the first few days of the operation. Lieutenant General Clark, the Fifth Army commander, faltered and sent around a confidential memo indicating that he was contemplating taking the troops back off the beaches. Middleton, telling his staff that they were not leaving, spread around the word to his troops that it was a good time to do some hard fighting. On the morning of 14 September units of the 45th did some particularly hard fighting at a large tobacco factory, consisting of five imposing stone buildings in a somewhat circular pattern. The Germans were dug in here, and repulsed the Americans initially, but with the aid of some naval gun fire, the Germans were eventually pushed back. Clark visited the front later that day, and was convinced that his army was going to stay. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, now the Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean, visited the beachhead on 17 September, observing that the battle had been won. The following day the Germans had pulled out of the area, and the 45th was able to advance to Venafro before meeting any resistance. The division was at the far right of the Fifth Army, working up the center of the Italian boot, adjacent to Montgomery's British Eighth Army which was responsible for the eastern half of the boot. By 24 September the division had taken Oliveto and Quaglietta after some heavy fighting, and by 3 October they had taken Benevento. On 21 October the division was put into corps reserve, following almost six weeks of uninterrupted action. There was still some German resistance around Venafro, and elements of the 179th Infantry Regiment secured the town on 2 November. With this the fighting came to a large pause as Allied planners studied further action. With the lull in the fighting, and the onset of autumn rains, coupled with endless hills and deepening mud, Middleton's left knee, which had been uncomfortable for more than a year, was now becoming agonizing. He had hurt his right knee many years earlier playing football, but there was no immediate explanation for the pain in his left leg. Medics studied his leg, but had no answers. In late November Middleton went to the hospital in Naples, staying well into December, still without adequate diagnosis. He was able to hobble around, and did some staff work, then flew to General Eisenhower's headquarters in North Africa. He stayed