Italy
A List of American Commanders in WWII Who Lost Their Lives
By Thomas R. CagleyGeneral George S. Patton, Jr., once said, “An army is like a piece of cooked spaghetti. You can’t push it, you have to pull it after you.” Read more
Italy
Before the Battle of the Bulge: Forming the 551st “GOYAs”
By Donald Roberts IIIn November 1942, successful graduates of the Army’s jump school were screened by Major Joerg for suitability to join what would later become the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion (PIB). Read more
Italy
Beyond All Praise: British Defense of Crete
By Jon DiamondBrigadier Eric Dorman-Smith, serving as a liaison to Lt. Gen. Richard O’Connor during Operation Compass, the Western Desert campaign, traveled to General Archibald Wavell’s Middle East Command headquarters in Cairo on February 12, 1941, to seek permission to advance British XIII Corps farther west to Tripoli after the total victory over the Italian Xth Army at Beda Fomm, which gave Britain and her Commonwealth Allies control of the Cyrenaican half of Libya. Read more
Italy
Operation Aphrodite
By Mason B. WebbWhen it came to advanced military technology in World War II, arguably no one was better at it than Nazi Germany, whose scientists Adolf Hitler keep busy trying to invent the ultimate “super weapon” capable of defeating his enemies. Read more
Italy
Rampage on the Riviera: Operation Dragoon
By Glenn Barnette and André BernoleEarly in 1944, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the defeated hero of North Africa and now head of Army Group B in France, was tasked with strengthening the Atlantic Wall defenses against Allied invasion. Read more
Italy
Drawn to the Axis
By Blaine TaylorAccording to the 1960 memoirs of Henriette Hoffmann von Schirach, Adolf Hitler called Father Josef Tiso, a monsignor in the Roman Catholic Church and premier of Fascist Slovakia, “The little parson.” Read more
Italy
The Irish Brigade in WWII
By Tim NewarkIt was a letter in the London Times that caught the attention of British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Read more
Italy
Battle of Fornovo: Rising to Crush an Invader
By Jonathan North Fifteenth-century Renaissance Italian political life was a heady mix of intrigue, provocation and dispute, backed by limited wars and border raids. Read more
Italy
Operation Frantic On Eastern Front: Preview Of the Cold War
by Wil DeacEarly on the overcast afternoon of June 2, 1944, three white-starred Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses in V-formation roared over the Soviet air base at Poltava. Read more
Italy
The Killing of Il Duce
By Blaine TaylorAt 3 am on Sunday, April 29, 1945, a yellow furniture truck stopped at the Piazzale Loreto, a vast, open traffic roundabout where five roads intersected in the northern Italian city of Milan. Read more
Italy
Sherman Tanks vs. Tiger Tanks: Which Was Best at the Bulge?
by Michael D. HullWhen American soldiers landed in France in June 1944 as part of the great Allied crusade to liberate Europe, they were well trained, fully equipped, and brimming with confidence. Read more
Italy
Engineering Excellence, Political Dysfunction: Mercedes-Benz in WWII
by Albert MrozFew would argue that Daimler-Benz is one of the most prominent and highly regarded motor vehicle manufacturers in automotive history. Read more
Italy
The Goth Sack of Rome: Barbarians at the Gate in 410 AD
By Ludwig Heinrich DyckThe tattered banners of Hercules fluttered in the howling wind along the Frigidus River in western Italy, hard athwart the Adriatic Sea, on the afternoon of September 6, 394 ad. Read more
Italy
“Tripoli Will Be Italian”: Italy’s Colonial Conquests in Libya
By Raymond E. BellThe Italian sailors sang “Tripoli Will Be Italian” at the rumble of the cannon as ships of the Italian naval squadron left port and sailed south to the shores of North Africa in late September 1911. Read more
Italy
My Battle Up the Boot: Paul McNelis in the Italian Campaign
By Richard A. BerantyThe U.S. 85th Infantry Division was one of the Allied workhorses in Italy during World War II. Read more
