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Tug of War: The Battle for Italy 1943 - 1945
When the Allies invaded mainland Italy in 1943 they intended only a clearing-up operation to knock Italy out of the war, but Hitler ordered the German armies to defend every foot of the country, which they did until May 1945 after a bloody and bitter struggle. The ’Tug of War’ was the mysterious force which causes a war to race out of control, grow into a huge conflict and attract vast numbers of men, tanks, guns and aircraft, which the Allies could ill afford, to reach objectives they had never intended in the first place. The book analyses the main battles of Salerno, Cassino, Anzio, the march on Rome and the characteristics of the soldiers involved and the rivalries of the Allied commanders.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 9, 2022
This book covers the hard struggle up the Italian boot during WWII. It does so in great detail and shows that this turned into far more than an effort to draw German troops from their positions in northwest Europe.
This truly was a multi-national effort with American, British, Canadian, Indian, Polish and French troops fighting on the Allied side. Terrain, weather and nationality differences made this quite a challenge. Next to this there were some clashes between personalities like the 'British' commanders and Mark Clark, the American commander.
We also get to see the German perspective in detail and how Albert Kesselring, the overall German commander, made the Allies pay for every inch of ground. This despite the lack of good air support and the added difficulties of moving troops around under Allied air cover.
The Italian campaign is well known for one specific 'incident', the battle for the monastery of Monte Cassino and it being bombed by Allied bombers. Obviously this does get mentioned and analyzed in this book too, but it does so in a scaled down size because there are already many books on the topic.
If you want to learn more about the Italian campaign, make sure to pick up this title.
This truly was a multi-national effort with American, British, Canadian, Indian, Polish and French troops fighting on the Allied side. Terrain, weather and nationality differences made this quite a challenge. Next to this there were some clashes between personalities like the 'British' commanders and Mark Clark, the American commander.
We also get to see the German perspective in detail and how Albert Kesselring, the overall German commander, made the Allies pay for every inch of ground. This despite the lack of good air support and the added difficulties of moving troops around under Allied air cover.
The Italian campaign is well known for one specific 'incident', the battle for the monastery of Monte Cassino and it being bombed by Allied bombers. Obviously this does get mentioned and analyzed in this book too, but it does so in a scaled down size because there are already many books on the topic.
If you want to learn more about the Italian campaign, make sure to pick up this title.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews