Robert E. Jones (338th): His Canteen Found

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Article adapted from Armymag.com.
[https://www.armymag.it/2020/05/13/borraccia-battaglia-gotica-altuzzo-spadi-ponzalla-robert-jones/]

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Memory resurfaces from an object

The canteen of Private Jones had been ‘forgotten’ in an old farmhouse in the Apennines. Fragments of history continue to emerge from the Giogo Pass. Thanks to the reconstruction work of volunteers from the Tuscan Gothic Association, who have been putting the mosaic tiles in place for years, this story can be told. All the artifacts found in war zones are carefully studied, and then the objects and their stories end up being told in the MUGOT - MUSEO GOTICA, which the association has set up and leads in Ponzalla, a hamlet of the municipality of Scarperia and San Piero (FI). In this territory, one of the greenest slices of Tuscany, Mugello, 75 years ago was the protagonist of the horrors of war and the battles for the conquest of the Gothic Line with the Allies opposed to the Nazi-Fascist occupier.

Not much has changed from 80 years ago in these mountains just a stone's throw from Florence. The farmhouses occupied by Germans and Americans during the passage of the war remained inhabited for a few years; soon after the war many of the area's farmers went to the city in pursuit of the economic boom. Those houses remained there, either empty or occupied only on weekends. Evidence of the war can often still be found in these cottages.

«In these houses,” Filippo Spadi, secretary general of Gotica Toscana, a collector and WW enthusiast, tells us, ‘there was a lot of military material left over from the armies in battle. Immediately after the war there was a lot of fear of finding ordnance or other armaments such as hand grenades, mines and ammunition; but the peasants kept and reused objects that had belonged to soldiers, which became ’civilian» and of everyday use: wooden crates, tin boxes, bottles, bayonets, helmets." Even in the woods it was not difficult to find other abandoned materials; what was not recycled or sold to metal salvagers remained in the cottages. Like the water bottle cup featured in our story.

Robert Jones and his story

«Not far from the Giogo Pass,’ says Filippo Spadi again, »where the battle of Monte Altuzzo took place, is the hamlet of Rifredo. In this hamlet, after the fighting, American soldiers made a brief stop. The story begins a few years ago, when a friend of mine bought a farmhouse right in Rifredo. In this house, time had stopped in the 1950s. When my friend entered the dwelling, the barn and cellars he found many wooden and cardboard crates that contained American rations. He called me to retrieve this material; but inside there were many other objects of military origin that he had not seen, especially the canteen cup that was the protagonist of our story.".

There were engravings on the aluminum cup: the letters REJ along with letters and numbers: CO. K 338, or K Company of the 338th Infantry Regiment, part of the 85th Division, or Custer Division. The soldiers who had fought on Mounte Altuzzo. The inscriptions also include Buffalo, an American city in upstate New York.

«Since we could not identify the soldier from those graffiti alone,’ Spadi added, "we turned to Justin Dombrowski, the 85th Division historian and grandson of a veteran. After reviewing the archives, he discovered that REJ were the initials of Robert E. Jones, ASN 42025170.

Dombrowski's further studies at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs revealed that Robert Edward Jones enlisted on Oct. 8, 1943, in Buffalo and survived the war: his discharge is dated Dec. 31, 1945. Later documents revealed to us that Robert Edward Jones married Rachael J. McAllister in Wellsville, New York, on April 6, 1947. He died on October 7, 1977 in Buffalo, New York, and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Wellsville.’.

Subsequent research was done by a local newspaper in the United States, the Wellsville Daily Reporter. Thanks to the historical collection of the newspaper, in the city library, journalists found Jones' obituary from 1977. From it they gathered information about his family which revealed the names of his parents, Thurber Signey Jones and Alta M. Spencer, and the names of his children.

A 43-year-old piece of information traced back to a daughter-Deborah Button. The woman said she did not remember much about her father's military service, but recounted that after the war he worked as a truck driver in Wellsville, mainly delivering furniture.

Military records of the 338th Infantry Regiment document that after the Battle of Mount Altuzzo, Private Robert Edward Jones was promoted to the rank of Private First Class and received Good Conduct Medal and a Bronze Star.

Jones' water bottle at the Gothic Museum of Ponzalla

The mug with the photo of Robert Edward Jones will be displayed at the Ponzalla Museum, the set will be set with a photo of the soldier provided by his daughter, who said she is proud that a piece of her father's life is on display in a museum.

The 85th “Custer” Division

The training

L’85th US Army Infantry Division, named after one of America's myths, General Custer, was first formed in 1917, and took part in World War I. On May 15, 1942, five months after the US entered the war, the 85th returned to active duty, and began training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, under the command of Major General Wade H. Haislip. In April 1943, the division participated in large-scale military training in Louisiana maneuvers near Leesville. In August, the division was transferred to Camp Coxcomb, California, for desert warfare training. Final rehearsals were at Fort Dix, New Jersey, in preparation for transfer to Europe. L’85th left the United States on December 24, 1943, and arrived in Casablanca, Morocco, on January 2, 1944.

In Italy

The first regiment to have its baptism of fire in Italy was the 339th RCT assigned to the 88th Infantry Division, deployed to the Minturno-Castelforte front, north of Naples, on March 28. L’85th division, under 2nd Corps of the U.S. Fifth Army, led by General Mark W. Clark, was engaged in action as a unit on April 10, 1944, north of the Garigliano River, opposite the Gustav Line, and held defensive positions for a month. On May 11 it launched its attack by taking Solacciano, Castellonorato and Formia. Having fallen Itri, the 85thth continued to patrol and intercept Germans on the Gaeta peninsula. Terracina was taken and the road to the beach of Anzio was opened. Custer's men subsequently entered Rome on 5 June 1944 and advanced to Viterbo before being relieved on 10 June.

After spending time in the rear and replenishing the ranks, the “Custer” held the defense of the line on the Arno River from August 15 to 26.

On the Giogo Pass and in the Apennines

They then launched their attack on the mountainous defenses of the Gothic Line, breaking through just after the Battle of Monte Altuzzo and the taking of the fortifications on the Giogo. After breaking through the line on Sept. 13, the soldiers entered Firenzuola on the 21st. The 85th advanced slowly through mud and rain against strong resistance taking La Martina and conquering the Idice River valley road on Oct. 2 and reaching Mount Mezzano on the 24th with a view of the Po Valley. From Oct. 27 to Nov. 22, 1944, defense areas were held near Pizzano. On the 23rd, the division was replaced again to be reconstituted.

At the end of March, Custer, now under the command of Major General Willis D. Crittenberger's IV Corps, was moved back to Tuscany, this time to push through Lucca and Pistoia into the Po Valley to halt enemy activity for good. The Panaro River was crossed on April 23 and the Po River the next day. The division rallied fleeing Germans until their mass surrender on May 2, 1945, in the Belluno-Agordo area.

The end of World War II in Europe came six days later.

Medal of Honour: the heroes of ’85th in Italy

Let us be allowed an important digression here, except to resume elsewhere and extend the memory of these soldiers of the 85th Infantry Division. Four of them earned the Medal of Honor during the Italian War Campaign; two of them for valor shown in the Giogo and Apennine battles:

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