WWII Notes 9: Allies Victorious South and East

World Wars – HamerApril 28, 2010

Warm Up on Patton1. In your own words, what kind of a leader was

General Patton? Include pros and cons.2. Do you think that he was an effective General

for World War II?3. The Germans never understood how the

Americans could so harshly punish a General of Patton’s stature for slapping 2 of his troops. What do you think? Were Patton’s actions acceptable? Was his punishment? Why or why not?

Invasion of Sicily

• Obvious continuation from North African Victory

• Not the first choice for Americans (wanted cross-channel invasion)

Operation Husky – July 1943• Eisenhower was commander in chief – British General Alexander was the field

commander, like in N Africa• Resistance was weak and Italians

surrendered en masse in some places– Mussolini’s policies were not popular

enough to die for• Germans did provide much

resistance– General Kesselring was a challenge for

the Allies

Patton and Monty

• Montgomery (UK) was supposed to head north from Syracuse to Messina but got blocked by Germans at the Etna Line

• Patton (US) then took Palermo and reached Messina before Monty– Patton would become a US Hero

(‘Old Blood and Guts’)– Slapping incidents took away

from the glory and removed Patton from command

Lieutenant Colonel Bernard and Patton in Messina

August 1943

Allied Landings – Operation Husky

Allied Movements – Operation Husky

Consequences of Allied Victory

• Drew Allies deeper into Churchill’s Mediterranean Strategy– Called the “soft underbelly of Europe”– Next step was Italy• Then Yugoslavia and the Balkans…

• US was not thrilled about this, but it was obvious that there was no viable alternative at this moment– Would you really move all those troops back to

England or just be logical about it?

Invasion of Italy

Mussolini Fell from Power July 24, 1943

• King removed Mussolini from his position as Premier and replaced him with Pietro Badoglio– Badoglio was unenthusiastic about

continuing the war– Badoglio had pledged that Italy

would switch sides– BUT Allies clung to idea of

unconditional surrender• Germans set up Mussolini to run

a puppet fascist state in Northern Italy– Had more German support than

Italian support

Germans Entrench in Italy

• Hitler sent troops into Italy from the North to Rome

• By the time Italy was supposed to surrender on September 3, 1943, the Germans were entrenched throughout Italy to a line south of Rome

Allied Invasion of Italy PART 1• September 3, 1943• 3 pronged assault• Monty crossed to the toe• Another British force

attacked at Taranto (just SW of the heel) and met no resistance

• US 5th Army landed at Salerno (south of Naples) under General Mark Clark

Allied Invasion of Italy PART 2• At Salerno, the goal was

to take Naples in 3 days• But Kesselring had sent

troops south and one Panzer division was in place overlooking the beachhead

• Disaster – artillery rained on the beachhead

Salerno Landings

Allied Invasion of Italy PART 3

• Naples was taken by November 1 and British had achieved all the way to Foggia, across the peninsula from Naples

• Allowed Allied airgroups to be moved to Italy–Balkans and southern Germany would be in

range of B17s and B24s

Difficult Italian Terrain• Terrain was perfect for

defensive – bad for Allies– Apennine mountains caused

problems– Rivers and valleys were

muddy– Bad conditions of snow in the

mountains• Frequently hand to hand

combat– Was among the most difficult

in the war

The Gustav Line• Fall and Early winter the Allies moved slowly

forward but were stopped at the Gustav Line south of Rome

Anzio Landing• January 22, 1944 to try to break through the line• General Clark’s forces were supposed to move

quickly inland• Freaked out about a repeat of Salerno even though

ULTRA intelligence said that Kesselring couldn’t send forces for about a week– Clark’s commander wouldn’t push inland though– Were supposed to drive across peninsula from Anzio to

cut Southern Germans off from Rome– Yet another disastrous amphibious landing

Anzio Landing

Monte Cassino PART 1

• Those moving from the South faced a lot of difficulties – especially Monte Cassino– Allies believed that Germans were using the old

abbey as an observation post

• February 15, 1944 – 200 bombers blew up the abbey

• Clark was opposed to bombing the ancient structure, but Alexander insisted

Monte Cassino PART 2• Turns out the Germans

weren’t using it as an observation post, but used the ruins as defensive positions

• Bombing had the opposite effect of what it intended

• A second air raid of 500 bombers still failed to break German resistance

Wojtek the Bear• Diversity of Allied Troops

seen at Monte Cassino:– Indian, New Zealand,

French, Polish • Among the huge variety

of troops serving at Monte Cassino, probably the strangest was a bear from Iran, called Wojtek. – Raised by and enlisted

into the 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Polish II Corps, he carried artillery shells during the battle.

Monte Cassino PART 3

• May 1944 – Allies broke through the Gustav Line and captured Monte Cassino

• Same time Americans broke out of Anzio and still could have cut off the German retreat from the Gustav line

• INSTEAD Clark said to go to Rome– Not a strategic prize, but a political one– This did allow Kesselring to effectively retreat

Allies Capture Rome PART 1

• June 4, 1944 Americans entered Rome

• Germans withdrew 150 miles to the North – Gothic Line

Allies Capture Rome PART 2

• Kesselring decreed that Rome was an open city so it wouldn’t be bombed like Monte Cassino

Map of the Italian Campaign

Implications of Italian Campaign PART 1

• Allies were successful– Rome liberated by summer 1944

• End of Italian focus– Germany pushed back, but still extremely strong

• Those against it said that the Italian campaign delayed the cross-channel invasion – did it?

Implications of Italian Campaign PART 2

• Stalin (supported by FDR) at Tehran Conference insisted that Churchill committed to a cross channel invasion so…– Earliest possible time – spring and early summer of

1944• Ike sent to London to be Supreme Commander

of Allied Invasion of France– Churchill and Stalin preferred Marshall (US) but FDR

said Marshall had to stay in D.C.– Monty followed as his field commander– General Alexander assumed control in Italy

Allied Victory in the East

German Offensive Against Stalingrad PART 1

• Spring 1942 – new plans for German offensive against Stalingrad– “Case Blue” would not officially launch until June

28, 1942• Abandoned attempts to take Leningrad and

Moscow• New objective was Caucasus oil fields and

Stalingrad– Capturing Stalingrad would cut off Russia’s supply

of manufactured goods and oil to the front

German Offensive Against Stalingrad PART 2

• Soviets appeared vulnerable:–Had fewer tanks than they possessed in

1942–Red Army was exhausted–Best units remained around Moscow

German Offensive Against Stalingrad PART 3

• Stalingrad was not yet secure, BUT Hitler ordered his troops to drive into the Caucasus

• At first the Germans raced forward and split to head towards Grozny and the Black Sea

• Momentum slows by October because of resistance from Russian defenders and local forces (Chechnians)

German Problems

• 500 mile long front• 1300 mile long supply lines• Resistance behind the German lines• Hitler fired General Halder in November 1942

because of slow progress

Beginning of Stalingrad• Had to take

Stalingrad to block troop movements from the South

• Germans under von Paulus’ 6th Army reached the Volga by August 22

• Began air raid on Stalingrad - fire bombs

Fighting for Stalingrad• Neither side would give

up• Horrible battle – hand

to hand combat, street by street

• City was destroyed• By early November the

Germans had 90% of the city

Soviets Turn it Around

• General Zhukov took over to lead the counterattack

• Tricked Germans by massing troops to the North and the South of the city and only keeping minimum reinforcements in the city

• Counterattack began on November 19, 1942 by hitting the Germans on the Northern and Southern flanks

Germans Trapped at Stalingrad PART 1

• November 23rd – Russians encircled the entire German 6th Army and one corps of the 4th Panzer Army

• Paulus requested permission to break out of the city but Hitler refused

• Hitler did order General Manstein to fight through to Stalingrad to help, but he didn’t make it

Germans Trapped at Stalingrad

Germans Trapped at Stalingrad PART 2• The 6th Army was

ordered to fight to the last man

• Paulus held out until February 2, 1943, but finally surrendered

Implications of Stalingrad

• Disaster for the Germans– 850,000 casualties• 91,000 of them were captured

• In all, the battle resulted in an estimated total of 1.7 million to 2 million Axis and Soviet casualties.

• End of German forward movement on the Eastern Front -> turning point on the Eastern Front