Lt. John Fox stopped an attempted German blitz on Christmas Day, 1944 through the Gothic Line to seize the strategic port of Livorno. He commanded two platoons of forward observers in Sommocolonia, a small town high on the hills overlooking the Serchio River valley. John Fox countered the surprise attack by calling artillery strikes on his own position.
Lt. John R. Fox
Christmas Attack on Sommocolonia
The Allied forces consisted of 70 American soldiers from the all-black 92nd Infantry Division, and 25 Italian partisans. On Christmas night, Austrian troops under German command began infiltrating the town in civilian clothes. At 4:00 a.m. on the 26th, German artillery began pounding the Allied positions, and a formal attack began.
The German offensive was aimed at shoring up the Gothic Line, a string of fortified castles, fortresses, bunkers, and machine gun nests across the mountains of northern Italy. German commanders expected the town to fall easily, and had planned a rapid move down the valley. Their longer term objective was to seize the nearby port of Livorno, to block Allied supply lines.
The Germans had a low opinion of African-American soldiers, regarding them as part of the inferior races identified in Nazi ideology. That opinion changed in the course of the battle for Sommocolonia. Rather than flee the overwhelming force of the attackers, the 95 men under Lt. Fox fought in bitter hand-to-hand combat in the streets of Sommocolonia.
The Artillery of Lt. John Fox
The Austrian attackers began torching the buildings where wounded American soldiers lay. They killed nearly all of the defenders, but Lt. Fox remained in the top floor of a house on the hill, maintaining radio contact with his regiment in Barga. He was directing artillery strikes against clusters of the enemy.
Lt. Zachary protested, telling him it would kill him. Lt. Fox replied, famously, “Fire it!”
The artillery strikes devastated the attackers. When they identified the location of the radio, the source of their troubles, they surrounded his position. He called for a heavy barrage and smoke screen to cover the retreat of the remaining soldiers. Eighteen men were able to escape the village, back to American lines.
As the Austrian army closed in on Fox, he called for massive strikes on his own location. On the other end of the radio was a close personal friend, Lt. Otis Zachary. Lt. Zachary protested, telling him it would kill him. Lt. Fox replied, famously, “Fire it!”
Turning Point
The German advance was stopped in Sommocolonia, and the village was recaptured less than a week later. The Americans recovered the body of Lt. Fox and the eight Italians who stayed with him. The mayor told American forces that over 100 enemy soldiers were killed along with Lt. Fox in that final artillery barrage.
Memorial stone placed by grateful villagers of Sommocolonia to honor Lt. John Fox
In spite of the heroic actions of Lt. Fox that day, he was not awarded recognition. There was severe institutional racism in the U.S. Army at the time. Fox was honored decades later, first with the Distinguished Service Cross in 1982, and later with the Medal of Honor in 1997.
Lt. John R. Fox is now remembered among the great military heroes of the nation. In 2005, the Hasbro toy company ushered Fox into the popular culture by creating a John R. Fox action figure. It was part of a series of Medal of Honor awardees made for the G.I. Joe line.
Citation
For extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy in the vicinity of Sommocolonia, Italy, on December 26, 1944, while serving as a member of Cannon Company, 366th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Infantry Division. During the preceding few weeks, Lieutenant Fox served with the 598th Field Artillery Battalion as a forward observer. On Christmas night, enemy soldiers gradually infiltrated the town of Sommocolonia in civilian clothes, and by early morning the town was largely in hostile hands. Commencing with a heavy barrage of enemy artillery at 0400 hours on December 26, 1944, an organized attack by uniformed German units began. Being greatly outnumbered, most of the United States Infantry forces were forced to withdraw from the town, but Lieutenant Fox and some other members of his observer party voluntarily remained on the second floor of a house to direct defensive artillery fire. At 0800 hours, Lieutenant Fox reported that the Germans were in the streets and attacking in strength. He then called for defensive artillery fire to slow the enemy advance. As the Germans continued to press the attack towards the area that Lieutenant Fox occupied, he adjusted the artillery fire closer to his position. Finally he was warned that the next adjustment would bring the deadly artillery right on top of his position. After acknowledging the danger, Lieutenant Fox insisted that the last adjustment be fired as this was the only way to defeat the attacking soldiers. Later, when a counterattack retook the position from the Germans, Lieutenant Fox’s body was found with the bodies of approximately 100 German soldiers. Lieutenant Fox’s gallant and courageous actions, at the supreme sacrifice of his own life, contributed greatly to delaying the enemy advance until other infantry and artillery units could reorganize to repel the attack. His extraordinary valorous actions were in keeping with the most cherished traditions of military service, and reflect the utmost credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.
