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Land Battles: North Africa, Sicily and Italy

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On June 10, 1940, Mussolini, the Fascist dictator of Italy declared war on France and Britain, whose armies had been defeated by Germany in the Battle of Flanders. Mussolini aimed to seize control of the Mediterrean Sean and the Suez Canal from Britain, which was the "lifeline of the British Empire." He was going to partner Hitler after his "victory."

Churchill had just been chosen as Prime Ministr and would not back down. He was a great motivator and determined to destroy Nazism and Fascism. England was a small island with a large empire in Asis and the Pacific. They had America for awhile before the American Revolution. The German Rommel drove the British out of East Africa, Gremany had success after success into Yugoslavia and Greece in April; by the end of May, the Germans had driven Britain from Crete. The British had good reason to hate all Germans.

America joined the fray when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, destroying American Pacific Fleet. Germans were bombing the Allied freighters off the coast of North Africa.All of those road trips movies of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby with various leading ladies were based on these glamorous sounding places in Africa, Morocco, Tripoli, Casablanca and others. Chuck Southcott's stepfather was the makeup artist for those films.

General Patton commanded 35,000 American troope in the Atlantic. Rommel thought the Allies were poorly organized and confused. Hitler made a very serious mistake. On Valentine's Day, Rommel made a surprise on the American II Corps. He forced Eisenhower to reorganize and improve the Allied command system.

In NOrth Africa, the Allies took 9,000 German prisoners in a single day. 275,000 Germans and Italians were captured during the last ten days of battle at Tunisia. Sicily is an island extending from Italy to within ninety miles from the coast of Tunisia. The U.S. Coast Guard transported men and materials for the invasion of Sicily.

Mt. Etna was under the possession of Germans as a defensive line to hold northeastern portion of the island. At first, the Allies could not advance past Mt. Etna, but Patton's troops persisted until Hube withdrew. September 8 was important to the Allies and Italians after prime minister Badoglio agreed to surrender. Mussolini's government lost all popular support with the conquest of Sicily.

The American and British top military commanders -- the Combined Chiefs of Staff -- agreed that the best way to keep pressure on the Axis would be to use Sicily as a steppingstone for an immediate invasion of Italy. The Allied leaders were certain that the Italians would surrender as soon as they knew their country was to be invaded. General Eisenhower was order to have his forces invade Italy early in September, 1943. The troops of General Patton's Seventh Army, who had done so well in Sicily, were ordered to England to prepare for the invasion of northern France in 1944.

Mule pack teams carried supplies to troops fighting in the mountainous regions of Italy because wheeled vehicles could not make it in that terrain. This is where the "Winter Line" was located in the mountainous country. There is a graphic photo of bombed-out Cassino, Italy. On June 4, Allied troops marched triumphantly into Rome. In western Italy, the "Gothic Line" was as strong as the Winter Line.

The Fifteenth Army Group had always had many nationalities in its ranks. By the beginning of 1945, these units included American, British, New Zealand, Canadian, Newfoundland, South African, Palestinian, Jewish, Brazilian, Gurkha, Indian, Polish, Italian and Japanese American.

On April 27, Mussoline tried to escape from Italy with a German truck convoy. Berlin was surrounded by Russian armies. In less than a week, on May 2, Hitler would be dead, and the war in Europe would be over. Thank God.