in left hand


MS overhead of soldiers on phone

MS of two soldiers on phones, leaning diagonally. CU low angle of soldier on phone
MS, soldiers with rifles waiting around

Map











LS soldiers in foxholes

CU, soldier in foxhole

MS, soldier sitting with elbows on knees

CU, smiling soldier (curled lapel on coat)

CU, smiling soldier, chewing gum

CU, soldier chewing gum (turns head screen right)

CU, soldier with mustache, left half of screen

CU, smiling soldier with netting on helmet

CU, different smiling soldier with mustache, right half of screen

CU, soldier looking up, left half of screen; turns head screen left.

MS, soldier with mustache and rifle

MS, soldier with tommy gun, back to camera


MS, Line of soldiers walking uphill, diagonally RL

Closer shot of same soldiers

LS Soldiers advancing uphill away from camera, LR

MS, line of soldiers going uphill, crossing RL

Dissolve to night shots of artillery flashes of light (several different shots)


LS daytime of valley

LS, walking troops in orchards RL


LS, troops in orchard, RL (some on hill in back)

LS, troops walking fast, RL (one disappears behind large tree for a second)

LS, one soldier walking slowly through orchard, seen through branches. RL

LS, low angle, through branches, troops in orchard. RL

LS, troops mid frame, moving away from camera, smoke in distance. Soldier is shot at end of shot.

LS, troops running RL

LS, very low angle, out of focus, two soldiers move RL

LS, two soldiers run RL

MS, soldiers move toward camera, and towards screen right, (very windy)

LS, troops advance RL, lots of wind and smoke.


MS, out of focus. Troops move RL

MS. Out of focus. Troops move RL

MS. Bright explosion

Camera “pans” from straight ahead, and “falls” forward down.

CU. Soldier pulls another into foxhole, toward camera, LR.

LS, explosion at base of hill.

MS. Closer explosion, lots of smoke

MS. Soldier slides into foxhole of another, RL.

MS. Explosion behind fallen dead tree

MS. Soldier in foxhole looks at rock formations. Smokey.

CU. Soldier pulls another into foxhole, left side of frame.

MS, bright explosion

Longer shot, bright explosion.

Cut, same type of shot
MS, two soldiers in foxhole in foreground, explosion in background.

MS. Soldiers on ground, camera moves around wildly.

Camera swerves around violently

MS of corpse, half in shadow.


MS, corpse with crossed legs, gun faces left.


MS, troops through orchard, moving diagonally RL

CU, out of focus, soldier moves RL

MS, shaky camera pointed at ground, then pans up. (very short shot)

LS, soldiers move RL

LS, soldier moves RL

MS, bright explosion near camera

MS, soldier slides into foxhole with another, from screen left.

MS, explosion behind fallen dead tree (same as shot above)

LS, explosion in open field.
MS, explosion closer to camera.

MS, explosion in distance (same as one above)

MS, explosion closer to camera

MS. Putting corpses in white body bags.

CU, putting a corpse in body bag.

CU, putting corpse in body bag.

CU, putting corpse in body bag.

CU, putting corpse in body bag.

CU, putting corpse in body bag.

CU, crossing arms of corpse,

Map


MS, troops on ridge advance RL.



CU, machine gun crew prepares.

CU, machine gunner aims gun. LR

CU, soldier with tommy gun puts rock in front of him.  LR

CU, soldier behind rocks. LR

MS, low angle, soldier prone on a rock. RL

MS, line of soldiers walking uphill, LR.

MS, line of soldiers walking diagonally (flat ground), LR. Smoke in background

MS. Carrying stretcher downhill, LR.

Closer shot, carrying stretcher downhill, LR.

LS, soldiers at base of rocky hill.

CU, prone soldier in Left foreground, looking uphill

MS. Soldiers on ridge in left foreground, explosion downhill on the right

High angle, soldiers on ridge in left foreground, explosion downhill to the right.

LS, explosion behind some tall bushes

MS. Soldiers hiding behind rocks, explosion behind rocks

MS. Soldiers looking down into valley, explosion in front of them.  (very short)

MS, helmet in close foreground, rocks and explosion in background (very short shot)

LS, explosion in left background, soldiers barely visible in right middle distance.  (very short shot)

LS, prone soldiers in foreground on rocky hill, explosion in middle distance.

Shaky camera explosion in distance.


CU, machine gun crew fires, RL

LS, tracer bullets toward hillside in distance

CU. Machine gunner in left foreground shooting.

LS, tracer bullets hit far hillside

LS, explosions on hillside


CU. Mortar loaded and fired

LS, explosions on hillside


CU Dead enemy soldier, RL

CU. German corpse, head in upper left.

CU. German corpse. Head in lower left.

CU. Germany corpse. Head in upper right. Mask pulled off face.

CU. German corpse. Upsidedown in frame

MS. Prisoners being lead downhill on zigzag trail


CU. Three POWs, looking left .

CU, POW.

LS, artillery fires at town (emplacement in bottom of frame in foreground

LS, artillery fires, gun is facing R

LS, explosions in far distance, dead tree trunks in foreground.

LS, artillery fires at town (same as above)

MS. Canon fires RL, camouflage netting above.

MS. Canon fires, lower left of screen, disappears from frame.

MS. Tank fires, RL


LS, artillery piece fires (three soldiers in foreground)

LS, explosions on top of mountain


 LS, explosions on hillside

LS, explosions in valley.

Map




MS. Soldier in left side of frame throws hand grenade,  [from NFPF cover] right handed.  Pan right.

MS. Explosion. Left of frame

MS. Soldiers advance, away from camera.

MS. Soldier runs uphill right to left, camera pans left.  Lays down on rocks

Closer shot. Soldier on left side of frame throws hand grenade right handed.  He and another soldier pick up their rifles and advance.

MS. Another soldier, in left side of frame, throws hand grenade, right handed. Pan right

Cut. LS. Explosion in right side of frame.

LS. Soldier in distance throws grenade right handed.

Cut. LS. Explosion on hillside above two prone soldiers.

MS. Line of soldiers walking LR.

MS. Line of soldiers on hillside trail, walking LR

LS, Prone soldiers behind rocks on hill shooting down into valley

MS. Prone soldier behind rocks firing LR

MS. Soldier from behind rock firing LR.


LS, explosion on left of screen

LS. Soldiers advancing uphill away from camera. Out of focus rock in foreground.

Soldiers on hillside in middle distance. One dead?


MS. Bringing down wounded in stretcher, toward camera

Closer. Bringing down stretcher, LR

MS. Soldier on telephone, soldier on rifle behind him.

CU. Soldier in profile, facing screen right, in and out of shadow.

LS, soldiers moving through very smoky orchard. RL


LS, solider moving through orchard, diagonally RL

MS, bright explosion

MS, soldiers in foxhole in foreground

LS, explosion in valley


MS, explosion

LS, explosions in valley

LS, soldiers move into the open and go prone

MS, soldiers run RL, one drops his gun, pan RL


LS. Explosion in orchard

CU. Soldier leaving foxhole away from camera, to the Left


CU. Another soldier leaving foxhole away from camera to the left . Out of focus

MS. Soldiers advancing away from camera, to the left.

LS. Soldiers advancing through orchard away from camera, drop to prone.

LS. Explosion

LS. P-38 planes in sky.


LS. Dive bomber attacking. Barbed wire in foreground

LS. Explosions in valley

MS. Officers in helmets looking at map, facing right.

MS. Officers in caps looking at map. Facing left


Map








LS. Artillery piece raised

CU of cannon breech.

MS. Sherman tank moving RL

MS. Artillery piece with camouflage netting above it.

MS. Tank turret rotating clockwise

MS. Artillery piece with breech open

MS. Soldier with mustache on phone.

LS. Cannon being raised

MS. Soldier with glasses on phone. Faces right

MS. Cannon next to tree is raised

CU. Artillery soldiers working, overhead shot

MS. Two soldiers carry shell in a carrier. Shell is loaded into breech. RL

CU. Explosive loaded into breech, breech is closed

MS. Soldier with glasses gives order to fire.

CU. Soldier looks through binoculars. RL

MS. Soldier fires cannon.

MS. Soldier looks through binoculars. RL

LS. Cannon fires.

MS. Artillery fires at town (shot used previously)

LS. Cannon fires

LS. Sherman tank fires. Seen from rear.

MS. High angle of artillery crew firing cannon.

MS. Self propelled gun fires. Seen from behind. Soldier on top looking through binoculars.

LS. Several tanks dug in firing. RL

MS. Barrel of cannon seen firing.

LS. Explosions on hillside

LS. High angle. Explosions in town.

LS. Low angle. Explosions in town.

MS. Self propelled gun firing, being loaded.

LS. Large cannon firing. LR

MS. Small cannon firing. LR

MS. Large cannon firing. Very short. LR

MS. Cannon firing. Camouflage netting above.

CU. Low angle of soldier looking through binoculars. Camouflage netting above.

LS. High angle. Explosions in valley.

MS. Crew fires cannon.

LS. Sherman tank fires. Seen from behind

LS. M-10 Tank Destroyers firing. RL

CU. Cannon fires, seen from behind

MS. Cannon fires, RL

MS. Cannon fires, moves out of frame. LR

MS. Tank fires, RL

MS. High angle. Artillery crew fires cannon.

CU. Soldier fires large cannon

LS. Explosions in town

CU. Soldier holding binoculars

CU. Soldiers synchronizing watches

CU. One soldier’s watch

LS. Soldiers advance through field toward town, seen from behind.

MS. Soldiers move RL.

LS. Soldiers reach trees, continuation of the one just before previous. They fall prone when explosion hits.

MS. Closer shot of same

LS. Soldiers in foxholes

LS. Prone soldiers in field.

LS. Soldiers in foxhole. Blast shakes camera


LS. High angle, troops advance through large bushes downhill

MS. Low angle of barbed wire.

MS. Prone soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Closer of same RL

LS. Soldiers and barbed wire

MS. Soldier with rifle behind barbed wire

LS. Soldiers behind barbed wire

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire. Post

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

LS. Sherman tank moves out from behind building. LR. Pan right


LS. Tank moving LR.


LS. Tank moving LR in far distance.  Pan right

LS-MS. Tank advancing on road straight at camera.


LS. Switchback mountain road


MS. Tank on road, moving LR toward camera. Pan right

MS. Tank moving toward camera. LR

MS Tank moving toward camera, RL. Pan left

LS. Road into town

CU. Tank moves past camera. LR, then away from camera.

MS. Artillery fires

LS. Valley and town.

MS. Wrecked tank, turret blown off.

LS. Turretless tank on hillside

MS. Upside down tank

MS. Upside down tank with tree branches behind

MS. Carrying stretchers, LR


MS. Low angle of tank moving in shadow

LS. Night scene. Flares




LS. Night gunfire and flares


CU. Soldier with beard on stretcher. LR

CU. Clean shaven soldier on stretcher. LR

CU. Bearded soldier on stretcher. LR

CU. Mustached soldier on stretcher. LR.

CU. Another mustached soldier on stretcher. LR.

LS. Soldiers among rocks. Pan left. Shaky camera. Camera swerves around.


CU. Dead soldier head toward camera

MS. Dead soldier.

LS. Dead soldier. Feet toward camera

MS. Dead soldier. Valley in background

LS. Soldiers running in open. RL


LS. Soldiers running across rocks, RL


MS. Soldiers firing, partly obscured by bushes. RL

CU. Soldier firing rifle. Seen from behind.

CU. Soldier firing rifle. Seen from behind. No helmet.

CU. Soldier firing automatic rifle. LR

LS. Two soldiers throw hand grenades, right handed.

MS. One soldier gets up from prone, throws grenade right handed

LS. Soldiers advance LR. Pan right

LS. Soldier on left screen moves down toward valley.


MS. Soldier with tommy gun moves RL


CU. Soldiers move uphill toward camera. RL

MS. Low angle soldiers going uphill, past smoking hole.

MS. Soldiers zigzag past smoking hold

MS. Closer. Soldiers look into hole

MS. Soldiers look down into valley. LR


LS. Soldiers looking down into valley. RL


LS. Explosions in valley


LS. Explosions on hillside

LS. Explosions in bushy area


LS. Explosions in valley

CU. Explosion close to camera, camera shakes wildly



LS. Soldiers moving LR


LS. Soldiers firing from foxholes. LR


LS. Prone soldiers firing LR

LS. Prone soldier firing bazooka

LS. Mortars fired from valley

MS. Mortar team loading and firing mortars. High angle. RL


MS. Soldier with binoculars looking into valley


LS. Smoke in valley

LS. Explosion in middle distance

LS. Explosions

MS. Explosion behind dead fallen tree (used twice before)

LS. Explosion in valley (extremely short shot)

MS. High angle. Soldier behind rocks (extremely short shot)
LS. Explosion. (extremely short)

LS. Explosion closer (extremely short)

LS. Explosion (extremely short)

LS. Dead soldier’s backpack (es)

LS. Explosion. Dead? Soldier in foreground

LS. Explosion fills screen

LS. Explosion. Dead soldier in foreground (continuation of former shot)

LS. Explosion behind dead fallen tree. Continuation of previously used shot. Soldier gets up at end.

CU. Soldier raises up, looking left.

LS. Prone soldiers get up a bit

MS. Soldiers in foxhole in the foreground

CU. Soldiers get up to advance. RL

Cu. Soldiers advance uphill. LR


CU. Soldier falls to ground, RL

CU. Soldier crawls, RL

CU. Soldier getting up, toward camera, LR

LS. Soldiers running through blasted buildings, RL. Pan left. Camera stops, blast. Continues pan

LS. Soldiers advance through open field, away from camera, toward right

MS. Soldiers walking RL. Pan left. Shaky camera. Explosion
LS. Soldiers coming out of foxholes

LS. Soldiers walk past camera and away.

LS. Soldiers advance toward camera. Head of dead soldier in foreground, on right side of frame.

LS. Soldiers walking away from camera, RL


LS. Soldiers on ridge moving toward blasted building on left.


LS. Blasted town seen through dead trees. Soldiers walk past camera screen left.

MS. Soldiers crouching, stand up.

MS. Crouching soldiers move forward, RL. Pan left

MS. Soldiers coming toward camera, LR. Camera drops down when soldier does.

MS. Soldiers walking toward camera, guns pointed toward right.

MS. Soldiers walking toward camera. Guns pointed right

LS soldier bends to look in basement.  RL

CU. Soldier looking up. Low angle. RL. Pan Left

LS. High angle. Soldiers moving RL



MS. Soldier coming out of hole.  Gun in right hand, moves right

MS. Soldiers moving LR. One without helmet


MS. Guy walking toward camera, looks at camera.  Other guys walk up.


LS. Explosion in valley.


LS. Line of soldiers with stretcher. LR. Pan right


LS. Soldiers with stretcher move toward camera.

LS. Graveyard. Digging graves in foreground. Carrying US flag LR. Pan right to gravediggers

MS. Shoveling dirt from grave.

CU/MS. Very young gravedigger looks at camera, body lowered into grave

MS. Nailing dog tags to headstones

CU. Same

MS. Guys lounging and talking



CU. Guy with tommy gun.  Pan right to guy with tobacco in cheek. Camera stops, then continues



CU. Guy smiling looking right

CU. Line of guys, middle one is medic.


CU. Two guys looking left.

CU. Guy with cigar, tree behind.

MS. Soldiers and peasants walking down rubble.  Toward left



LS. Wounded peasants, one on a crutch and face bandage.

MS.  Peasants running out of cave.

MS. Peasant on crutches in field

LS. Covered woman walking down incline.

LS.  Old guy with cane, kid. RL

MS. Old guy with cane coming toward camera

LS. Soldiers and peasants walk through town. Woman looks back at camera

High angle, digging out bombed out building

MS. Finding buried body

MS. Grieving husband

MS. Pulling out dead body.

MS. Woman wipes away tears

MS. Pulling out body

CU. Grieving man

CU. Grieving breastfeeding woman

LS. Line of women holding babies.

MS. Line of women with baskets on heads.

MS. Woman with baskets on head

LS. Woman with casket on head

LS. Woman with casket, low angle

MS. Woman with baggage on head

MS. Woman with lace tablecloth. Beam across top of frame.

LS. Woman raking dirt in shadow

LS. Low angle. Women talking across ruined building.

MS. Woman with basket on head, passes kids

LS. Woman with dresser on head.

MS. Woman with dresser on head

MS. Man holding boy getting ration card

MS. Man leading cows. RL. Stops to look at camera

MS. Cut. Shot continues

MS. Soldier on truck hands sack of flower to peasant. Pan right

MS. High angle. Distributing flour

MS. Distributing flour

CU. Guy checking scales

MS. High angle. Group gets flour

CU. Women getting flour

CU. Group getting flour. Woman puts sack on her head

CU. Profile of man. Pans down to tattered clothes

LS. Woman washing clothes in foreground, American truck crosses bridge in background.

MS. Woman with kids. Pushes kid away

MS. Over the shoulder of cobbler

MS. Young woman and kids come out of cave.

CU. Kids with spoon in his mouth. Pan left


CU. Girl with strand of hair in face.

MS. Kids.  One points at camera


LS. Kid with long coat walks LR

MS. Two small kids hand in hand walk LR

MS. Kid smiles at camera pan down right to his feet in big shoes walking through mud.  Pan right

CU. Girl holds baby. Pan left

CU. Two girls next to mother

CU. Baby girl held by mother, holds cookie

MS. Small boy in hat walks up street

MS. Three kids walk downhill street

CU. Smiling girl

MS. Barefoot kid in hat walks toward camera

CU. Girl paws through grain barrel

MS. Kids laughing, with woman

CU. Small kids nest to mother looks scared

CU. Small kid against wall chewing


CU. Girl with clothes in mouth. Pan left to boy


CU. Girl with headscarf.


LS. Kids pushing toy, cross in background.


LS. Field with orchard in distance.


LS. Woman and child in field
LS. Man and oxen plowing field

MS. Man and oxen plowing field
CU. Man and oxen, move RL

CU. Plow going through earth. Pan left


LS. Procession of altar boys


MS. Statue of St. Peter


MS. Procession of altar boys


CU. Of head of St. Peter

Liberty bell - V


































 
SAN PIETRO
Short Version, 32 minutes
Close to script dated January 5, 1945. But still not exactly the same. Final release version approved March 16, 1945
Text or pictures highlighted in red are different from 38 minute version
XX – different shot order, or text or shot(s) missing from 38 minute version
In 1943, it was one of our strategic aims, to draw as many German armed forces as possible away from the Russian front, and French coastal areas, and to contain them on the Italian peninsula, while liberating as much of Italy as might be possible with the means at our disposal.  As the bulk of our supplies was directed to England for the forthcoming invasion, operations in Italy had to be conducted on an extremely limited scale. Thus it came about, that during the winter months, the number of Allied divisions in Italy was greatly reduced. Yet so determined was their effort, that they succeeded in holding Italy, a very large number of German divisions during the pre-invasion period. San Pietro, in the 5th Army sector, was the key to the Lira Valley. We knew it, and the enemy knew it. We had to take it, even though the immediate cost would be high. We took it, and the cost in relation to the later advance, was not excessive. By its very nature, this success worked bitter hardships upon each individual soldier, calling for the full measure of his courage and devotion. The response of our 5th Army troops provides an inspiring page, in our military history. To these individuals, living and dead, and to those who now continue in their tradition, this picture is dedicated.
Mark Clark intro




Text

XXThe War Department Presents

SAN PIETRO

Produced by the Army Pictorial Service / Music: The Army Air Force Orchestra / The Mormon Tabernacle Choir / St. Brendan’s Boys Choir


Lira Valley lies in the Italian midland,

some sixty miles northwest of Naples, to some forty miles southeast of Rome –

a wide flat corridor, enclosed between four walls of mountains.  

In winter, the highest peaks of the Liri range ascend into the snows,

but the valley floor, with its olive groves and ancient vines, its crops of wheat and corn, is green the year around.

That is, in normal times.

Last year was a bad year for grapes and olives

and the fall planting was late.

Many fields

lay fallow

There are two ways from the south into the valley: one a narrow pass

the other a high scenic road over the mountains

They converge before the site of the ancient village of San Pietro

which for seven hundred years has stood at the threshold of Liri Valley, welcoming the traveler.

The stones of its walls were quarried out of the parent hill from whose slopes it rises. Population, fourteen hundred and twelve at the last census.

A farming community.

Patron saint: Peter

Point of interest:  Saint Peter’s, 1438

Note interesting treatment of chancel


From the end of October, 1943, until the middle of December, San Pietro and the surrounding ground was the scene of some of the bitterest fighting on our Fifth Army Front.

The Italian Campaign had entered its second phase, the push forward again after a static period brought on by heavy seasonal rains.

Our battle lines were haphazard as the terrain itself,

with its flood swollen rivers that

twisted back and forth across our line of march

so that each river seemed like five.

No narration

And where there was no river to cross, a mountain blocked our going – each peak ahead being a few meters higher than the last we had won

so that each new peak had to be fought for

the hard, uphill way

with the enemy looking down our throats.


They had had time to fortify and camouflage their positions

No amount of artillery fire or aerial bombardment could force them to withdraw…
that was for infantry to do,

employing those weapons that can find and destroy life

 in narrow trenches, caves and fighting holes. 

It was up to the man with the rifle, the man under fire from all weapons.

The man whose way all our weapons - land, air and sea  - serve only to prepare.

It was up to the foot soldier – to attack a hidden enemy

over ground that was sown with mines…the anti-personnel “S” mines

that fly up at a footfall to explode beneath the groin.

Nowhere along the entire front were enemy preparations more elaborate than in the San Pietro area.

For San Pietro stands at the threshold of Liri Valley

 and through Liri Valley wide and level runs the most highly prized length of road, south of Rome.

By early December, we had taken and were holding high ground to the northeast, east and south of San Pietro…the Camino-Maggiore hill mass being last to fall. An Italian brigade under Allied command had made a vain attempt to capture Mt. Lungo,

possession of which would have acted greatly to our benefit in the impending action.

The Italians were all but annihilated.

In view of their excessive loses, further operations against Mt.

Lungo’s strategic heights were abandoned
And it was decided to make a direct frontal assault on enemy positions, in and around San Pietro

Elements of the 36th Texas Infantry division were rotated from position to position

overlooking the valley

so the troops might study the terrain ahead from

various viewpoints

No narration

Patrol activity was continuous

No narration

Day and night, units went out to reconnoiter the ground, draw fire,

take prisoners,

thus adding to the sum of our information about the enemy.

High points – Mt. Lungo’s 351 and Mt. Sammucro’s 1205 and 950, were all manned in force.  The town itself was strongly garrisoned with numerous mortar, machine gun and heavy weapon emplacements.  Four enemy battalions were dug into a line of connecting trenches and mutually supporting pill boxes in depth that extended from the base of Mt. Lungo northeast across the valley floor to the base of Mt. Sammucro. Another battalion was organized to defend the high ground northwest of San Pietro. Areas before these positions were heavily mined and held a confusion of barbed wire and booby traps.

 On the afternoon before, D-Day and H-Hour were communicated

to battalion commanders

No narration





December 8th at 0620 hours, the 1st Battalion of the 143rd Infantry Regiment to attack the summit of 1205, having moved up the mountain under cover of darkness. And upon achieving its objective to attack along the ridge to a point northwest of San Pietro.  The 3rd Ranger Battalion likewise to attack 950 – another feature of the Mt. Sammucro Hill Mass.  The 2nd Battalion of the 143rd to attack over the terraced olive orchards northeast of San Pietro. The 3rd Battalion, acting in support to follow the 2nd at four hundred yards.

Of the original

force to establish the beachhead at Salerno,

the 143rd had since

spent all but a fortnight in action

under extremely bitter weather

conditions.  At Salerno --

at the Volturno crossing

it had taken mortal punishment.


The task ahead promised no less


bloodshed, yet it was undertaken in good spirits and high confidence.

The 1st Battalion began the long, rugged climb up Mt. Sammucro.

No narration

As night fell our artillery opened up and throughout the night hours, intense fire was laid down on the enemy’s main line of resistance.
No narration

It had rained most of the night and it was raining at “H” hour when the 2nd and

3rd battalions crossed the line of departure 

No narration


XXSome 200 yards forward they encountered mines and automatic fire from pill boxes


No narration


XXMortar and artillery fire were deadly accurate by reason of excellent enemy observation from Mt. Lungo

overlooking our advance.  

XXWhich continued

another 200 to 400 yards.

No narration





















XXMany men gave their lives in attempts to XXreach pill boxes and throw hand grenades

through the narrow gun openings.

The 3rd Battalion was committed.

No narration















But the advance never got more than

600 yards past

the line of departure.

Our initial assault on San Pietro

had been repulsed with heavy casualties.

No narration.



The attack on Hill 1205, however, was a brilliant success.

Leading elements of the 1st Battalion had gained the summit of the objective

before a strongly entrenched enemy knew

that an assault was in progress.

No narration






To the right of Hill 1205 the 3rd Ranger Battalion
had also captured

its objective, but only after successive attacks


and costly casualties – for on XX 950

the enemy was not taken unaware.

Counterattacks were to be expected on both 1205

and 950. They were not long developing.


No narration









The first was launched during the early daylight hours

and even as it was beaten off, another took form.

No narration





Day and night they followed with unremitting violence.
No narration




The toll of enemy dead mounted with each new

attempt…

no narration






But German prisoners captured on 1205 and 950

said that they had been ordered to retake those positions

at all costs.


XX In addition to defending


Hill 1205,

the 1st Battalion obedient to the field order,

undertook the reduction of enemy defenses which were organized along the ridge running west.

No narration

















XXOn the 12th of December the 1st Battalion

was reinforced by the 504th Parachute Battalion,

which took over and maintained the


defenses of 1205 and

950,

thereby enabling the 1st Battalion to throw its entire remaining strength

into the assault along the ridge. But the 1st’s strength had dwindled and shrunk in the five days past

and there was now a question as to whether its existing numbers

were sufficient to prevail.

Reports during the night of the 14th of December


stated that the enemy was offering bitter resistance and that the issue was in grave doubt.

Meanwhile, on the olive terraces below, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions had twice again

attempted to reach their objective.

No narration

Both XXtimes they had come up a

wall of automatic weapon, mortar and artillery fire.

No narration
XXVolunteer patrols made desperate attempts to reach enemy positions and reduce strong points.

 No narration




Not a single member of any


such patrol ever came back alive


No narration




Our attacking forces were furnished excellent aerial cover by Allied fighter patrols,

No narration

but now and then enemy planes were able to slip through

and to bomb and strafe our positions.

Which to all purposes, had remained unchanged since the first day.

To break the deadlock, orders were given for a coordinated divisional attack.

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 143rd to proceed in the execution of the original orders.  Acting in conjunction, Company A of the 753rd Tank Battalion to attack San Pietro from the east over the high road. One battalion of the 141st to attack over the flat valley floor. After nightfall on D-Day the 142nd Infantry Regiment to attack XX Mt. Lungo.

The earlier decision not to attack those strategic heights having been reversed in view of the present critical situation.

In preparation XX

for the attack, all

Fifth Army artillery

within range


including tanks and

all-tracks was

directed against San Pietro

and the surrounding area.

No narration














































































[midway through shot] “H” hour, 1200 hours

“D” day, the 15th of December

[midway through shot] The 141st  Infantry advanced

some 400 yards from its line of departure

no narration





to be born down and held

powerless under the weight of enemy fire. 

No narration

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 143rd advanced some one hundred yards

beyond their former positions

to a point

almost directly before

forward enemy

defenses…

and for the third time

they were forced to take

such cover

as the quaking earth could offer.

And the tanks…


Orders were for them to enter the town XXto locate and destroy the heavy weapons there, which were

leveled against our attacking foot soldiers.

XX The high road into San Pietro is a narrow mountain road

 and from the beginning of its winding descent into Lira Valley it was under direct enemy observation.

No narration






Sixteen tanks started down that road.

Three reached the outskirts of the town.






Of these, two were destroyed

 and one was missing.

Five tanks were immobilized behind

enemy lines, their crews having to abandon them.

Five tanks hit enemy mines within our lines and were thereupon destroyed by enemy gunfire.

Four tanks returned to the bivouac area.

After dark two companies, one from the 2nd Battalion and one from the 3rd Battalion finally succeeded in penetrating enemy positions before San Pietro.

But receiving both frontal and flanking fire, they were forced to retire,

Company “E” having been reduced in strength to a handful of rifleman

XX and Company “L” faring little better.

No narration




On the Mt. Sammucro ridge the 1st Battalion fought its way to within a few hundred yards of the objective,

but it had paid for ground gained

at the rate of a man a yard,

and it did not have strength to

carry the fight any further forward.

On Mt. Lungo, however, despite bitter resistance,

XX battalions of the


XX 142nd – in successive waves,

kept pushing upwards

 No narration

XX Until


in the early daylight hours of the 16th of December

 its foot soldiers had gained the summit

and were wiping up what remained of a stubborn enemy.

XX And that height proved to be a key position in the enemy plan of defense.
For even as Mt. Lungo fell,

XX the enemy throughout the San Pietro area made preparations

XX to withdraw.  XX Almost invariably the enemy

XX will counterattack XXto cover a withdraw. The first violent thrust was

XX delivered within a few hours.

XX (midway through shot) And thereafter, counterattacks came in waves, the roar of the last mingling with the rush and fury of the next to break.

Many companies lost all their officers. Enlisted men

came forward as inspirational leaders to rally their battered companies

 into resisting yet one more onslaught.

No narration



XXOur own artillery was brought to fall within a hundred yards of our front line elements.

No narration



XXAfter five hours during which


the earth never ceased to tremble,


counterattacks

ended,

indicating that the withdrawal
of the enemy’s main body


had commenced.


No narration










XXIn an effort to maintain contact with the enemy, our patrols immediately pushed ahead.

No narration















XXEntering the town they discovered that San Pietro was ours for the taking.

No narration


The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, less than a rifle company in strength,

weary to death, who were alive, stumbled forward past San Pietro to consolidate gains and re-establish contact with the enemy,

now taking up new positions some five kilometers beyond.

That is the broad shape of the battle of San Pietro,

XX which was but the first of many battles XX in Lira Valley.  It was a very costly battle.

XX After the battle the 143rd Infantry Regiment alone required eleven hundred replacements.

No narration

(starts halfway through shot) The lives lost were precious lives,

to their country, to their loved ones

…and the men themselves.

For the living of the 143rd Infantry Regiment more than one hundred decorations for acts of valor above and beyond

 the call of duty. Many among these you see alive here have since joined the ranks of their brothers in arms who fell at San Pietro. For ahead lay San Vittori and the Rapido River

 and Cassino and beyond Cassino  more rivers

and more mountains and more towns…more

San Pietros…greater or lesser…

a thousand more.

As the battle passed over and beyond San Pietro, westward, townspeople began to appear,

XX coming out of their caves in the mountains where they had staying in hiding during the enemy occupation.

XX They were mostly old people…And children.
No narration





















The townspeople were warned against enemy mines and booby traps

Which were in the process of being cleared

No narration































XX Children are able to forget quickly.

XX Yesterday they wept…Today there are smiles and

 XX even laughter…

No narration

Tomorrow it will be as though the bad things had never happened.

No narration
























Living was resumed in San Pietro.

XX (begins midshot) Our prime military aim


XX being to engage and defeat the enemy, the capture of the town itself and the liberation of

XX its people is of an incidental nature. 

XX But the people, in their military innocence,

XX look upon us solely as their

XX  deliverers.

It was to free them, and their farmlands, that we

 came. 


No narration

XX Behind our lines, southwest, to the sea, the fields are green with growing crops

XX planted after our coming…by other people, of other towns,

who believe likewise.





The new won earth at San Pietro was plowed and sown. It should yield a good harvest this year.

(starts midway through shot) And the people
prayed

XX to their patron saint to intercede with god on behalf of those who came, delivered them,

XX and passed on to the north, with the passing battle.

No narration



Image

Text

Main Title

Credits




LS valley with sun streaming

Second LS of valley


Third LS of valley


Closer shot of valley with buildings


Dead trees (track right)



Dead tree

CU of dead tree and wooden frame

Fallen dead tree

LS of field with shell holes

LS of blasted field with water filled hole

LS through pass to valley


LS of valley with box or truck(?) in right foreground

Shot of map, zoom in to San Pietro


LS of valley with shadows


Low angle uphill of bombed out town (pan left)



LS of fields

Blasted statue of St. Peter

LS, blasted church

Looking up through bombed out dome, the rest of church (pan down)

LS of valley with smoke (pan right)




Trucks on muddy road



Map with pointer at line of squares


LS of floodwaters

Floodwaters, with dead trees in foreground

Trucks crossing flooded river.

LS. floodwaters

Aerial shot of valley, moving left.



CU, troops raising artillery piece

CU, soldier looking through binoculars

MS. Self propelled gun firing. Guy with binoculars on top

LS of mountainside with smoke


LS hillside with smoke, through trees

CU of soldier affixing bayonet to rifle. Facing left.

CU prone soldier reaches for bayonet in belt (pan left) and affixes to rifle

CU soldier attaching grenades to belt. High angle

MS field with barbed wire, soldier advances RL


CU,  head of soldier moves RL


CU head and shoulders of soldier with rifle (RH) moves RL

CU head of soldier moves RL


CU head of second soldier moves RL


LS of hillsides and valley, pan LR



LS of San Pietro half in shadow

Trucks on road. LR


Map of area. Pointer shows troop locations






LS of smoke and explosions in valley


MS. Italian troops carrying stretcher.

LS Soldiers carrying stretcher with corpse down hillside, LR

Loading corpses into truck
LS line of troops walking RL


CU of line of troops, toward camera, but RL


MS three soldiers looking into the valley

CU, two soldiers with maps

LS of valley with smoke

CU, soldier on phone

Soldier going up bushy hill, RL (gun in left hand )

CU soldier sliding on stomach through bushes, LR

MS. Two soldiers talking, they salute and walk away

MS, interviewing Germany prisoners

CU, two German prisoners (helmeted one on left)


Map with pointer













CU of soldier on phone in left hand


MS overhead of soldiers on phone

MS of two soldiers on phones, leaning diagonally.

CU low angle of soldier on phone

MS, soldiers with rifles waiting around

Map











LS soldiers in foxholes

XX MS, soldier sitting with elbows on knees

CU, smiling soldier (curled lapel on coat)

CU, smiling soldier, chewing gum

CU, soldier chewing gum (turns head screen right)

CU, soldier with mustache, left half of screen

CU, smiling soldier with netting on helmet

CU, different smiling soldier with mustache, right half of screen

CU, soldier looking up, left half of screen; turns head screen left.

MS, soldier with tommy gun, back to camera


XXMS, Line of soldiers walking uphill, diagonally RL


XXMS, line of soldiers going uphill, crossing RL

XXDissolve to night shots of artillery flashes of light (several different shots)

LS daytime of valley

LS, walking troops in orchards RL


LS, troops in orchard, RL (some on hill in back)

XXLS, one soldier walking slowly through orchard, seen through branches. RL

XXLS, troops mid frame, moving away from camera, smoke in distance. Soldier is shot at end of shot.

XXLS, very low angle, out of focus, two soldiers move RL

LS, two soldiers run RL



XXMS, out of focus. Troops move RL

XXMS. Out of focus. Troops move RL

MS. Bright explosion

Camera “pans” from straight ahead, and “falls” forward down.

CU. Soldier pulls another into foxhole, toward camera, RL.

XXMS. Explosion behind fallen dead tree

MS. Soldier in foxhole looks at rock formations. Smokey.

CU. Soldier pulls another into foxhole, left side of frame.

XXMS, two soldiers in foxhole in foreground, explosion in background.

MS. Soldiers on ground, camera moves around wildly.

Camera swerves around violently

MS of corpse, half in shadow.


MS, corpse with crossed legs, gun faces left.

MS, troops through orchard, moving diagonally RL

CU, out of focus, soldier moves RL

XXLS, soldiers move RL

LS, soldier moves RL

MS, bright explosion near camera

MS, soldier slides into foxhole with another, from screen left.

MS, explosion behind fallen dead tree (same as shot above)

LS, explosion in open field.

MS, explosion closer to camera.

MS, explosion with dead body in foreground

MS, explosion closer to camera

MS. Putting corpses in white body bags.

CU, putting a corpse in body bag.

CU, putting corpse in body bag.

XX CU, crossing arms of corpse.

Map


MS, troops on ridge advance RL.


XX CU, machine gun crew prepares.

CU, machine gunner aims gun. RL

CU, soldier with tommy gun puts rock in front of him.  RL (left handed)

CU, soldier behind rocks. RL. (left handed)

MS, low angle, soldier prone on a rock. RL

XX MS, line of soldiers walking uphill, RL.


MS, line of soldiers walking diagonally (flat ground), RL. Smoke in background

MS. Carrying stretcher downhill, LR.

Closer shot, carrying stretcher downhill, LR.

LS, soldiers at base of rocky hill.

CU, prone soldier in Right foreground, looking uphill

MS. Soldiers on ridge in left foreground, explosion downhill on the right

High angle, soldiers on ridge in left foreground, explosion downhill to the right.
LS, explosion behind some tall bushes

MS. Soldiers hiding behind rocks, explosion behind rocks

XX Shaky camera explosion in distance.


CU, machine gun crew fires, RL

LS, tracer bullets toward hillside in distance

CU. Machine gunner in right foreground shooting.

LS, tracer bullets hit far hillside

LS, explosions on hillside

CU. Mortar loaded and fired

LS, explosions on hillside


CU Dead enemy soldier, RL

CU. German corpse, head in upper left.

CU. German corpse. Head in lower left.

CU. Germany corpse. Head in upper right. Mask pulled off face.

CU. German corpse. Upside down in frame

MS. Prisoners being lead downhill on zigzag trail

XX CU, POW.


XX MS. Three German prisoners looking left (this shot switched with one above)

XX MS. Soldier in right side of frame throws hand grenade, [from NFPF cover] left handed.  Pan left.

XX MS. Explosion. Left of frame

MS. Soldiers advance, away from camera.

Map


MS. Soldier runs uphill right to left, camera pans left.  Lays down on rocks

Closer shot. Soldier on right side of frame throws hand grenade left handed.  He and another soldier pick up their rifles and advance.

MS. Another soldier, in right side of frame, throws hand grenade, left handed. Pan left

Cut. LS. Explosion in right side of frame.

LS. Soldier in distance throws grenade right handed.

Cut. LS. Explosion on hillside above two prone soldiers.

MS. Line of soldiers walking RL.

MS. Line of soldiers on hillside trail, walking RL

LS, Prone soldiers behind rocks on hill shooting down into valley

MS. Prone soldier behind rocks firing RL

XX LS, explosion on left of screen

LS. Soldiers advancing uphill away from camera. Out of focus rock in foreground.

Soldiers on hillside in middle distance. One dead?



MS. Bringing down wounded in stretcher, toward camera

Closer. Bringing down stretcher, LR

MS. Soldier on telephone, soldier on rifle behind him. Flipped to face screen left

CU. Soldier in profile, facing screen left, in and out of shadow.

LS, soldiers moving through very smoky orchard. RL

LS, solider moving through orchard, diagonally RL

MS, bright explosion

MS, soldiers in foxhole in foreground

LS, explosion in valley


XX LS, soldiers move into the open and go prone
MS, soldiers run RL, one drops his gun, pan RL


LS. Explosion in orchard

CU. Soldier leaving foxhole away from camera, to the Left

CU. Another soldier leaving foxhole away from camera to the left . Out of focus

MS. Soldiers advancing away from camera, to the left.

LS. Soldiers advancing through orchard away from camera, drop to prone.

LS. Explosion

LS. P-38 planes in sky.


CU. Soldier in left frame looks up

LS. Dive bomber attacking. Barbed wire in foreground

LS. Explosions in valley

MS. Officers in helmets looking at map, facing right.

MS. Officers in caps looking at map. Facing left


Map








CU. One guy on phone another behind. They look at map


LS. Artillery piece raised

CU of cannon breech.

MS. Sherman tank moving RL

MS. Artillery piece with camouflage netting above it.

MS. Tank turret rotating clockwise

MS. Artillery piece with breech open

MS. Soldier with mustache on phone.

LS. Cannon being raised

MS. Soldier with glasses on phone. Faces left.

MS. Cannon next to tree is raised

CU. Artillery soldiers working, overhead shot

MS. Two soldiers carry shell in a carrier. Shell is loaded into breech. RL

CU. Explosive loaded into breech, breech is closed

MS. Soldier with glasses gives order to fire.

CU. Soldier looks through binoculars. RL

MS. Soldier fires cannon.

MS. Soldier looks through binoculars. RL

LS. Cannon fires.

MS. Artillery fires at town (shot used previously)

LS. Cannon fires

LS. Artillery shells town

LS. Sherman tank fires. Seen from rear.

MS. High angle of artillery crew firing cannon.
MS. Self propelled gun fires. Seen from behind. Soldier on top looking through binoculars.

LS. Several tanks dug in firing. RL

XX LS. Explosions on hillside

LS. High angle. Explosions in town.

LS. Low angle. Explosions in town.

MS. Self propelled gun firing, being loaded.

LS. Large cannon firing. RL

MS. Small cannon firing. RL

MS. Large cannon firing. Very short. RL

MS. Cannon firing. Camouflage netting above.  Flipped (writing on side is backward)

CU. Low angle of soldier looking through binoculars. Camouflage netting above. flipped

LS. High angle. Explosions in valley.

MS. Crew fires cannon.

LS. Sherman tank fires. Seen from behind

LS. M-10 Tank Destroyers firing. RL

CU. Cannon fires, seen from behind

MS. Cannon fires, RL

MS. Cannon fires, moves out of frame. RL

MS. Tank fires, RL

MS. High angle. Artillery crew fires cannon.

CU. Soldier fires large cannon

LS. Explosions in town

CU. Soldier holding binoculars (dissolve to)

CU. Soldiers synchronizing watches

CU. One soldier’s watch

LS. Soldiers advance through field toward town, seen from behind.

MS. Soldiers move RL.

LS. Soldiers reach trees, continuation of the one just before previous. They fall prone when explosion hits.

MS. Closer shot of same

LS. Soldiers in foxholes

LS. Prone soldiers in field.

LS. Soldiers in foxhole. Blast shakes camera

LS. High angle, troops advance through large bushes downhill

MS. Low angle of barbed wire.

MS. Prone soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Closer of same RL

LS. Soldiers and barbed wire

MS. Soldier with rifle behind barbed wire

XX MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire. Post

MS. Soldiers behind barbed wire.

LS. Sherman tank moves out from behind building. RL. Pan left  (shortened)

LS. Tank moving RL.



LS. Tank moving RL in far distance.  Pan left

LS-MS. Tank advancing on road straight at camera.
Flipped

LS. Switchback mountain road


MS. Tank on road, moving RL toward camera. Pan left

MS. Tank moving toward camera. LR

MS Tank moving toward camera, RL. Pan left

LS. Road into town

CU. Tank moves past camera. LR, then away from camera.

MS. Artillery fires

LS. Valley and town.

MS. Wrecked tank, turret blown off.

LS. Turret less tank on hillside

MS. Upside down tank

MS. Upside down tank with tree branches behind

MS. Carrying stretchers, LR


MS. Low angle of tank moving in shadow flipped?

LS. Night scene. Flares




LS. Night gunfire and flares


CU. Soldier with beard on stretcher. LR


CU. Clean shaven soldier on stretcher. LR

XX CU. Mustached soldier on stretcher. LR.

CU. Another mustached soldier on stretcher. LR. (reel change)

LS. Soldiers among rocks.flipped XX Shaky camera. Camera swerves around.


CU. Dead soldier head toward camera

MS. Dead soldier.

LS. Dead soldier. Feet toward camera

MS. Dead soldier. Valley in background

XX Map

XX MS. Soldiers firing, partly obscured by bushes. RL

CU. Soldier firing rifle. Seen from behind.

XX CU. Soldier firing automatic rifle. RL

LS. Two soldiers throw hand grenades, left handed.

MS. One soldier gets up from prone, throws grenade left handed

XX MS. Soldiers zigzag past smoking hole

XX MS. Closer. Soldiers look into hole




MS. Soldiers look down into valley. LR

LS. Soldiers looking down into valley. RL

LS. Explosions in valley


LS. Explosions on hillside

LS. Explosions in bushy area


LS. Explosions in valley

CU. Explosion close to camera, camera shakes wildly



LS. Soldiers moving RL


LS. Soldiers firing from foxholes. RL


LS. Prone soldiers firing RL

LS. Prone soldier firing bazooka

LS. Mortars fired from valley

XX MS. Soldier with binoculars looking into valley


XX LS. Explosion in middle distance

LS. Explosions

MS. Explosion behind dead fallen tree (used twice before)

XX (about ten shots) CU. Soldiers get up to advance. RL

MS. Soldiers in foxhole in the foreground

Cu. Soldiers advance uphill. RL

Repeat previous shot
XXCU. Soldier getting up out of foxhole, RL (used twice)

CU. Soldier getting out of foxhole.  Slightly further away than last shot.

LS. Soldiers running through blasted buildings, RL. Pan left. Camera stops, blast. Continues pan

LS. Soldiers advance through open field, away from camera, toward left

XX LS. Soldiers coming out of foxholes

XX LS. Soldiers advance toward camera. Head of dead soldier in foreground, on right side of frame.

XXLS. Soldiers on ridge moving toward blasted building on left.

LS. Blasted town seen through dead trees. Soldiers walk past camera screen left.

XX MS. Crouching soldiers move forward, RL. Pan left

MS. Soldiers coming toward camera, RL. Camera drops down when soldier does.

MS. Soldiers walking toward camera, guns pointed toward left.

XX LS soldier bends to look in basement.  RL

CU. Soldier looking up. Low angle. RL. Pan Left

LS. High angle. Soldiers moving RL


MS. Soldier coming out of hole.  Gun in left hand, moves left

MS. Soldiers moving RL One without helmet


MS. Guy walking toward camera, looks at camera.  Other guys walk up. Flipped – move left


LS. Explosion in valley.


LS. Line of soldiers with stretcher. LR. Pan right

LS. Soldiers with stretcher move toward camera.


LS. Graveyard. Digging graves in foreground. Carrying US flag LR. Pan right to gravediggers

MS. Shoveling dirt from grave.

CU/MS. Very young gravedigger looks at camera, body lowered into grave

MS. Nailing dog tags to headstones

CU. Same

MS. Guys lounging and talking



CU. Guy with tommy gun.  Pan right to guy with tobacco in cheek. Camera stops, then continues



CU. Guy smiling looking right

CU. Line of guys, middle one is medic.

CU. Two guys looking left.

CU. Guy with cigar, tree behind.

MS. Soldiers and peasants walking down rubble.  Toward left

XX MS.  Peasants running out of cave.



XX LS.  Old guy with cane, kid. RL
XX LS. Soldiers and peasants walk through town. Shortened

XX MS. Old guy with cane coming toward camera

XX MS. Woman with baskets on head

XX MS. Line of women with baskets on heads.

XX MS. Woman with baggage on head

XX LS. Woman with dresser on head.

XX MS. Man leading cows. RL. Stops to look at camera

MS. Cut. Shot continues

XX LS. Woman with casket on head

LS. Woman with casket, low angle

XX MS. Man holding boy getting ration card


MS. Soldier check boobytrap

XX LS. Low angle. Women talking across ruined building.

XX MS. Woman with lace tablecloth. Beam across top of frame

LS. Woman raking dirt in shadow

LS. Explosion – building demolition (boobytrap?)

XX High angle, digging out bombed out building

MS. Finding buried body

MS. Grieving husband

MS. Pulling out dead body.

MS. Woman wipes away tears

MS. Pulling out body

CU. Grieving man

CU. Grieving breastfeeding woman

LS. Line of women holding babies.

XX MS. Young woman and kids come out of cave.

CU. Kids with spoon in his mouth. XX (no pan)

MS. Woman with kids. Pushes kid away

CU. Girl with strand of hair in face.


MS. Three kids walk downhill street

CU. Smiling girl

MS. Two small kids hand in hand walk LR


MS. Kid smiles at camera pan down right to his feet in big shoes walking through mud.  Pan right

XX MS. Barefoot kid in hat walks toward camera

XX CU. Girl with clothes in mouth. Pan left to boy

XX CU. Two girls next to mother

XX CU. Small kid against wall chewing

XX CU. Baby girl held by mother, holds cookie

XX CU. Girl holds baby. Pan left

XX CU. Girl with headscarf.

XX MS. Small boy in hat walks up street

XX MS of peasants moving stones. (used in beginning of long version)

MS. Women washing clothes in stream, jeeps in background

XX MS. Over the shoulder of cobbler

XX MS. Soldier on truck hands sack of flower to peasant. Pan right

MS. High angle. Distributing flour


MS. Distributing flour

CU. Guy checking scales

MS. High angle. Group gets flour

MS. Distributing flour (repeat of earlier shot)

CU. Women getting flour

CU. Group getting flour. Woman puts sack on her head

CU. Profile of man. Pans down to tattered clothes

LS. Field with orchard in distance.


LS. Woman and child in field


LS. Man and oxen plowing field

MS. Man and oxen plowing field

CU. Man and oxen, move RL

CU. Plow going through earth. Pan left


LS. Procession of altar boys


MS. Statue of St. Peter


MS. Procession of altar boys


CU. Of head of St. Peter

Liberty bell - V

All scenes in this picture were photographed within range of enemy small arms or artillery fire. For purposes of continuity a few of these scenes were shot before and after the actual battle of SAN PIETRO.



































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