Asia-Pacific
156-727: Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups The Dodecanese campaign was the capture and occupation of the Dodecanese islands by German forces during World War II . Following the signing of the Armistice of Cassibile on 3 September 1943, Italy switched sides and joined the Allies . As a result, the Germans made plans to seize control of the Dodecanese, which were under Italian control . The Allies planned to use
312-517: A Fallschirmjäger (paratroop) battalion and an amphibious operations company Küstenjäger (Coast Raiders) from the Brandenburger special operation units. The Allied garrison of Leros consisted of most of the 234th Infantry Brigade with c. 3,000 men of the 2nd The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Lieutenant Colonel Maurice French), the 4th The Buffs (The Royal East Kent Regiment) , 1st The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) and
468-594: A German minefield east of Kalymnos, while RHN Adrias lost its prow. Adrias escaped to the Turkish coast and after makeshift repairs, sailed to Alexandria. On the night of 10/11 November, destroyers HMS Petard , HMS Rockwood and ORP Krakowiak bombarded Kalymnos and HMS Faulknor bombarded Kos, where German forces were assembling for the attack on Leros. The German convoy reached Leros on 12 November, escorted by over 25 ships, mostly submarine chasers, torpedo boats and minesweepers. During
624-906: A diplomatic mission to channel support to the Rashid Ali regime but the British quickly learned of the German arrangements through intercepted Italian diplomatic transmissions. On 6 May, in accordance with the Paris Protocols , Germany concluded a deal with the Vichy French government to release war materials, including aircraft, from sealed stockpiles in the French Mandate of Syria and transport them to Iraq. The French also agreed to allow passage of other weapons and material and loaned several airbases in northern Syria to Germany, for
780-519: A direct attack on Rhodes and Karpathos , with three infantry divisions, an armored brigade and support units. Landings at Crete, which was too well fortified and had a strong German garrison, were dropped. The main problem faced by the planners was the difficulty of countering Fliegerkorps X of the Luftwaffe because of a lack of air cover, as American and British aircraft were based in Cyprus and
936-528: A final attack when better weather and ground conditions arrived in the spring. In late February-early March 1945, Operation Encore saw elements of the U.S. IV Corps ( 1st Brazilian Division and the newly arrived U.S. 10th Mountain Division ) battling forward across minefields in the Apennines to align their front with that of the U.S. II Corps on their right. They pushed the German defenders from
1092-446: A further several hundred thousand captured during the process of the various campaigns. British losses amount to over 300,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, and total American losses in the region amounted to 130,000. During the late 1920s, Benito Mussolini claimed that Italy needed an outlet for its " surplus population " and that it would be in other countries' best interests to aid in this expansion. The regime wanted "hegemony in
1248-541: A hope that, with the surrender of the Italian government, the Germans would withdraw to the north, since at the time Adolf Hitler had been persuaded that Southern Italy was strategically unimportant. However, this was not to be; although, for a while, the Eighth Army was able to make relatively easy progress up the eastern coast, capturing the port of Bari and the important airfields around Foggia . Despite none of
1404-702: A month-long battle , succeeded in capturing it on 18 July. During Operation Olive , which commenced on 25 August, the Gothic Line defences were penetrated on both the Fifth and Eighth Army fronts; but, there was no decisive breakthrough. Churchill, the British Prime Minister, had hoped that a major advance in late 1944 would open the way for the Allied armies to advance northeast through the "Ljubljana Gap" (the area between Venice and Vienna , which
1560-647: A more direct method of fighting the main force of the German Army in northwestern Europe . The ability to launch such a campaign depended on first winning the Battle of the Atlantic . The strategic disagreement was fierce, with the U.S. service chiefs arguing for an invasion of France as early as possible, while their British counterparts advocated a policy centred on operations in the Mediterranean . There
1716-535: A plot to arrest him and fled Baghdad for RAF Habbaniya , from whence he was flown to Basra and given refuge on the Insect-class gunboat HMS Cockchafer . On 1 April, Rashid Ali, along with four senior Army and Air Force officers known as the " Golden Square ", seized power via a coup d'état and Rashid Ali proclaimed himself Chief of the "National Defence Government." The Golden Square deposed al-Hashimi and restored Rashid Ali. Ali did not overthrow
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#17327655241931872-484: A series of amphibious landings on the northern coast that propelled Patton's troops into Messina shortly before the first units of the Eighth Army. The defending German and Italian forces were unable to prevent the Allied capture of the island, but they succeeded in evacuating most of their troops to the mainland, with the last leaving on 17 August 1943. The Allied forces gained experience in opposed amphibious operations, coalition warfare, and large airborne drops. Forces of
2028-646: A strong escort for convoys to and from the Malta. Malta was 60 miles (97 km) from Sicily and one of the first targets of the Italian army and the Regia Aeronautica ; the air defence of Malta comprised six obsolescent Gloster Gladiator biplanes. After the first Italian air attacks it became clear that Malta could be defended and in early July, the Gladiators were reinforced by twelve Hawker Hurricane fighters. The Kriegsmarine began operations in
2184-639: A weak force garrisoning the gains made from Operation Compass. In March, the Battle of Kufra ended with the Italians losing the desert oasis of Kufra—a vital link between Italian east and north Africa—which was located in south-eastern Libya. In North Africa, the Italians responded to the defeat of their Tenth Army by dispatching armour and motorised divisions. Germany dispatched the Afrika Korps in Operation Sonnenblume , to bolster
2340-575: A week before the surrender of Italy in the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September. On the announcement of the armistice, the Italian garrisons on most of the Dodecanese Islands either wanted to change sides and fight with the Allies or go home. Anticipating the Italian armistice, German forces, based largely in mainland Greece, had been rushed to many of the islands to maintain control. The German forces were part of Army Group E commanded by
2496-621: Is estimated that between September 1943 and April 1945, 60,000–70,000 Allied and 38,805–50,660 German soldiers died in Italy. The number of Allied casualties was about 330,000 and the German figure (excluding those involved in the final surrender) was over 330,000. Fascist Italy, prior to its collapse, suffered about 200,000 casualties, mostly prisoners-of-war taken in the invasion of Sicily, including more than 40,000 killed or missing. Over 150,000 Italian civilians died, as did 35,828 anti-Nazi and anti-fascist partisans and some 35,000 troops of
2652-494: Is today's Slovenia ) to Vienna and Hungary to forestall the Red Army from advancing into Eastern Europe . Churchill's proposal had been strongly opposed by the U.S. Chiefs of Staff, despite its importance to British postwar interests in the region, as they did not believe that it aligned with overall Allied war priorities. In October, Lieutenant General Sir Richard McCreery succeeded Lieutenant General Sir Oliver Leese as
2808-591: The Luftwaffe General Alexander Löhr . The most important German force in the Dodecanese was the 7,500-strong Sturm-Division Rhodos (Assault Division Rhodes), commanded by Generalleutnant (Lieutenant-General) Ulrich Kleemann . This division was formed during the summer on the island of Rhodes, which was the administrative center of the Dodecanese Islands and had three military airfields. Because of this, Rhodes
2964-669: The Battle of Taranto on the night of 12/13 November. After assembling enough forces the British launched a counter-attack upon the Italians in Egypt. Operation Compass drove the Italians out of Egypt and resulted in the destruction of the Italian 10th Army in February 1941. Following this success, British forces adopted a defensive position in North Africa and redeployed most troops to Greece in Operation Lustre , leaving
3120-694: The Battle of the Kasserine Pass and a temporary defensive success at the Battle of the Mareth Line . After shattering the Axis defence on the Mareth Line, the Allies squeezed Axis forces into a pocket around Tunis. Axis resistance in Africa ended on 13 May 1943, with the unconditional surrender of nearly 240,000 men, who became prisoners of war . Following the Allied victory in North Africa. The Allies now turn their attention in knocking out Italy from
3276-637: The Eastern Mediterranean . Rhodes , the largest of the islands, was a major military and aerial base. The island of Leros , with its excellent deep-water port of Lakki (Portolago) , was transformed into a heavily fortified aeronautical base, "the Corregidor of the Mediterranean", as Benito Mussolini , the Italian leader, boasted. An early British attempt to contest Italian control of the Dodecanese, codenamed Operation Abstention ,
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#17327655241933432-795: The First Battle of El Alamein , which had stalled the Axis advance into Egypt, British forces went onto the offensive in October. The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a watershed in the Western Desert Campaign and turned the tide in the North African Campaign . It ended the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal and of gaining access to the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields via North Africa. As
3588-580: The Four days of Naples , holding out despite continuous German reprisals until the arrival of Allied forces. As the Allies advanced, they encountered increasingly difficult terrain: the Apennine Mountains form a spine along the Italian peninsula offset somewhat to the east. In the most mountainous areas of Abruzzo , more than half the width of the peninsula comprises crests and peaks over 900 metres (3,000 feet) that are relatively easy to defend; and
3744-606: The German invasion of the United Kingdom . While his generals did not believe they were prepared, they were ordered to push forward without any solid objectives. On 9 September, Italian aircraft start preparation bombardments for the invasion of Egypt. Four days later, Italian infantry attacked and advanced as far as Sidi Barrani before digging in, 80 mi (130 km) west of the main British position at Mersa Matruh . In East Africa, after some initial offensive actions,
3900-684: The Greek government – during the early stages of the Greek Civil War . The British referred to this theatre as the Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre (so called due to the location of the fighting and the name of Middle East Command ), the Americans called it the Mediterranean Theater of War and the German informal official history of the fighting is the Mediterranean, South-East Europe, and North Africa 1939–1941. Despite
4056-718: The Italian conquest of British Somaliland began in August and annexed the colony. After crossing the Albanian border, Italian forces began the Greco-Italian War by invading Greece on 28 October. The Greek army repulsed the Italian attack and commenced a counter-offensive on 14 November, which pushed Italian forces back into Albania. The Royal Navy inflicted a major setback upon the Italian Royal Navy during
4212-819: The Italian invasion of France , just before the end of the Battle of France . During June, the East African Campaign began with Italian attacks in East Africa, although ground combat did not start until July. On 22 June, France signed an armistice at Compiegne with Germany and on 24 June, the Franco-Italian Armistice was signed. Italy gained a 50 kilometres (31 mi) demilitarised zone inside France (as well as similar zones where Italian and French colonies met). Italian occupation forces took over an 832 km (321 sq mi) area of France, which included 28,500 people and
4368-568: The Liberation of Italy following the German occupation in September 1943, consisted of Allied and Axis operations in and around Italy , from 1943 to 1945. The joint Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre and it planned and led the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, followed in September by the invasion of
4524-542: The Massacre of Kos , killing the captured Italian commander of the island, Colonnello Felice Leggio, and nearly 100 of his officers. After the fall of Kos, the Italian garrison of Kalymnos surrendered, providing the Germans with a valuable base for operations against Leros. Unternehmen Leopard (Operation Leopard) was originally scheduled for 9 October but on 7 October, the Royal Navy intercepted and destroyed
4680-633: The Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected naval, land, and air campaigns fought for control of the Mediterranean, North Africa , the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and Southern Europe . The fighting started from 10 June 1940, when Italy declared war on United Kingdom and France , until 2 May 1945 when all Axis forces in Italy surrendered. However, fighting would continue in Greece – where British troops had been dispatched to aid
4836-512: The Middle East . This challenge was exacerbated by the demands of the upcoming Allied invasion of Sicily . The Americans were sceptical about the operation, which they regarded as aiming mostly at post-war political benefits for Britain and an unnecessary diversion from the Italian campaign . They refused to support it, warning the British that they would have to go it alone. As an Italian surrender became increasingly possible, in August 1943
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4992-473: The Prime Minister , Winston Churchill , advocated their traditional naval-based peripheral strategy. Even with a large army, but greater naval power, the traditional British answer against a continental enemy was to fight as part of a coalition, blockading with their navy and mount small peripheral operations designed to gradually weaken the enemy. The United States, with the larger U.S. Army , favoured
5148-631: The River Po on 22 April; the 8th Indian Infantry Division , on the Eighth Army front, reached the river on 23 April. By 25 April, the Italian Partisans' Committee of Liberation declared a general uprising, and on the same day, having crossed the Po on the right flank, forces of the Eighth Army advanced north-northeast towards Venice and Trieste . On the front of the U.S. Fifth Army, divisions drove north toward Austria and northwest to Milan . On
5304-569: The Shah was widely viewed as pro-German by the allies. Following the Shah's refusal to open Iran up as a supply route for war materiel to the USSR; the allies invaded and occupied Iran in August 1941. The Shah, who urged his military not to resist the invasion, was deposed and his young son placed on the throne as titular head of an allied controlled puppet government . Iranian oil fields were secured and
5460-627: The Soviet Union . Devastating losses in the Magreb , Egypt , and Tunisia halted Axis interference in North Africa by May 1943. The Allies then invaded Italy , resulting in an armistice authorized by the royal government, causing a civil war . A prolonged battle for Italy commenced between the Allied-aligned Kingdom of Italy in the south and Axis-aligned Italian Social Republic in the north, lasting until 2 May 1945 with
5616-574: The Spanish Civil War " began. On 7 April 1939, Mussolini began the Italian invasion of Albania and within two days had occupied the country. In May 1939, Italy formally allied to Nazi Germany in the Pact of Steel . Italian foreign policy went through two stages during the Fascist regime. Until 1934–35, Mussolini followed a "modest ... and responsible" course and following that date there
5772-622: The Surrender at Caserta . The Mediterranean and Middle East theatre had the longest duration of the World War II, resulted in the destruction of the Italian Empire , and severely undermined the strategic position of Germany, resulting in German divisions being deployed to Africa and Italy and total German losses (including those captured upon final surrender) being over two million. Italian losses amounted to around 177,000 men with
5928-500: The monarchy and named a new Regent to King Faisal II , Sherif Sharaf . The leaders of the "National Defence Government" proceeded to arrest many pro-British citizens and politicians but many escaped through Amman in Transjordan. The new regime planned to refuse further concessions to the United Kingdom, to retain diplomatic links with Fascist Italy and to expel the most prominent pro-British politicians. The plotters considered
6084-488: The 10th Regiment, 50th Infantry Division Regina . On 3 October, the Germans effected amphibious and airborne landings known as Unternehmen Eisbär (Operation Polar Bear) and reached the outskirts of Kos town later that day. The British withdrew under cover of night and surrendered the next day. The fall of Kos was a major blow to the Allies, since it deprived them of air cover. The Germans captured 1388 British and 3145 Italian prisoners. On 4 October, German troops committed
6240-488: The 2nd Company, 2nd Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment (Brigadier Robert Tilney ), who assumed command on 5 November. There were also c. 8,500 Italians, mostly naval personnel, under Ammiraglio Luigi Mascherpa . Leros had been subjected to air attack by the Luftwaffe beginning on 26 September which caused significant casualties and damage to the defenders of the island and supporting naval forces. In
6396-415: The Aegean to continue to support their war effort. Despite this setback, the British pressed ahead with the occupation of the other islands, especially the three larger ones of Kos , Samos , and Leros . The Germans were known to be overstretched in the Aegean, while the Allies enjoyed superiority at sea and the air cover provided by 7 Squadron, SAAF and 74 Squadron, RAF ( Supermarine Spitfires ) at Kos
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6552-462: The Allied invasion of Southern France . The sudden removal of these experienced units from the Italian front was only partially compensated for by the gradual arrival of three divisions, the Brazilian 1st Infantry Division , the U.S. 92nd Infantry Division , both in the second half of 1944, and the U.S. 10th Mountain Division in January 1945. In the period from June to August 1944, the Allies advanced beyond Rome, taking Florence and closing up on
6708-435: The Allied landings in North Africa and Italy , and ensured several months of Spanish tungsten exports for German war industry. Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II Allied victory Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups The Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre was a major theatre of operations during the Second World War . The vast size of
6864-400: The Allies against German troops and the collaborationist National Republican Army ; an aspect of this period is the Italian civil war . In the summer of 1944, after the Axis defeats at Cassino and Anzio , central Italy, including Rome, was liberated. Northern Italy was liberated following the final spring offensive and the general insurrection of Italian partisans on 25 April 1945. Mussolini
7020-445: The Allies, especially in ships and enabled the Germans to supply their forces. The operation was criticized by many at the time as another useless Gallipoli -like disaster and laid the blame at Churchill's door; perhaps unfairly so, since he had pushed for these efforts to be made far sooner, before the Germans were prepared. The German occupation of the Dodecanese islands sealed the fate of Jews living there. Although Italy had passed
7176-463: The Allies. Swift action by the German forces forestalled the Allies; Kleemann attacked the 40,000-strong Italian garrison on 9 September and forced it to surrender by 11 September. The loss of Rhodes dealt a critical blow to Allied hopes. Many Italian soldiers in the Aegean were tired of the war and had become opposed to Mussolini. Italian Fascist loyalists remained allied to Germany in the Greek campaign. German forces in Greece convinced 10,000 Italians in
7332-511: The American commander, Major General John P. Lucas , had with the battle plan, and his insistence that his forces were not large enough to accomplish their mission. Lucas entrenched his forces, during which time Kesselring assembled sufficient forces to form a ring around the beachhead . After a month of hard fighting against German and RSI forces, Lucas was replaced by Major General Lucian Truscott , who eventually broke out in May. It took four major offensives between January and May 1944 before
7488-403: The Axis forces in Libya. During 1941, the British launched several offensives to push back the Axis forces in North Africa. Operation Brevity failed as did Operation Battleaxe but Operation Crusader , the third and larger offensive was launched at the end of the year. Over December 1941 into early 1942, Allied forces pushed the Italian-German forces back through Libya to roughly the limit of
7644-484: The Axis war effort in the North African theatre . Enno von Rintelen, who was the military attaché in Rome, emphasises, from the German point of view, the strategic mistake of not taking Malta . When Italy entered the war the Iraqi government did not break off diplomatic relations, as they had done with Germany. The Italian Legation in Baghdad became the centre for Axis propaganda and for fomenting anti-British feeling. In this they were aided by Mohammad Amin al-Husayni ,
7800-419: The Axis. This was altered into a reduced number of landings but with more concentration of force. The Allied invasion of Sicily , Operation Husky, began on 9 July 1943 with both amphibious and airborne landings at the Gulf of Gela . The land forces involved were the U.S. Seventh Army , under Lieutenant General George S. Patton , the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade under
7956-454: The British Eighth Army, still under Montgomery, landed in the 'toe' of Italy on 3 September 1943 in Operation Baytown , the day the Italian government agreed to an armistice with the Allies. The armistice was publicly announced on 8 September by two broadcasts, first by General Eisenhower and then by a proclamation by Marshal Badoglio . Although the German forces prepared to defend without Italian assistance, only two of their divisions opposite
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#17327655241938112-416: The British appointee as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem , who had fled from the British Mandate of Palestine shortly before the outbreak of war and later received asylum in Baghdad. In January 1941, there was a political crisis within Iraq as Rashid Ali resigned as Prime Minister of Iraq and was replaced by Taha al-Hashimi ; civil war loomed. On 31 March, the Regent of Iraq, Prince 'Abd al-Ilah , learnt of
8268-493: The British decided "that Italy could not now be regarded as a reliable friend" and preparations began to bring "the defences of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea ports up-to-date". In 1938, a weak armoured division was established in Egypt and further army and air force reinforcements were dispatched from Britain. With rising tension in Europe, in June 1939, the United Kingdom established Middle East Command (MEC) in Cairo to provide centralised command for British army units in
8424-492: The British forces and forced the British and Commonwealth forces into retreat. The Australian 9th Infantry Division fell back to the fortress port of Tobruk and the remaining British and Commonwealth forces withdrew a further 100 mi (160 km) east to Sollum on the Libyan–Egyptian border. </ref> The main Axis force began the Siege of Tobruk , and a small German force pressed eastwards, retaking all territory lost to Operation Compass, and advanced into Egypt. By
8580-437: The British prepared to take advantage of a possible Italian-German split, in the form of a smaller version of Accolade. A force based on the 8th Indian Infantry Division was assembled and American assistance in the form of P-38 Lightning long-range fighter squadrons was requested. As a result of the Quebec Conference and the US refusal to assent to British plans, the forces and ships earmarked for Accolade were diverted barely
8736-414: The Caucasus and the Indian Ocean. The purpose of the command was to be "the western bastion of defence of India", keep British supply lines open to India and the Far East , and keep the Middle Eastern oilfields out of Axis hands. Upon the establishment of MEC, it was ordered to co-ordinate with the French military in the Middle East and Africa as well as liaise with the Turkish General Staff and possibly
8892-469: The Dodecanese and Crete, to deprive the Axis of excellent forward bases in the Mediterranean and to apply pressure on neutral Turkey to join the war. This would promote a favorite idea of Churchill's, that of a "route through the Dardanelles to Russia as an alternative to the Arctic convoys ." In the Casablanca Conference , the go-ahead was given and Churchill ordered his commanders to have plans ready for 27 January 1943. Operation Accolade called for
9048-406: The Eighth Army and one at Salerno were not tied up disarming the Royal Italian Army . On 9 September, forces of the U.S. Fifth Army , under Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark , expecting little resistance, landed against heavy German resistance at Salerno in Operation Avalanche ; in addition, British forces landed at Taranto in Operation Slapstick , which was almost unopposed. There had been
9204-410: The Eighth Army pushed west across the desert, capturing Libya, German and Italian forces occupied southern France and landed in Tunisia. On 8 November, Allied forces launched Operation Torch landing in various places across French North Africa. In December 1942, after a 101-day British blockade, French Somaliland fell to the Allies. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941,
9360-511: The FEB; the Brazilian soldiers captured about 15,000 German and RSI soldiers, the end of these battles marked the end of the conflicts in Italy and the end of the Italian fascist army. As April 1945 came to an end, the German Army Group C, retreating on all fronts and having lost most of its fighting strength, was left with little option but surrender. General Heinrich von Vietinghoff , who had taken command of Army Group C after Albert Kesselring had been transferred to become Commander-in-Chief of
9516-431: The Fifth Army by now-Lieutenant General Truscott. In the winter and spring of 1944–45, extensive partisan activity in Northern Italy took place. As there were two Italian governments during this period, (one on each side of the war), the struggle took on some characteristics of a civil war . The poor winter weather, which made armoured manoeuvre and the exploitation of overwhelming air superiority impossible, coupled with
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#17327655241939672-459: The Fifth Army's left flank, the U.S. 92nd Infantry Division (the " Buffalo Soldiers Division") went along the coast to Genoa . A rapid advance towards Turin by the Brazilian division on their right took the Italo-German Army Liguria by surprise, causing its collapse. Between 26 April and 1 May there were the Battles of Collecchio-Fornovo di Taro , which resulted in the surrender of the 148th German Infantry Division to Brazilian soldiers of
9828-406: The German 10th Army retreating from the Gustav Line between them and the Canadians. But this opportunity was lost on the brink of success, when Clark disobeyed his orders and sent his U.S. forces to enter the vacant Rome instead. Rome had been declared an open city by the German Army so no resistance was encountered. The American forces took possession of Rome on 4 June 1944. The German 10th Army
9984-424: The German attack. The Greek army found itself outnumbered in its effort to defend against both Italian and German troops. As a result, the Metaxas defensive line did not receive adequate troop reinforcements and was quickly overrun by the Germans, who then outflanked the Greek forces at the Albanian border, forcing their surrender. British, Australian and New Zealand forces were overwhelmed and forced to retreat, with
10140-410: The German convoy headed for Kos. Several hundred men and most of the few German heavy landing craft were lost; replacements were transported by rail and it was not until 5 November that the Germans had assembled a fleet of 24 light infantry landing craft. To avoid interception by the Allied navies, they were dispersed among several Aegean islands and camouflaged. Despite Allied efforts to locate and sink
10296-426: The German government found the number of victims of Nazi war crimes in Italy to be 22,000. The victims were primarily Italian civilians, sometimes in retaliation for partisan attacks, and Italian Jews . Approximately 14,000 Italian non-Jewish civilians, often women, children and elderly, have been documented to have died in over 5,300 individual instances of war crimes committed by Nazi Germany. The largest of those
10452-435: The German occupation and started the Italian resistance movement . Mussolini, who was rescued by German paratroopers, established a collaborationist puppet state , the Italian Social Republic (RSI), to administer the German-occupied territory. On 13 October 1943, the Allies recognized Italy as a co-belligerent in the war against Germany. Thereafter, the Italian Co-Belligerent Army and the Italian partisans fought alongside
10608-453: The German ships, resulting in heavy losses. On 23 September, HMS Eclipse damaged the torpedo boat TA10 and sank the steamer Gaetano Donizetti , which had 1,576 Italian captives on board. Another disaster occurred a month later, when USAAF B-25 Mitchells and RAF Beaufighters sank the cargo ship Sinfra , which had 2,389 Italian POWs, 71 Greek POWs and 204 German guards on board, of whom only 539 were saved. On 14 September,
10764-409: The Germans did not have a large naval force in the Aegean. The Germans had air superiority, which caused the Allies many losses in ships. Vice Admiral Werner Lange , German Naval Commander-in-Chief of the Aegean, tried to reinforce the isolated German garrisons and carry out operations against Allied garrisons, while transporting Italian prisoners of war to the mainland. Allied ships tried to intercept
10920-459: The Germans from the rugged terrain. The Americans had the important role of pushing Axis forces out of mainland Sicily on left flank. When the Eighth Army were held up by stubborn defences in the rugged hills south of Mount Etna , Patton amplified the American role with a wide advance northwest toward Palermo and then directly north to cut the northern coastal road. This was followed by an eastward advance north of Etna towards Messina, supported by
11076-447: The Germans would have to transfer troops from the Eastern Front to defend Italy and the entire southern coast of France, thus aiding the Soviet Union . The initial plan was for landings in the south-east, south and north-west areas of the island which would lead to the rapid capture of key Axis airfields and except for Messina , all the main ports on the island. This would allow a rapid Allied build-up, as well as denying their use to
11232-519: The Gothic Line. This last major defensive line ran from the coast some 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Pisa , along the jagged Apennine Mountains chain between Florence and Bologna to the Adriatic coast , just south of Rimini . In order to shorten the Allied lines of communication for the advance into Northern Italy, the Polish II Corps advanced towards the port of Ancona and, after
11388-529: The Greek General Staff. On 19 October 1939, the Treaty of Mutual Assistance was signed between the United Kingdom, France and Turkey and British military forces were authorised to begin discussions with the Turkish general staff; a further conference was held during March 1940. Within a week of the Italian occupation of Albania, France and the United Kingdom "announced they had promised to give all
11544-744: The Indian Ocean through the Sudan and Abyssinia, or to the Atlantic by way of French North Africa". On 2 October 1935, the Second Italo–Ethiopian War began when Italian forces invaded Abyssinia. Mussolini lauded the conquest as a new source of raw materials and location for emigration and speculated that a native army could be raised there to "help conquer the Sudan . "Almost as soon as the Abyssinian campaign ended, Italian intervention in
11700-706: The Iraqi army and British reinforcements were dispatched to Iraq from Transjordan and India. The larger but poorly trained Iraqi force was defeated and Baghdad and Mosul were captured. Ali and his supporters fled the country and an armistice was signed, restoring the monarchy of Faisal II, the Kingdom of Iraq and a pro-British government. The defeat of the rebellion saw the defeat of the German-Italian attempt to entrench an Axis state in Iraq and worsened relations between
11856-741: The Italian Social Republic. On the Western Front of World War II , Italy was the most costly campaign in terms of casualties suffered by infantry forces of both sides, during bitter small-scale fighting around strongpoints at the Winter Line , the Anzio beachhead and the Gothic Line . Casualties among infantry in Italy were proportionally higher than they were on the Western Front of WWI . The British, especially
12012-416: The Italian colonies, the Allies sought to bring the entire French empire effectively into the war against the Axis powers. They reopened the Mediterranean route to the Middle East. They went on from Africa to liberate Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. They caused Mussolini to topple from power, and they brought his successors to surrender. They drew more and more German military resources into a stubborn defence of
12168-1128: The Italian leader, who was subsequently arrested. The new government announced that it would continue the war but secretly commenced negotiations with the Allies. Italian Campaign (World War II) Allied victory Sicily: 24,900 casualties Italian mainland: [REDACTED] 119,200 [REDACTED] 89,440 [REDACTED] 35,000 [REDACTED] 32,171 [REDACTED] 25,890 [REDACTED] 20,000 [REDACTED] 11,000 [REDACTED] 8,668 [REDACTED] 5,927 [REDACTED] 3,860 [REDACTED] 2,300 [REDACTED] 452 Total : 358,295–376,637 casualties Sicily: [REDACTED] 150,000 [REDACTED] 27,940 Italian mainland: [REDACTED] 336,650–580,630 [REDACTED] 35,000 (dead only) Surrender at Caserta : 1,000,000 captured Total : 1,549,590–1,793,570 casualties Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups Invasion of Italy Winter Line Gothic Line 1945 Spring Offensive The Italian campaign of World War II , also called
12324-702: The Italian mainland and the campaign in Italy until the surrender of the Axis forces in Italy in May 1945. The invasion of Sicily in July 1943 led to the collapse of the Fascist Italian regime and the fall of Mussolini , who was deposed and arrested by order of King Victor Emmanuel III on 25 July. The new government signed an armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943. However, German forces soon invaded northern and central Italy, committing several atrocities against Italian civilians and army units who opposed
12480-476: The Italian peninsula, and helped the Yugoslavs to pin down within their spirited country thousands of Axis troops. Eventually, the Allies delivered a solid blow from southern France against the German forces which were opposing the Allied drive from the beaches of Normandy! They made Marseilles available for Allied use and they occupied northern Italy and Greece." Howe further notes that "Hitler had always accepted
12636-454: The Italians with a mission to block further Allied attempts to drive the Italians out of the region. It's commander was General Erwin Rommel and Rommel himself was subordinated to the Italian command. But Rommel seized on the weakness of his opponents and without waiting for his forces to fully assemble, rapidly went on the offensive. In March–April 1941, the German and Italian forces defeated
12792-611: The Mediterranean . The siege of Malta soon began, with the first Italian air attack on 11 June. In the Western Desert , Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft attacked Italian positions inside Libya. On 11 June, the Western Desert Campaign began, as the British launched minor raids and conducted patrols along the Libyan–Egyptian border and on 17 June, Fort Capuzzo was captured. On 20 June, Mussolini began
12948-489: The Mediterranean and Middle East theatre. All three branches of the British military were made equally responsible for the defence of the area. The authority of MEC included Aden , British Somaliland , Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea , Ethiopia, Kenya , Greece, Libya , Palestine , Iraq , Sudan, Tanganyika , Transjordan , Uganda and the shores of the Persian Gulf . If necessary, command would be exerted as far away as
13104-710: The Mediterranean with establishment of the 23rd U-boat Flotilla at a base on Salamis Island in Greece in September 1941. The flotilla was to operate against British supply convoys to Allied forces on Malta and in Tobruk. On 7 December, control of the 23rd Flotilla was transferred from Kernével to Field Marshal Albert Kesselring , Commander in Chief South ( OB Süd ) in Italy. Additional bases were established in Pola and La Spezia in northern Italy, as more U-boats were sent to
13260-413: The Mediterranean. Bombing and the naval blockade led to food and commodity shortages and rationing was imposed on the inhabitants. Luftwaffe reinforcements in the Mediterranean joined in the bombing but during a lull in early 1942, 61 Supermarine Spitfires were delivered, which very much improved the defensive situation, although food, ammunition, and fuel were still short. Supply runs during lulls in
13416-672: The Mediterranean–Danubian–Balkan region" and the gaining of world power by the conquest "of an empire stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Strait of Hormuz ". The Fascists had designs on Albania , Dalmatia , large parts of Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Macedonia and Greece and harked back to the Roman empire. The regime also sought to establish protectorates with Austria , Hungary , Romania and Bulgaria . Covert motives were for Italy to become
13572-592: The RAF in their war with the Italians in Albania. As it became likely Germany would attack Greece, four British divisions were switched from North Africa to reinforce Greek Army. The advanced guards of these troops began arriving in March 1941, triggering the entry of German forces into Bulgaria, which made clear the German intent to invade Greece. In April 1941, Germans, Italians, Hungarians and Bulgarians made quick work of
13728-737: The Royal Yugoslav army . They captured Yugoslavia in 11 days and partitioned it among themselves and newly formed client states: The Independent State of Croatia and Nedić's Serbia . In spring 1941, Italy created a Montenegrin client state and annexed most of the Dalmatian coast as the Governorship of Dalmatia ( Governatorato di Dalmazia ). A complex guerrilla uprising of communist -led Partisans , commanded by Josip Broz Tito , soon broke out. A more ambivalent, predominantly Serb paramilitary movement of royalist Chetniks both fought
13884-578: The Senger Line by 23 May 1944). The Winter Line proved a major obstacle to the Allies at the end of 1943, halting the Fifth Army's advance on the western side of Italy. Although the Gustav Line was penetrated on the Eighth Army's Adriatic front, and Ortona was liberated with heavy casualties to Canadian troops, the blizzards, drifting snow and zero visibility at the end of December caused
14040-457: The U.S. and British political leadership reached a compromise in which both would commit most of their forces to an invasion of France in early 1944, but also launch a relatively small-scale Italian campaign. A contributing factor was Franklin D. Roosevelt 's desire to keep U.S. troops active in the European theatre during 1943 and his attraction to the idea of eliminating Italy from the war. It
14196-736: The UK and Vichy France, culminating in the Syria-Lebanon Campaign . In Operation Exporter, Australian, Free French , British and Indian units invaded Syria and Lebanon from Palestine in the south on 8 June 1941. Vigorous resistance was met from the Vichy French but superior Allied infantry equipment and numbers overwhelmed the defenders. More attacks were launched at the end of June and early July from Iraq into northern and central Syria, by Iraqforce . By 8 July, north-east Syria had been captured and elements of Iraqforce had advanced up
14352-442: The United Kingdom "disclaimed any desire to modify or see modified the national sovereignty of any country in the Mediterranean area, and agreed to discourage any activities liable to impair mutual relations." Italian diplomatic and military moves did not reflect this agreement. In the aftermath of the Italian invasion of Abyssinia, British and Italian forces in North Africa were reinforced. Due to various Italian moves, in July 1937,
14508-499: The United Kingdom to be weak and believed that its government would negotiate with their new government regardless of its legality. On 17 April, Rashid Ali, on behalf of the "National Defence Government" asked Germany for military assistance in the event of war with the British. Ali attempted to restrict British rights guaranteed under Article 5 of the 1930 Anglo-Iraqi Treaty, when he insisted that newly arrived British troops quickly be transported through Iraq and to Palestine. Before
14664-468: The United States joined the war. On 8 November 1942, American forces entered combat in North Africa with Operation Torch, which "transformed the Mediterranean from a British to an Allied theater of war", "succeeding operations in the Mediterranean area proved far more extensive than intended. One undertaking was to lead to the next". After liberating French North Africa and clearing the enemy from
14820-549: The Western Front ( OB West ) in March 1945, signed the instrument of surrender on behalf of the German and RSI forces in Italy on 29 April, formally bringing hostilities to an end on 2 May 1945. On 1 May, a day before the Axis forces in Italy capitulated, Marshal Rodolfo Graziani , the Minister of Defense of the Italian Social Republic, ordered all Italian RSI units to surrender to the Allies. Research in 2016 funded by
14976-575: The advance to grind to a halt. The Allies' focus then turned to the western front, where an attack through the Liri valley was considered to have the best chance of a breakthrough towards the Italian capital. Landings behind the line at Anzio during Operation Shingle, advocated by Churchill, were intended to destabilise the German Gustav line defences, but the early thrust inland to cut off the German defences did not occur because of disagreements that
15132-455: The anti-Jewish law of the Manifesto of Race in 1938, Jews living on the Dodecanese islands (and Italian-occupied Greece) experienced much less antisemitism than in the German and Bulgarian occupied zones of Greece, which culminated in March 1943 with deportations to the death camps in occupied Poland. The Italian surrender, the German takeover and the failure of the Allied offensive meant that
15288-511: The assumption that Britain would soon be at war with Italy, planning began for attacks to capture Bardia and Jaghbub (Giarabub) in Libya and arrangements began in Egypt, to accommodate a much larger force. Preparations to reinforce the Iraqi army were made and Palestinian security forces were to be reduced to the minimum. British forces in East Africa were to study operations to destroy the Italian forces and support local risings, all in support of
15444-400: The bombing kept Malta in being but many ships like SS Ohio were damaged too severely to leave. The defence of the island ensured that the Allies had an advantage in the fight to control the Mediterranean and as the garrison recovered from periods of intense bombing, aircraft, submarines and light surface ships resumed attacks on Axis supply ships, leading to fuel and supply shortages for
15600-783: The campaign, allowing the Empire of Ethiopia to be re-established under Haile Selassie . A number of Italian garrisons continued to hold out, but the last of these, at Gondar , surrendered in November. Small groups of Italian troops carried out the Italian guerrilla war in Ethiopia until October 1943. In the Balkans , the Greeks had been reluctant to allow British troops into the country, because Britain could not spare enough forces to guarantee victory. They had, however, accepted aid from
15756-521: The command of Major-General Guy Simonds and the British Eighth Army , under General Bernard Montgomery . The original plan required a strong advance by the British northwards along the east coast to Messina. The Canadians took the central position, with the British on their right and the Americans on the left. The Canadian War Cemetery in Agira is testament to the sacrifice made driving
15912-659: The commander of the Eighth Army. In December, Lieutenant General Mark Clark, the Fifth Army commander, was appointed to command the 15th Army Group , thereby succeeding the British General Sir Harold Alexander as commander of all Allied ground troops in Italy; Alexander succeeded Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson as the Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean Theatre. Clark was succeeded in command of
16068-879: The commanding high point of Monte Castello and the adjacent Monte Belvedere and Castelnuovo, depriving them of artillery positions that had been commanding the approaches to Bologna since the narrowly failed Allied attempt to take the city in the autumn. Meanwhile, damage to other transport infrastructure forced Axis forces to use sea, canal and river routes for re-supply, leading to Operation Bowler against shipping in Venice harbour on 21 March 1945. The Allies' final offensive commenced with massive aerial and artillery bombardments on 9 April 1945. The Allies had 1,500,000 men and women deployed in Italy in April 1945. The Axis on 7 April had 599,404 troops of which 439,224 were Germans and 160,180 were Italians. By 18 April, Eighth Army forces in
16224-613: The commandos. Three of the participants were arrested by the Transjordan Frontier Force a few days after their landing. The German commander was captured in 1946 and the fifth, Hasan Salama , succeeded in escaping. In 1943 a small team of German agents parachuted into Iraqi Kurdistan with the goal of covertly sabotaging Kirkuk oil fields and create a Kurdish uprising against the British with assistance from local Kurds who were seeking to create an independent Kurdistan . Further reinforcements of Nazis with weapons
16380-485: The conflict. The Germans continued to occupy the Dodecanese islands they had captured until the end of the war in 1945, when they surrendered to British forces. The Dodecanese island group lies in the south-eastern Aegean Sea , and had been under Italian control since the Italo-Turkish War in 1911. During Italian rule, the strategically well-placed islands became a focus of Italian colonial ambitions in
16536-516: The coup, Rashid Ali's supporters had been informed that Germany would recognise the independence of Iraq from the British Empire. There had also been discussions on war material being sent to support the Iraqis and other Arab factions in fighting the British. On 3 May, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop persuaded Adolf Hitler to secretly return Dr. Fritz Grobba to Iraq to lead
16692-684: The dominant power in the Mediterranean, capable of challenging France or Britain and gaining access to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans . On 30 November 1938, Mussolini addressed the Fascist Grand Council on the goal of capturing Albania, Tunisia , Corsica , the Ticino canton of Switzerland and "French territory east of the River Var (to include Nice , but not Savoy )". Mussolini alleged that Italy required uncontested access to
16848-513: The early hours of 12 November, the invasion force in two groups approached the island from east and west. Despite failures in some areas, the Germans established a bridgehead, while airborne forces landed on Mt. Rachi, in the middle of the island. After repulsing Allied counter-attacks and being reinforced the following night, the Germans quickly cut the island in two and the Allies surrendered on 16 November. The Germans suffered 520 casualties and captured 3,200 British and 5,350 Italian soldiers. Since
17004-783: The east had broken through the Argenta Gap and sent armour racing forward in an encircling move to meet the U.S. IV Corps advancing from the Apennines in Central Italy and to trap the remaining defenders of Bologna. On 21 April, Bologna was entered by the 3rd Carpathian Division , the Italian Friuli Group (both from the Eighth Army) and the U.S. 34th Infantry Division (from the Fifth Army). The U.S. 10th Mountain Division, which had bypassed Bologna, reached
17160-508: The end of April, Sollum had fallen and the important Halfaya Pass captured. In East Africa , the British launched a counter-attack against the Italians from Kenya Colony in February 1941. Landings were subsequently conducted in British Somaliland and Italian Ethiopia , while an expedition from the Sudan moved on Addis Ababa . The Italian Viceroy, Duke Amedeo d'Aosta , was forced to surrender by 18 May which effectively ended
17316-470: The end of the war. Only the island of Castellorizo off the Turkish coast was held by the British and was never threatened. The Dodecanese campaign was one of the last British defeats in World War II and one of the last German victories, while others have labelled it a hapless fiasco which was badly conceived, planned and executed as a "shoestring strategy". The German victory was predominantly due to their possession of air superiority, which caused great loss to
17472-469: The fall of Leros, Samos and the other smaller islands were evacuated. The Germans bombed Samos with Ju 87 (Stukas) of I Gruppe, Stukageschwader 3 in Megara, prompting the 2,500-strong Italian garrison to surrender on 22 November. Along with the occupation of the smaller islands of Patmos , Fournoi and Ikaria on 18 November, the Germans completed their conquest of the Dodecanese, which they held until
17628-486: The first Allied loss occurred, when the Greek submarine RHN Katsonis , was rammed and sunk by U-boat hunter UJ 2101 . The Luftwaffe also intervened on 26 September, when 25 Junkers Ju 88s sank RHN Vasilissa Olga and HMS Intrepid at Lakki Bay, Leros. On 1 October the Italian destroyer Euro was sunk and on 9 October HMS Panther was sunk and the cruiser HMS Carlisle seriously damaged. At
17784-550: The haven disappeared. Most of the Dodecanese Jews were murdered by the Germans; 1,700 members of the ancient Jewish community of Rhodes (of a population of about 2,000) were rounded up by the Gestapo in July 1944 and only some 160 of them survived the camps. Out of 6,000 Ladino-speaking Jews in the Dodecanese, about 1,200 people survived by escaping to the nearby coast of Turkey. Italian prisoners of war were transferred to
17940-545: The help in their power if Greek and Romanian independence were threatened and if the Greek Government or Romanian Government considered it vital to resist." British forces in the Middle East were ordered to avoid provocation. Following the defeat of Poland , the threat of an Axis attack from the Balkans against British positions in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean region increased. In late 1939, with
18096-510: The initial Italian attack and a counter-attack in March 1941. When the German invasion, known as Operation Marita , began on 6 April, the bulk of the Greek Army was on the Greek border with Albania , then a vassal of Italy, from which the Italian troops had attacked. German troops invaded from Bulgaria , creating a second front. Greece received a small reinforcement from British , Australian and New Zealand forces in anticipation of
18252-462: The invasion fleet, as well as repeated shelling of the ports of German-held islands, the Germans suffered few losses and were able to assemble their invasion force, under Generalleutnant Müller, for Unternehmen Taifun (Operation Typhoon) on 12 November. The German invasion force consisted of personnel from all branches of the Wehrmacht , including veterans from the 22nd Infantry Division,
18408-474: The islands as bases to strike against German targets in the Balkans , which the Germans aimed to forestall. Beginning in early September 1943, invading German troops defeated both the Italian garrison in the Dodecanese and British forces sent to support them, aided by the fact that Allied units were operating without sufficient air cover. Most of the Dodecanese islands fell to German forces within two months, resulting in one of Germany's last major victories during
18564-656: The islands of Kos, Kalymnos , Samos, Leros, Symi , Castellorizo and Astypalaia , supported by ships of the Royal Navy and Royal Hellenic Navy . By 19 September, Karpathos, Kasos and the Italian-occupied islands of the Sporades and the Cyclades were in German hands. On 23 September, the 22nd Infantry Division under Generalleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller , which was garrisoning Fortress Crete ,
18720-446: The large size of the theatre, the various campaigns were not seen as neatly separated areas of operations but part of a vast, contiguous theatre of war. Fascist Italy aimed to carve out a new Roman Empire, while the Allies aimed to retain the status quo. Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940, and immediately invaded France and bombed Malta , which would remain under siege for over 2 years. Italian forces then attacked Greece , but it
18876-956: The line of supply to Russia established and maintained for the remainder of the war. Operation Atlas was carried out by a special commando unit of the Waffen SS and took place in October 1944. It involved five soldiers: three who were previously members of the Templer religious sect in Mandatory Palestine , and two Palestinian Arabs who were close collaborators of the mufti of Jerusalem , Amin al-Husseini . Atlas aimed at establishing an intelligence-gathering base in Mandatory Palestine, radioing information back to Germany, and recruiting and arming anti-British Palestinians by buying their support with gold. The plan failed utterly, and no meaningful action could be undertaken by
19032-408: The line was eventually broken by a combined assault of the Fifth and Eighth Armies (including British, American, French, Polish, and Canadian corps) concentrated along a 30-kilometre (20-mile) front between Monte Cassino and the western seaboard. In a concurrent action, Clark was ordered to break out of the stagnant position at Anzio and cash in on the opportunity to cut off and destroy a large part of
19188-482: The main Allied offensive, which was planned to be launched from French Somaliland . Troops in Sudan were also asked to consider launching operations against Kufra in southern Libya. On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom and next day the British Commonwealth declared war on Italy. The fleets of Italy, France and the United Kingdom began the hostilities of the Battle of
19344-480: The mainland by the Germans in overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels, which led to several accidents, of which the sinking of the SS ; Oria on 12 February 1944 was the most deadly. More than 4,000 Italians died when the ship sank in a storm; other ships were sunk by Allied forces. The revival of German fortunes in the eastern Mediterranean helped restore Francisco Franco 's confidence in the German war effort, shaken by
19500-455: The massive losses suffered to its ranks during the autumn fighting, the need to transfer some British troops to Greece (as well as the need to withdraw the British 5th Infantry Division and I Canadian Corps to northwestern Europe ) made it impractical for the Allies to continue their offensive in early 1945. Instead, the Allies adopted a strategy of "offensive defence" while preparing for
19656-438: The most of the natural defensive geography of Central Italy , whilst denying the Allies the easy capture of a succession of airfields, each one being ever closer to Germany. Hitler was also convinced that yielding southern Italy would provide the Allies with a springboard for an invasion of the Balkans, with its vital resources of oil, bauxite, and copper. Kesselring was given command of the whole of Italy and immediately ordered
19812-472: The northern reserves having been made available to the German 10th Army , it nevertheless came close to repelling the Salerno landing. The main Allied effort in the west initially centred on the port of Naples : that city was selected because it was the northernmost port that could receive air cover by fighter planes flying from Sicily. In the city itself, anti-Fascist Forces began an uprising, later known as
19968-466: The occupying forces and collaborated with them against the communists. The Partisans eventually gained recognition from the Allies as the sole resistance movement. With help from both the Soviets and the Western Allies, they turned into a formidable fighting force and successfully liberated the country. Following the Italian invasion on 28 October 1940, which is usually known as the Greco-Italian War , Greece, with British air and material support, repelled
20124-483: The oceans and shipping lanes to ensure its national sovereignty. Italy was a "prisoner in the Mediterranean" and had to break the chains of British and French control. Corsica, Cyprus , Gibraltar , Malta , Suez and Tunisia would need to be taken and Egypt , France, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom had to be challenged. Through armed conquest, the north and east African colonies would be linked and this 'prison' destroyed. Italy would be able to march "either to
20280-403: The operational theater was dominated by a multitude of islands and the Allies and Germans had to rely on naval vessels for reinforcements and supplies, the naval component of the campaign was especially pronounced. Initially, naval presence on both sides was low, most of the Allied shipping and warships having been transferred to the central Mediterranean in support of the operations in Italy, while
20436-443: The preparation of a series of defensive lines across Italy, south of Rome . Two lines, the Volturno and the Barbara , were used to delay the Allied advance so as to buy time to prepare the most formidable defensive positions, which formed the Winter Line – the collective name for the Gustav Line and two associated defensive lines on the west of the Apennine Mountains, the Bernhardt and Hitler lines (the latter had been renamed
20592-419: The previous Operation Compass advance. Taking advantage of the Allied position, German and Italian forces counter-attacked and pushed back the Allies to Gazala, west of Tobruk. As both sides prepared offensives, the Axis forces struck first and inflicted a big defeat upon the Allied forces during the Battle of Gazala . The routed Allied forces retreated to Egypt where they made a stand at El Alamein. Following
20748-428: The principle that the Mediterranean was an area of paramount Italian interest just as, farther north, German interests were exclusive. Allied forces were placed under the command of a Supreme Allied Commander AFHQ Mediterranean, General Dwight D. Eisenhower . Axis forces were caught between the Allied armies during the Tunisia Campaign but managed to delay the Allied advance by defensive operations, most notably with
20904-467: The rest of the island by 1 June. With their victory in the Battle of Crete the Germans had secured their southern flank and turned their attention towards the Soviet Union. Hitler later blamed the failure of his invasion of the Soviet Union on Mussolini 's failed conquest of Greece. Andreas Hillgruber has accused Hitler of trying to deflect blame for his country's defeat from himself to his ally, Italy. It nevertheless had serious consequences for
21060-641: The river Euphrates towards Aleppo , the rear of the Vichy forces defending Beirut from the advance from the south. Negotiations for an armistice were started on 11 July and surrender terms signed on 14 July. Supplies to the Soviet Union had been sent via the North Cape to Murmansk and Archangel soon after the German invasion but the number of ships available was limited and convoys were vulnerable to German air and submarine attack. Supplies were also sent from American pacific ports to Vladivostok in Soviet-flagged ships but Allied planners wished to open another supply route through Iran . Though officially neutral,
21216-477: The same time, the short range of Hunt-class destroyers HMS Aldenham , RHN Pindos and RHN Themistoklis prevented them from intercepting the German invasion convoy headed for Kos. Further losses on both sides followed; after the loss of Kos and friendly air cover, the Allied navies concentrated on supply missions to the threatened islands of Leros and Samos, mostly under the cover of night. From 22 to 24 October, HMS Hurworth and Eclipse sank in
21372-483: The spurs and re-entrants to the spine confronted the Allies with a succession of ridges and rivers across their line of advance. The rivers were subject to sudden and unexpected flooding, which had the potential to thwart the Allied commanders' plans. In early October 1943, Hitler was persuaded by his Army Group Commander in Southern Italy, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring , that the defence of Italy should be conducted as far away from Germany as possible. This would make
21528-686: The subsequent nights, Allied destroyers failed to find and destroy the German vessels, limiting themselves to bombarding the German positions on Leros. With the fall of Leros on 16 November, the Allied ships were withdrawn, evacuating the remaining British garrisons. By that time, the Germans had also used Dornier Do 217s of Kampfgeschwader 100 (KG 100), with their novel Henschel Hs 293 radio-controlled missile, scoring two hits. One caused severe damage to HMS Rockwood on 11 November and another sank HMS Dulverton two days later. The Allies lost six destroyers sunk and two cruisers and two destroyers damaged between 7 September and 28 November 1943. After
21684-595: The town of Menton . The Royal Navy attacked the French fleet in the North African port of Mers-el-Kébir on 3 July 1940, after it refused to sail to Britain or the French West Indies and demobilise, as part of a larger plan to stop the French fleet from falling into German or Italian hands. When Italy entered the war, there were no plans for an invasion of Egypt while France was still able to resist. When France surrendered, Mussolini gave instructions for his generals to prepare an offensive. On 10 August, he instructed his forces to be prepared to attack in conjunction with
21840-407: The transport of German aircraft to Iraq. Between 9 May and the end of the month, about 100 German and about 20 Italian aircraft landed on Syrian airfields. On 30 April, the Iraqi Army surrounded and besieged RAF Habbaniya; the base had no operational aircraft but the RAF converted trainers to carry weapons and a battalion of infantry reinforcements was flown in. German and Italian aircraft supported
21996-437: The ultimate goal of evacuation. After moving through south-eastern Yugoslavia, the Germans had been able to turn the Allied flank, cutting off Greek units in the east of the country. Greek forces in central Macedonia were isolated from the Commonwealth forces moving up in an attempt stabilise the front, with the Germans then falling on the rear of the main Greek army facing the Italians in Macedonia. The German advance into Greece
22152-412: The war and force Germany to disperse its forces, the Allies invaded Sicily in Operation Husky on 10 July 1943, with amphibious and airborne landings. The German and Italian forces were unable to prevent the Allied capture of the island but evacuated most of their troops and equipment to the mainland before the Allies entered Messina on 17 August. On 25 July, the Italian government deposed Mussolini,
22308-402: Was "ceaseless activity and aggression". "Prior to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, Mussolini had made military agreements with the French and formed a coalition with the British and French to prevent German aggression in Europe." The Ethiopian War "exposed vulnerabilities and created opportunities that Mussolini seized to realise his imperial vision" At the Nyon Conference of 1937, Italy and
22464-423: Was allowed to get away and, in the next few weeks, may have been responsible for doubling the Allied casualties in the next few months. After the capture of Rome, and the Allied invasion of Normandy in June, the U.S. VI Corps and the French Expeditionary Corps (CEF), which together amounted to seven divisions, were pulled out of Italy during the summer of 1944 to participate in Operation Dragoon , codename for
22620-411: Was captured by the Italian resistance and summarily executed by firing squad. The campaign ended when Army Group C surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on 2 May 1945, one week before the formal German Instrument of Surrender . Both sides committed war crimes during the conflict, and the independent states of San Marino and Vatican City surrounded by Italian territory also suffered damage. It
22776-461: Was deemed sufficient. It was hoped that from these islands, with Italian cooperation, an assault against Rhodes could be eventually launched. From 10 to 17 September, the 234th Infantry Brigade ( Major-General Francis Brittorous ) coming from Malta , together with 160 men from the Special Boat Service , 130 men from the Long Range Desert Group , a Company of the 11th Battalion , Parachute Regiment and Greek Sacred Band detachments had secured
22932-413: Was even pressure from some Latin American countries to stage an invasion of Spain, which, under Francisco Franco , was friendly to the Axis nations, although not a participant in the war. The American staff believed that a full-scale invasion of France at the earliest possible time was required to end the war in Europe, and that no operations should be undertaken that might delay that effort. Eventually
23088-443: Was hoped that an invasion might knock Italy out of the conflict, or at least increase the pressure on it and weaken it. The elimination of Italy would enable Allied naval forces , principally the Royal Navy , to dominate the Mediterranean Sea, securing the lines of communications with Egypt and thus Asia. Italian divisions on occupation and coastal defence duties in the Balkans and France would be withdrawn to defend Italy, while
23244-515: Was made easier because the bulk of the Greek Army was engaged fighting the Italians on the Albanian front in the north of the country. The Greeks were forced to capitulate, ending resistance on the mainland by the end of the month. Abandoning most of its equipment, the Commonwealth force retreated to the island of Crete. From 20 May, the Germans attacked the island by using paratroops to secure an air bridgehead despite suffering heavy casualties. They then flew in more troops and were able to capture
23400-420: Was not until the introduction of German forces that it and neighbouring Yugoslavia were overrun . Allied and Axis forces fought back and forth across North Africa , while Axis interference in the Middle East caused fighting to spread as far as Palestine and Iraq . With confidence high from early gains, German forces planned to capture the Middle East with a view to possibly attacking the southern border of
23556-460: Was ordered to take Kos and Leros. Having identified the vital role of the Allies' only airfield at Kos, Fliegerkorps X bombed it and the Allied positions of the island, from 18 September. Reinforcements gave the Germans 362 operational aircraft in the Aegean by 1 October. The British forces on Kos numbered about 1,500 men, 680 of whom were from the 1st Durham Light Infantry , the rest being mainly RAF personnel and c. 3,500 Italians of
23712-407: Was published in Germany in 1959. Gibraltar commanded the entrance to the Mediterranean and had been a British fortress since the early 18th century. The territory provided a strongly defended harbour, from which ships could operate in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Force H ( Vice-Admiral James Somerville ) was based in Gibraltar and had the task of maintaining naval superiority and providing
23868-472: Was supposed to be sent but the mission failed within days as the Nazi commandos landed 300 km away from their target destination and lost their weapons. They were soon arrested by the British and faced execution as spies, however they were released several years after World War II ended. Gottfried Müller, one of the Nazi parachuters, would later write and publish a book describing his experiences in Kurdistan named “Im brennenden Orient” ('The Burning Orient'), which
24024-411: Was the Marzabotto massacre , where in excess of 770 civilians were murdered. The Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre saw 560 civilians killed while the Ardeatine massacre saw 335 randomly selected people executed, among them 75 Italian Jews. In the Padule di Fucecchio massacre up to 184 civilians were executed. Allied war crimes during the conflict were reported, including killing of civilians (such as
24180-422: Was the principal military objective for both sides. On 8 September 1943, the Italian garrison on the island of Kastelorizo surrendered to a British detachment, which was reinforced during the following days by ships of the Allied navies. The next day, a British delegation, headed by George Jellicoe , was dropped by parachute on Rhodes, to persuade the Italian commander, Ammiraglio Inigo Campioni , to join
24336-450: Was thwarted in February 1941, when Italian forces recaptured the island of Kastellorizo from British commandos . After the Battle of Greece in April 1941 and the Allied defeat in the Battle of Crete in May 1941, Greece and its many islands were occupied by the Axis powers . With the defeat of Axis forces in the North African campaign in May 1943, Winston Churchill , the British Prime Minister , envisaged an operation to capture
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