World War 2: Italian Campaign

The Italian Campaign, World War 2

On the 10th of July 1943 the Allies launched Operation Husky, a series of amphibious landings in southeastern Sicily. It was a two pronged assault towards the north of the island, with a US army on the left flank and a British army on the right. The British moved straight north along the coast, but the Americans under general Patton moved over the mountainous center of the island while taking on heavy German opposition. Patton took Palermo on the 22 of July. Allied forces then jointly attacked and pulverized the German Mt. Etna line. By August 17, 1943 the German Army had withdrawn across the Straight of Messina leaving Sicily in Allied hands.

But, events were occurring in Rome that would change the course of the campaign. One day after the loss of Palermo, Mussolini was deposed by the Grand Council of Fascism. After his arrest on the 26th, a new Italian government was hastily formed around Marshal Pietro Badoglio and King Victor Emmanuelle III. By September 8 an armistice was signed between the Allies and the Kingdom of Italy. But, no clear orders had been given to the Italian Army prior to announcing the armistice. This was a real issue because the Italian Army had well over half a million soldiers spread from southern France to the island of Rhodes. Their fate was now up in the air.

The Germans however had planned in advance for these events. Operation Alaric went into effect, leading to the German occupation of Italy and the disarmament of the Italian Army. Though the disarmament mostly concluded largely without incident, one Italian divison attempted to resist the disarmament. On the 15th of September the Acqui Division of the Italian Army made a last stand in occupied Greece on the island of Kefalonia. After a devastating siege, the Italian soldiers gave out on the 22nd. The Nazi army then began to execute surrendered Italian officers for treason.

Simultaneous to this, on September 12 Mussolini was broken out of his ski resort prison by German commandos in gliders and transported to Munich to meet with Hitler. Later on the 23rd Mussolini announced the creation of the Italian Social Republic. Due to a rapid German advance on Rome, Badoglio and Victor Emmanuelle were forced to flee to Brindizi.

But the Germans weren’t the only army on the move. The Allies, emboldened by secret negotiations with the new Italian government, began naval landings in the south of Italy at Salerno, Calabria and Taranto (Operations Avalanche, Baytown and Slapstick) around the 3rd of September. The toughest fight was at Salerno, but by the 16th the Germans were pushed back. Not long after, the citizens of Naples began to riot against the German army of occupation in the city. From the 27th of September to the 1st of October the Neapolitans kept the Germans on edge until the Allied armies reached the city. On the 13th of October King Victor Emmanuelle declared war on Nazi Germany from Malta.

The Allies then attacked the Winter Line, a series of defensive fortifications built by the Germans that utilized the natural topography of the Italian countryside. The Germans built their defensive lines on top of the Apennines, a mountain range that runs north south along the peninsula like a rocky spine. The toughest such defense was the Gustav Line. Many attempts were made by the Allies through the winter of ’43 to breach it. On January 17th Allied armies began the battle of Monte Cassino (indicated on the map by the red X). The Allies then simultaneously landed at Anzio on the 22nd of January, on the basis that it would allow them to attack the Gustav Line from the front and behind in a coordinated assault. But the distance between the two fronts was too great to make the sort of immediate strategic gains the Allies had hoped for. The battle for Monte Cassino was finally won on the 18th of May after the destruction of the Benedictine abbey by Allied bombing, three failed assaults and over 100,000 Allied casualties. By the 23 of May the Allies pinned at Anzio made a breakout.

On June 4th, 1944 the Allies entered Rome. Two days later on June 6 Allied armies accomplished the largest amphibious landing in history in Normandy, France. But, success has its disadvantages. The Allies, believing that the war in Italy was won, redeployed their French troops as part of Operation Dragoon for the liberation of southern France.

By the 18th of July the port of Ancona on the Adriatic coast was captured by the Allies. But progress north was now arrested by a new defensive line, The Gothic Line. For months the Germans had been constructing this line in a position where it was almost impossible to outflank. Further the loss of French troops meant that the Allies had less men and resources at their disposal. On August 25th the Allies launched Operation Olive, an attack on the Gothic Line concentrating on the Adriatic Coast. By September 21st the Allies had captured Rimini. But the difficulty of fighting during the autumn cold in the high Apennines was taking its toll on the Allies. Unable to take Bologna before the onset of winter, the Allies were forced to camp in the mountains.

With the spring thaw came a new offensive spirit. On April 21st the Allies captured Bologna. By the next day the Allies reached the Po River. After crossing the Po, the Allied armies quickly overran German positions on the plain of Lombardy.

Simultaneously Italian partisans continued their riot against the Italian Social Republic, liberating Milan by the 25th of April. On the 27th Mussolini was captured while trying to flee into Switzerland. He was executed on the 28th. That day negotiations also began for the surrender of remaining German garrisons in the theatre. On the 29th Mussolini’s body was transported to Milan where it was hung and stoned by a crowd. On the 30th Allied armies entered Milan. That same day Hitler committed suicide. Negotiations for the German surrender were finalized on the 2nd of May, finally closing the Italian Campaign.

Original blank topographic map courtesy of Wikipedia

List of German defensive lines
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Etna Line
Volturno Line
Barbara Line
Gustav Line (in red)
Bernhardt Line
Adolf Hitler Line
Caesar Line
Rome Line
Trasimene Line
Arno Line
Pisa Rimini Line
Gothic Line (in red)
Genghis Khan Line
Po Line
Adige Line
Alpine Line

2/19/12 EDIT:
map base source [link]
map base created by Sting [link]