The emphatic excerpt below describes an event that afterwards ended up in festivities. It shows how a war tragedy was avoided when a Brazilian fighter pilot refused to obey the order of the HQ of the 5th Army to attack an “enemy” Armored Division which turned out to be the 1st American Armored Division.

Translated excerpt from the book: "SENTA A PUA !"
Author: Cel Av RUI MOREIRA LIMA
Copyright© Rui Moreira Lima 1980

HORÁCIO,THE ONE THAT SAW THE TANKS!

"In the beginning of April, the 4th or the 5th, we received in the operations room of the 350th Fighter Group a visit from a Colonel of the 8th British Army, probably of the GQ Marshal Alexander, who came to make a succinct presentation to the pilots, about the command concept as to the next Spring offensive, that would unfold soon.
... And the Englishman, in front of the audience where a majority were first and second lieutenants, gave his message underlining that the offensive would have its beginning with the 8th Army attack, almost as bait, so that in this diversionary maneuver, the Germans would engage one division that they had in reserve in the combat zone. 'That’s the division that was in Padua and that Joel Miranda went to check if it was there, and it was, Horácio added.
With the engagement of the division with the 8th Army, the U.S. 5th of Mark Clark would have a bigger chance to break the Gothic Line, leading into the Po Valley, in frontal attack initiated on April 14, 1944. As the Germans did not have more reserves to contain this attack, the rest would be easy. And so that’s what actually happened. ....
In one of them Horácio, Lima Mendes, Correia Netto and Prates took part. The target was a building located more than 50 kilometers from the bombing line, in the small city of Vergato. It was the GQ of a German Army Corps, where there would also be a communication center.

“The building was destroyed. After bombing it, I resolved to maintain the Blue (Squadron) at an altitude of 600 meters, not only to avoid the flak of 20 mm, but also to observe and to attack any force that could come to oppose the 5th Army. I took the 9th road, Via Amelia, as an axis of armed reconnaissance. In less than ten minutes of flight, we saw a tank formation very similar to the American Shermans, but painted with green and rose, traditional colors of the Africa Korps Units. To be American, an orange panel was missing which would be painted above them. To be German Panthers, the silhouette was very different. Moreover, it was the biggest concentration of heavy armor that I had ever seen on a road in broad daylight I suspected that that formation could be Allied Forces. Their direction of the march was Piacenza-Bologna which would lead me to think the opposite, that it was the Panthers. At this moment, Limatão began to dive to attack. Then everything became clear, we saw the American logotype, represented by the white circle around the five point white star. ‘Don’t shoot, they’re ours,’ we said on the radio at the same time."

Horácio, the one that saw the tanks, demonstrated in that instant the difference between a newcomer and a veteran. A big part of the first Armored Division, under the command of the Major General Vernon E. Pritchard, had penetrated deep in the enemy territory, being subject to attack at any moment. According to Horacio, 'the target was really appetizing'. The Blue Commander didn’t lose time. He called the Center of Tactical Air Control, named by the code Cooler, and sounded the alarm. Giving the exact position of the First American Armored Division.

The position was so strange and the tanks were so far from the bombing line, that Cooler didn’t hesitate and answered: 'Jambock Blue, the GQ of the First Army informs that there are no friends in that position. Order from the 12th Air Force: Attack.' With the unexpected response and the certainty that the tanks were friends, Horacio came back on the radio,
Horácio: 'Cooler, I confirm that they are friendly troops and I am not going to attack. I am going to return to the base.'
Cooler: “Jambock Blue, by order of the Commandant of the 12th Air Force, attack the formation. It’s an order.” Horácio: 'Cooler, I assume the responsibility of not obeying this order. The tank column belongs to the First Armored Division. I will not respond again to your message and I am going to change channels.'
In this instant, Blackball Tower, the name of the code of our control tower in Pisa, came on the line, and in Cooler’s name, in a rough way asked: “Jambock Blue leader, the 12th Air Force asks why you disobeyed the order to attack the tank column?”
Horácio: “Very simple, because they are friendly tanks.”

Blackball Tower: 'But the Army denies having troops in the indicated position.'

Horácio: 'Blackball Tower, it happens that the General Staff of General Mark Clark did not fly over the column and I did. I am sure that the tanks belong to the 5th Army. If we attack them, we would be attacking friendly forces.' But the debate didn’t stop there, one minute later Major Holland, Information Official of the 350th came onto the radio, trying to change Horácio’s opinion. Obstinately, Horacio, however full of reason, asked to speak directly with Colonel Ariel W. Nielsen, Group Commander and his particular friend.
Horácio: 'Colonel Nielsen, the tanks of the First Army must have forced the tenuous line of the German resistance and, by not finding resistance in the enemy rearguard threw themselves down the Apennines slopes, stopping in the Po Valley. The natural environment and the order to maintain silence could have prejudiced the communications, so that’s why nobody is aware of their position. Resuming Colonel, the tanks are American and we would attack them, we would be making a grave and fatal error.'
Horácio also spoke with Holland, raising some considerations about the 'German' tanks attacking Bologna. 'Holland, could it be that they are revolting?' He asked ironically
Before signing off, he still had the good sense to give Nielson a last message. --'Colonel, these tanks are very deep in enemy territory. There is the imminent danger that the Germans will discover them and close the passage opened by them, trapping or destroying them. It’s the duty of the 5th Army to avoid this, to take advantage of the success of this advance and to send more troops through the passage that was opened before it’s too late.'

With so much certainty, Col. Nielson passed the information to the GQ of the 5th Army, the senior Mark Clark thus determined that all air units would be alerted to the position of the First Armored Division. On the following day, the Allied newspaper Stars and Stripes issued in the TO of the Mediterranean, published the following headline: 'The pilots of the 1st Group of Brazilian Combat Fighters (1° Grupo de Caça brasileiro) were the first to indicate the Allied advance in the Po Valley.' The 1st Group of Brazilian Fighters had already been headlined in the Stars and Stripes on other occasions. From that time on, it began to have a voice in the news reports. They received the following praise, by this historic deed, from Major General Thomas C. Darcy, Commander of the 22th Aerotactic Command:

'I request that my admiration be transmitted to the pilots of the 1st Group of the Brazilian Fighters for the splendid demonstration of tactical sense and good judgment to report the presence of friendly tanks in the neighborhood of Casalecchio. This communication furnished the first indication of the arrival of the 5th Army in the Po Valley and was of inestimable military value for all interested parties. The fact of not having attacked, in spite of the position in which the tanks were found, much farther from the security line, saved the lives of innumerable Allied soldiers and constitutes a tribute to the perfect doctrine of the Brazilian Combat Group regarding the close cooperation between the forces of land and air.'

his was one of several praises received by the 1° Group of Fighters during the Italy Campaign. Suddenly Horácio’s information transformed the Brazilian pilots into the biggest stars of the 350th Fighter Group. Horácio, the one who saw the tanks, was on the crest of the wave. I asked for his collaboration for this book. He came to Rio de Janeiro to meet with me."

Translated excerpt from the book: SENTA A PUA !
Author: Cel Av RUI MOREIRA LIMA
Copyright© Rui Moreira Lima 1980