Transcript WWII Lecture 10: Allies Victorious South and East

WWII Notes 9:
Allies Victorious South and East
World Wars – Hamer
April 28, 2010
Warm Up on Patton
1. In your own words, what kind of a leader was
General Patton? Include pros and cons.
2. Do you think that he was an effective General
for World War II?
3. The Germans never understood how the
Americans could so harshly punish a General of
Patton’s stature for slapping 2 of his troops.
What do you think? Were Patton’s actions
acceptable? Was his punishment? Why or why
not?
Invasion of Sicily
• Obvious continuation from North African
Victory
• Not the first choice for Americans (wanted
cross-channel invasion)
Operation Husky – July 1943
• Eisenhower was commander in chief
– British General Alexander was the field
commander, like in N Africa
• Resistance was weak and Italians
surrendered en masse in some
places
– Mussolini’s policies were not popular
enough to die for
• Germans did provide much
resistance
– General Kesselring was a challenge for
the Allies
• Montgomery (UK) was
supposed to head north from
Syracuse to Messina but got
blocked by Germans at the
Etna Line
• Patton (US) then took Palermo
and reached Messina before
Monty
– Patton would become a US Hero
(‘Old Blood and Guts’)
– Slapping incidents took away
from the glory and removed
Patton from command
Patton and
Monty
Lieutenant Colonel Bernard
and Patton in Messina
August 1943
Allied Landings – Operation Husky
Allied Movements – Operation Husky
Consequences of Allied Victory
• Drew Allies deeper into Churchill’s
Mediterranean Strategy
– Called the “soft underbelly of Europe”
– Next step was Italy
• Then Yugoslavia and the Balkans…
• US was not thrilled about this, but it was
obvious that there was no viable alternative at
this moment
– Would you really move all those troops back to
England or just be logical about it?
Invasion of Italy
Mussolini Fell from Power July 24, 1943
• King removed Mussolini from his
position as Premier and replaced
him with Pietro Badoglio
– Badoglio was unenthusiastic about
continuing the war
– Badoglio had pledged that Italy
would switch sides
– BUT Allies clung to idea of
unconditional surrender
• Germans set up Mussolini to run
a puppet fascist state in Northern
Italy
– Had more German support than
Italian support
Germans Entrench in Italy
• Hitler sent troops into Italy from the North to
Rome
• By the time Italy was supposed to surrender
on September 3, 1943, the Germans were
entrenched throughout Italy to a line south of
Rome
Allied Invasion of Italy PART 1
•
•
•
•
September 3, 1943
3 pronged assault
Monty crossed to the toe
Another British force
attacked at Taranto (just
SW of the heel) and met
no resistance
• US 5th Army landed at
Salerno (south of Naples)
under General Mark
Clark
Allied Invasion of Italy PART 2
• At Salerno, the goal was
to take Naples in 3 days
• But Kesselring had sent
troops south and one
Panzer division was in
place overlooking the
beachhead
• Disaster – artillery
rained on the
beachhead
Salerno Landings
Allied Invasion of Italy PART 3
• Naples was taken by November 1 and British
had achieved all the way to Foggia, across the
peninsula from Naples
• Allowed Allied airgroups to be moved to Italy
– Balkans and southern Germany would be in
range of B17s and B24s
Difficult Italian Terrain
• Terrain was perfect for
defensive – bad for Allies
– Apennine mountains caused
problems
– Rivers and valleys were
muddy
– Bad conditions of snow in the
mountains
• Frequently hand to hand
combat
– Was among the most difficult
in the war
The Gustav Line
• Fall and Early winter the Allies moved slowly
forward but were stopped at the Gustav Line south
of Rome
Anzio Landing
• January 22, 1944 to try to break through the line
• General Clark’s forces were supposed to move
quickly inland
• Freaked out about a repeat of Salerno even though
ULTRA intelligence said that Kesselring couldn’t
send forces for about a week
– Clark’s commander wouldn’t push inland though
– Were supposed to drive across peninsula from Anzio to
cut Southern Germans off from Rome
– Yet another disastrous amphibious landing
Anzio Landing
Monte Cassino PART 1
• Those moving from the South faced a lot of
difficulties – especially Monte Cassino
– Allies believed that Germans were using the old
abbey as an observation post
• February 15, 1944 – 200 bombers blew up the
abbey
• Clark was opposed to bombing the ancient
structure, but Alexander insisted
Monte Cassino PART 2
• Turns out the Germans
weren’t using it as an
observation post, but
used the ruins as
defensive positions
• Bombing had the
opposite effect of what
it intended
• A second air raid of 500
bombers still failed to
break German
resistance
Wojtek the Bear
• Diversity of Allied Troops
seen at Monte Cassino:
– Indian, New Zealand,
French, Polish
• Among the huge variety
of troops serving at
Monte Cassino, probably
the strangest was a bear
from Iran, called Wojtek.
– Raised by and enlisted
into the 22nd Artillery
Supply Company of the
Polish II Corps, he
carried artillery shells
during the battle.
Monte Cassino PART 3
• May 1944 – Allies broke through the Gustav
Line and captured Monte Cassino
• Same time Americans broke out of Anzio and
still could have cut off the German retreat
from the Gustav line
• INSTEAD Clark said to go to Rome
– Not a strategic prize, but a political one
– This did allow Kesselring to effectively retreat
Allies Capture Rome PART 1
• June 4, 1944
Americans
entered
Rome
• Germans
withdrew
150 miles to
the North –
Gothic Line
Allies Capture Rome PART 2
• Kesselring
decreed that
Rome was an
open city so it
wouldn’t be
bombed like
Monte Cassino
Map of the Italian Campaign
Implications of Italian Campaign PART 1
• Allies were successful
– Rome liberated by summer 1944
• End of Italian focus
– Germany pushed back, but still extremely strong
• Those against it said that the Italian campaign
delayed the cross-channel invasion – did it?
Implications of Italian Campaign PART 2
• Stalin (supported by FDR) at Tehran Conference
insisted that Churchill committed to a cross
channel invasion so…
– Earliest possible time – spring and early summer of
1944
• Ike sent to London to be Supreme Commander
of Allied Invasion of France
– Churchill and Stalin preferred Marshall (US) but FDR
said Marshall had to stay in D.C.
– Monty followed as his field commander
– General Alexander assumed control in Italy
Allied Victory in the East
German Offensive Against Stalingrad
PART 1
• Spring 1942 – new plans for German offensive
against Stalingrad
– “Case Blue” would not officially launch until June
28, 1942
• Abandoned attempts to take Leningrad and
Moscow
• New objective was Caucasus oil fields and
Stalingrad
– Capturing Stalingrad would cut off Russia’s supply
of manufactured goods and oil to the front
German Offensive Against Stalingrad
PART 2
• Soviets appeared vulnerable:
– Had fewer tanks than they possessed in
1942
– Red Army was exhausted
– Best units remained around Moscow
German Offensive Against Stalingrad
PART 3
• Stalingrad was not yet secure, BUT Hitler
ordered his troops to drive into the Caucasus
• At first the Germans raced forward and split to
head towards Grozny and the Black Sea
• Momentum slows by October because of
resistance from Russian defenders and local
forces (Chechnians)
German Problems
•
•
•
•
500 mile long front
1300 mile long supply lines
Resistance behind the German lines
Hitler fired General Halder in November 1942
because of slow progress
Beginning of Stalingrad
• Had to take
Stalingrad to block
troop movements
from the South
• Germans under von
Paulus’ 6th Army
reached the Volga by
August 22
• Began air raid on
Stalingrad - fire
bombs
Fighting for Stalingrad
• Neither side would give
up
• Horrible battle – hand
to hand combat, street
by street
• City was destroyed
• By early November the
Germans had 90% of
the city
Soviets Turn it Around
• General Zhukov took over to lead the
counterattack
• Tricked Germans by massing troops to the
North and the South of the city and only
keeping minimum reinforcements in the city
• Counterattack began on November 19, 1942
by hitting the Germans on the Northern and
Southern flanks
Germans Trapped at Stalingrad PART 1
• November 23rd – Russians encircled the entire
German 6th Army and one corps of the 4th
Panzer Army
• Paulus requested permission to break out of
the city but Hitler refused
• Hitler did order General Manstein to fight
through to Stalingrad to help, but he didn’t
make it
Germans
Trapped at
Stalingrad
Germans Trapped at
Stalingrad PART 2
• The 6th Army was
ordered to fight to
the last man
• Paulus held out until
February 2, 1943,
but finally
surrendered
Implications of Stalingrad
• Disaster for the Germans
– 850,000 casualties
• 91,000 of them were captured
• In all, the battle resulted in an estimated total
of 1.7 million to 2 million Axis and Soviet
casualties.
• End of German forward movement on the
Eastern Front -> turning point on the Eastern
Front