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00:00Oh, gather round me comrades and listen while I speak of a war, a war, a war, where hell is six feet deep.
00:20Along the shore the cannons roar, oh, how can a soldier sleep?
00:25The goings slow on Anzio, and hell is six feet deep.
00:33That death awaits, there is no debate, no triumph will we reap.
00:40The crosses grow on Anzio, where hell is six feet deep.
00:45Eighty years ago, when fascism and the forces of evil threatened to conquer the world, brave men and women from around the globe united to bring humanity back from the brink of destruction.
01:06Some fought on the islands of the Pacific, others battled through the fields of Eastern and Western Europe.
01:15But there was another campaign waged in the very heart of Europe.
01:20A campaign that took over 300,000 souls, but helped shift the tide of the entire world.
01:32The soldiers of this campaign suffered, triumphed, and learned the true cost of war.
01:39These are those soldiers' remarkable first-hand accounts, based on their own words, and shot by combat camera.
01:50This is the story of the eyewitnesses of World War II and the invasion of Italy.
01:57The soldiers of the Pacific, others battled through the world.
02:27The wreckage of a shattered army lies strewn in the desert.
02:57In Africa, the Nazi's days are numbered.
03:06Every long years, victory in Africa.
03:27We were only in North Africa a short time. A couple of weeks before we were loaded on our ship. It's the largest invasion fleet ever assembled.
03:46Felix Sparks is a captain in the 45th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, also known as the Thunderbirds.
03:53Sparks initially enlisted in the military to pay for college and fulfill his dream of becoming a lawyer.
04:00But fate had other plans. A reluctant Sparks finds himself on the eve of combat.
04:06We're new to combat. Very green, and we're about to be one of the first assault units to hit the shores of Sicily.
04:13We know a certainty that many of us will never return.
04:18We're new to combat. Very green, and we're about to be one of the first assault units to hit the shores of Sicily.
04:25We know a certainty that many of us will never return.
04:32If there ever was a time in my life for one to be home, it's now.
04:37An amphibious operation is difficult. You're landing on hostile shores and facing an enemy that's already dug in.
04:56The goal of the operation is to secure the Mediterranean island of Sicily.
05:04Situated between North Africa and Italy, at its narrowest point, the island is only two miles from the Italian mainland,
05:11making it the perfect location to stage men and equipment for an invasion of Europe.
05:17In order to do that, the Allies will have to secure the island quickly and prevent the over 200,000 Axis troops based there from escaping.
05:27Sparks and over 150,000 Allied soldiers from three separate countries prepare to attack the southern and eastern coasts of the island.
05:40The ocean is very rough, and almost everyone is seasick, including me.
05:46We edge towards the enemy shores. We creep forward in inky blackness.
05:53This is the first time we could expect our fire to be answered by fire. It makes a difference. It makes one hell of a difference.
06:16Mr. Magnetic are the most difficult task.
06:18He won't have to keep the fire.
06:20No, no, no, no, no.
06:21The sea, until the altoires would take the shore.
06:22It's 30 seconds.
06:23Grunt of the sky!
06:24The sea, until the southeast of the island.
06:25The sea, till the the island.
06:26He's κα casa!
06:27The sea of the sea.
06:28The sea!
06:29The sea!
06:30The sea!
06:31The sea!
06:32The sea!
06:33The sea!
06:34The sea, till the sea!
06:35The sea!
06:36The sea!
06:37The sea!
06:38The sea!
06:39The sea!
06:41The sea!
06:42we're amazed to see the whole area is filled with ships of every description
06:52what a shock the sun's brilliant the birds are singing and now the barrage is eerily quiet
06:59we drive off the beach quickly and take up gun positions in an orchard full of red white tomatoes
07:12later that day felix sparks and his unit begin to move inland to take their first town they're
07:22shocked by what they encounter those towns are coming right out with their hands up with their
07:28bags packed ready to go to the states when we take a town the whole place turns out with flags
07:35flowers and much shouting the natives are very friendly and amazed by our generosity
07:40they're in pretty bad shape and hate the germans the biggest issue allied forces face the day of
07:49the invasion isn't enemy fire more troops die that day from logistical issues drownings and accidents
07:56the colonel receives the distress and news that many bodies are washing ashore on the beach
08:02with tears in his eyes the colonel looks over at me those are our boys sparks i don't care how you do
08:10it but i rely on you to see that they are buried with honor each grave is marked with a crude cross
08:15and dog tags attached
08:17sparks and the 45th bury their dead other allied troops move inland and face tougher resistance
08:33at this moment the fluttering roll of an enemy machine gun is causing my flesh to creep
08:42before us lies a railroad track along which the machine gun crew has dug in the gun has suddenly
08:49become quiet the order comes down the line spread out we're going over the track stop for nothing until
08:56you find cover i find a gully drop into it and sprawl out
09:01audie murphy is a corporal with the u.s third division hailing from texas murphy had his older
09:09sister lie about his age so he could enlist in the military he was 17 at the time abandoned by his father
09:17at a young age murphy was forced to hunt for food in order to feed his family the practice serves him
09:24well he's a crack shot and one of the best marksmen in all of the third division a useful skill in the
09:31hilly terrain of italy the following day i'm ahead of the company with a group of scouts we flush a couple
09:39of italian officers they should have surrendered my act is instinctive drop into one knee i fire twice
09:48they roll over and lie still now i shed my first blood i feel no qualms no pride no remorse there is
09:58only a weary indifference the more murphy and the rest of the allied troops push inland the more intense
10:06the fighting becomes in addition to the 200 000 italians on the island sicily is filled with 60 000
10:13plus german wehrmacht troops all under the command of one of the war's most experienced leaders he's a
10:20war-hardened general skilled at both offensive and defensive warfare if the allies have any shot of
10:26capturing it all and eventually all of europe they'll have to best this military mastermind
10:36so
10:43so
10:48so
10:50so
11:04I counted on the enemies following up on this victory in North Africa, if not immediately, at least after the shortest possible breeder.
11:23There are many alternatives for the continuance of their operations. One can guess with the probability nearing certainty that the Allies would choose a task in the success of which they could be confident, taking into consideration their limited training, especially in amphibious operations.
11:45These considerations ruled out the south of France, northern Italy, and the Balkans. Allied sea and air interests likewise pointed to Sicily.
11:58General Field Marshal Albert Kesselring is one of the most respected military minds in all the world. A veteran of the Great War, Kesselring has been the chief of staff of the fiercely German air force known as the Luftwaffe.
12:12Now, he's been made the commander of the entire Mediterranean theater.
12:20To the world, he's known as one of the greatest defensive generals of all time. To his troops, he's simply known as Smiling Albert, for the constant grin he wears on his face.
12:32Kesselring knows the odds are against him, but if any commander can pull off a victory on the island, it's him.
12:42The outlook in Sicily, as everywhere, is very black. I have lost all faith that the Italian navy will carry out any of the plans prepared.
12:53The island has a defense that is hardly powerful enough to withstand a large-scale land invasion.
12:59Two German divisions are in Sicily.
13:02Despite my resolution, I interfere in the early morning hours, the day of the invasion, by wireless-ing an order to the Panzer Division to go in with immediate action.
13:15One disappointment followed another.
13:26I flew to Sicily. I visited all the front-line positions.
13:33My flight wielded nothing but headaches.
13:36I see the total breakdown of Italian divisions.
13:40The two German units are bearing the brunt of the battle.
13:46I'm already reckoned with the evacuation of Sicily.
13:50Axis Command can bring sufficient reinforcements into defensive areas as they are threatened.
13:56About a week into the invasion, Kesselring pivots to a fighting retreat.
14:04The invasion of Sicily has now become a race to stop over 200,000 Axis troops from escaping across the Strait of Masuda.
14:20There are some pretty hard-fought battles. We're getting a lot of combat experience.
14:24One of the difficult things that you have to face is what you will do when you get into combat for the first time.
14:32Everybody trying to kill you.
14:37Initially, there is some fear.
14:39But it gets to be like any other job.
14:41Killing is your business.
14:42So you see people killed, and you kill people.
14:45Every day.
14:48So that's something we all wonder about.
14:51How will we react when we got into combat?
14:54Most of us respond very, very well.
14:57There are moments when we do not perform too well at all.
15:04Our maneuvers require days of laborous struggle under the blistering Sicilian sun and enemy fire
15:10to reach positions from which we can strike.
15:12In ordinary times, the distance to Masina would be a few hours' drive of great scenic beauty.
15:22Now, it is an area in which a determined enemy has every advantage for defense and delay.
15:28And the enemy is almost wholly German.
15:30The enemy can hold to the last minute, and then withdraw by motor, while we can only follow up on foot.
15:40Kesselring's delaying strategy works.
15:43A little more than a month after the Allied landings, his troops reach Masina and begin a six-day evacuation across the street.
15:52It only remains to say that, for all our mishaps, the Axis command is mighty lucky,
15:59helped above all as it is by the methodical procedure of the Allies.
16:04The enemy's failure to exploit the last chance of hindering the German forces crossing the Straits of Masina
16:11by continuous and strongly coordinated attacks from the sea in the air is a great boon to the German command.
16:20The Battle of Sicily is over.
16:24The men of the regiment have marched and fought through over a hundred miles of mountainous terrain.
16:29The Mediterranean Sea is no longer under enemy control.
16:33Though the Allies are victorious, they arrive too late.
16:37The last of around 100,000 German and Italian men have evacuated across the strait to the mainland.
16:44When Sparks and his men look across the strait, one of his fellow captains utters a chilling statement.
16:51We should have murdered them, he complained.
16:55It would save us a hell of a lot of trouble later on.
17:03Armistice with Italy has been concluded.
17:07It is a great victory for the United Nations, but it was also a great victory for the Italian people.
17:15After years of war and suffering and degradation, the Italian people are at last coming to the day of liberation from their real enemy, the Nazis.
17:27But let us not delude ourselves that this armistice means the end of war in the Mediterranean.
17:35We must drive the Germans out of Italy as we have driven them out of Tunisia and Sicily.
17:42We must drive them out of France and all other captive countries.
17:47And we must strike them on their own soil from all directions.
17:54Mussolini's downfall and arrest has poisoned the relations of Germany and Italy.
18:04Hitler sees this sudden turn of events as no ordinary government crisis, but a complete reversal of Italy's policy,
18:13with the object of ending the war as quickly as possible on favourable terms.
18:19Even if it means sacrificing her ally, his mistrust has now vented itself in full fury.
18:26After the Italian surrender, under Hitler's orders, thousands of German troops and weapons pour into Italy,
18:36including some units and commanders from the Eastern Front, a civil war breaks out, and the country descends into chaos.
18:43We receive another project calling for an amphibious assault in the vicinity of Naples,
18:59probably at the Bay of Salerno, in order to take advantage of the Italian political and military collapse.
19:05Mark Clark has advanced rapidly in rank throughout his career, making him the youngest three-star general in the entire U.S. Army.
19:17To some, he's a military prodigy.
19:20To others, he is an opportunist who has risen too fast for his own good.
19:26As the top American decision-maker in the Italian campaign, its successes and failures will rest on his shoulders.
19:35I guess it's the most daring plan of the war.
19:40We're spitting into the lion's mouth, and we know it.
19:43I can assure you the Fifth Army is ready.
19:46A few breaks, we'll pull it off.
19:49I go to work on it.
19:50Enthusiast Alexander is in command of the overall operation.
19:55He plans to use Eighth Army on the instep of the Italian bourgeois.
19:59Under my command, the Fifth Army executes avalanche 150 miles up the west coast.
20:04Our mission is to capture the city of Naples.
20:08The Fifth Army attack is the main operation.
20:11And best, we can steam in on a post.
20:14The worst, we have one hell of a fight.
20:17We're on our way.
20:18The fourth, we have a complete scanning.
20:34There's resistance on every beach, and within a short time, the defenders are strengthened
20:53by artillery and planes.
20:59So our opposition increases steadily as dawn approaches.
21:04Even in the course of battle, we're not fully realizing how great the advantage of the Germans
21:14holding all the high hills surrounding our beachhead.
21:22They're continually looking down our throats.
21:26The German advantage is nothing less than appalling.
21:30You must not yield another inch.
21:33I call on every man to fight for the last round and the last round.
21:41Operation Avalanche becomes a human meat grinder.
21:46Hundreds don't make it past the beach.
21:48The fighting on the beaches of Salerno, despite the Allies' overwhelming air superiority,
21:58their tremendous naval gunfire and all numerical weakness, is better than I have dared hope.
22:06It was actually reported to me in the late afternoon that there were hopes of their being able to throw the enemy back into the sea.
22:14After several unsuccessful thrusts of the enemy column wavers, field artillery has arrived in time.
22:34Fire laid down by everybody knocks them back on their heels.
22:38I radioed to Ike, giving him some details of the rapidly changing situation.
22:44I add, we're in good shape now.
22:46We are here to stay.
22:48We have made mistakes and we have learned the hard way, but we will improve every day.
22:53And I'm sure we will not disappoint you.
22:56Days later, Audie Murphy and his men arrive and charge inland.
23:00The beachhead has been bought dearly with the blood and guts of the men who preceded us.
23:06I part the bushes quickly, spot the machine gun emplacement, and dig into it with a hail of lead from my atomic gun.
23:14I shift to a new position.
23:16A head pokes warily out of the foxhole to the rear of the gun emplacement.
23:20I give it a burst and drop to my knees.
23:23Brandon jerks the pin from the grenade and hurls it.
23:26Before the smoke can clear, he's thrown two more.
23:30A German staggers out of the machine gun nest with a pistol in his hand.
23:35I send a burst into him, and he topples to the ground.
23:39Brandon crawls up the bank, rises, and starts walking with the last grenade in his hand.
23:44Suddenly, he wheels, lobs a grenade to the opposite side of the road, and falls.
23:49From the muggled sound of the explosion, I guess that the grenade has hit another foxhole.
23:55The five Germans are dead.
23:58But victory at Salerno comes at a steep price for the Allies.
24:02They suffer almost 7,000 casualties, compared to 3,400 for the Germans.
24:08Kesselring gives the Allies little time to regroup before he makes his next move.
24:13The impression I have is that I must be prepared for a considerable sacrifice of ground.
24:19It might still be possible to go over the defensive south of Rome, perhaps on a line running through the Garigliano Casino line.
24:30He makes a tactical retreat, kicking off what will become one of the bloodiest chapters of the Italian invasion.
24:37The general has drawn a line in the sand.
24:40The Allies will break their teeth on it.
24:44The Allies will break their teeth on it.
25:10As we advance into the mountains from Salerno, the next three months become a nightmare of rain, mud, cold, and numerous casualties.
25:34We're soaked to the skin, absolutely miserable.
25:37I've never cursed the weather so much in my life.
25:41Always there's the oppressive rain, mud, and cold.
25:53In the darkness, compounded by rain and fog, we make a number of ill-advised night attacks.
25:59Bad as it is, it's merely another day in the life of a combat infantryman during the Italian campaign.
26:04We make a number of ill-advised weaponry.
26:14One day is much like another.
26:16Blown bridges, mines,
26:18and german fire.
26:20As we approach the river, my luck runs out.
26:34I'm wounded. It's serious.
26:37Hit part of my liver. A shell frightening.
26:41A raffle bowl can only get one at a time.
26:44Shell frightens get ten to fifteen.
26:46Sparks is injected with morphine on the field of battle and evacuated.
26:55The blood loss is so great, he quickly loses consciousness.
27:00His men are not sure he'll make it.
27:16The blood loss is so great.
27:46The object is to create an impregnable system of positions in depth, and so to save German blood.
27:53The Gustav Line is a series of both natural and man-made fortifications, stretching across a hundred miles of heavily mountainous terrain.
28:03Manned by fifteen German divisions, and lined with gun pits, mines, and artillery, it's the perfect line of defense for the retreating Nazi troops.
28:14To stand any chance of capturing Rome, and destroying the enemy in Italy, the Allies will need to find a way to break through this impenetrable barrier.
28:25It will require a major gathering of resources and manpower.
28:31But it will also need more casualties than ever before.
28:39Our advance has now spent its force.
28:52Both armies are almost at a standstill.
28:55We are into the winter line, so-called because the Germans expect to hold it throughout the winter.
29:00The country is shockingly beautiful, and just as shockingly hard to capture from the enemy.
29:17Our drive is bogged down.
29:19Our problem is compounded by a lot of rain.
29:24It rains in Italy in the wintertime.
29:28The rivers rise.
29:29We have difficulty crossing.
29:32The steep mountain terrain makes it very difficult to attack.
29:39The Germans are well dug in, and we're not making any progress.
29:47The liberation of Rome, the fall of this ancient capital, would hearten the troops, and correspondingly, dishearten the enemy.
30:01The Italian campaign will not be finished this week or next.
30:04Our wasteful policy or method of taking one mountain mass after another gains no tactical advantage.
30:10There's always another mountain mass beyond what the Germans dug in on it, just as before.
30:15Somebody on the top side should figure out a way to decisively defeat the German army in Italy, instead of just pushing, pushing, pushing.
30:31Desperate to crush Kesselring's army and running out of options, allied forces prepare to punch through the Gustav Line, along the most direct highway to Rome.
30:42The only problem, there's a 1500-year-old monastery standing in their way.
30:48Monte Cassino is the highest hill near the town of Cassino.
31:04Sitting atop its peak is an almost 1500-year-old monastery.
31:09The historic structure is home to a community of monks who preserve irreplaceable religious texts, works of art, and treasures.
31:18But the building looms over a thousand feet in the air, the perfect observation post, from which the Germans can rain artillery, mortars, and machine gun fire down on the Allies.
31:30Monte Cassino is one of the strongest natural defensive positions in the whole of Europe.
31:47Is the destruction of the monastery a military necessity?
31:51Is it morally wrong to destroy it?
31:54Well, the answer to the first question is yes.
31:58The answer to the second question is this.
32:02When soldiers are fighting for a just cause and are prepared to suffer death and mutilation in the process,
32:09bricks and mortar, no matter how venerable, cannot be allowed to weigh against human lives.
32:28We are in a wooded area.
32:35And off to the right of us is like a plateau. It has big rocks.
32:39And as you're looking out over, you're looking out over the river onto Monte Cassino.
32:46That's the abbey where the monks were.
32:49That's the abbey where the monks were.
32:51Quick-witted Italian-American Albert DeFazio is a private first class in the 36th Infantry.
32:59Born in Pennsylvania, DeFazio's family immigrated to America from a town not far from Monte Cassino.
33:06Just a few days earlier, DeFazio celebrated his 19th birthday.
33:11His birthday present, the opportunity to liberate his ancestral land.
33:17We're getting ready. We're gonna cross the river and put an attack on Monte Cassino.
33:36We start down the mountain. All of a sudden, all hell breaks loose.
33:40An artillery shell. It blows the smoke away, lights up the sky.
33:47Oh my God in heaven. I'm seeing bodies ripped apart.
33:52Three, four piled on top of each other. I can't believe in my eyes.
33:58This part's all shot off. I just can't believe it.
34:02And then within seconds, another one hit. Same thing.
34:05Another pile of mangled bodies. Oh my God.
34:11Finally, I hear the orders fall back.
34:14I ran so fast. Got across the river again.
34:17I'm cold. I'm wet. I can't believe what I just saw.
34:22I'm sitting there. Lieutenant comes by and he says,
34:26Put some dry socks on. We're going back again tonight.
34:30Oh my God. I won't make it. I won't be back.
34:34I can't be that lucky with what's going on.
34:40I keep going towards Monte Cassino. Nothing. Everything is quiet.
34:53No sooner I say that, oh my God, a shell comes and hits behind me.
34:57It blows me two or three feet ahead. I'm stunned.
35:04I don't know where I am.
35:06I come to, I feel a pain behind me.
35:09I put my hands on my pants. They're ripped. My finger goes in a hole.
35:15Flood. I know I'm here.
35:18I have another sting in my back.
35:24I look over to my buddy. His back is shattered.
35:28He took the brunt of it.
35:30He's gone.
35:31He's gone.
35:33He's gone. He's dead.
35:37He doesn't move.
35:40He doesn't yell.
35:43He doesn't say anything.
35:46I have to make a decision.
35:48Either try and get some help, or stay there and bleed to death.
35:53So I take a chance, and I walk for miles before I make it to a field hospital.
35:58In deciding upon the attack, I knew it would be costly, but the rapid of failure is a serious blow.
36:20In their first offenses against the mountain, allied forces do not destroy the Abbey or break the Gustav Line.
36:36When all is said and done, out of the 6,000 men from the 36th, over 2,100 are casualties.
36:49To be continued.
36:50To be continued.
37:19I am busy trying to work out methods for speeding up our advance.
37:31One of the methods we've settled on is Operation Shingle.
37:36It's a fairly straightforward operation.
37:39Allied troops will perform an amphibious landing 60 miles behind the Gustav Line,
37:43and only 40 miles from Rome, near a small town called Anzio.
37:50The Gustav Line is certainly a tough nut to crack.
37:54If we can seize these hills, we will threaten the Gustav Line defenders from the rear.
37:59If the Anzio landings are successful, we'll be stabbing a dagger into Kesselring's right flank.
38:14We will then have to decide whether to withdraw his strength from the Gustav Line in order to oppose our Anzio landings,
38:19or their other forces could be rushed to the beachhead.
38:25As always, Kesselring is preparing for all possible outcomes.
38:30I'm convinced that the Allies' reckless expenditure of troops must conceal some ulterior objective.
38:36I don't believe that Alexander can be satisfied for much longer with the slow and coarsely way the Allied front is etching forward.
38:46Sooner or later, he must surely end it by a landing, which, taking into account the enemy's systematic methods, can only be expected in the region of Rome.
38:56If the Allies are going to outsmart Kesselring, they'll need a shrewd commander for Operation Shingle, who knows what he's doing.
39:05Mark Clark thinks he has the right man for the job.
39:09Apparently, Shingle has become the most important operation in the present scheme of things.
39:14Mr. Churchill said it will astonish the world and it will certainly frighten Kesselring.
39:19General John P. Lucas is a career military man and a West Point graduate, a veteran of the First World War.
39:28Lucas has been leading his Sixth Corps in their attempts to break the Gustav Line, but is now put in command of the Anzio Invasion Force,
39:36an operation that he has serious reservations about.
39:41Unless we can get what we want, the operation becomes such a desperate undertaking that it should not, in my opinion, be attempted.
39:48Otherwise, a crack on the chin is certain.
39:54These battles of the Little Bighorn aren't much fun, and a failure now would ruin Clark, probably kill me, and will certainly prolong the war.
40:05I feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter.
40:08I am entitled to one bleat, so I register a protest against the Tarkindy.
40:12I am ruled down as I knew I would be.
40:17I have the bare minimum of ships and craft.
40:21The force that can be gotten ashore in a hurry is weak, and I have insufficient artillery to hold me over.
40:26But on the other hand, I will have more air support than any similar operation ever had before.
40:34A week of fine weather at the proper time, and I will make it.
40:38You won't get another rehearsal. The date has been set at the very highest level.
40:46There is no possibility of delaying it for even a day.
40:50You've got to do it.
40:51To do it.
40:52To do it.
40:53To do it.
40:54To do it.
41:04To do it.
41:05To do it.
41:07To do it.
41:09To do it.
41:11And I'll assume that you won the slaughter.
41:14Whatever we are going into, it will not be worse than fighting those damned mountains.
41:18There's no mud and no hills to climb.
41:21Buck up.
41:22We've got nothing to worry about.
41:27On your right, on your right!
41:30Our command has studied every detail of the terrain over which we must pass.
41:34The enemy's strong points are known.
41:37The minefields mapped.
41:39The position's plotted.
41:46Please, David!
41:50Oh, God!
41:52Oh, God!
41:56Heaven's Stand!
42:02Come on!
42:07Come on!
42:08Come on!
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