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00:00THE END
01:04On the 10th of June, 1940, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini finally joined Hitler in war against Britain and France.
01:13The Italian invasion of the French Riviera two days before the French surrender made virtually no progress.
01:19But as his fruits of victory, Mussolini gained occupation of this region.
01:29But Mussolini also wanted to deal Britain a blow, against her naval influence in the Mediterranean.
01:35Here the British had three main naval bases.
01:38In the west was Gibraltar, which they had captured from the Spanish in 1704.
01:45Malta, traditional home of the Mediterranean fleet, covered the central Mediterranean and the Egyptian port of Alexandria, the east.
01:53Mussolini was jealous and determined to make the Mediterranean his sea.
02:01To face the British, his navy had its main bases at Taranto, La Spezia and Messina.
02:08It was, on paper at least, a match for the British.
02:12What, however, made the Mediterranean so crucial to the British was the Suez Canal.
02:17Constructed in the 1870s, with French backing as well, it had dramatically cut the sailing time from Britain to India
02:24and the Far East.
02:26Threatening the canal on land were 250,000 Italian troops in Libya and a further 100,000 in Abyssinia, Eritrea
02:35and Italian Somaliland.
02:41To oppose them, the British had a mere 60,000 men, mainly based in Egypt and Palestine.
02:51With small garrisons in Sudan, British Somaliland and Aden.
02:57There was, too, an important air base in Iraq, at Habaniya.
03:04To show that they meant business, the Italians bombed Malta, Aden and Port Sudan on the 11th of June.
03:14The British deployed troops to the Egyptian-Libyan frontier, expecting an Italian attack, and began to carry out raids across
03:22the border.
03:28The Italian attack would take time to materialise, and was not helped by the death of the Italian governor-general,
03:35Marshal Italo Balbo,
03:36a distinguished airman, whose aircraft was shot down by one of his own planes.
03:42For the Royal Navy, the most important objective was to keep Malta supplied,
03:47even though it was within easy range of Italian aircraft operating from Sicily.
03:53But French Northwest Africa complicated matters.
03:57Much of the French fleet had fled here, and on the 3rd of July, 1940, the Royal Navy attacked it,
04:04fearful that it would fall into German hands.
04:07Ships were destroyed, and French sailors killed and wounded.
04:18Vichy French anger at this was manifested in bombing attacks against Gibraltar by aircraft based in North West Africa.
04:25However, these raids caused little damage.
04:37At sea, the Italians began to attack British supply convoys to Malta, with both ships and aircraft.
04:43This led to a number of naval clashes.
04:52On land, Italian forces seized two frontier posts in Sudan in early July,
04:58and then quickly overran British Somaliland, forcing the British garrison to evacuate to Aden.
05:08But in August 1940, and in spite of the threat of invasion of Britain itself,
05:13Churchill sent a fast convoy of tanks through the Mediterranean to reinforce Egypt.
05:23This was as well.
05:25In mid-September, the long-awaited Italian invasion of Egypt began,
05:29but halted after a 60-mile advance.
05:34One reason for this was because Mussolini wanted to bring the Balkans under his sway.
05:39At the end of October 1940, his troops invaded neutral Greece from Italian-occupied Albania.
05:55It was a bad mistake.
05:57The Greeks not only resisted, but counter-attacked,
06:01overrunning half of Albania before the year's end.
06:14At sea, the struggle to keep Malta supplied continued,
06:18in the face of Italian air and naval opposition.
06:42But on the night of the 11th of November 1940,
06:45British swordfish aircraft took off from the carrier Illustrius,
06:49and made a daring torpedo attack on the Italian naval base at Taranto.
07:00They severely crippled three battleships.
07:03This made the Italian navy more cautious.
07:06But naval clashes continued.
07:11Meanwhile, in Egypt, British reinforcements had arrived from Australia and India.
07:16An operation was planned to destroy the Italian camps inside Egypt.
07:21This was launched late on the 8th of December.
07:24The troops at first thought that they were on manoeuvres.
07:35The assault caught the Italians by surprise.
07:38Within two weeks, the Italians had been driven back into Libya.
07:46Archibald Wavell, the British commander-in-chief,
07:49decided to build on this success
07:50by launching a full-scale invasion of the Italian colony.
07:57Early in January 1941,
07:59the port of Bardia fell to the Australians,
08:02followed by Tobruk and Derna.
08:05The Australians continued along the coast road towards Benghazi,
08:09while the tanks raced inland,
08:11aiming to cut off the Italians as they withdrew from Benghazi.
08:17After driving through difficult terrain,
08:20the tanks arrived just in time.
08:22Pressed by the Australians in the north,
08:24the Italians were unable to escape.
08:36Eventually, 20,000 Italians were made prisoner
08:39in this one engagement.
08:47200 guns and 120 tanks were seized,
08:50in addition to the large amounts of weaponry
08:52and 110,000 prisoners captured
08:55since the start of the offensive.
08:57It was a spectacular victory,
08:59but one that would be short-lived.
09:03Wavell was already waging a parallel campaign in the south,
09:06with the aim of removing the Italian presence from East Africa.
09:09This consisted of four separate thrusts.
09:13From Sudan,
09:14two Indian divisions advanced into Eritrea.
09:17They fought a very tough campaign in rugged country
09:20before securing the colony in May 1941.
09:24The Abyssinian emperor Haile Selassie led an indigenous force
09:28to reclaim his throne from the Italians.
09:37Selassie's men also set out from Sudan.
09:43Another force of south, east and west African troops
09:46invaded Italian Somaliland from Kenya.
09:55Finally, troops crossed from Aden
09:57to liberate British Somaliland.
10:03But even while these campaigns were underway,
10:06Wavell's slender and widely spread forces
10:08were being further stretched.
10:13Churchill's eye had alighted on Greece
10:15and her fight against the Italians.
10:17In March 1941,
10:20he ordered Wavell to send forces to help this new ally.
10:24British strength in Libya was seriously weakened,
10:26just as a new threat was appearing.
10:29For Hitler had dispatched a small German force
10:32under General Erwin Rommel.
10:33He was keen to take advantage of the British weakness
10:36and, in spite of Italian objections,
10:39quickly deployed his forces to the Syronika border.
10:51Rommel's Afrika Korps spearheaded the Axis attack,
10:55which opened on the 24th of March
10:57and quickly sent the British reeling back into Egypt,
11:00with just the port of Tobruk holding out against them.
11:16Worse was to follow.
11:21Hitler was now planning to invade Russia.
11:24In order to secure his southern flanks,
11:26he had managed to coerce most Balkan states onto his side.
11:30At the end of March, following a coup d'etat,
11:33Yugoslavia broke ranks.
11:35A furious Hitler invaded it,
11:37and Greece,
11:38on the 6th of April, 1941.
11:46It was a classic Blitzkrieg campaign,
11:49swift and decisive.
12:09The Yugoslav forces were ill-prepared to face such an onslaught
12:13and were quickly overrun.
12:17The Germans entered the capital, Belgrade,
12:20on the 12th of April,
12:21and Yugoslavia surrendered five days later.
12:26Greece lasted little longer,
12:28the British contingent having to be evacuated by the Royal Navy.
12:32Indeed, the only gleam of light for the British was at sea.
12:37Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham managed to draw the Italian fleet
12:41into battle off Cape Matapan on the 28th of March,
12:44while it was attempting to intercept British convoys to Greece.
13:07It was the first fully-fledged fleet-versus-fleet battle
13:11of the Second World War.
13:18The British sank three cruisers
13:20and crippled a battleship.
13:22This kept the Italian fleet in port for the next few months.
13:27But on the 20th of May, 1941,
13:30the Germans launched a daring airborne attack
13:32on the eastern Mediterranean island of Crete,
13:35south of Greece.
13:36British troops had been stationed here since November 1940,
13:40and men evacuated from Greece
13:41had helped to swell the garrison.
13:57There was some desperate fighting,
13:59especially around the island's airfields.
14:01But the German paratroops managed to secure these,
14:04and reinforcements were flown in.
14:09The Germans now began to drive the British
14:11towards the south coast of the island.
14:23The British rearguards were unable to hold back
14:26the German advance for long.
14:28Although they fought a number of stiff actions,
14:30they were continually outflacked.
14:45Once more, the Royal Navy had to be called in
14:47to evacuate the troops.
14:51Even so, many were left behind.
14:54It was another spectacular German success.
14:56But the loss of transport aircraft
14:58meant that they would never again
14:59attempt another large-scale airborne attack.
15:04The loss of Crete,
15:06and the fact that the Luftwaffe
15:07had now joined the Italians in attacking Malta,
15:10meant that no longer could British convoys
15:12pass through the Mediterranean.
15:14They had to go around
15:15South Africa's Cape of Good Hope instead.
15:18Indeed, it was barely possible
15:19to get occasional convoys through
15:21to keep Malta supplied.
15:40Elsewhere, Wavell had to put down an Iraqi revolt,
15:43which threatened the Habanaya airbase,
15:45and in June 1941,
15:48invaded Vichy French Syria.
15:49This was provoked by fears
15:51that the Luftwaffe would establish itself here.
15:54It took five weeks of often bitter fighting
15:57to subdue the Vichy French.
16:05In Libya, during May and June,
16:08Wavell made two abortive attacks
16:10against Rommel's defences on the Egyptian border.
16:18His failure to break through
16:20and lift the siege of Tobruk,
16:21which continued to hold out,
16:23brought about Wavell's replacement
16:24by Sir Claude Orkinlec.
16:26He spent the next few months
16:28building up what was to become
16:29the Eighth Army
16:30for a major offensive,
16:31which was to take place in November.
16:34This was in spite of the fact
16:35that Churchill constantly pressured him
16:37to attack earlier.
16:50Although Malta remained under constant air attack,
16:53British submarines like this
16:55and aircraft based on the island
16:57were effectively harrying Axis supply convoys
17:00crossing to North Africa.
17:16The first phase was marked
17:25by a protracted dogfight
17:26between the tanks of both sides
17:28and for a week
17:29the outcome was in the balance
17:30as the British infantry
17:32fought their way towards Tobruk.
17:40At one point the British armour
17:42came under threat
17:43when Rommel struck deep into their rear
17:45before being forced to withdraw.
17:55The air forces of both sides
17:57also played their part
17:58with the British Desert Air Force
18:00eventually establishing superiority
18:02over the battlefield.
18:14Finally, now short of fuel
18:16Rommel was forced to pull back.
18:23Orkinleck's men linked up
18:25with the Tobruk garrison
18:26and raised the siege.
18:29Rommel's losses were heavy
18:31and he pulled back
18:32to the Tripolitanian border.
18:36The Axis, however,
18:38denied the British
18:39the use of Benghazi as a port
18:40by sewing it with mines
18:42thus stretching their supply lines.
18:48Furthermore,
18:49Rommel received additional tanks
18:51and on the 21st of January 1942
18:53just two weeks after he had completed
18:56his withdrawal
18:57he thrust into Sairanaika
18:59once more.
19:00The British fell back
19:01to a new defence line
19:02west of Tobruk
19:03which they had worked hard
19:05to strengthen.
19:13There was now a debate
19:14over strategy
19:15in the Axis camp.
19:17Rommel wanted to press
19:18onto the Suez Canal
19:18and built up
19:20his forces accordingly.
19:22But Albert Kesselring
19:24his superior
19:25as commander-in-chief
19:26of the Southern Theatre
19:27had other ideas.
19:30He and the Italians
19:31considered the early capture
19:32of Malta
19:33to secure the Axis supply lines
19:35as more important.
19:36He did, however,
19:38permit Rommel
19:38to advance as far as Tobruk.
19:41Rommel struck
19:42at the end of May 1942
19:43pre-empting the British
19:45who were also preparing
19:46an attack.
19:47He swung his armour
19:48round the British
19:49open desert flak.
19:51Desperate tank battles
19:52followed.
20:16After three weeks
20:17intense fighting
20:18the British began
20:19to fall back.
20:25Tobruk was isolated
20:26once more
20:27but this time
20:28it fell after three days.
20:30Rommel pressed home
20:31his advantage
20:31as the British
20:32Eighth Army withdrawal
20:33became a retreat.
20:41Auchinlecht
20:42turned to face
20:42his adversary
20:43at El Alame,
20:44the last defendable position
20:46before the Suez Canal.
20:47its southern flank
20:49rested on the impassable
20:50Katara depression
20:51but there were still doubts
20:53over his ability
20:54to hold the Germans.
21:03Such was the British
21:05concern
21:05that the Mediterranean fleet
21:07left Alexandria
21:08for the Lebanese port of Beirut.
21:15on the 1st of July 1942
21:17Rommel attacked.
21:19For a time
21:20the situation
21:20was in the balance.
21:36but the Axis troops
21:37were tired
21:38after five weeks
21:39of intense fighting
21:40and fuel was short.
21:41Thus the British
21:42Eighth Army
21:43was able to hold the attack.
21:46The British
21:47now tried to break
21:48through the Axis defences.
21:50Throughout most of July
21:51the two sides
21:52punched at one another
21:53like two exhausted boxes
21:54until eventually
21:56they retired to their corners
21:57too drained to continue.
22:02Meanwhile
22:03Malta continued
22:04to hold out
22:05with an ever-rising
22:06loss of British ships
22:07in the constant effort
22:08to keep the island supplied.
22:17The island's people
22:18were also suffering
22:19from the endless attacks
22:20from the air.
22:22The island would later
22:23be awarded
22:23Britain's highest civil
22:24decoration for bravery
22:26the George Cross.
22:32Concerned by the situation
22:33Churchill now visited Egypt
22:35to assess matters
22:36for himself.
22:40He decided
22:41that a change
22:42of leadership
22:43was needed.
22:44Orkinlech
22:44was replaced
22:45by a new team
22:46General Sir Harold Alexander
22:48who would command
22:49the theatre
22:49and General Bernard Montgomery
22:51who took over
22:52the tired
22:53and baffled
22:53Eighth Army.
22:59Monty
23:00as he was nicknamed
23:01soon impressed
23:02his dynamic
23:02and positive personality
23:04on his men.
23:05There would be
23:05no more withdrawals
23:07he declared.
23:08Forewarned
23:09by Ultra
23:09Britain's ability
23:11to crack the top secret
23:12German Enigma codes
23:13that Rommel
23:14was to attack again
23:15at the end of August
23:16Montgomery
23:17easily repulsed him
23:18at the Battle
23:19of Alam Halfa.
23:29Convinced
23:30that a large superiority
23:31in men and material
23:32was essential
23:33for success
23:34he began to prepare
23:35to break through
23:36the Axis lines
23:37and drive the Italians
23:39and Germans
23:39out of the whole
23:40of Libya.
23:47On the evening
23:48of the 23rd of October
23:491942
23:49the Eighth Army
23:51deployed to its battle positions.
23:53Every man knew exactly
23:54what his part
23:55in the battle was.
23:57This was part
23:57of Montgomery's command style.
24:05nine hundred guns
24:06began to pound
24:07the Axis lines
24:08and the attack
24:09began.
24:15Unable to outflank
24:16the Axis defences
24:17the Eighth Army
24:18could only attack
24:19frontally.
24:32for the next eleven days
24:34the British
24:34struggled desperately
24:35to drive a hole
24:36through Rommel's defences.
24:47casualties mounted
24:48on both sides
24:55Rommel's men
24:56clung on grimly
24:57while the Desert Air Force
24:59unceasingly hurried them.
25:06the British pressure
25:07was relentless
25:08and eventually
25:09on the 3rd of November
25:10Rommel was forced
25:12to retreat
25:12much of his equipment
25:14destroyed.
25:23Thousands of Axis prisoners
25:24fell into British hands.
25:30Montgomery's tanks
25:31followed up
25:31and tried to cut
25:32Rommel off.
25:38But bad weather
25:39and tactical skill
25:40enabled the surviving
25:42Axis forces
25:43to get away.
25:44Throughout the remainder
25:45of November
25:46and December
25:46the British Eighth Army
25:48pursued its adversary
25:49through Libya.
25:55The British
25:55entered Tripoli
25:56on the 23rd of January
25:581943
25:58and Rommel
26:00crossed into Tunisia.
26:01But the overall
26:02situation had now changed.
26:04Both he and the British
26:05were aware
26:06that a new
26:07African theatre of war
26:08had just opened.
26:15As the men
26:16of Montgomery's
26:16Eighth Army
26:17paraded in Tripoli
26:18to celebrate their victory
26:19over the Axis forces
26:20few of them
26:22would have known
26:22that it was to be
26:23the last success
26:24enjoyed by British
26:25arms alone.
26:27With America
26:28now in the war
26:29Roosevelt and Churchill
26:30had agreed
26:31that defeat of Germany
26:32would take precedence
26:33over Japan
26:34but it took time
26:35to decide
26:36where to strike.
26:37Eventually
26:38the American general
26:39Dwight D. Eisenhower
26:40was appointed
26:41to command
26:41an agreed offensive
26:42operation
26:43in the Mediterranean.
26:44With the British
26:45tying down
26:46Rommel in Egypt
26:47the Allies
26:47had decided
26:48to strike
26:49at the Vichy
26:49French possessions
26:50of Morocco,
26:51Algeria
26:52and Tunisia
26:53an American force
26:54sailing from
26:55the United States
26:56would land
26:56at Casablanca
26:58another force
26:59would leave Scotland
27:00and pass through
27:01the Straits of Gibraltar
27:03American troops
27:04would land at Oran
27:07while an Anglo-American
27:08force landed
27:09at Algiers
27:10and advanced
27:11into Tunisia.
27:14the Vichy French
27:16forces were sizable
27:17and the Americans
27:18conducted secret
27:19negotiations
27:19to ensure
27:20that their resistance
27:21would be no more
27:22than a gesture
27:23of defiance.
27:25The landings
27:26codenamed Torch
27:27took place
27:28on the 8th of November
27:291942
27:30just after Montgomery
27:32had begun
27:32his pursuit of Rommel.
27:34Not only was Torch
27:36the first combined
27:37Anglo-American operation
27:38but it also
27:39represented the first
27:40of many allied
27:42amphibious landings.
27:48The French offered
27:49only token resistance
27:50at Casablanca
27:51and Oran
27:58but at Algiers
27:59the French contested
28:01the issue
28:01more fiercely.
28:12even so
28:13they sought
28:14an armistice
28:14after a few days
28:17then the British
28:18and Americans
28:19advanced
28:19into Tunisia
28:26Torch
28:27caught the Axis
28:27powers
28:28by surprise
28:29yet within 24 hours
28:30they had begun
28:31to fly troops
28:32into Tunisia
28:32using these
28:34ME 323
28:35Gigant transports
28:36the largest load
28:38carrying aircraft
28:38of World War II.
28:42The two sides
28:44now advanced
28:44towards one another
28:45and clashed
28:46in a series
28:47of engagements
28:47in the hilly
28:48Tunisian terrain.
28:57a British force
28:58managed to get
28:59within 20 miles
29:00of Tunis
29:00before it was
29:01forced to withdraw.
29:09By the new year
29:11amid rain
29:12and cold winds
29:13the front line
29:14ran roughly
29:14down Tunisia's
29:15central hilly spine.
29:17The Allied air force
29:18suffered especially
29:19from the mud.
29:26The Axis forces
29:27now began
29:28a series
29:28of probing attacks.
29:31Brommel's African
29:32veterans
29:32now joined
29:33the troops
29:33already in Tunisia.
29:37He prepared
29:38to attack
29:38the combat
29:39inexperienced
29:39Americans
29:40in the Kasserine
29:41Pass
29:41in order
29:42to drive
29:42the Allies
29:43out of
29:43western Tunisia.
29:48He struck
29:49in mid-February
29:501943
29:50making many
29:52Americans
29:52prisoner
29:53but was
29:54halted
29:54by other
29:54Allied forces.
30:03Montgomery's
30:04Eighth Army
30:04was now
30:05entering Tunisia
30:06from the east
30:06thus opening
30:07another front.
30:15Brommel
30:16now decided
30:16to turn
30:17on him.
30:18Forewarned
30:19by Ultra
30:19the British ability
30:20to decipher
30:21German codes
30:22Montgomery
30:23inflicted
30:23a bloody
30:24repulse
30:24on his
30:25tanks
30:25in early
30:26March
30:261943.
30:27Rommel
30:28now a sick
30:29man
30:29left
30:30North Africa.
30:33In western
30:34Tunisia
30:35the Americans
30:35and British
30:36of the
30:36First Army
30:37continued
30:38to battle
30:38on.
30:42They had
30:42now been
30:43joined
30:43by a
30:44French Corps.
30:49Montgomery
30:50meanwhile
30:50prepared
30:51to tackle
30:52the
30:52formidable
30:53Marath
30:53line.
30:55The
30:55Allied
30:55air
30:56forces
30:56prepared
30:56the
30:57way
30:57pounding
30:58the
30:58Axis
30:58defences
30:59which
30:59covered
30:59Tunisia's
31:00coastal
31:00plain.
31:14Montgomery
31:15decided
31:15to attack
31:16the
31:16line
31:16by
31:16night.
31:27The
31:28initial
31:28assault
31:28gained
31:29a
31:29lodgment
31:29but
31:30the
31:30tanks
31:30of
31:30the
31:31German
31:31Africa
31:31Corps
31:32prevented
31:32it
31:33from
31:33being
31:33exploited.
31:36Spearheaded
31:37by
31:37fighter
31:37ground
31:38attack
31:38aircraft
31:39Montgomery
31:40tanks
31:40then
31:40managed
31:41to
31:41find
31:41a
31:41way
31:41to
31:42out
31:42flank
31:42the
31:42Marath
31:43line.
31:45But
31:46they
31:46were
31:46unable
31:46to
31:47prevent
31:47the
31:47escape
31:47of
31:48their
31:48old
31:48desert
31:49adversaries.
31:58The
31:59Americans
32:00now
32:00rejuvenated
32:01after
32:01the
32:01Kasserine
32:02disaster
32:02thanks
32:03to
32:03colourful
32:04general
32:04George
32:04Patton
32:05cleared
32:06southwestern
32:06Tunisia
32:07and
32:07linked
32:08up
32:08with
32:08Montgomery.
32:25The
32:26British
32:26Eighth
32:26Army
32:27continued
32:27to
32:27advance
32:28northwards.
32:29The
32:29Axis
32:30forces
32:30were
32:30becoming
32:31increasingly
32:31hemmed
32:32in
32:32by
32:32the
32:32British
32:33French
32:33and
32:34Americans
32:34of
32:35the
32:35First
32:35Army
32:35which
32:36contained
32:36them
32:36in
32:37the
32:37West
32:37while
32:38Montgomery
32:39pushed
32:39from
32:39the
32:39south
32:40towards
32:40Wadi
32:41Akeret
32:41the
32:42next
32:42main
32:42defence
32:43line.
32:46His
32:47troops
32:47successfully
32:47stormed
32:48this
32:48in
32:48early
32:49April.
32:56Again
32:57though
32:57the
32:57British
32:58were
32:58unable
32:58to
32:59trap
32:59the
32:59Axis
32:59forces.
33:01Montgomery
33:02pushed
33:02on
33:03to
33:03Enfidaville
33:03where
33:04he
33:04was
33:04again
33:05forced
33:05to
33:05pause.
33:07Emphasis
33:07now
33:07switched
33:08to
33:08the
33:08First
33:08Army
33:09for
33:09the
33:09final
33:10offensive
33:10which
33:11opened
33:11on
33:11the
33:116th
33:12of
33:12May.
33:31The
33:31Axis
33:32forces
33:32their
33:33supply
33:33lines
33:34across
33:34the
33:34Mediterranean
33:35now
33:35virtually
33:35cut
33:36could
33:36hold
33:37out
33:37no
33:37longer.
33:37Tunis
33:38and
33:39Viserta
33:39were
33:40entered
33:40and
33:41on
33:41the
33:4111th
33:41of
33:42May
33:42all
33:42resistance
33:43ceased.
33:48Over
33:49200,000
33:49Italians
33:50and Germans
33:51surrendered.
33:52The
33:52time to
33:52re-enter
33:53Europe
33:53had
33:54finally
33:54arrived.
33:57In
33:57January
33:581943
33:59the Allies
34:00had held
34:00a major
34:01strategic
34:01planning
34:02conference
34:02into
34:03Casablanca
34:03in Morocco.
34:04At it
34:05a decision
34:06was made
34:06to land
34:07on Sicily
34:08once North
34:08Africa had
34:09been cleared
34:10and bring
34:10about Italy's exit
34:12from the war.
34:13Planning for the Sicily
34:15operation began in March 1943.
34:18The American 7th Army under Patten would land on the southern coast and clear the western
34:23half of the island while Montgomery's 8th advanced up the eastern half.
34:27As a preliminary and after heavy air and sea bombardment, British troops landed on the islands of Lampedusa and Pantelleria
34:35on the 11th of June.
34:40The
34:40amphibious task forces sailed from northwest Africa, Egypt and Britain. The landings on Sicily
34:47itself took place on the 10th of July.
35:05The
35:06operation went largely to plan.
35:23The
35:24low-grade Italian divisions, mainly defending the coast, were unable to prevent the beachheads
35:28from being secured.
35:37This was even though Allied paratroops were badly scattered when they were dropped in support of the landings.
35:52The Allies now began to advance inland, but met stiff resistance from two crack German divisions
35:58which had been sent to the island.
36:09Eventually, Patten began to make progress as his men swept up to the north coast.
36:20The British, however, found it tough going in the more mountainous east.
36:24Not until the 5th of August did they enter Catania, halfway up the coast.
36:46The Allies, however, were unable to prevent the Germans from slipping across the Straits of Messina to Italy.
36:51For the Italians, the loss of Sicily was the last straw. Mussolini was deposed, and they asked for an armistice.
37:03Kesselring was ordered by Hitler to guard against an Italian surrender.
37:10More German troops were rushed to Italy, which the Allies now prepared to invade.
37:20First, Montgomery would cross the Straits of Messina and clear the toe.
37:25Then, while he landed further forces at Taranto, the newly formed American 5th Army, with British troops under command, would
37:32land at Salerno.
37:36On the 3rd of September, the British crossed the Straits and entered the Italian toe.
37:41Simultaneously, the Italians secretly signed an armistice.
37:45Six days later, this was publicly announced, and the landing at Salerno went ahead.
37:56The Germans rushed in troops and offered stiff resistance.
38:07The American 5th Army had to fight hard to secure the B-Chip, with the Germans making fierce counter-attacks.
38:29The Luftwaffe was also very active, and destroyed a number of Allied ships.
38:39The ships' guns themselves played an essential role in enabling the troops to get on shore.
38:52Eventually, Allied firepower proved overwhelming.
38:55The beachhead was expanded, and reinforcements landed.
38:59Salerno showed, though, that the Germans were not going to give up Italy without a fight.
39:15Italy now changed sides, and her fleet sailed to Malta to surrender.
39:25The Germans tried to prevent Allied use of the Italian armed forces by disarming them.
39:30They also occupied Rome, and rushed in more troops from the north.
39:49In the meantime, Mussolini was being held captive at a ski resort in the Abruzzi Mountains.
39:54On Hitler's orders, troops landed by glider, and carried out a daring rescue of the former Italian dictator.
40:05They used a light aircraft to take him to safety.
40:16He was flown to southern Germany to be reunited with his family and Hitler.
40:21Thereafter, Mussolini set up a puppet fascist republic in northern Italy.
40:38The German resistance at Salerno was overcome after a week's fighting.
40:53This enabled the 5th and 8th Armies to link up.
40:57After that, the Americans would advance up the west side of Italy, and the British the eastern.
41:09Montgomery and 5th Army commander Mark Clark recognized the need to coordinate their operations.
41:16Churchill, though, was keen to re-enter the Balkans by securing the Italian-owned Dodecanese Islands.
41:22Landings were made on them in September.
41:27The Italian garrisons were disarmed, but lack of naval and air support enabled German troops from Greece to quickly recapture
41:35the islands.
41:43On mainland Italy, the Allies entered Naples on the 1st of October.
41:48Their forces then continued northwards, but were held up by German rearguards.
42:07There had been a debate on the German side over whether to base the defence in northern Italy,
42:12or make the Allies fight for the whole country.
42:15In the event, it was Kesselring's latter view which prevailed.
42:23Italy's numerous river lines helped Kesselring's strategy.
42:31The autumn rains now began to slow the Allies.
42:46Conditions deteriorated as winter drew on.
42:49Eventually, towards the end of November 1943, the Allies were confronted by the prepared defences of the Gustav Line.
43:02This line ran across the country some 75 miles from Rome.
43:10Montgomery managed to break through it at its eastern end, but after a fierce battle to capture Ortona,
43:15the 8th Army, now exhausted, was forced to halt.
43:19Kesselring's strategy was beginning to pay off.
43:48According to the Nazis, the Allies were to square enough.
43:52to pin down the Germans in the Monte Cassino area
43:54and then outflank the Gustav Line
43:57through an amphibious landing at Anzio,
43:5960 miles to its rear.
44:01This was in spite of previous plans
44:03to transfer much of the amphibious shipping to Britain
44:06in preparation for the 1944 cross-channel invasion.
44:23On the 22nd of January, 1944,
44:26the now familiar prelude of the naval bombardment
44:29covered the approach of the landing craft to the shore.
44:36The assaulting troops were quickly ashore.
44:44The Germans had been caught largely by surprise
44:46and could not prevent the Allies
44:48from consolidating their hold on Anzio.
44:59These amphibious wheeled vehicles, known as ducks,
45:03enabled troops to land without getting their feet wet.
45:08Soon, heavy weapons and stores were being put ashore.
45:22But as Allied strength in the bridgehead rapidly rose,
45:25no effort was made to capitalise
45:27on the initial success of the landings by thrusting inland.
45:30Meanwhile, on the main front,
45:32General Alphonse Join's French Expeditionary Corps
45:35was given the task of assaulting
45:37the tiring Monte Cassino mountain complex.
45:40He opened his attack two days after the Anzio landings.
45:45At Anzio itself, Allied inactivity gave the Germans time
45:49to redeploy their forces in order to eradicate the beachhead.
45:59On the 16th of February,
46:01they launched the first of a series of furious counterattacks.
46:11Soon, the Allies were under intense pressure
46:13and the future of the beachhead was put in doubt.
46:27The Germans maintained the pressure for two and a half weeks.
46:38They inflicted some 20,000 casualties on the Allies.
46:47The situation at Monte Cassino was no better.
46:55One attempt after another to seize it failed.
47:02In desperation, the Allied air forces
47:04bombed the historic monastery on its peak,
47:07believing that the Germans were using it
47:09as an observation post.
47:13The German paratroops defending Cassino
47:16remained resolute
47:17under constant artillery and air bombardment.
47:28French, New Zealanders, Indians and British
47:31all tried to capture it, but with no success,
47:34although they did manage to capture much of the town at its base.
47:49The Allied command had by now hatched a new plan.
47:52The bulk of the British 8th Army
47:54would be switched from east of the Apennines,
47:57Italy's mountainous spine,
47:58and a concerted attack launched from Cassino
48:01to the Mediterranean coast.
48:02In conjunction with this,
48:05the forces in the Anzio beachhead
48:07would break out towards Rome.
48:11As a preliminary,
48:13an air offensive,
48:14aptly called Strangle,
48:16was mounted to throttle the Axis supply routes.
48:24The attack was launched
48:26on the night of the 11th of May.
48:27This time, the Poles attacked at Cassino,
48:30but were held.
48:32Further south, however,
48:33the French broke through the Abruzzi mountains.
48:36Kesselring now ordered his troops
48:38to begin withdrawing from the Gustav line.
48:40The Poles attacked again at Cassino,
48:43which finally fell,
48:44and the Allied forces now broke out of the mountains
48:47and linked up with the Anzio troops.
48:51Rome, which had been such an elusive prize,
48:54was entered by the Allies on the 5th of June.
49:06They continued the advance northwards,
49:08but skilfully handled German rearguards
49:11kept the Allies at arm's length.
49:20Hopes of preventing the Germans
49:22from withdrawing to their next main defence line
49:24began to fade.
49:35Demolitions were another weapon
49:37used by the Germans to hold up the Allies.
49:39The hilly terrain of central Italy
49:41meant that it was easy
49:43to block routes running northwards.
49:58By the end of August,
49:59the Allied advance had been brought
50:01to a virtual halt.
50:02They now found themselves
50:03facing another strong belt of defences,
50:06the Gothic line,
50:07some 150 miles north of Rome.
50:16Again, the 8th Army
50:17managed to break through this
50:19at the Adriatic end,
50:20but the endless succession
50:21of river lines to its north
50:23eventually wore the British down
50:25and they could not achieve
50:26a decisive break-up.
50:34The Americans beat their heads
50:36against the line
50:37where it passed through the Apennines.
50:49Their advance was also delayed
50:51by the Arno line,
50:52which protected the Western approaches
50:54to the Gothic line.
51:07Once more, winter had arrived in Italy
51:10and exhaustion gripped the Allied armies.
51:13The troops were conscious too
51:14that the spotlight had turned elsewhere
51:17to Northwest Europe
51:19and the massive battles
51:20on the Eastern Front.
51:24The American
51:25The American
51:25The American
51:35The American
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