On the day that Roswell K. Doughty graduated from Boston University he also received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army of the United States of America. That, though, was in 1931 and it was not until 1942 that he was called to active duty - to face some of the toughest fighting of the Second World War. With the rank of 1st Lieutenant, Doughty became an Intelligence Officer with the US 36th Division. He subsequently saw action in North Africa, then at the disastrous Salerno landings in Italy - where the Allied divisions involved suffered 4,000 casualties - about which the author reveals that suspected intelligence breaches led to the Allies' plans becoming known to the Germans. Doughty was involved in the gruelling battles against the formidable German defences of the Gustav Line, particularly in the tragic failed attempt to cross the Gari river and the struggle to conquer Monte Cassino. After the Anzio landings and the liberation of Rome, Doughty and his regiment, the 141st, took part in the invasion of Southern France in Operation Dragoon, advancing up to the River Moselle. In December 1944, the 36th Division advanced northwards, fighting its way up the Rhine, and finally, in March 1945, breached the Siegfried Line and crossed into the Germany itself. Promoted to captain, Doughty led an Intelligence and Reconnaissance unit, the role of which was to learn what it could of enemy strengths, minefields, useable roads and so on, which involved going behind enemy lines to observe enemy movements first-hand. As an Intelligence Officer, it was also part of Doughty's duties to interrogate enemy prisoners, which led him to being involved in the capture and detention of Reichsmarschall Goring and in negotiating the surrender of the still-armed and hostile German First Army in May 1945. This is the fascinating account of one officer's part in the liberation of Europe, one which led him from North Africa through Italy and France into the heart of the Third Reich.
