1 00:00:15,140 --> 00:00:17,850 (narrator) Winston Churchill once told Stalin: 2 00:00:17,934 --> 00:00:21,645 "The Mediterranean is the soff underbelly of the crocodile." 3 00:00:22,856 --> 00:00:25,566 Churchill and the British Chiefs of Staff believed 4 00:00:25,650 --> 00:00:28,444 that attacking German-occupied Europe through ltaly 5 00:00:28,528 --> 00:00:30,821 would help shorten the war. 6 00:00:31,698 --> 00:00:33,657 The Americans were not convinced, 7 00:00:33,742 --> 00:00:37,453 preferring to focus on the decisive blow across the English Channel. 8 00:00:38,747 --> 00:00:42,207 Only reluctantly did they agree to join their British allies 9 00:00:42,292 --> 00:00:43,459 on the road to Rome. 10 00:01:45,021 --> 00:01:46,897 November, 1942. 11 00:01:46,981 --> 00:01:49,691 1 1 months affer Pearl Harbour, 12 00:01:49,776 --> 00:01:54,071 the American army prepared for its first encounter with the Wehrmacht. 13 00:01:59,536 --> 00:02:03,163 Operation Torch - codename for the Anglo-American landings 14 00:02:03,248 --> 00:02:07,000 in the French North African colonies of Morocco and Algeria. 15 00:02:10,296 --> 00:02:14,049 They met little or no resistance from the forces of Vichy France. 16 00:02:14,134 --> 00:02:17,803 The French command soon broke with the government of Pétain 17 00:02:17,887 --> 00:02:21,974 and their troops became part of the Allied army. 18 00:02:24,394 --> 00:02:26,854 An American general, Dwight D Eisenhower, 19 00:02:26,938 --> 00:02:29,982 was supreme commander. 20 00:02:30,066 --> 00:02:33,068 The American planners were never keen on the operation, 21 00:02:33,153 --> 00:02:35,571 but President Roosevelt was determined 22 00:02:35,655 --> 00:02:40,159 to get his ground forces into action against Hitler in 1942. 23 00:02:41,411 --> 00:02:43,162 Attacking the Germans in Tunisia 24 00:02:43,246 --> 00:02:46,999 was the next best thing to a second front in Europe. 25 00:02:56,467 --> 00:02:59,428 At Casablanca, within two months of the landings, 26 00:02:59,512 --> 00:03:04,641 an impressive array of British and American top brass assembled. 27 00:03:13,860 --> 00:03:15,444 The Russians were not present, 28 00:03:15,528 --> 00:03:17,988 but everybody there knew they had to do something 29 00:03:18,072 --> 00:03:20,324 to take the pressure off the Red Army. 30 00:03:20,408 --> 00:03:26,330 Churchill and Roosevelt had now to decide where they went from here. 31 00:03:28,625 --> 00:03:30,083 At the beginning of 1943, 32 00:03:30,168 --> 00:03:34,171 the British and Americans were firmly established in North Africa. 33 00:03:34,255 --> 00:03:37,090 Hitler reinforced Rommel's forces in Tunisia, 34 00:03:37,175 --> 00:03:40,427 but with the British Eighth Army closing from the east, 35 00:03:40,553 --> 00:03:42,471 it could only be a matter of time 36 00:03:42,555 --> 00:03:46,308 before the entire African coastline was in Allied hands. 37 00:03:46,392 --> 00:03:47,726 What then? 38 00:03:47,852 --> 00:03:52,564 We have to face the fact that there was a big difference between the two sides 39 00:03:52,649 --> 00:03:57,736 about what the future strategy of the war would be. 40 00:03:57,862 --> 00:04:03,617 The British, the British Chiefs of Staff, Churchill, 41 00:04:03,701 --> 00:04:09,206 were all in favour of the future of the campaign 42 00:04:09,290 --> 00:04:11,583 being carried out through ltaly 43 00:04:11,668 --> 00:04:17,965 and hitting at the underside of the underbelly of the Germans, 44 00:04:18,049 --> 00:04:21,718 moving up and eventually joining up with the Russians. 45 00:04:21,803 --> 00:04:26,098 The Americans held exactly the opposite view. 46 00:04:26,182 --> 00:04:30,560 They felt the only way that you could defeat Germany 47 00:04:30,645 --> 00:04:35,440 was to take the shortest way into the centre of Germany, across the Channel, 48 00:04:35,566 --> 00:04:41,363 and advance into the areas of the Ruhr and Saar, 49 00:04:41,447 --> 00:04:43,615 the great industrial areas, 50 00:04:43,700 --> 00:04:48,120 and then destroy the German forces by that means. 51 00:04:48,997 --> 00:04:51,456 (narrator) The British, led by Sir Alan Brooke, 52 00:04:51,541 --> 00:04:53,458 Chief of the lmperial General Staff, 53 00:04:53,543 --> 00:04:57,546 came to Casablanca determined to have their way. They got it. 54 00:04:57,630 --> 00:05:01,550 The Americans, under Marshall, were persuaded that the next objective 55 00:05:01,634 --> 00:05:03,427 would be the invasion of Sicily, 56 00:05:03,511 --> 00:05:06,263 leading, it was hoped, to the surrender of ltaly. 57 00:05:06,347 --> 00:05:11,184 Thus the main second front was postponed for another year. 58 00:05:11,269 --> 00:05:14,938 At the time, however, the big news from the Casablanca conference 59 00:05:15,023 --> 00:05:18,608 was an unexpected pronouncement by the American president. 60 00:05:18,693 --> 00:05:23,280 (man) Mr Roosevelt began by saying that when he was a young man 61 00:05:23,364 --> 00:05:29,119 the great reputation in the American military was General Grant, 62 00:05:29,203 --> 00:05:31,455 who had once sent an order 63 00:05:31,581 --> 00:05:36,251 saying that he would accept no terms but unconditional surrender, 64 00:05:36,336 --> 00:05:41,423 and that these in fact were the terms that the Allies, or the United Nations, 65 00:05:41,507 --> 00:05:44,468 wanted to present to their enemies. 66 00:05:45,678 --> 00:05:49,639 He then went on as though he did not understand 67 00:05:49,724 --> 00:05:53,143 how important a statement he had made. 68 00:05:53,227 --> 00:05:57,272 Mr Churchill looked considerably surprised at this. 69 00:05:57,357 --> 00:06:00,275 And l think that Mr Churchill felt that 70 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:05,238 it was not the best way to present the Allied position to the enemy. 71 00:06:05,323 --> 00:06:09,659 However, as he said then and later, he was Mr Roosevelt's ardent lieutenant 72 00:06:09,744 --> 00:06:12,245 and he would go along with it. 73 00:06:21,172 --> 00:06:25,092 (narrator) Affer the talking, Roosevelt appeared in his other capacity - 74 00:06:25,176 --> 00:06:29,012 commander in chief of the American armed forces. 75 00:06:36,521 --> 00:06:40,315 lf this confident-looking American army crossed the Atlantic 76 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:42,401 expecting to carry all before it, 77 00:06:42,485 --> 00:06:46,029 it was very soon cruelly disillusioned. 78 00:06:52,954 --> 00:06:56,665 ln a sudden onslaught through the Kassarine Pass in Tunisia, 79 00:06:56,749 --> 00:07:02,754 Rommel inflicted on the American army one of its worst defeats of the war. 80 00:07:22,233 --> 00:07:25,819 The Afrikakorps was far too well-equipped and experienced 81 00:07:25,903 --> 00:07:31,116 for the lightly armoured and underpowered American tanks. 82 00:07:34,036 --> 00:07:38,081 The morale of these raw young Americans was badly shaken. 83 00:07:38,166 --> 00:07:40,625 Many were taken prisoner. 84 00:07:57,226 --> 00:08:00,312 (Middleton) lt brought the troops face to face 85 00:08:00,396 --> 00:08:03,482 with the fact that this was going to be a long war 86 00:08:03,566 --> 00:08:05,901 and a tough one and the Germans were very good. 87 00:08:05,985 --> 00:08:10,363 Armies never learn from other armies, they have to learn by themselves, 88 00:08:10,448 --> 00:08:14,618 and a lot of the tactics that we used disastrously at Kassarine 89 00:08:14,702 --> 00:08:18,163 were those that the British army had used equally disastrously 90 00:08:18,247 --> 00:08:21,583 two years before in the western desert, then discarded. 91 00:08:21,667 --> 00:08:24,961 l think it helped our army and made them realise, 92 00:08:25,046 --> 00:08:28,006 because the British came down from the north and did help, 93 00:08:28,090 --> 00:08:32,052 that this was going to be a cooperative effort, that we couldn't win it alone. 94 00:08:32,136 --> 00:08:35,764 Also, it got the average Gl accustomed to the fact 95 00:08:35,890 --> 00:08:38,308 that there would be one battle affer another. 96 00:08:39,268 --> 00:08:43,230 (narrator) But Rommel lacked the strength to exploit his victory. 97 00:08:43,314 --> 00:08:48,401 The Allies, under Alexander, regrouped and within ten days retook the path. 98 00:08:48,486 --> 00:08:51,613 The Germans in Tunisia were now hemmed in. 99 00:08:51,697 --> 00:08:54,324 The Allied sea and air blockade of the coastline 100 00:08:54,408 --> 00:08:57,369 made large-scale evacuation impossible. 101 00:08:57,453 --> 00:09:00,539 ln the south, a forward patrol of the Eighth Army 102 00:09:00,623 --> 00:09:03,333 linked up with the American Second Corps. 103 00:09:03,417 --> 00:09:05,502 The trap closed. 104 00:09:07,797 --> 00:09:12,801 Two Allied forces, once separated by 2,000 miles of mountain and desert, 105 00:09:12,885 --> 00:09:18,014 joined hands for the finag onsgaught on the German position in Africa. 106 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,904 The Allied armies, vastly superior in numbers, drove the enemy, 107 00:09:32,989 --> 00:09:37,909 now without Rommel who had been invalided home, back towards the sea. 108 00:09:47,878 --> 00:09:52,382 The Allied air forces had undisputed control. 109 00:09:56,262 --> 00:09:59,014 ln seven days it was all over. 110 00:10:32,298 --> 00:10:35,967 Finally, the Afrikakorps saw no point in fighting to the last man. 111 00:10:36,052 --> 00:10:39,095 They surrendered in droves. 112 00:10:43,142 --> 00:10:46,394 The unfortunate General von Arnim, who succeeded Rommel, 113 00:10:46,479 --> 00:10:49,773 also surrendered with all his staff. 114 00:10:49,857 --> 00:10:53,234 Nearly a quarter of a million men were taken prisoner - 115 00:10:53,319 --> 00:10:56,863 a victory to rank alongside Stalingrad. 116 00:10:56,947 --> 00:11:03,286 This was a major boost for the British and their Mediterranean strategy. 117 00:11:08,834 --> 00:11:13,004 Sicily, as agreed at Casablanca, was the next item on the agenda. 118 00:11:13,089 --> 00:11:16,132 Only two months affer the German collapse in Tunisia, 119 00:11:16,217 --> 00:11:22,263 the British and Americans began landing troops on Sicilian beaches. 120 00:11:29,855 --> 00:11:33,858 The British were led by Montgomery, the Americans by General Patton - 121 00:11:33,943 --> 00:11:36,486 the first time these egocentric personalities 122 00:11:36,570 --> 00:11:40,448 had been involved in the same campaign. 123 00:11:56,757 --> 00:12:01,636 lt was the British Eighth Army which met the fiercest German resistance. 124 00:12:01,721 --> 00:12:07,517 On their leff, Patton's Americans swept across Sicily in style. 125 00:12:12,523 --> 00:12:15,150 They found useful allies in the Mafia 126 00:12:15,234 --> 00:12:19,320 and family connections among the civilian population. 127 00:12:19,405 --> 00:12:22,031 (man) The situation was relieved somewhat 128 00:12:22,116 --> 00:12:25,535 by the fact that there was hardly a family in Sicily 129 00:12:25,619 --> 00:12:28,163 that didn't have relatives in the United States. 130 00:12:28,247 --> 00:12:32,167 (narrator) The Sicilian landing, bringing the war on to their own soil, 131 00:12:32,251 --> 00:12:35,253 convinced most ltalians that theirs was a lost cause. 132 00:12:35,337 --> 00:12:38,089 Giving themselves up, if possible by the regiment, 133 00:12:38,174 --> 00:12:42,844 became the first objective of ltaly's armed forces. 134 00:12:47,850 --> 00:12:53,146 Allied raids on Rome provided another argument for getting out of the war. 135 00:12:57,985 --> 00:13:00,403 Benito Mussolini, il Duce for 20 years, 136 00:13:00,529 --> 00:13:04,449 was outvoted in his own Fascist Grand Council. 137 00:13:08,662 --> 00:13:12,415 On July 25th, he was toppled from power. 138 00:13:14,919 --> 00:13:18,838 King Victor Emmanuel approved the elderly Marshal Badoglio 139 00:13:18,923 --> 00:13:20,673 as head of the government. 140 00:13:20,758 --> 00:13:25,053 Badoglio declared publicly that the war would go on, 141 00:13:25,137 --> 00:13:27,555 but immediately began secret negotiations 142 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,058 with the Allies for surrender. 143 00:13:35,356 --> 00:13:41,402 By now Sicily, affer only a few weeks, was almost all in Allied hands. 144 00:13:47,034 --> 00:13:50,995 This time there was to be no great haul of German prisoners. 145 00:13:52,540 --> 00:13:57,293 German evacuation across the narrow Straits of Messina was very successful. 146 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:11,099 Most of the Wehrmacht's personnel got away to the mainland. 147 00:14:11,183 --> 00:14:14,519 Even the last guard dog. 148 00:14:23,529 --> 00:14:27,699 General Patton beat Montgomery into Messina. 149 00:14:27,783 --> 00:14:31,494 The Allies had landed in Sicily not knowing where they would go next. 150 00:14:31,579 --> 00:14:35,665 At the prospect of ltalian collapse, the British were for attacking the mainland. 151 00:14:35,749 --> 00:14:40,461 The Americans agreed, but insisted that Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, 152 00:14:40,546 --> 00:14:43,548 must take priority for resources. 153 00:14:44,383 --> 00:14:48,177 A secret envoy, General Castellano, was sent by Badoglio 154 00:14:48,262 --> 00:14:51,973 to find out on what terms ltaly could join the Allies. 155 00:14:52,057 --> 00:14:54,559 But the Allies simply wanted ltalian surrender 156 00:14:54,643 --> 00:14:57,520 and refused to tell Castellano of their invasion plans - 157 00:14:57,605 --> 00:15:00,356 partly because they didn't want the ltalians to know 158 00:15:00,441 --> 00:15:02,108 how limited their forces were. 159 00:15:02,192 --> 00:15:05,320 (Strong) All we could say to General Castellano was this: 160 00:15:05,404 --> 00:15:12,285 "Well, we will tell you two or three hours before it happens, 161 00:15:12,369 --> 00:15:15,622 so that you can give any assistance you can 162 00:15:15,706 --> 00:15:20,001 to the British... to the Allied operations. 163 00:15:20,085 --> 00:15:25,965 Eventually, on the 3rd September, these terms were signed. 164 00:15:29,845 --> 00:15:32,055 (narrator) On that day, the Allies invaded. 165 00:15:32,181 --> 00:15:36,643 Montgomery went across the Straits of Messina to attack the toe of ltaly, 166 00:15:36,727 --> 00:15:38,603 but found no resistance. 167 00:15:38,687 --> 00:15:40,730 The Germans had moved north 168 00:15:40,814 --> 00:15:45,568 to counter the threat of an Allied landing further up the coast. 169 00:15:48,238 --> 00:15:52,408 The ltalians had wanted a landing to safeguard Rome from German attack, 170 00:15:52,493 --> 00:15:55,203 but this was impossible. 171 00:15:55,287 --> 00:15:58,957 The furthest north the Americans and British felt it prudent to land 172 00:15:59,041 --> 00:16:01,417 was nowhere near Rome, but at Salerno, 173 00:16:01,502 --> 00:16:06,714 as far as the Allied air cover operating from Sicily could stretch. 174 00:16:08,801 --> 00:16:11,761 The operation had been mounted at great speed 175 00:16:11,845 --> 00:16:14,722 to take advantage of the confusion in ltaly. 176 00:16:14,807 --> 00:16:17,558 The forces of the American general Mark Clark 177 00:16:17,643 --> 00:16:21,396 were barely adequate for the job they had to do. 178 00:16:26,151 --> 00:16:28,653 On the way, the troops heard a broadcast 179 00:16:28,737 --> 00:16:32,115 - by General Eisenhower. - (Eisenhower) The ltalian government 180 00:16:32,241 --> 00:16:35,660 has surrendered its armed forces unconditionally. 181 00:16:35,744 --> 00:16:40,498 As Allied commander in chief, l have granted a military armistice. 182 00:16:40,582 --> 00:16:43,334 The armistice was signed by my representatives 183 00:16:43,419 --> 00:16:46,045 and the representative of Marshal Badoglio. 184 00:16:46,130 --> 00:16:48,840 And it becomes effective this instant. 185 00:16:48,924 --> 00:16:51,009 (cheering) 186 00:16:57,182 --> 00:17:01,769 (narrator) The surrender of his allies did not take Hitler by surprise. 187 00:17:01,854 --> 00:17:05,023 He'd already moved reinforcements into northern ltaly. 188 00:17:05,107 --> 00:17:07,400 Here the ltalians were quickly disarmed 189 00:17:07,484 --> 00:17:11,988 under a plan ironically codenamed Operation Axis. 190 00:17:12,072 --> 00:17:17,785 At this point, Hitler had not decided just where he wougd hogd the gine. 191 00:17:18,829 --> 00:17:22,582 The Germans entered Rome to find it a capital without a government. 192 00:17:22,666 --> 00:17:26,711 Badoglio and his ministers had avoided the risk of being shot for treachery 193 00:17:26,795 --> 00:17:30,548 by leaping into their cars and driving away. 194 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:39,474 South of Rome, Clark's invasion force was nearing the beaches. 195 00:17:39,558 --> 00:17:42,310 (man) Salerno, if you go in on a boat, 196 00:17:42,394 --> 00:17:47,231 you look at the mountains that hem you in and the passes through which you go. 197 00:17:47,316 --> 00:17:49,650 The enemy would be looking down your throat. 198 00:17:51,528 --> 00:17:54,989 (narrator) The Germans were ready and waiting. 199 00:19:11,650 --> 00:19:15,903 Affer 48 hours, the Germans launched a furious counterattack. 200 00:19:32,796 --> 00:19:34,755 The situation became so precarious, 201 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,925 Clark ordered plans for possible re-embarkation. 202 00:19:40,470 --> 00:19:43,431 But with massive support from air and sea, 203 00:19:43,515 --> 00:19:46,767 the Salerno invaders just managed to hogd on. 204 00:20:07,039 --> 00:20:11,459 Affer a week of savage fighting, the Germans withdrew. 205 00:20:20,219 --> 00:20:23,888 (Strong) lt required the interVention of all the air forces 206 00:20:23,972 --> 00:20:26,140 to save us at Salerno. 207 00:20:27,517 --> 00:20:30,311 Of all General Eisenhower's battles, 208 00:20:30,437 --> 00:20:37,860 that is the one where l think we were nearest to a tactical defeat. 209 00:20:37,945 --> 00:20:40,363 l've never had any doubts in my mind 210 00:20:40,447 --> 00:20:43,783 that it was a completely successful operation. 211 00:20:43,867 --> 00:20:46,118 We were ordered to go in there, 212 00:20:46,203 --> 00:20:50,081 we were ordered to seize a bridgehead. We did it. 213 00:20:50,165 --> 00:20:56,337 We were ordered to capture the port of Naples - we did that within three weeks. 214 00:20:56,421 --> 00:20:59,131 (narrator) So far, so good. 215 00:20:59,216 --> 00:21:03,219 At least a large part of southern ltaly was in Allied hands. 216 00:21:03,303 --> 00:21:05,721 (cheering) 217 00:21:17,109 --> 00:21:19,402 Naples was desperately short of food. 218 00:21:20,946 --> 00:21:23,489 There were bread riots. 219 00:21:27,536 --> 00:21:30,037 Water was scarce. 220 00:21:42,843 --> 00:21:45,052 There was a typhus epidemic. 221 00:21:54,980 --> 00:22:01,444 The advance continued, but just ahead lay the line of real German resistance. 222 00:22:01,528 --> 00:22:05,740 The Allied commanders had hoped Hitler would withdraw further north. 223 00:22:05,824 --> 00:22:09,118 lnstead, greatly encouraged by his near-victory at Salerno, 224 00:22:09,244 --> 00:22:14,457 he had decided to fight here, in the mountains south of Rome. 225 00:22:24,843 --> 00:22:27,720 Like a bad lira, Mussolini turned up again. 226 00:22:27,804 --> 00:22:31,474 He was hoisted from his hiding place by a German rescue party 227 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,393 and taken to Hitler. 228 00:22:37,314 --> 00:22:39,690 The Führer was aghast at his appearance, 229 00:22:39,775 --> 00:22:41,859 but thought he might come in useful 230 00:22:41,943 --> 00:22:45,946 to encourage the Fascists in German-occupied ltaly. 231 00:23:01,671 --> 00:23:04,507 The German forces in ltaly were led by Kesselring, 232 00:23:04,591 --> 00:23:07,593 one of the war's ablest defensive commanders. 233 00:23:07,677 --> 00:23:10,513 Kesselring had a lot going for him. 234 00:23:10,597 --> 00:23:14,100 The rocky spine which runs almost the whole length of ltaly 235 00:23:14,184 --> 00:23:19,688 meant the Allies had to advance along the coastal plains on either side. 236 00:23:19,773 --> 00:23:24,235 The only way to outflank the Germans was by amphibious landings. 237 00:23:24,319 --> 00:23:29,156 But by now the necessary landing craff were earmarked for Normandy. 238 00:23:49,761 --> 00:23:53,180 As they went north to their prepared defensive positions, 239 00:23:53,265 --> 00:23:58,144 Kesselring's men destroyed the only lines of communication. 240 00:24:09,656 --> 00:24:14,160 ln the towns, the Germans leff booby traps. This was Naples. 241 00:24:32,345 --> 00:24:37,016 They were well-trained troops. They were tenacious troops, they were well led. 242 00:24:37,100 --> 00:24:42,313 And one point l like to make is they were homogenous - 243 00:24:42,397 --> 00:24:45,274 they were all of one nationality. 244 00:24:45,358 --> 00:24:49,028 They were all equipped with the same weapons and ammunition. 245 00:24:49,112 --> 00:24:53,616 They ate the same food. They believed pretty much in the same god. 246 00:24:53,700 --> 00:24:58,496 l had 16 different nationalities with me, 247 00:24:58,580 --> 00:25:01,540 some of whom couldn't eat this and couldn't eat that, 248 00:25:01,625 --> 00:25:06,170 and some that didn't want to fight on Fridays or some other day of the week, 249 00:25:06,254 --> 00:25:10,716 and the British, with their infantry weapons 250 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,969 and your artillery completely different from ours. 251 00:25:14,054 --> 00:25:19,475 You couldn't move them with ease from front to front like the Germans could. 252 00:25:22,145 --> 00:25:26,440 (narrator) Winter. The Allied ground commander Alexander and his colleagues 253 00:25:26,525 --> 00:25:31,403 were faced with the unpleasant realities of their Mediterranean strategy. 254 00:25:32,030 --> 00:25:36,116 The Eighth Army, accustomed to swiff advances across the desert, 255 00:25:36,201 --> 00:25:39,912 could only manage a few hundred yards a day. 256 00:25:49,422 --> 00:25:55,344 Across the mountain, Clark's Fiffh Army was also mud-bound. 257 00:25:55,428 --> 00:25:59,890 (man) They issued us galoshes affer the rains had stopped. 258 00:25:59,975 --> 00:26:02,810 lf anybody was in the galoshes business, 259 00:26:02,894 --> 00:26:06,313 he could have found millions along the roadside, 260 00:26:06,439 --> 00:26:08,732 because you couldn't walk with them. 261 00:26:08,817 --> 00:26:11,443 lt was impossible to go through that mud. 262 00:26:13,655 --> 00:26:17,741 (narrator) This was not the sunny ltaly of the travel posters. 263 00:26:21,705 --> 00:26:25,457 (man) The only way an infantryman was coming out of those mountains 264 00:26:25,542 --> 00:26:26,792 was to be carried out. 265 00:26:26,876 --> 00:26:31,797 That's why it was actually desirable to get wounded. 266 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:41,765 (narrator) Dreadful weather, difficult terrain, determined German resistance. 267 00:26:41,850 --> 00:26:46,562 To the men in the mud, this combination did not match up to Churchill's vision. 268 00:26:46,646 --> 00:26:51,358 (Clark) l can see him now at his map and his persuasive way with his pointer, 269 00:26:51,443 --> 00:26:55,779 pointing out the "soff belly" of the Mediterranean. 270 00:26:55,864 --> 00:27:00,117 Affer we got in there, l offen thought of what a tough old gut it was, 271 00:27:00,243 --> 00:27:03,412 instead of the soff belly he had led us to believe. 272 00:27:19,137 --> 00:27:21,013 (narrator) Before the end of 1943, 273 00:27:21,097 --> 00:27:24,183 the Allies were hammering at Kesselring's Winter Line. 274 00:27:24,267 --> 00:27:30,064 Alexander had 1 1 divisions, Kesselring nine, with eight more in reserVe. 275 00:27:52,003 --> 00:27:55,464 Every small mountain village had to be fought for. 276 00:27:55,548 --> 00:28:00,260 ln December, the American 36th Division tried to take San Pietro. 277 00:28:34,921 --> 00:28:39,174 (man) lt was one of the things that most of our fighting was in ltaly. 278 00:28:39,259 --> 00:28:44,430 You got into a position, you dug in and you just stayed. 279 00:28:44,514 --> 00:28:48,642 l mean, we'd shoot at them and they'd shoot at us. 280 00:28:48,727 --> 00:28:54,481 And it was only when they were ready to leave that we moved forward. 281 00:29:00,947 --> 00:29:04,825 (narrator) Affer ten days, the Americans took San Pietro - 282 00:29:04,909 --> 00:29:06,994 at heavy cost. 283 00:29:26,806 --> 00:29:30,309 ln any unit, you would have a Graves Registration Unit, 284 00:29:30,393 --> 00:29:33,812 and their job was to go round picking up bodies. 285 00:29:33,897 --> 00:29:38,400 And what they would do, if someone had been hastily buried, 286 00:29:38,485 --> 00:29:41,195 they would disinter him, or if he was just lying there, 287 00:29:41,279 --> 00:29:46,658 they'd pick him up and slide them into the mattress covers, 288 00:29:46,743 --> 00:29:48,410 pile them up into the trucks 289 00:29:48,495 --> 00:29:52,706 and take them off to a temporary cemetery somewhere. 290 00:29:52,791 --> 00:29:57,669 l suppose some people got buried as many as four or five times that way, 291 00:29:57,754 --> 00:30:02,466 which is kind of unfortunate, really. 292 00:30:02,592 --> 00:30:07,095 l always thought people should be leff where they were. 293 00:30:40,046 --> 00:30:44,091 (narrator) The ltalian people had once been told by Mussolini: 294 00:30:44,175 --> 00:30:50,472 "War puts the stamp of nobility on those who have the courage to meet it." 295 00:31:12,829 --> 00:31:15,581 At Tehran in November 1943, 296 00:31:15,665 --> 00:31:17,958 Roosevelt and Stalin overruled Churchill 297 00:31:18,042 --> 00:31:21,128 and at last fixed a definite date for the landing in France: 298 00:31:21,212 --> 00:31:23,380 May 1944. 299 00:31:23,464 --> 00:31:26,300 ltaly was to become a sideshow. 300 00:31:26,384 --> 00:31:30,345 But affer Tehran, Churchill refused to accept the deadlock in ltaly. 301 00:31:30,430 --> 00:31:34,766 He got on to Roosevelt and persuaded him to lend landing craff 302 00:31:34,851 --> 00:31:36,977 for a new amphibious landing. 303 00:31:38,021 --> 00:31:40,105 The plan was in two stages. 304 00:31:40,189 --> 00:31:44,443 First, Mark Clark's Fiffh Army would attack the Germans at Cassino, 305 00:31:44,527 --> 00:31:47,905 draw their forces southward, drain their reserVes. 306 00:31:47,989 --> 00:31:52,034 Then the amphibious troops would strike behind their lines at Anzio, 307 00:31:52,118 --> 00:31:54,661 just 22 miges south of Rome. 308 00:31:55,997 --> 00:31:58,707 At Cassino, the Germans held the high ground. 309 00:31:58,791 --> 00:32:01,835 They could see everything that moved in the valley below. 310 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:05,088 The Fiffh Army attacked on January 20th. 311 00:32:05,173 --> 00:32:10,510 lts troops had not been reinforced. They were cold, wet, exhausted. 312 00:32:10,595 --> 00:32:13,555 The attack failed disastrously. 313 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,725 But the second stage of the plan went ahead two days later - 314 00:32:16,809 --> 00:32:18,894 the assault on Anzio. 315 00:32:18,978 --> 00:32:24,608 Having gone into Salerno with not enough troops - 316 00:32:24,692 --> 00:32:28,236 no commander ever has what he thinks he ought to have - 317 00:32:28,321 --> 00:32:32,491 l was determined that if l was to be the commander going into Anzio, 318 00:32:32,575 --> 00:32:36,536 or be the overall commander, that we should not go in on a shoestring. 319 00:32:36,621 --> 00:32:42,834 l went in with one and two-thirds division, which was totally inadequate. 320 00:32:43,878 --> 00:32:47,214 But that's the way the ball bounces in war. 321 00:32:47,298 --> 00:32:49,508 You do what you're told to do, 322 00:32:49,592 --> 00:32:52,970 or they'll get somebody else that will do it. 323 00:32:58,393 --> 00:33:00,894 (narrator) The Germans expected the landing, 324 00:33:00,979 --> 00:33:02,938 but had no idea where it would come. 325 00:33:03,022 --> 00:33:06,483 They did not have enough troops to cover all possible beaches. 326 00:33:06,567 --> 00:33:10,070 The Anzio force was completely unopposed. 327 00:33:11,364 --> 00:33:14,700 (man) Nothing. An odd bang in the distance, but nothing. 328 00:33:14,784 --> 00:33:18,829 And when dawn broke, we'd got complete surprise. 329 00:33:21,332 --> 00:33:25,711 And a few minutes later, along the road, there came a marVellous drunken car, 330 00:33:25,795 --> 00:33:27,254 swaying back and forth, 331 00:33:27,338 --> 00:33:31,591 full of happy Germans who'd had a night out in Rome and were staggering back, 332 00:33:31,676 --> 00:33:34,052 and couldn't believe they were captured. 333 00:33:34,137 --> 00:33:37,889 They said, "Kameraden" and they kept on embracing me. 334 00:33:37,974 --> 00:33:40,017 Finally they put them in the clink too. 335 00:33:40,101 --> 00:33:43,145 And that was the landing - complete surprise. 336 00:33:46,899 --> 00:33:51,486 (narrator) The Anzio beachhead was consolidated in an eerie calm. 337 00:34:07,170 --> 00:34:12,340 Affer Salerno, it seemed incredible that there was no instant German riposte. 338 00:34:12,425 --> 00:34:15,093 Perhaps now was the time for a lightning dash, 339 00:34:15,178 --> 00:34:18,221 in the style of General Patton, for the gates of Rome. 340 00:34:18,306 --> 00:34:21,433 But the American commander at Anzio was no Patton. 341 00:34:21,517 --> 00:34:23,602 General Lucas was a cautious man 342 00:34:23,686 --> 00:34:27,314 who believed the beachhead must be secured before striking inland. 343 00:34:27,398 --> 00:34:30,150 Alexander did not overrule him. 344 00:34:44,207 --> 00:34:48,668 Churchill complained, "l thought we'd flung a wildcat into the Alban Hills, 345 00:34:48,753 --> 00:34:52,047 but instead we got a whale floundering on the beach." 346 00:34:54,967 --> 00:34:59,304 There were only two battalions 347 00:34:59,388 --> 00:35:05,977 and some very old-fashioned coast batteries 348 00:35:06,062 --> 00:35:08,814 at the coast for defending. 349 00:35:08,898 --> 00:35:11,942 lf the Americans 350 00:35:12,068 --> 00:35:17,781 had realised the situation, 351 00:35:17,865 --> 00:35:23,703 they could stay on the evening of the landing day in Rome. 352 00:35:23,788 --> 00:35:29,167 General Lucas could, but he would have soon been met by an overwhelming force 353 00:35:29,293 --> 00:35:32,504 which would have defeated him, no question about it. 354 00:35:32,588 --> 00:35:38,135 So we had to dig in on the biggest perimeter we could possibly digest, 355 00:35:38,219 --> 00:35:40,595 and wait for the onslaught which came. 356 00:35:44,183 --> 00:35:47,894 (narrator) Caught off-balance, as he offen was by Alexander, 357 00:35:47,979 --> 00:35:49,771 Kesselring recovered fast. 358 00:35:50,898 --> 00:35:52,649 Spurred on by Hitler's demands 359 00:35:52,775 --> 00:35:56,027 for the immediate liquidation of the "Anzio abscess", 360 00:35:56,112 --> 00:36:00,365 he threw all he had into the counterattack. 361 00:36:00,449 --> 00:36:02,284 lf Anzio were eliminated, 362 00:36:02,368 --> 00:36:07,539 perhaps the Allies would think again about crossing the English Channel. 363 00:36:42,283 --> 00:36:45,493 Allied advance units which had spread out from the beaches 364 00:36:45,578 --> 00:36:49,414 were overwhelmed by the weight of the German attack. 365 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:54,211 (Vaughan-Thomas) There was one unit that simply packed in - 366 00:36:54,295 --> 00:36:57,047 folded their coats and handed themselves over. 367 00:36:57,131 --> 00:36:58,715 They couldn't take it any more. 368 00:36:58,799 --> 00:37:01,801 They were young and hadn't seen this sort of thing before. 369 00:37:01,928 --> 00:37:04,221 And l don't blame them one little scrap. 370 00:37:13,564 --> 00:37:16,733 (narrator) Two American Ranger battalions were captured 371 00:37:16,817 --> 00:37:20,487 and humiliatingly paraded through the streets of Rome. 372 00:37:51,310 --> 00:37:53,561 The beachhead could only be relieved 373 00:37:53,646 --> 00:37:56,523 by breaking through the German defensive line 374 00:37:56,732 --> 00:37:59,276 which ran through the monastery of Monte Cassino. 375 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:01,486 Perched high above the valley, 376 00:38:01,570 --> 00:38:06,074 an obserVation post here could see everything that moved for miles around. 377 00:38:08,327 --> 00:38:13,415 The Allies believed, wrongly, that the monastery had been fortified. 378 00:38:14,750 --> 00:38:16,751 (man) lt was the general view 379 00:38:16,836 --> 00:38:20,922 and the general belief of the troops involved on that front 380 00:38:21,007 --> 00:38:23,591 that the monastery at Cassino 381 00:38:23,676 --> 00:38:27,137 was being used for military purposes by the Germans. 382 00:38:27,221 --> 00:38:30,056 That being the case, 383 00:38:30,141 --> 00:38:34,894 and it also being part of my military philosophy, 384 00:38:34,979 --> 00:38:36,855 and a great many other people's, 385 00:38:36,939 --> 00:38:39,774 that you must not put troops into battle 386 00:38:39,859 --> 00:38:44,946 without giving them all possible physical and material support you can 387 00:38:45,031 --> 00:38:47,949 to give them the best chance of getting a success. 388 00:38:54,874 --> 00:38:56,708 On February 15th, 1944, 389 00:38:56,792 --> 00:39:01,421 over 200 Allied bombers pounded the monastery into rubble. 390 00:39:37,416 --> 00:39:40,460 The air and ground attacks were badly coordinated, 391 00:39:40,544 --> 00:39:46,132 giving the Germans time to swarm into the rubble - ideal cover for defence. 392 00:39:48,302 --> 00:39:50,845 The Gustav Line was held. 393 00:40:01,232 --> 00:40:04,025 At Anzio, Kesselring flung ten German divisions 394 00:40:04,151 --> 00:40:06,194 against the Allies' four and a half. 395 00:40:06,278 --> 00:40:10,490 Hitler hoped Anzio would be a turning point in Germany's fortunes. 396 00:40:10,574 --> 00:40:12,992 He promised the unit that broke through 397 00:40:13,077 --> 00:40:17,288 the honour of escorting Allied prisoners through the streets of Berlin. 398 00:40:35,099 --> 00:40:39,060 Massed waves of German infantry were flung in. 399 00:40:39,145 --> 00:40:43,440 (Vaughan-Thomas) They came over a moon landscape, pitted, wrecked tanks, 400 00:40:43,524 --> 00:40:45,483 abandoned Jeeps along the road, 401 00:40:45,568 --> 00:40:49,028 and l still to this day don't understand the German tactics. 402 00:40:49,113 --> 00:40:52,490 There was a moment you could see them leaving their lines 403 00:40:52,575 --> 00:40:54,909 like the old films of the Somme battle, 404 00:40:54,994 --> 00:40:57,704 and falling down as our machine guns took them. 405 00:41:06,922 --> 00:41:09,674 (narrator) The German offensive lasted four days. 406 00:41:09,758 --> 00:41:14,262 ln the end, the Allied superiority in heavy guns tipped the balance. 407 00:41:19,602 --> 00:41:22,896 lt was finally beaten back. 408 00:41:52,718 --> 00:41:54,302 The Germans had pulled back, 409 00:41:54,386 --> 00:41:57,347 but the Allies still lacked the strength to break out. 410 00:41:59,058 --> 00:42:00,600 lt was stalemate. 411 00:42:00,684 --> 00:42:03,186 (Vaughan-Thomas) We then had to form trenches, 412 00:42:03,312 --> 00:42:08,858 and Anzio then became an old-fashioned World War l trench system. 413 00:42:08,943 --> 00:42:11,236 And they were bombed and they were mortared 414 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:13,321 and then they had to do trench patrols 415 00:42:13,447 --> 00:42:18,409 and occasionally, keen generals used to send up people to try and find out 416 00:42:18,536 --> 00:42:20,954 who was opposite us and do a trench raid. 417 00:42:21,038 --> 00:42:24,290 lt was right out of Journey's End. 418 00:42:27,002 --> 00:42:30,838 (narrator) The two front lines were only yards apart. 419 00:42:30,923 --> 00:42:35,426 A couple of fellows were cleaning this machine gun, got it all to pieces and... 420 00:42:37,596 --> 00:42:41,933 An lrish fellow named Tommy McGough was there and he looked up and said: 421 00:42:42,017 --> 00:42:43,893 "Bloody Jesus Christ!" 422 00:42:44,019 --> 00:42:47,272 He rushed for this gun, trying to put the barrel back on, 423 00:42:47,356 --> 00:42:49,524 he put it on upside down and all sorts. 424 00:42:49,608 --> 00:42:53,194 Of course, l just looked and l said, "Quite all right, Tommy." 425 00:42:53,279 --> 00:42:59,200 l could see this fellow was... l go down to the wire. He speaks good English. 426 00:42:59,326 --> 00:43:02,245 He says, "Where's Fred?" l said, "He's gone." 427 00:43:02,371 --> 00:43:05,248 l said, "lt's quite all right, what have you got?" 428 00:43:05,374 --> 00:43:07,208 Danish pork and fresh lemons. 429 00:43:07,293 --> 00:43:09,544 Of course, l gave him a tin of bully beef. 430 00:43:09,628 --> 00:43:13,673 We got talking to him about the position and the war and all that. 431 00:43:13,757 --> 00:43:19,512 - He come from a place near Emden? - (man) Emden, yes. 432 00:43:19,597 --> 00:43:23,558 And at the time, this city had a thousand-bomber raid. 433 00:43:23,684 --> 00:43:26,269 l said, "Oh, you've had the bugger then?" 434 00:43:26,353 --> 00:43:28,104 "You've had it." 435 00:43:28,188 --> 00:43:31,608 "No, no," he said, "l come from a little village near Emden. Me OK." 436 00:43:31,692 --> 00:43:38,531 He showed me his photos of his wife. She was a bus conductor in Emden and that. 437 00:43:38,616 --> 00:43:44,454 And l said, "Why don't you pack in? You've had it now." 438 00:43:44,538 --> 00:43:48,499 He said, "No, Germany will not be beat." 439 00:43:48,584 --> 00:43:53,087 "We shall go right down like that, till we get near to the bottom, 440 00:43:53,172 --> 00:43:59,677 and then we shall join forces with Britain and America and fight Russia." 441 00:43:59,762 --> 00:44:02,430 Affer that he just went. l never seen him any more. 442 00:44:02,514 --> 00:44:04,682 He must've got relieved the next night. 443 00:44:18,989 --> 00:44:23,159 At meal time, the cooks would shout, "Grub up." 444 00:44:23,243 --> 00:44:26,579 You'd go with your mess tins down for your grub. 445 00:44:26,664 --> 00:44:29,540 Before you could get down to the cookhouse, 446 00:44:29,625 --> 00:44:32,502 Anzio Annie would send one over, a big one, 447 00:44:32,586 --> 00:44:34,671 one of these clouds raised, you know, 448 00:44:34,755 --> 00:44:40,677 and you automatically, as soon as that burst, you'd drop to the floor. 449 00:44:40,761 --> 00:44:44,097 You were always used to it. You walked crouched. 450 00:44:44,181 --> 00:44:48,434 They called it, when you were walking about, you'd got "the Anzio crouch". 451 00:45:01,073 --> 00:45:03,241 And as you lay there, 452 00:45:03,325 --> 00:45:07,412 you used to tune in - on the radios that you shouldn't have had - 453 00:45:07,538 --> 00:45:10,373 and... to the voice of Sally. 454 00:45:10,457 --> 00:45:13,751 Sally lived in Rome and she was a great... 455 00:45:13,836 --> 00:45:18,005 Well, she sounded the most wonderful, sexy female ever. 456 00:45:18,090 --> 00:45:20,174 And she gave messages to the troops. 457 00:45:20,259 --> 00:45:22,677 (deep) "Hello, hello..." 458 00:45:22,803 --> 00:45:27,515 Women always think that the lower they speak, the more sexy they sound. 459 00:45:27,599 --> 00:45:30,393 And she had the lowest register of any woman. 460 00:45:30,477 --> 00:45:36,441 She said, "Hello, this is Sally. Why don't you come over and see me?" 461 00:45:36,525 --> 00:45:41,696 "Private Fox - you remember him last night? He stepped on a shoe mine." 462 00:45:41,780 --> 00:45:43,448 "Nasty things, shoe mines." 463 00:45:43,532 --> 00:45:46,993 "You could hear Private Fox yelling for most of the night." 464 00:45:47,077 --> 00:45:50,913 "Don't be like Private Fox, come over to see Sally." 465 00:45:54,460 --> 00:45:56,502 There would be a smart crack overhead, 466 00:45:56,587 --> 00:45:59,088 and down would flutter propaganda pamphlets, 467 00:45:59,173 --> 00:46:02,341 saying, "The Yanks are lease-lending your women." 468 00:46:02,426 --> 00:46:05,678 "They're having a lovely time in jolly old England." 469 00:46:05,763 --> 00:46:08,473 A picture of a naked woman embracing an American, 470 00:46:08,557 --> 00:46:14,729 or an American tactfully knotting his tie while she did up her panties. 471 00:46:18,734 --> 00:46:21,903 (narrator) At Cassino, the Allies maintained the pressure, 472 00:46:21,987 --> 00:46:25,490 their aim to tie up as many German troops there as possible. 473 00:46:25,574 --> 00:46:27,742 A third attempt to take the monastery 474 00:46:27,826 --> 00:46:30,995 opened with a massive bombing attack on Cassino town. 475 00:46:31,079 --> 00:46:35,958 500 planes went in under the sporting codeword "Bradman Batting Tomorrow". 476 00:46:36,084 --> 00:46:41,339 Among the places knocked for six was the headquarters of the British Eighth Army. 477 00:47:07,491 --> 00:47:12,995 Once again, there was poor coordination between air and ground forces. 478 00:47:23,799 --> 00:47:26,551 Affer the bombing, the Germans came out of the ground 479 00:47:26,635 --> 00:47:32,056 and were in position again before the New Zealanders launched their attack. 480 00:47:39,481 --> 00:47:42,692 The German defenders were elite paratroops. 481 00:48:00,711 --> 00:48:06,007 The battle raged from house to house, room to room, cellar to cellar. 482 00:48:23,525 --> 00:48:26,527 The New Zealanders lost 4,000 men. 483 00:48:32,868 --> 00:48:35,286 The Germans still held out. 484 00:48:38,373 --> 00:48:42,209 Three assaults on Monte Cassino, three bloody failures. 485 00:48:42,336 --> 00:48:47,006 Allied commanders realised they must crush the defence by weight of numbers. 486 00:48:47,090 --> 00:48:50,468 They massively reinforced the Fiffh Army. 487 00:48:53,347 --> 00:48:56,432 They used, too, an elaborate deception plan 488 00:48:56,558 --> 00:48:58,059 to make the Germans think 489 00:48:58,143 --> 00:49:02,021 they were preparing another amphibious landing north of Rome. 490 00:49:02,105 --> 00:49:06,400 The Germans weakened their mountain defences to prepare for it. 491 00:49:06,485 --> 00:49:12,740 ln May, the Allies at last outnumbered the Germans at Cassino by three to one. 492 00:49:12,866 --> 00:49:16,786 Affer an artillery barrage by 2,000 guns, the monastery fell. 493 00:49:21,333 --> 00:49:23,751 Polish troops were the first to reach the ruins, 494 00:49:23,835 --> 00:49:26,253 where they raised their national flag. 495 00:49:32,386 --> 00:49:37,181 The eyes of the captured Germans told the story of their ordeal. 496 00:49:48,902 --> 00:49:51,320 The Germans were now in headlong retreat. 497 00:49:51,405 --> 00:49:53,823 Kesselring declared Rome an open city 498 00:49:53,907 --> 00:49:56,826 and attempted to regroup north of the capital. 499 00:49:56,910 --> 00:50:02,206 On the 25th of May, the Cassino front linked up with the Anzio beachhead. 500 00:50:02,290 --> 00:50:06,877 Alexander's plan was for Clark to cut off the Germans' retreat. 501 00:50:06,962 --> 00:50:10,715 lnstead, Clark threw everything into a drive for Rome. 502 00:50:13,844 --> 00:50:17,471 He was determined to get there before anyone else, and he did. 503 00:50:17,556 --> 00:50:20,766 On the evening of June 4, 1944, 504 00:50:20,851 --> 00:50:23,477 the first Allied troops entered the city. 505 00:50:33,321 --> 00:50:38,451 Those Romans who had backed the wrong side now paid the price. 506 00:51:04,561 --> 00:51:07,313 Clark's Roman triumph was short-lived. 507 00:51:07,397 --> 00:51:10,733 Kesselring would succeed in regrouping. 508 00:51:10,817 --> 00:51:13,486 Another ltalian winter lay ahead. 509 00:51:13,570 --> 00:51:15,613 And in less than 48 hours 510 00:51:15,697 --> 00:51:19,200 the world's attention would turn to another theatre of war - 511 00:51:19,284 --> 00:51:21,452 the beaches of Normandy.