Downfall of Italy: 1943 (1/2) | Animated History

It is late January 1944, and just south of Monte Cassino, the men of the 36th Infantry Division are attempting to secure a bridgehead over the Gari River. Enemy fire is intense, with German artillery saturating the area in a relentless deafening barrage. Despite enormous losses, two regiments have made the crossing, but now they are trapped, their landing craft reduced to splinters by the ceaseless bombardment. Back on the opposite shore, Major General Fred Walker watches the disaster unfold through his binoculars. A veteran of the Great War, he knows an impossible situation when he sees one. Glancing backwards at the one remaining regiment under his command, he debates ordering them forward. But after a moment, he dismisses the idea. Even if a miracle happens and this river is taken, the cycle will just repeat at the next one. Sighing to himself, he wonders how anyone could have been foolish enough to envision Italy as the soft underbelly of Europe. Hi, I'm Griffin Johnson, the Armchair Historian. In today's video, we'll be continuing our look at the Italian Campaign in the Second World War. Last time, we covered the invasion of Sicily, which gave the Allies a springboard to launch an attack on the mainland. In the wake of defeat, morale plummeted, and the Italian Fascist Party was in an uproar over Mussolini's inability to deal with the situation. On the 24th of July, 1943, just 15 days after the landings in Sicily, the party undertook its first and only democratic vote. To depose its leader, disband the party, and sue for peace. This vote passed 19 to 8, and a loudly protesting Mussolini was promptly carted off to prison. Aware that Germany would never allow it to peacefully surrender, the new Italian government dramatically announced that it had every intention of fighting to the bitter end before immediately opening secret negotiations with the Allies. 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Remember, slots are limited, so click the link in the description below within the next 30 days and you'll unlock the amazing new player pack, which includes a month of high command and 13,000 gold. With this game of chess between Italy and the Allies seemingly coming to a conclusion after the abrupt realization that Mussolini only really knew how to play checkers, a single handshake would end the game before it reached the Italian countryside. But no such handshake would happen, as 16 new German divisions crossed the Alps into Northern Italy, spoiling for a rematch. But the Allies were not deterred. As far in the East, Joseph Stalin remained insistent that the Allies maintain pressure on the Western Front and divert as many Axis forces as possible away from the Soviet Union. Thus, the second match began on September 3rd, when soldiers of the British Eighth Army dashed across the Straits of Messina. This was intended as a diversion from the real landings, scheduled to take place a week later. But Albert Kesselring, the general in charge of the German troops stationed in Italy, was no fool, and simply ordered the men stationed in the area to retreat and consolidate their positions further north. Denied battle, the frustrated British advanced at a snail's pace, delayed by minefields, roadblocks, and collapsed bridges. A few days later, a second British operation took place, this time aimed at taking the port of Taranto and establishing a supply base for the Eighth Army. Again, the initial landings went unopposed. As British forces established control over the south of the country, news of the Italian surrender was made public, and the situation promptly took a turn for the worse. On Hitler's orders, German forces undertook Operation AXA, quickly disarming the remainder of the Italian military. While a few divisions chose to resist, the majority either meekly surrendered or agreed to fight alongside their new occupiers. The new Italian government fled Rome, which was occupied on the 10th, and Mussolini found himself thrust back into the international spotlight at the head of a new puppet state, the Italian Socialist Republic. With Italy controlled by Nazi Germany, there was no hope of a swift victory, and the stage was set for the prolonged, bloody conflict that would follow. Despite this setback, many Allied planners remained optimistic, holding onto the dream of a lightning campaign to liberate the peninsula. The minimal resistance encountered by the British led to the belief that the Germans were still preoccupied dealing with the Italian army, and lack either the will or the manpower to defend territory south of Rome. So, on the 9th of September, the Allies commenced Operation Avalanche, with a total of 9 divisions from the US Fifth Army launching from staging points on Sicily and heading straight for a roughly 35 mile or 56 kilometer stretch of Italian coastline near the port of Salerno. At this point in time, the Fifth Army was a combined force of both British and American troops. The former were to land in the north near Salerno itself, while the latter were directed further south. From the start, the landings were severely mismanaged, with historians arguing to this day over who deserves the most blame for the ensuing fiasco. Despite strenuous protests from the leader of the Naval Task Force, Admiral Kent Hewitt, the American landing zones were not subjected to a preliminary bombardment. This was due to the mistaken assumption that the operation had the element of surprise, despite sightings of Luftwaffe reconnaissance planes over the task force as it crossed from Sicily. Predictably, Kesselring had guessed the American plan of action and positioned his troops to contest the landings. Left with no alternative, the men of the Fifth Army waded ashore under intense bombardment from machine guns, field artillery, and panzers. The beaches quickly turned into a slaughterhouse, and for a brief moment the fate of the entire campaign hung in the balance. Then, the guns of the Naval Task Force finally opened up, blasting gaps in the temporary German fortifications and opening the way for the beleaguered troops to rush through and establish a beachhead. But this was by no means an end to the carnage, as the entire 16th Panzer Division then thundered down from the hills to continue the onslaught. During the frantic fighting that ensued, naval gunfire again proved decisive, with the cruiser and destroyer escorts engaging a minimum of 130 shorebound targets during the first day alone. Further north, the British divisions had faced somewhat lighter resistance, and had only gone ashore after their escort ships had spent 15 minutes softening up the German defenses. After pushing inland, they were able to capture a vital airfield, and a force of SAS commandos and US Army Rangers entered Salerno itself, and drove out the defenders after a brief bout of street fighting. But the situation was still dire, and German counterattacks were relentless. The Luftwaffe also conducted many sorties against both the beachheads and the Naval Task Force, sinking approximately 100 landing craft of various sizes and damaging various warships. After another six days, Kesselring was forced to retreat on direct orders from high command. Hitler had conferred with Erwin Rommel, and both men had agreed it was pointless to try and defend southern Italy. Although they had very nearly succeeded in throwing the 5th Army back into the sea, German losses had been heavy, especially among the precious Panzer Divisions. But these losses were not crippling, and the rough Italian countryside presented many opportunities for the Germans to make life hell for the Allies as they pushed up the peninsula. Having been battered almost to the point of breaking, the weary men of the 5th Army were reluctant to drive north after their retreating enemies. Morale was extremely low, and as a result, the decision was made to delay the push on Rome until October. In the meantime, Allied forces concentrated on consolidating their hold on southern Italy and capturing the airfields located on the Companion Plains. While this was ongoing, the civilian population of Naples rose in an unexpected revolt, creating enough chaos for the Allies to force a German retreat from the area. On October 3rd, the SAS conducted a daring amphibious assault on the city of Termoli, part of the 1st Defensive Line south of Rome. This was known as the Volturno Line, and ran parallel to two large rivers. The raid was a remarkable success, with the commando team seizing the city and holding it until being reinforced by the Commonwealth 8th Army. However, the river crossings were delayed by the need to build bridges capable of withstanding the weight of Allied tanks. As the engineers got to work, the 16th Panzer Division struck again, further impeding construction efforts and inflicting significant casualties. But the two Allied armies pressed on, reaching the second line of German defenses in late October, known as the Barbera Line. Once again, the rough terrain proved as big an obstacle as enemy fire, and it was only on the 9th of November that a significant breakthrough was finally made. By this point, about three months had passed since combat operations started in Italy, and all hopes for a lightning campaign to liberate the peninsula had been dashed. Miles of barbed wire, fortified machine gun pits, camouflaged bunkers, and extensive minefields now lay in wait for the two advancing armies, all located in some of mainland Europe's roughest terrain. Thanks again to Call of War for sponsoring this video and supporting the channel. Remember to join the fight in the description below.