Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko. The Germans occupied San Pietro in September 1943 to prepare the defenses. The Battle of San Pietro was part of the overall campaign to breach the Bernhardt/Reinhard Line, some 10 km (6.2 mi) deep at that point. Edit movie details. [United States. During that time, the Fifth Army sustained 16,000 casualties. After four successive Allied attacks and German counterattacks, the Germans pulled back from San Pietro since the dominating ground on both flanks, Mount Lungo and the Sambúcaro peaks, was now in II Corps’ possession. These were strategically important positions because they allowed the control of the long stretch of Route 6, important for the advance of the Allies. German forces then withdrew to the north, towards Rome, and dug in along a series of well-fortified lines. Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery's British Eighth Army advanced from the east following the Second Battle of El Alamein and the British-American invasion of French North Africa by Lieutenant General Kenneth Anderson's British First Army in Operation Torch had led to the surrender of almost 250,000 Axis forces in North Africa in May 1943. Synopsis This documentary movie is about the battle of San Pietro, a small village in Italy. After a week of intense attacks and counterattacks, the U.S. 36th Division’s 143rd Infantry Regiment the 3rd Ranger Battalion and the 504th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (504th PRCT) commanded the heights of the Sambúcaro mass. On 8 September, before the main invasion at Salerno by Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark's U.S. Fifth Army (which contained significant British units), the surrender of Italy to the Allies was announced. Read more. The Allied invasion of Italy from the south followed the Allied successes in North Africa. Some 1,100 men died in the battle. The Battle of San Pietro Infine (commonly referred to as the “Battle of San Pietro”) was a major engagement from 8–17 December 1943, in the Italian Campaign of World War II involving Allied forces attacking from the south against heavily fortified positions of the German “Winter Line” in and around the town of San Pietro Infine, just south of Monte Cassino about halfway between Naples and Rome. The Germans retreated to the island of Sicily and on the night of 9/10 July 1943, an Allied armada of 2,590 vessels launched one of the largest combined operations of World War II: the Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky). Unlike many other military documentaries, it was claimed Huston’s cameramen filmed alongside the infantrymen as they fought their way up the hills to reach San Pietro. This changed the German defensive strategy greatly, and the Germans now regarded their former allies as enemies and moved to disarm Italian units and occupy important defensive positions. [2] They set up a defensive apparatus in the whole territory, in particular on Mount Sambúcaro[nb 1] and Mount Lungo, which overlooked the Mignano Gap. Sambúcaro usually appears with the alternative name "Sammucro" on Allied military maps of the period. Destruct… Huston was no longer considered a pariah; he was decorated and eventually promoted to major. In 1991, The Battle of San Pietro was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. Get it. No summary. The Battle of San Pietro. ; United States. The battle destroyed the town of San Pietro Infine completely. The Battle of San Pietro John Huston John Huston John Huston (1945) More than 1,100 soldiers from the United States perish while attacking a strategic village in Italy. It proved to be a decisive turning point in the war. 8, page 27). They evacuated all non-essential Italians from the town, meaning women, children and old men; they conscripted able-bodied men to help set up the defenses and requisitioned available vehicles and beasts of burden. Eyewitness accounts from Jewish survivors born in the Polish city of Oświęcim, the city that became infamously known as Auschwitz. By mid-January, Fifth Army had reached the formidable Gustav Line defenses and commenced the first Battle of Monte Cassino, which started on 17 January 1944. Know about Film reviews, lead cast & crew, photos & video gallery on BookMyShow. The defensives lines were called the Reinhard Line, Gustav Line and Hitler Line, placed 18 kilometres (11 mi) one from the other, taking advantage of the point at which the Italian Peninsula is narrowest; they served as a formidable series of obstacles in the path of the Allied march toward Rome. Department of the Army. Huston’s claim that the film was made during the battle was proven false by the research of Peter Maslowski in his 1993 book, Armed With Cameras. The main attack of the 36th Division started at 12:00 on 15 December. It took six weeks of heavy fighting—from early November to late December—to overcome the German defenses. The entire hill mass is about 10 km (6.2 mi) long and 6 km (3.7 mi) wide. Over 1,100 US soldiers were killed while trying to take this location, that blocked the way for the Allied forces from the Germans. 3 people found this helpful. The Battle of San Pietro is a 1945 documentary film about the Battle of San Pietro Infine sixty miles from Naples during World War II. The Battle of San Pietro was preceded by Allied attacks on the Camino hill mass at the entrance to the Mignano Gap (named for the small town on the road at that point). Capra suggested an introduction to the film by the Mark Clark, commander of the Fifth Army in Italy, which Huston only added under protest. Although the Allied powers were victorious, the Axis managed to evacuate over 100,000 men and 10,000 vehicles from Sicily across the Straits of Messina during the first seventeen days in August. Well, that's thrown a spanner in the works. TV-14. (82) IMDb 6.6 38min 2007 13+. The direct attack on the German positions in and around San Pietro began on 8 December by Major General Geoffrey Keyes' II Corps of the Fifth Army. The main battle around San Pietro, an ancient town of no particular note in the mountains of central Italy, pitted German forces against the Allies, primarily American infantry, from December 8 to 16, 1943. Report abuse. The Battle of San Pietro By Ed Carter A soldier at San Pietro fixes his bayonet to his rifle. The film is unflinching in its realism. “The Battle Of San Pietro” (dir. The Battle of San Pietro. "Great Olympic Friendships: Jesse Owens, Luz Long and a beacon of brotherly love at the Nazi games", Fifth Army at the Winter Line (15 November 1943 – 15 January 1944), United States Army Center of Military History. Just six months after the attack on Pearl Harbour, a major battle took place in the Pacific between the United States and Japan. The battle is also remembered as the first in which the troops of the Royal Italian Army (Regio Esercito) fought as co-belligerents of the Allies following the armistice with Italy. Introduction. See actual footage of the Battle of San Pietro in Italy during the year 1944. The line passed directly through the town of San Pietro Infine, blocking the Mignano Gap, the pass through which Route 6, the main road up the center of Italy from Naples to Rome, ran toward Cassino and the entrance to the Liri valley. During that time, the Fifth Army sustained 16,000 casualties. As a point of historical interest, the assault on Mount Lungo was aided for the first time by the 1st Italian Motorized Group,[3] part of the recently reconstituted Italian army, now fighting on the side of the Allies. Scripted by British novelist Eric Ambler, the film, largely comprised of on-the-spot combat footage, concentrates on a grueling battle in the Italian stronghold of San Pietro.The Germans, making full use of the town's natural fortifications, dug in and began defending their position by slaughtering hundreds of … The US Army which commissioned the film refused to show it because it was too honest in its portrayal of the high cost of battle and the difficulties faced. War Department. After a week of intense attacks and counterattacks, the U.S. 36th Division's 143rd Infantry Regiment the 3rd Ranger Battalion and the 504th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (504th PRCT) commanded the heights of the Sambúcaro mass. The Battle of San Pietro was completed over the objections of Huston's superiors and rarely shown until long after the war ended: considering that these films were designed to build morale, a documentary about a battle lost at a terrible cost in manpower and material was not what anyone was hoping to see" (Deming 2010). In the center, the 141st Infantry would attack San Pietro itself. Add to My Movies. San Pietro was a small town in the path of the Allied campaign to clear Italy of Germans. The main attack of the 36th Division started at 12:00 on 15 December. After four successive Allied attacks and German counterattacks, the Germans pulled back from San Pietro since the dominating ground on both flanks, Mount Lungo and the Sambúcaro peaks, was now in II Corps' possession. Destruction was wrought by a combination of close combat, both Allied and German mortar and artillery, and German "scorched earth" policy. This documentary movie is about the battle of San Pietro, a small village in Italy. Four of the 16 tanks survived. The Battle Of San Pietro - 1945 (1945), Documentary released in English language in theatre near you. The Germans launched a counterattack on 16 December to cover their withdrawal as they retreated to positions farther north at Cedro Hill, Mount Porchia, San Vittore, and the western spurs of Sambcaro.[5]. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The Battle of San Pietro was Hollywood filmmaker John Huston's first effort for the U.S. War Department. 32:10 Documentary directed by John Huston who was commissioned by the US army to record their efforts to take Italy in the Battle of San Pietro Infine in 1943. The Fifth Army began to attack the Reinhard/Bernhardt Line on 5 November, and the attacks continued into December. During that time, the Fifth Army sustained 16,000 casualties. The Battle of San Pietro was part of the overall campaign to breach the Bernhardt/Reinhard Line, some 10 km (6.2 mi) deep at that point. The Germans launched a counterattack on 16 December to cover their withdrawal as they retreated to positions farther north at Cedro Hill, Mount Porchia, San Vittore, and the western spurs of Sambcaro. Scenes of grateful Italian peasants serve as a fascinating ethnographic time capsule. Due to the time when it was shot, the movie is in black and white and the sound is of gunfire and the narrator’s, Huston’s, voice. One scene includes close-up views of the faces of dead soldiers as they are being loaded into body bags, a level of realism unheard of in both fictional portrayals as well as newsreel footage of the time. Directed: John Huston: Writers: John Huston: The Battle Of San Pietro for Watch Online. The highway through the Mignano Gap to the Liri Valley was nicknamed "Death Valley" by members of the attacking force. David. 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