Episode 48: The US Army Officer Who Ordered an Artillery Strike on Himself in WWII

John R Fox. Photo from the National Archives.

Outnumbered and surrounded by Nazi forces, Lieutenant John R Fox made a last stand in the hills of northern Italy. In a desperate final act of bravery, Fox ordered an artillery strike on his own location just as the Nazis overran his position, killing hundreds of the enemy and sacrificing himself.

John R Fox was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1915, the eldest of three children in an upper middle class black family.  He was raised in suburban Ohio, and was a very outdoorsy teenager – he loved hunting, fishing, and riding horses.  He was also a gifted student, and eventually attended Ohio State University. 

It was during his formative early years in college that Fox evidently decided he wanted to join the military.  He transferred from Ohio State to Wilberforce University, a historically black college, specifically because Wilberforce was, at the time, one of only three universities in America that allowed black men into their ROTC programs.  When John transferred he lost roughly a third of his earned college credits, but he believed was worth it for the opportunity to serve his country. 

At Wilberforce John Fox met Army Captain Aaron Fisher, a highly decorated veteran of WWI.  Fisher had the kind of reputation that can only be earned in battle – he had been part of a heroic defense of a strategically important trench, in which he had fought off a German advance while severely injured from several gunshot wounds.  Fox was inspired by Fisher’s accomplishments and trained hard under his tutelage.  In 1941 Fox graduated at the top of his class with a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army.

John was stationed at Fort Devens in the Boston area of Massachusetts, and shortly after moving in he met his future wife Arlene.  After only a few months of dating they began planning to get married and start a family.

In December of 1941 the Japanese Empire launched their infamous surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and the United States entered the Second World War.  John and Arlene, understanding the severity of the situation, married almost immediately after the news reported the attack – they knew that it was only a matter of time until John was called to war.  The couple had a daughter shortly after the wedding, and they had less than a year together as a family until John was shipped to Europe to fight the Nazis.

In 1942 the US Military was segregated by race.  John was assigned to the 366th Infantry Regiment, an all-black unit with black officers.  However, even the high-ranking black officers had to report to white superiors.  The Army viewed the black units to be beneath their white brothers in arms, and so in the beginning of the war the 366th was given largely menial tasks – cooking, cleaning, vehicle maintenance, that sort of thing.  It wasn’t until the US got further in the European theater that the African American units began being considered for active combat.

A company of the 92nd Infantry Division prepare to land on the shores of Italy in October of 1944. US Army Signal Corps photograph from the National WWII museum.

In November of 1944 John and the rest the 366th were moved to the front lines in Northern Italy and placed under the command of general Edward Almond, a man named after a nut.  Almond, a white man born in Virginia, was not enthusiastic about given black men to command.  Edward Almond’s grandfather had fought for the confederacy, and Edward seemed to share the prejudices of his family.

He specifically advised against the Army using black men as combat troops, stating,

“No white man wants to be accused of leaving the battle line. The Negro doesn't care.”

This, of course, ignores the multiple black units that had been extremely successful in combat up to this point, including the Buffalo Soldiers that fought in the in the various range wars and the Spanish American War as well as the Harlem Hellfighters in World War I.  But, of course, people like Almond usually aren’t the greatest students of history.

General Edward Almond. Photo from the National Archives.

 Almond later said “people think being from the South we don't like Negroes. Not at all, but we understand his capabilities. And we don't want to sit at the table with them.”

When John Fox and the rest of the 366th arrived in Italy Almond called them to a meeting and gave a speech, stating:

“I did not send for you. Your Negro newspapers, Negro politicians, and white friends have insisted on your seeing combat, and I shall see that you get combat and your share of the casualties.”

Telling your soldiers before battle that you don’t want them and are going to make sure that they get hurt or die is an interesting way to go about things, but Almond didn’t seem to place much emphasis on troop morale.

Almond split the 366th into small detachments and spread them along the front in support roles.   Fox received heavy artillery field training and quickly developed a talent for coordinating mortar strikes , perhaps due to his experience working in engineering.  He was attached to a forward observer post in the ancient town of Sommocolonia in the hills of northern Italy, part of the Gothic line between the Axis and the Allies. 

The 92nd enter Sommocolonia, Italy in November of 1944. Photograph from the National Archives.

It was lightly snowing on Christmas morning in 1944 when General Edward Almond got word of an imminent German assault on Sommocolonia.  Scouts reported that an estimated 300-400 Nazi soldiers were moving south towards the old Roman village.  In response, Almond withdrew his white troops from the town, leaving behind a meager defensive force made up of 70 black American soldiers from their segregated unit and 25 Italian resistance fighters.  Less than one hundred men, in total, prepared to defend the town from the coming Nazi assault.

Nervously, the allied troops patrolled the streets, fully aware that an attack could come at any moment.   Lieutenant John R Fox was perched in a belltower with a view over the town and the surrounding area, ready for the coming storm. 

At the same time the Italian residents of Sommocolonia were celebrating Christmas.  Despite the war raging around them, they gathered outside to celebrate.  The Nazis cleverly took advantage of the crowds, and as the day progressed there was a gradual influx of Nazi soldiers hiding in civilian clothes.  As the undercover Nazis slipped into the town their comrades encircled the area, setting up heavy guns on bluffs nearby overlooking the streets.   

At Midnight the first shots were fired, and the fighting started.  The Nazis hiding in civilian clothes set fire to the buildings containing wounded American troops and shot anyone who tried to escape or attempted to put out the flames.  Simultaneously, more than 300 Austrian soldiers advanced from their position in the bluffs while shelling the town with everything they had.  As the sun rose the morning of December 26th, the Nazis had retaken most of Sommocolonia, and the Allied field commanders ordered a retreat.  John R Fox and 8 Italian partisans were ordered to stay and fight.  Their exact orders were quote “hold at all costs”.

From his vantage point in the bell tower Fox coordinated defensive artillery strikes on the Nazi forces.  The Nazis fired back, ripping the village apart with mortar fire.   Despite the death and destruction surrounding him, Fox remained calm, clearly relaying coordinates into his radio.  At 0900 or 9 Am in the morning Fox spotted a mule train carrying ammunition with his binoculars and gave the exact coordinates, allowing the Allies to hit it directly, crippling the German advance. 

But the delay did not last forever, Fox watched as the Nazis took the town street by street.  Almond ordered a 20 man platoon to relieve Fox, but when the 20 men saw the 300 plus Nazis encircling the town they promptly retreated.  Around 11:00 hours or 11 AM several Nazi soldiers identified Fox’s location in the bell tower and began focusing fire on the windows.  Fox was completely undeterred, and continued to coordinate artillery strikes closer and closer to his position.  As he peered out of an opening in the bell tower with his binoculars he was shot in the chest by an Austrian marksman.

A rifle bullet was not enough stop John Fox.  Moments after being shot his voice came through the radio again at the command post, calling for an artillery strike dangerously close to the bell tower.  It was a hit.  Fox then radioed in again, stating “That was just where I want it.  Bring it in 60 yards.”

The man on the other end of the call  was a soldier named Otis Zachary, another member of the segregated 366th who had become friends with Fox during their training.  Otis Zachary recognized that the coordinates Fox wanted would hit the bell tower and kill Fox, and refused. 

Fox again radioed in the coordinates, and this time said “"The defenses have been overrun. The Germans are crawling around this place like ants."

Otis again refused and brought the order up the chain of command to his superiors.  The allied field commanders decided that ultimately it was Fox’s call.  John R Fox’s last words were “Fire it. There's more of them than there are of us. Give them hell."

The Nazis understandably did not expect the Allies to mortar strike their only remaining position in the town and were in the process of storming the bell tower to kill Fox when the entire building was leveled.

The Germans took heavy losses and were significantly delayed.  Fox’s remarkable sacrifice gave Edward Almond enough time to reorganize his forces and meet the German attack several days later.  Eventually, the Allies recaptured Sommocolonia while taking significant losses.  Found in the rubble of the belltower they found the body of John r Fox, surrounded by over 100 dead Nazis.  John R Fox was 29 when he died.

Despite being the main character of one of the more remarkable stories of heroism from World War II, John R Fox was not even considered for the Medal of Honor; no black soldiers were.  In fact, John was not recommended for any award after his death by his superiors.  He posthumously received a Purple Heart, which is the military award for those wounded or killed while serving, but that needed no recommendation. The twenty-two surviving citizens of Sommocolonia, on the other hand, did their part in honoring Fox by erecting a small memorial in his memory.

John R Fox’s memorial stone in Sommocolonia, Italy

Because of systemic racism Fox’s widow, Arlene Fox, was denied several rights in the United States until the Civil Rights movement, decades after her husband’s heroic sacrifice.

Eventually, as the times changed, the public and the military began to view Fox more favorably.  He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Bronze Star in 1982, 38 years after his death.  In 1997, following a review of discrimination in the US military, John R Fox was given the Medal of Honor, finally recognized for his feat of courage.  President Bill Clinton presented Arlene Fox with the medal.  When asked by the press about the award, Arlene said “We never needed any medals. John just felt that we were as good as anybody else, and he was going to prove it, and he did.”

Sommocolonia, Italy, with a partially rebuilt bell tower. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

Braided in Fire by Solace Wells

Immortal Valor by Robert Childs

Lieutenant John Fox’s Medal of Honor from the National World War II Museum’s website https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/john-fox-medal-of-honor

“I Did Not Send For You” — John R Fox and the Medal of Honor from the National Medal of Honor Museum’s website https://mohmuseum.org/john-fox-and-the-medal-of-honor/