The Italian Campaign in W.W. II. . - Reviews - The War in Italy, 1943-1945 - book review

Contemporary Review, March, 2002 by Dennis L. Bird

The War in Italy, 1943-1945. Field Marshal Lord Carver, GCB, CBE, DSO, MC. Sidgwick and Jackson in association with the Imperial War Museum. [pounds sterling]30.00. 350 pages. ISBN 0-283-07294-6.

It is with some diffidence that I, a retired Squadron Leader of the most junior of the Armed Services, undertake a review of a book by one of the most eminent soldiers of the late twentieth century. However, Field Marshal Lord Carver himself devotes more than 200 pages to the comments of some of the humblest participants in the Italian campaign of 1943-45. These come from letters and diaries deposited with the Imperial War Museum, and Lord Carver says 'I have found the experience of reading (them) very moving, none more so than when a letter has been a man's last . . . I have tried to achieve a balance between different arms, Services, and experiences'. Some were written by officers such as Major Lord Tweedsmuir and the lieutenant-colonel who later became the author's father-in-law, but the majority were from ordinary troopers, riflemen, fusiliers, and also sailors and airmen.

Lord Carver begins with a chapter on campaign strategy which helpfully sets the scene. After clearing the Axis forces out of Africa, the British and Commonwealth 8th Army and the American 5th Army successfully invaded Sicily. Where to go next? Winston Churchill, after vague thoughts of the Balkans, plumped for the mainland of Italy, which he described (in a remark not quoted here) as 'the soft under-belly of Europe'. Had he ever looked at a relief map? The mountainous spine of Italy, the Apennines, provided one of the most rugged and difficult terrains ever fought over in war. The Americans, says Lord Carver, wanted to concentrate on an invasion across the English Channel: 'they looked scornfully at any diversion of effort into the Mediterranean . . . This divergence of view over strategy was to persist for the rest of the war'.

Nevertheless, the British view prevailed and in September 1943 a relatively easy crossing of the Straits of Messina saw Allied forces well established in Calabria. Political consequences followed rapidly. The Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, had already been deposed. Now the Government of Marshal Badoglio changed sides and Italy became a co-belligerent' with the Allies on September 8. Nine hours later came the triumphant Allied landing at Salerno.

However, the Italian volte-face did not resolve the situation, for a formidable German army remained in the country, and this had to be fought every step of the way to the borders with Austria and France. The Allies grimly battled their way to the Gustav line, which stretched from Ortona on the Adriatic coast to Minturno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. And in the middle were the town, castle, and monastery of Cassino. There were three distinct battles of Cassino between January and March 1944, which included the controversial bombing of the historic monastery on February 15 and March 15, which left it ruin'. At the same time the beach-head at Anzio, sixty miles nearer Rome, was under threat. Churchill had hoped 'we were hurling a wild cat on the shore' when we landed there on January 22, 1944 -- 'but all we got was a stranded whale'. At last, however, the Allies predominated. Cassino was finally taken, and the break-out from Anzio on May 23 led a fortnight later to the capture of Rome on June 5. One day later came the landings in Normandy. Lord Carver does not mention the infamous remark by the Conservative MP, Lady Astor -- that the 8th Army in Italy were 'D-Day dodgers'. In fact, they had just as hard a time as their comrades in France.

Lord Carver gives us the full flavour of the Italian campaign in the words of the men who fought it, but he also gives his senior-officer view of the top-level battle. He does not disguise the difficult relationships between the American General, Mark Clark, the British General, Montgomery, and the Supreme Commander, General Alexander. Churchill's Chief of Staff, the acidulous Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke, was not impressed by Alexander: he 'had no ideas of his own and always sought someone to lean on'. But he finally won the Italian campaign.

This book is a magnificent account of 'the campaign that tipped the balance in Europe', written by a man who was personally involved as a lieutenant-colonel in command of the First Royal Tank Regiment in Italy. His book is a model of what military histories should be, with all the footnotes on the same page as the references. One small caveat from an airman: his picture No. 12 does not show an 'RAF Spitfire ready for action' but an American Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk in RAF markings.