Italian Campaign (World War II)
The
Italian Campaign of
World War II was the name of
Allied operations in and around
Italy, from
1943 to the end of the war.
|
Canadian soldiers inspect a captured German MG34 machine gun. With a rate of fire of up to 900 rounds per minute it fired about twice as fast as its Canadian army counterpart, the Bren gun. |
Even prior to victory in the
North African Campaign, there was disagreement between the
Allies on the best strategy to defeat the
Axis.
The British, especially
Winston Churchill, advocated their traditional naval-based peripheral strategy. With a relatively small army, but great naval power, the traditional British strategy against a continental enemy was to fight as part of a coalition and mount small peripheral operations designed to gradually weaken the enemy. The United States, with a far larger army, favored a more direct strategy of fighting the main force of the German army in northern
Europe. The ability to launch such a campaign depended on first winning the
Battle of the Atlantic.
The strategic disagreement was fierce, with the US service chiefs arguing for an invasion of France as early as possible, while their British counterparts advocated a mediterranian strategy. The American staff believed that a full-scale invasion of France as soon as possible was necessary to end the war in Europe, and that no operations should be undertaken which might delay that effort. The British argued that the presence of large numbers of troops trained for amphibious landings in the Mediterranean made a limited-scale invasion possible and useful. Eventually the US and British political leadership made the decision to commit to an invasion of France in 1944, but with a low-priority Italian campaign to tie up German forces in the meantime.
The primary strategic goal of the campaign was thus to force the German army to tie down units in Italy, which both sides knew was a secondary theater. With the greater Allied numerical strength, such a strategy favored the Allies.
However, political events in Italy intervened. It was clear that the Italian people had never been enthusiastic about their participation in the war, and it was hoped that an invasion would knock them out of the war, or provide at least a major propaganda blow. The elimination of Italy as an enemy would also enable the
Royal Navy to completely dominate the
Mediterranean Sea, massively improving communications with Egypt, the Far East, the Middle East and India. It would also mean that the Germans would have to transfer troops from the
Eastern Front to defend Italy and the entire southern coast of France, thus aiding the Soviets.
A secondary objective was thus to eliminate Italy as a partner in the axis coalition. A symbolic part of this would be the capture of
Rome.
Main article:Allied invasion of Sicily
A combined British-American invasion of
Sicily began on
July 10 1943 with both seaborne and airborne landings at the gulf of Gela and north of Syracuse. The Germans were unable to prevent the Allied capture of the island, but succeeded in evacuating most of their troops to the mainland, the last leaving on
August 17 1943. Allied forces gained experience in opposed amphibious operations, coalition warfare, and mass
Airborne drops.
Main article:Allied invasion of Italy
.
British forces landed in the 'toe' of Italy on
September 3 1943 in
Operation Baytown. The Italian government surrendered on
8 September, but the German forces prepared to defend without their assistance. On
9 September American forces landed at
Salerno in
Operation Avalanche and additional British forces at
Taranto in
Operation Slapstick. While the rough terrain prevented fast movement and proved ideal for defense, the Allies continued to push the Germans northwards throughout the rest of the year.
The main Allied effort initially centered on the port of
Naples. Naples was selected because it was the northernmost port city that could be taken while under cover of Allied fighter aircraft operating from Sicily.
Main articles:Winter Line, Operation Shingle, Battle of Monte CassinoThe German prepared defensive line called the Winter Line (parts of which were called the Gustav Line) proved a major obstacle to the Allies at the end of
1943, halting the advance. Landings at
Anzio behind the line were intended to break it, but did not have the desired effect. The line was eventually broken by outflanking attacks at
Monte Cassino in the Spring of
1944, and
Rome fell on June 4th. However, an opportunity to cut off a large part of the German army in Italy was lost.
Main article:Gothic Line
The Italian campaign had always been a secondary theatre, and this became much more obvious after the capture of Rome and the
Normandy Invasion. Many experienced units such as the US 3rd, 36th, and 45th Infantry Divisions were pulled out of Italy to participate in
Operation Dragoon. In the period from May to September the Allies advanced beyond
Rome taking
Florence and closing up on the Gothic Line. This last defensive line, just south of
Bologna, was not broken until April
1945. In the winter and spring of 1944-45, extensive
partisan activity in northern Italy took place. Because there were two Italian governments during this period, one on each side of the war, the struggle took on some characteristics of a
civil war.
* Gerhard Muhm : German Tactics in the Italian Campaign , http://www.larchivio.org/xoom/gerhardmuhm2.htm
* Gerhard Muhm : La Tattica tedesca nella Campagna d'Italia, in Linea Gotica avanposto dei Balcani, (Hrsg.) Amedeo Montemaggi - Edizioni Civitas, Roma 1993
*
Canadians in Italy, 1943-1945 Lot's of media and photos and info on Canadians in the Italian theatre.
*
WW2 propaganda leaflets - use in Italy: A website about
airdropped, shelled or rocket fired propaganda leaflets. Italian campaign.
*
BBC's flash video of the Italian Campaign*
Online Canadian World War 2 Newspaper Archives - The Sicilian and Italian Campaigns, 1943-1945*
Hitler's Decision on the Defense of Italy*
Liberatori: A website on the Po river breakout and the liberation of the small town of Cornuda.
*
Royal Engineers Museum Royal Engineers and Second World War (Italian Campaign)
*
CBC Digital Archives - The Italian Campaign
