Armoured Warfare in the Italian Campaign, 1943–1945

Author: Anthony Tucker-Jones
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 178346898X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Book Description
This WWII pictorial history illustrates the wide array of armored vehicles deployed by Allied and Axis powers in Italy. The Second World War campaigns in North Africa, on the Eastern Front and in northwest Europe were dominated by armored warfare, but the battles in Italy were not. The Italian peninsula’s mountainous terrain was best suited to an infantry war. Yet from the Allied landings in Sicily in 1943 to the German surrender after the crossing of the Po in 1945, tanks, self-propelled guns and armored cars were essential elements in the operations of both sides. Anthony Tucker-Jones’s selection of rare wartime photographs shows armor in battle at Salerno, Anzio and Monte Cassino, during the struggle for the Gustav Line, the advance on Rome and the liberation of northern Italy. These dramatic images reveal the full array of Axis and Allied armored vehicles that was deployed, including German Panzers, Panthers, and Tigers and Allied Stuarts, Chafees, Shermans and Churchills. They also vividly illustrate the Italian landscapes over which the campaign was fought and the grueling conditions endured by the men who fought in it.

Fifth Army in Italy, 1943–1945

Author: Ian Blackwell
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783032448
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 476

Book Description
A history of the Allied coalition in Italy during World War II. The US Fifth Army first saw action during the Salerno Landings in September 1943. While commanded by US Lieutenant General Mark Clark, from the outset one of its two Corps was the X (British) Corps; the other V1 (US) Corps. The multi-national composition of Fifth Army is demonstrated by the French Expeditionary Corps, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, the South African Armoured Division, the Italian Co-Belligerent forces, formations from the New Zealand Corps and the 4th Indian Division. Clark’s Fifth Army was itself part of the Fifteenth Army Group, commanded by Field Marshal Alexander. Alexander’s light and diplomatic touch oiled the wheels of this uneasy arrangement but inevitably there were tensions and disagreements that threatened success. The low priority accorded to Italy as compared with OVERLORD and NW Europe did not help matters. Seen as a backwater, crack units were taken away and insufficient resources allocated to the Italian Campaign. This combined with the tenacity of the Germans, the difficult terrain and the harsh climate caused real problems. Allied morale was at times particularly brittle and desertion rates worryingly high. This superbly researched book objectively examines the performance of Fifth Army against this complex and troublesome backdrop. The author’s findings make for authoritative and fascinating reading and give food for thought about multinational cooperation in more recent conflicts.

Armoured Warfare in the Italian Campaign

Author: Anthony Tucker-Jones
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Tanks (Military science)
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Book Description
The Second World War campaigns in North Africa, on the Eastern Front and in northwest Europe were dominated by armored warfare, but the battles in Italy were not. The mountainous topography of the Italian peninsula ensured that it was foremost an infantry war, so it could be said that tanks played a supporting role. Yet, as Anthony Tucker-Jones demonstrates, in the battles fought from the Allied landings in Sicily in 1943 to the German surrender after the crossing of the Po in 1945, tanks, self-propelled guns and armored cars were essential elements in the operations of both sides. His selecti.

Eighth Army in Italy, 1943-45

Author: Richard Doherty
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473813875
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 477

Book Description
Eighth Army, Britain's most famous field army of the twentieth century, landed in Italy in September 1943 and fought continously until the defeat of the Germans in early-May 1945. This book studies the experience of Eighth Army in the Italian campaign, examining how a force accustomed to the open spaces of North Africa adjusted to the difficult terrain of Italy where fighting became much more a matter for the infantry than for the armour. It also compares the qualities of the commanders of Eighth Army in Italy: Montgomery; Leese and, finally, McCreery. The book uses official records at various levels, personal accounts - some never before published - and published material to present a picture of an army that, although defined as British, was one of the war's most cosmopolitan formations. Its soldiers came from the UK, Canada, India, Ireland, Nepal, New Zealand, Poland and South Africa as well as from Palestine - the Jewish Brigade - and from Italy itself.

Bolt Action: Campaign: Italy: Soft Underbelly

Author: Warlord Games
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472852699
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Book Description
With the Axis Powers ejected from North Africa, the Western Allies look to take the fight across the Mediterranean and into Mussolini's Italy. This supplement for Bolt Action focuses on Operation Husky, the airborne and naval invasion of Sicily, the hard-fought battles in the villages and rugged mountain passes of that island, and the advance up the Italian Peninsula towards Rome. With a host of scenarios, new units, special rules, and Theatre Selectors this book contains everything players need to refight these important battles in defence of the Regno d'Italia or to strike at the underbelly of Axis-controlled Europe.

Allied Armour, 1939–1945

Author: Anthony Tucker-Jones
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1526777983
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
“An important review of armoured warfare, armoured vehicle design, tactics, and operational issues during World War 2 . . . it comes highly commended.” —Dr Stuart C. Blank, Military Archive Research During the first years of the Second World War, Allied forces endured a series of terrible defeats at the hands of the Germans, Italians and Japanese. Their tanks were outclassed, their armored tactics were flawed. But the advent of new tank designs and variants, especially those from the United States, turned the tables. Although German armor was arguably still superior at the end of the war, the competence of Allied designs and the sheer scale of their production gave them a decisive advantage on the armored battlefield. This is the fascinating story that Anthony Tucker-Jones tells in this book which is part of a three-volume history of armored warfare during the Second World War. Chapters cover each major phase of the conflict, from the early blitzkrieg years when Hitler’s Panzers overran Poland, France and great swathes of the Soviet Union to the Allied fight back in tank battles in North Africa, Italy and northern Europe. He also covers less-well-known aspects of the armored struggle in sections on Allied tanks in Burma, India and during the Pacific campaign. Technical and design armored are a key element in the story, but so are changes in tactics and the role of the tanks in the integrated all-arms forces that overwhelmed the Axis. “The matter of armoured vehicles and their role in the turning of the tide against Germany is covered brilliantly in Anthony Tucker-Jones’s excellent treatise.” —Books Monthly “Very Highly Recommended.” —Firetrench

Sights, Sounds, Memories

Author: Ian van der Waag
Publisher: African Sun Media
ISBN: 192848090X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 374

Book Description
The Second World War involved most of the countries of the world and left so many millions dead and maimed, disorganised and devastated through personal and communal loss. This book recovers some of South Africa’s soldiers’ experiences from the physical and mental debris of the war. Individuals are important; their lives – used as lenses – give us colour and texture, and their voices tell the stories of ordinary soldiers. Using their memoirs and diaries, the vitality of their endeavours is reasserted, their successes and failures, victories and indecencies are re-examined, and their magnanimity and the general triumph of the human spirit are celebrated.

Fighting the People's War

Author: Jonathan Fennell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107030951
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 967

Book Description
Jonathan Fennell captures for the first time the true wartime experience of the ordinary soldiers from across the empire who made up the British and Commonwealth armies. He analyses why the great battles were won and lost and how the men that fought went on to change the world.

The Invasion of Sicily 1943

Author: Jon Diamond
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473896118
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Book Description
With victory in North Africa complete, the Allies had a choice. The Americans wanted an early cross channel attack from Britain on North West Europe. Churchill favored invading the soft underbelly of Italy to weaken the Axis forces and gain Italian surrender. With Eisenhowers army and battle-hardened Eighth Army in North Africa, Churchill prevailed.The ambitious Operation HUSKY required meticulous planning. Montgomery's Eighth Army and Patton's Seventh landed successfully although the air landing proved costly. While the outcome was not in doubt the mountainous terrain acted in the defenders favor. The German presence was higher than expected and the vast bulk of the enemy were Italian. In little over a month, the first Americans reached Messina.The strategic plan was successful: the Italian capitulated, Hitler had to reinforce his Southern flank relieving pressure on the Soviets and valuable lessons were learned by Allied for D-Day.

Seek, Strike, and Destroy

Author: Christopher Richard Gabel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 100

Book Description
In the seventy years that have passed since the tank first appeared, antitank combat has presented one of the greatest challenges in land warfare. Dramatic improvements in tank technology and doctrine over the years have precipitated equally innovative developments in the antitank field. One cycle in this ongoing arms race occurred during the early years of World War II when the U.S. Army sought desperately to find an antidote to the vaunted German blitzkrieg. This Leavenworth Paper analyzes the origins of the tank destroyer concept, evaluates the doctrine and equipment with which tank destroyer units fought, and assesses the effectiveness of the tank destroyer in battle.