Review: “The Savage Storm: The Battle for Italy 1943” by James Holland
U.S. Forces in Italy (Department of Defense, via Wikimedia Commons)
December 7, 1941 and June 6, 1944 are iconic dates in the history of World War II, at least when history was taught in schools. There are no dates commemorating the wars in Sicily and Italy in 1943 and 1944.in his book day of battleRick Atkinson summarizes the views of historians of the Italian campaign by quoting American historian David M. But nearly 30,000 Allied soldiers died there, and they must be remembered.
james holland savage storm It covers the early stages of fighting in the Italian theater from September to December 1943. This is a book for those who are more interested in the experiences of soldiers and civilians caught up in the atrocities of World War II than in the strategy and tactics of World War II. Conflict. For example, the prologue is a long reverie in which German Second Lieutenant Hans Golda talks about the beauty of southern Italy and the battle to come, rather than detailing the Allied rationale for the Italian campaign in the first place. In fact, Holland fails to explain the rationale for the Italian campaign until nearly halfway through the book. But then he went on to depict the battles, the atrocities, the fear and courage of the soldiers, and the determination of the German people to defeat despite a determined fight, in the most moving and memorable way.
What was the point of the Italian campaign? The goal was, first, to seize as many German divisions in Italy as possible to increase the chances of success for the Normandy landings scheduled for May 1944. was. The second was to capture airfields close to the German and Romanian oil fields. These airfields were vital to the destruction of German aircraft factories in southern Germany, and were needed to destroy the Luftwaffe if the Normandy landings were to be possible. It was too far from British airfields to achieve consistent success. Third, force Italy out of the war and against Germany’s allies. This means more troops, especially ships, to help control the Mediterranean. This would strengthen supplies to Russia through Middle Eastern ports and boost morale on the home front. There was also an ongoing need to satisfy Stalin that the Allies were committing sufficient men and materials to the ground war against Germany. There was a constant fear in the Allied High Command that Stalin would decide to sign a peace treaty with Germany again.
Conflicts between the Allies over the relative merits of invading Europe through the “soft belly” and the Atlantic Wall occupied many meetings between the leaders. Despite continued reversals in the Mediterranean, Churchill never abandoned his southern strategy. By mid-1943, however, Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, had become the main focus of the war.
It is believed that the key to a successful invasion is a 3:1 ratio of invaders to defenders. Although American war production had increased to incredible levels, there was a bottleneck in the production of landing craft. Without sufficient amphibious transport, it was not possible to supply enough troops to achieve the critical ratios of troops and weapons to the defenders in both Italy and northern France. The Allies decided to devote most of the forces and landing craft required for their superior force to the reinforcement of southern England. Therefore, the invasion of Italy lacked resources. The ratio of invading forces to German reinforcements was approximately 1:1. Nevertheless, the invasion was justified by the expectation that air power, especially long-range bombers, could open up multiple airfields close to German targets.
Plans to get to Rome by Christmas 1943 began to fall apart almost from the beginning. Mike Tyson’s famous quote, “Everyone plans until they get punched in the mouth,” sums it up. Holland pointed out the mistake. The Italian army quickly fell into a leaderless mess and lost any chance of overwhelming the resource-poor German garrison and capturing Rome. German forces immediately withdrew from southern Italy without establishing a more solid line of defense over Naples. The Nazis had considered such a defense, but Italy’s surrender and the Allied invasion came days too early for a German retreat. In fact, Hitler returned to his fanatical insistence on maintaining his position at all costs, determined to rapidly strengthen Italy and seize complete control of the country. The weather was so poor that they were unable to gain air superiority over the battlefield, forcing the highly mechanized Allied forces to rely on mule trains as well as trucks. And the mountainous terrain was an ideal position for defense and an almost impossible obstacle for attack.
Nevertheless, despite three months of operational planning, the Allies ultimately withstood fourteen months of brutal war, invaded, persevered, and ultimately emerged victorious. One of the keys to the initial success of the invasion was the overwhelming firepower and superior artillery of the battleships that joined the amphibious forces and enabled the expansion of the beachhead at Salerno.
Given the horrors of mountain warfare in the cold, persistent rain that engulfed southern Italy in the winter of 1943, it is difficult to understand how they continued to fight, but they did. The battles in the villages turned into hand-to-hand combat reminiscent of Stalingrad. Holland uses both Allied and German military diaries to depict the loneliness, fear, and sometimes elation of combat.
The book ends just before the legendary battle of Monte Cassino. To understand the full story of the Italian campaign, including the criticism of Mark Clarke’s generalship, the failure of a proper flanking operation, and the eventual conquest of Rome (ironically on the same day as D-Day), read Rick Atkinson’s Two volumes are required. The Emancipation Trilogy is a better choice. But to understand the suffering of combatants in Italy, savage storm It’s hard to beat.
However, you need to be careful. I started reading the hardcover book and noticed that there were no footnotes, which was strange. This was especially troublesome because I had to consider the sources of the thoughts and emotions portrayed by the various combatants. However, the digital version includes footnotes and larger print, making it much easier to read.
Savage Storm: Battle of Italy 1943
Written by James Holland
Atlantic Monthly Press, 480 pages, $32
Stanley Goldfarb is professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. washington free beacon Chairman Michael Goldfarb.