World War II: North Africa and ItalyID & SIG:North AfricaItalian Presence in North AfricaGermany to the RescueRommelSlide 7Operation TorchSlide 9Slide 10Slide 11Kasserine PassGermans DefeatedFirst BattleResults of North AfricaCasablanca ConferenceSecond FrontStrategic DifferencesBritish ApproachAmerican ApproachCasablanca Conference Jan 1943What They Agreed OnTrident Conference May 1943The Italian CampaignSicily, 1943The CommandersSlide 27SicilyMessina: With Mainland Italy in the DistanceSo What Next ?….Salerno, 1943The Commanders: AlliesThe Commanders: AxisSalernoSlide 35Anzio, 1944Strategic Situation in late 1943New CommanderGhost of SalernoAnzioSlide 41Slide 42Legacy of AnzioSummary of the Italian CampaignNextWorld War II: North Africa and ItalyLesson 24ID & SIG:•Anzio, Clark, Gustav Line, Kasserine Pass, Kesserling, LSTs, Lucas, Montgomery, Operation Torch, Rome, Rommel, Salerno, Sicily, “soft underbelly”North AfricaItalian Presence in North Africa•Since before World War II, Italy had been occupying Libya and had over a million soldiers based there•In neighboring Egypt, the British Army had only 36,000 men guarding the Suez Canal and the Arabian oilfields •On Sept 13, 1940, the Italians advanced into Egypt but halted in front of the main British defenses at Mersa Matruh•On Dec 9, the British counterattacked and pushed the Italians back more than 500 miles, inflicting heavy casualties•British troops then moved along the coast and on Jan 22, 1941, they captured the port of Tobruk in LibyaGermany to the Rescue•In the meantime, Germany sent forces across the Mediterranean to Tripoli–The Afrika Corps commanded by Erwin Rommel•Italy’s disasters in North Africa and elsewhere (i.e., Greece) were threatening to undermine the Axis position in the Balkans and the MediterraneanRommel•Characteristically Rommel attacked and drove the British Commonwealth forces out of Libya except for Tobruk•With the situation in North Africa stabilized, Hitler turned his attention to shoring up Italy, leaving Rommel to deal with North Africa•One of Rommel’s biggest challenges would be his long, tenuous supply line–Between Oct and Nov the Allies sank nearly 80% of Axis supply ships crossing the MediterraneanRommel•Rommel pushed the British deep into Egypt but British General Bernard Montgomery stopped Rommel at El Alamein in July 1942Operation Torch•While this was going on in Egypt and Libya, Americans acquiesced to British pressure and began planning Operation Torch– landings to occupy Algeria and Morocco and co-opt the Vichy French–The “Vichy French” had reached an agreement with the Germans allowing a French government headed by Marshall Henri Pétain to govern the French colonies and those parts of France not occupied by the Germans–The “Free French” established their own government in exile led by Charles de GaulleOperation Torch•The Anglo-American forces landed at Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers and then advanced by land and sea to TunisiaOperation Torch•At first the Vichy French resisted, but eventually surrendered•Hitler began rushing troops to Tunis before the Allies could get there•Hitler was successful in winning “the race to Tunis” and therefore denying the Mediterranean to Allied shipping –However, he did so at a great price, committing Italian and German troops to an ultimately hopeless fight when they could have been better used elsewhereAdmiral Francois Darlan surrendered the Vichy forces in North AfricaKasserine Pass•After El Alamein, Montgomery had been unable to cut off Rommel and Rommel was able to retreat across Egypt, into Libya, and eventually reach Tunisia•Rommel developed a plan to sweep up from southern Tunisia and destroy the Allied supply dumps in eastern Algiers•Rommel attacked on February 14 and punched his way through the Kasserine Pass•It was a tactical victory, but Rommel was unable to continue with his larger plan and began withdrawing on Feb 22Germans Defeated•Rommel then turned south against the British who were arriving from Egypt•Montgomery dealt Rommel a stunning defeat and Rommel personally left Africa•The Axis position in North Africa steadily deteriorated and in early May the Allies controlled TunisiaAmerican soldiers enter Kasserine PassFirst Battle•The Americans did not perform very well in their first combat experience and senior leadership was horrible–General Eisenhower was forced to relieve Lloyd Fredendall of command and replace him with George PattonLloyd Fredendall, commander of the American II CorpsResults of North Africa•The Germans had wasted valuable resources in an indecisive theater•Mussolini was severely weakened domestically•The Americans learned from their poor performance and made the necessary changes•The British and American coalition weathered a potentially threatening stormCasablanca Conference•After the Axis surrender in Tunisia, the Allies began planning the next phase of the war•Roosevelt and Churchill met in Casablanca, Morocco in January 1943–Stalin had been invited, but declined to attend because of StalingradSecond Front•Since July 19, 1941, Stalin had been demanding the Allies open up a second front to relieve the German pressure Russia was facing•Invading Italy would help meet Stalin’s demandStrategic Differences•US advocated a cross channel invasion to directly attack Germany•Churchill preferred an indirect approach, attacking through the “soft underbelly of Europe”British ApproachAmerican ApproachCasablanca ConferenceJan 1943•Britain–“the control of the Mediterranean meant… control of the Western world.”–Had imperial fortunes in Egypt, the Middle East, and India–Felt it was the Axis’ vulnerable point•Americans–“periphery pecking” would delay the cross-channel invasion that would strike the German jugularWhat They Agreed On•Forces from Operation Torch could continue on to Sicily once the North African Campaign was terminated–Churchill knew this would preclude a cross-channel invasion in 1943•At the end of the conference, Roosevelt announced that “peace can come to the world only by the total elimination of German and Japanese military power . . . (which) means unconditional surrender.”Trident Conference May 1943•Americans accepted the strategic goal of eliminating Italy from the war but demanded that the forces involved consist only of those already in the Mediterranean•Americans