FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Soldiers and civilians from U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) celebrated an historic date in the command’s history in the Quadrangle at Fort Sam Houston Friday, as well as having a unit day and kicking off the Combined Federal Campaign.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) commanding general, highlighted some of the significant events soon after Fifth Army was activated Jan. 5, 1943, in Oujda, French Morocco, to assist with the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa and subsequent invasion of Italy.
It’s first commander was Lt. Gen. Mark Clark. After North Africa was secured, Fifth Army served as the main U.S. component of Operation Avalanche, the amphibious assault at Salerno, Italy, in September 1943. For the first few month of the invasion, Fifth Army made progress up the Italian peninsula until the German Army established defensive positions at San Pietro Infine and Monte Cassino.
In the spring of 1944, the allied forces were able to break through the German defenses and continue their march to Rome.
It was at this point in early June 1944, that one of the most controversial incidents in the history of Fifth Army occurred. British Gen. Harold Alexander, commander of the 15th Army Group (Fifth Army’s senior command), had decided that VI Corps of the United States would trap the retreating German forces coming out of Anzio and then Fifth Army and the British Eighth Army would annihilate them.
However, Clark moved his troop to Rome on June 4, 1944, and Fifth Army became the first Allied military force to liberate a Fascist-help capital. However, Clark’s refusal to obey Alexander’s order allowed the German forces to escape and reestablish a line north of Rome.
The Fifth Army didn’t stop in Rome for long and continued to fight their way through Italy. On May 5, 1945, they linked up with the U.S. Seventh Army near the Austrian-Italian border. Three days later, World War II was over. Fifth Army had fought in sustained combat for 602 days, a record for any modern American military unit.
(Source: U.S. Army North Public Affairs)