The Italian Campaign
Date and Location
The date and location of The Italian Campaign was July 10th, 1943 to May 2nd, 1945. This battle lasted about 2 years. The Allies started on the coast of Sicily making there way up through Italy to Rimini.
Map
The arrows on the map show where the Canadian, American and British forces started and how they made there way up through Italy.
Description
The Canadian, American and British forces wanted to gain a position in Italy because they wanted to relieve the Soviet Union of the Germans advancing on them. Secondly the allied forces wanted to stop any German forces that might be able to resist the channel invasion. This picture shows the Canadian, American and British forces landing on the coast of Sicily.
Battle Objectives
The objectives of the Italian Campaign were to gain a position and Italy, take Sicily and push back the German troops.
Key Terms
Fascism is a system of government where a dictator has complete control.
A paratrooper is a member of a military infantry unit trained to attack or land in combat areas by parachuting from airplanes.
An Armistice is a member of a military infantry unit trained to attack or land in combat areas by parachuting from airplanes.
Brigade is a large body of troops.
Key Figures
Benito Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in Predappio, Italy and he was known as the father of fascism which means he was for the idea of government having a dictator in complete control, he was the Prime Minister of Italy up until 1943 when he was arrested for leaving a meeting early with a King but the German Paratroopers rescued him from jail. Marshal Pietro Badoglio took over and broke the alliance with Germany. He was captured and executed April 28th, 1945.
General Patton was born on November 11th, 1885 in San Gabriel, California. Patton was a senior officer in the U.S Army. He was Commander of the American ground forces during the Italian Campaign. General Patton Came up with Operation Husky, a massive assault which incurred 29 000 people and captured 140 000. He died on December 21st, 1945 in Heidelberg, Germany.
Adolf Hitler was born on April 20th, 1889 in Austria and was a German Politician, leader of the Nazis Party and Leader of Germany. The “Hitler Line” was a German defensive line in Central Italy during World War II. In May, the Canadians broke the ‘Hitler Line’ of defence south of Rome.
Battles
Battle of Sicily began on July 9th, 1943. The objective was for U.S, Canadian, and British soldiers to push back Germany and relieve stress of The Soviet Union with Germany advancing. A summer storm happened during this battle and this helped the allies because the Axis side would not attempt anything in those weather conditions.In 38 days the Allies managed to push back German troops to mainland. Involved the combined effort of 150 000 troops, 3000 ships, and 4000 aircrafts. Allies evacuated 100 000 men at Italy. Italy declared war on Germany October 13th, 1943 after the change in dictator. This is a picture of Allied forces landing on the shore of Sicily.
Battle of Ortona began December 20th, 1943. The objective was to take over Ortona. Italy was allied with Nazi Germany at the time. The Allies successfully took Ortona. This is a picture of the scene after Ortonahappened, it was called ‘The Little Stalingrad’ because of the large damage made in such a short battle.
Implications
The Italian campaign was Canada’s longest involvement in world war two. Soldiers went through extreme weather and terrain conditions such as rain, snow, mud, valleys and mountains from Sicily all the way up the Italian peninsula to Florence. Slowly the allies helped Italy sweep its country out from Germany’s control but this did not come easily, this victory was claimed after 20 months of many casualties, battles and determination. There were more than 26,000 Canadian casualties, 6,000 were deaths.Canada joined the campaign on July 10 1943 when Operation Husky began. The objective was for allied forces (1st Canadian Infantry Division and 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade) to invade the island of Sicily. When Operation Husky was put in place Canadian forces advanced on the main airport in Pachino for strategic purposes. By the end of the first day 7 Canadians were dead and 25 were wounded. the next day Canadians were delayed by little enemy opposition, Italian troops wanted to surrender. The allies took a route up the eastern coastline toward Catania to get to the mainland faster. The Italian army took a fast fall resulting in German divisions quickly creating a series of defensive lines. On July 15 1943, Canadians reached their first German line in Grammichele. The German fought back but eventually retreated allowing the Canadians to continue on their trek. The Germans continued to be pushed back throughout all battles in Sicily. In Valguarnera, canadians met their heaviest opposition on july 18 1943 fightings on the ridges. the allies had over 145 casualites but german forces had about 250. canadausedhighly trained mountain troops to evacuate the city.
Significance
The Italian Campaign resulted in the end of Mussolini’s government.The Italian campaign determined the outcome of the war because the alliances engaged forces from the Germans that could have offended France
Causalities
The Causalities for the United States were about 114,000, for Canada 26,000 , for Germany 10,000 , and for Italy about 100,000.
Weapons
There were lots of weapons used in the Italian Campaign such as, Mines,The Bouncing Betty used by the allies was an example of a mine and the anti-tank mine/t-mine used by the Germans.In the bottom left corner there is a picture of a mine going off.
Smoke generators used by both sides which were used to blind the enemy and allow movement up close to the front lines. The picture in the middle is an example of smoke generators in action.
Barrage Balloons used by both sides were small balloons attached to the ground or ships to stop low level attacks by enemy aircraft. An example of this is the bottom right corner picture.
The Anzio Annie was a massive railway cannon built by the Germans for World War 2. It weighed 230 tons and shot 550 pound shells 31 miles.You can see the Anzio Annie in the top right corner with all the men sitting on it.
The Long Tom was a 155 millimetrecaliber field gun developed and used by the United States military. You can see this gun in the bottom left picture.
Lastly the Screaming Meamiesor the Nebelwerfer was a German made weapon a six barrel rocket launcher. This is in the bottom right picture.
What was learned
- To stop a problem before it becomes a national crisis
- New techniques for future wars
- What NOT to do in future wars
- Dictatorship
Bibliography