Sicily: Whose Victory?

Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II / the Violent Century: Campaign #3

by Martin Blumenson

In the final analysis, the future Allied strategy would depend in large measure on whether the enemy collapsed entirely or resisted fiercely in Sicily. Yet who won? The Allies accomplished what they set out to do, conquer the island. But a handful of German and Italian troops, fighting a gigantic delaying action, kept two Allied armies at bay.

***

Sicily: Whose Victory? is part of Ballantine's Illustrated History of the Violent Century, and is Book #3 in the Campaign Book series.

Genres: History, War

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1969

About the author

Martin Blumenson was a soldier in the US army, and a military historian, and a recognised authority on the life of Gen. George S. Patton Jr.

Blumenson received a Bachelors and Masters degree from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He received a second master's degree in history from Harvard University. He also was an exellent pianist, performing at Carnegie Hall as a young man.

He served as a U.S. Army officer in northwestern Europe during World War II.
After the war he lived in France for a number of years, where he met his wife of 55 years, Genevieve Adelbert Blumenson, who died in 2000.

Blumenson again served with the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and later worked in the Office of the Chief of Military History until 1967. After this he became an adviser on civil disorders for the Johnson administration.

Reviews

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Battle for Sicily, or "How To Be an Idiot and Still Win". A superb study and allegory from the last European war. From the Eastern front in Russia to Sicily in the Mediterranean, the Germans proved themselves, tactical masters of the battlefield, while unable to keep up with their enemies in manpower and, more importantly, military-industrial output. Sure the Allies took the island, but the Germans held them down for forty days while they evacuated their troops across the Strait of Messina to fight another day.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was the third "Campaign Book" in this series, coming out in 1968, and it sets the tone for the many books to come. You get a basic 160 page history of Campaign, from inception to end, liberally sprinkled with B/w pics, maps, diagrams and line drawing of era kit. Martin Blumenson, a veteran of the European war and a historian of note is a good narrator- as the Allies struggle to hone their craft- the Germans try to hold up the allies advance and their own struggling ally - and the Italians reckon with invasion of the homeland and impeding implosion. The allies had a simple plan- the battle proven Brits would take the east side of the Island- and the Americans, still learning their craft would "guard their flank" with the longer western side. Of course- to Patton the American field commander under Eisenhower- this was tantamount to an insult- and the campaign became a race to Messina- the British doggedly advancing into Strong German defences- and the Americans using their firepower and mobility to take the long road- but get there first... The Germans could feel like they won too though- as the allies never did really force any acceleration of the withdrawal from the island to the "Boot" of Italy...

Of course the real story is the collapsing Italy- her troops just not that enthused by the war, her resources almost totally depleted already from adventures in East and North Africa, and the Balkans. The Germans' phased withdrawal is concurrent with an Italian one, as the Italian leadership tries to force a withdrawal from the war on Mussolini- and Hitler seeks to support his biggest ally. The result is a growing sense in the German Military that they will need to stiffen the Italians or occupy all of Italy. Blumenson shows how the tactical war in Sicily-impacted the political machinations at play in Europe. The Allies are exploring the limits of airpower, naval gunnery, Airdrops of men and supplies, and Amphibious outflanking maneuvers- the Germans are learning to be canny defenders. The reader will note that this book was written six years before the Ultra decryptions were revealed to the public and civilian historians, so some events/interchanges are more easily explained now that we know who knew what when... Still for all its age, the book gives a good distilled history of both the fighting and the politics, excellent for the novice to WWII or Junior reader.

This series was aimed at the Junior reader of the 1970s- and they are still great for the Junior Reader of today- so this is a fine resource for a reader of 10/11 years- how old I was when I first read these books. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, these are great little books for reading up on a campaign, battle, or weapon that you might not want to overthink. For a Gamer- this is enough to create some Campaign or battle scenarios- or a great little book to give a Warhammer player looking to break into Historical gaming. The modeler gets a lot of Diorama ideas and some good pictures to emulate. The Military enthusiast gets a short history- an amuse bouche to decide of you want to read more on the topic- or if this taste is enough. Personally- I have already found another book on this battle in the Collection I have added to the travel read list. So this little book can be beguiling...

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well the title pretty much explains the debate that runs throughout the book whether the capture of Sicily was a worthwhile goal for the Allies or whether they should have just gone after Germany directly? I think in the end Blumenson leaves it up to the reader to finally decide but presents both sides of the argument very well and does a great job of going through the campaign and gave time to how both sides of the Axis and Allies responded to the invasion and how the campaign unfurled. I think my largest criticism would be its lack of focus of Simonds and the Canadians but that's mainly because I am Canadian though.