Climb to Conquer: The Untold Story of WWII's 10th Mountain Division by Peter SheltonMy rating: 0 of 5 stars
Italy v. Greece
an estimated ten thousand of them froze to death. Twenty-five thousand were killed in mountain fighting, and many thou-sands more were taken prisoner. The blow to Italian morale and prestige turned out to be irreparable.
In a memorandum on the Italian fiasco, Lt. Col. L. S. Gerow of the General Staff Corps wrote: "Important lesson learned: an army which may have to fight anywhere in the world must have... units especially organized, trained, and equipped for fighting in the mountains and in winter... such units cannot be improvised hurriedly from line divisions. They require long periods of hardening and experience, for which there is no substitute for time."
Minnie Dole couldn't have asked for a better testimonial, and on October 22, 1941, he received letters from Secretary of War Stim-son and General Marshall stating that on November 15, 1941, the 1st Battalion (Reinforced) 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment would be activated at Fort Lewis, Washington. The first element of what would become the 10th Mountain Division was officially launched.
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