Querciola is a threatened Italian town that becomes a frontline position for Ben’s company and the site of its first death in Italy. Its deserted streets and snow-covered approaches frame a night encounter in which mistaken identity turns the defenders’ response into friendly fire, followed by German shelling at dawn.

Arrival and Setting

After moving north through Lizzano in Belvedere, the company traveled toward Querciola in darkness under heavy loads, climbing through snow-blown vineyards, fields, and apple orchards. The town had been deserted by its citizens because it lay within range of German shells. The company established surveillance there and probed the surrounding countryside, occupying a landscape where the danger of attack was already built into the work of holding position.

The Night Attack

On the company’s fifth night in Querciola, a German patrol in white camouflage penetrated the foxhole perimeter. Ben and the other men lay on the ground while the telephone operator called for reinforcements; reserves arrived from positions to the south about ten minutes later. The reserves also took cover as the operator called for artillery, but their sergeant grew impatient and ordered the squads to fight.

As the reserves moved toward the German fire, a BAR man from another rifle squad mistook Private John Zwickert for a German and shot him in the back. Zwickert was the first member of Ben’s company to be killed in Italy. The attack thus brought death not through a successful German shot, but through confusion between American units responding to the same threat.

Aftermath and Withdrawal

Afterward, the reserve sergeant rebuked the men, repeatedly naming Zwickert and blaming their cowardice and stupidity for his death. The perimeter then fell quiet. The soldiers set trip wires to release flares if the Germans tried again and manned their foxholes according to procedure. At dawn, German 88s shelled them, cutting through the trees; during a lull, other men replaced them and the company withdrew to Vidiciatico.

Narrative Significance

Querciola’s short occupation turns a military position into a scene of vulnerability within the defending force itself. The snowbound town is deserted because of German fire, yet the company’s first fatal loss comes from an American misidentification during an improvised response to a patrol. The subsequent trip wires and disciplined watch register the attempt to restore order, while the dawn bombardment makes clear that the danger remains even after the night’s confusion has ended.