Greater Fear In Italy

RandyT0001

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Which unit caused the most fear in the German soldiers defending Italy, the Gurkha Regiments or the First Special Service Regiment?
 

Paul M. Weir

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The Goumiers Marocains.
I would agree. It was said that no civilian was safe, old men, children, even farm animals risked their "innocence" in their presence.
 

witchbottles

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Perhaps Randy phrased it wrong - when I first read his question, it seemed to ask which of the two given units did the Germans fear/respect more in battle - rather than which unit did they fear the most in the theater of action. I could be , however, mistaken.

:)
 

Yuri0352

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Perhaps Randy phrased it wrong - when I first read his question, it seemed to ask which of the two given units did the Germans fear/respect more in battle - rather than which unit did they fear the most in the theater of action. I could be , however, mistaken.

:)
The OP's question seemed quite straightforward,I just felt that the 2 unit choices seemed oddly limited, considering the question was based on 'fear', with no mention of 'respect' at any particular level. The OP'S choices also seemed very limited considering the variety of nationalities fighting the Germans during the Italian campaign. A case could also be made perhaps for the inclusion of U.S. Army artillery as a choice.

As to the question of 'fear', I chose to evaluate this at a more primal level, as may have been experienced by the average landser, rather than as a general acknowledgement of tactical prowess.

In the end, absent any input from surviving German veterans of the Italian campaign, it's all just informed opinion by amateur historians.
 

kcole4001

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They probably feared the US heavy bombers more than anything else, but that's not good ASL.
 

Bob Walters

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From what I have read the feared American artillery the most with the British artillery second. They looked on the Americans as amateurs and the British as good enlisted but lousy officers.
 

Justiciar

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Just for the sake of the thread...I will add the 10th Mtn. Division (US). It's exploits under Darby (ex-Ranger CO) helped crack the line in Feb 1945+. The 10th suffered very heavy casualties sticking it to the Germans for its time in country, and did so accomplish some feats, night assault on Mt. Belvedere for example. This not* the answer. But it adds perspective to the topic.
 

Michael Dorosh

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Which unit caused the most fear in the German soldiers defending Italy, the Gurkha Regiments or the First Special Service Regiment?
I think it would be quite hard to distinguish fact from fiction as far as that goes. Stories of the Gurkhas, Black Devils, Goums etc. have grown in the telling, as has the assumption the Germans were terrified of them. No doubt these Allied 'elites' came by their reputations honestly, but you would need to look at unit records and contemporary accounts to discern what practical effects, if any, this had.

The Hermann Goering Division (an elite in itself) opposed the FSSF at Anzio. It's possible they ceded No Man's Land to the Force in deference to their reputation, but I'm not sure there is a whole lot of tangible evidence of stuff like this. Good units on both sides prided themselves on their own reputations, and probably didn't spend a whole lot of time worrying about the reputations of the guys across the line, to the point it markedly changed the way they did business.
 
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