The Battle of Taranto is one of the Second World War’s more obscure engagements. Maybe that’s because it happened at night, or because it lasted only a few hours. But as we’ll soon see, it was very important for a couple of reasons.
Taranto itself might be familiar to readers of Today’s History Lesson, who may [...]
Archive for the ‘Mediterranean’ Category
Operation Judgement Gives Japan Pearl of Wisdom
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Battle of Taranto, Fairley TSR Swordfish, HMS Illustrious, Italy, Operation Judgement, Taranto on November 11 | Leave a Comment »
British Capture Shark in the Mediterranean
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Bletchley Park, Enigma, Shark, Triton, U-559, U-571 on October 30 | 2 Comments »
We rarely visit the movie theater. Occasionally, we’ll go and watch a movie, but even “occasionally” is too strong a word. The last time I occupied a theater seat was in December of 2006, when I took my wife to a show as part of a Christmas present. I don’t remember when I went before [...]
An Ill Day for Il Duce
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Italy, Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, Pietro Badoglio, Joseph Goebbels on July 25 | Leave a Comment »
How the mighty had fallen. When Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922, he had done so on a wave of immense popularity. Twenty years later, he was on his way out. A string of terrible military “adventures” in Africa, a disastrous invasion of Greece, the impending loss of Sicily, and the inevitable invasion of Italy [...]
Operation Corkscrew: A Pantelleria Raid
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, North Africa, Operation Corkscrew, Pantelleria, Sicily on June 11 | Leave a Comment »
After securing North Africa in May, it was time for the Allies to turn their attention to the “soft underbelly of Europe”. It had been decided that, rather than attacking Italy directly, Sicily would be dealt with first. Clearing the island nation would not only provide an excellent staging area for the landings in Italy, [...]
Go Rest High on that Monte
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, General Harold Alexander, General Mark Clark, Monte Cassino, Operation Diadem on May 18 | Leave a Comment »
A diadem is a type of crown. According to Webster’s dictionary, it’s a royal headband. I’m no linguist, but the dictionary tells me the word originates from a Greek or Latin word that means “to fasten” or “to bind”. So it’s probably somewhat appropriate that the offensive launched by General Harold Alexander on May 11, 1944 was [...]
Radar: The Star of the Show at Cape Matapan
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1941, Battle of Cape Matapan, Crete, Radar, Radar Secret Service on March 29 | 1 Comment »
In 1950, Sam Newfield directed the movie Radar Secret Service. In it, radar plays a front-and-center role in breaking up a crime ring. Of course, radar was still a relatively new invention, to the point that the technology depicted in the movie bore no real resemblence to actual radar. But even in its infancy, it somehow [...]
“Dear Abbey”
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Abbey of Monte Cassino, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, General Bernard Freyberg, Gustav Line, Italy, Monte Cassino on February 15 | Leave a Comment »
For more than 1,400 years, the Abbey of Monte Cassino had stood more than 1,500 feet above Cassino town in central Italy. Majestically situated with a commanding view of the entire valley, it had for centuries been a place of solitude, study, and prayers. Established in the 500’s, the Abbey had seen a slow decline since [...]
The Allies Spell Relief A-N-Z-I-O
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Anzio, Cassino, Colonel William Darby, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, Gustav Line, Operation Shingle on January 22 | Leave a Comment »
January 22, 1944 marks the day of the landings at Anzio. If you recall, Allied forces had landed on Italian soil in September of the previous year. Coming up Italy’s boot, units from Britain, the U.S., and Canada had progressed northward with the main objective of capturing Rome…until running into the Gustav Line.
The Gustav Line (also [...]
The Italian Job
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Benito Mussolini, Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III, Pietro Badoglio on October 13 | Leave a Comment »
The months heading into the fall of 1943 had not been especially good ones for the country of Italy. Benito Mussolini had been deposed in July and replaced by Marshal Pietro Badoglio. The new leader vowed to “carry on the fight with their Germanic brothers“…while simultaneously meeting with Allied negotiators (smuggled into the capital) in an effort [...]
Naples: Closed for Repair
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, Naples, Thomas Aquinas on October 1 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve never been to Naples, Italy…frankly, I’ve never been out of the United States. But from the pictures I’ve seen, the city is beautiful. Situated on the southwestern coast of the country, the 2,500 year old city boasts an overall population of more than 3 million people. Its climate is wonderful, the history is rich and diverse, and the food [...]
A Day at the Beach
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, General Mark Clark, Italy, Operation Avalanche, Salerno, Taranto on September 9 | Leave a Comment »
Sicily had been secured by the Allies in August of 1943. Thanks to some bold decisions by American commanders, the Germans had realized pretty quickly that holding the island off the boot of Italy just wasn’t practical…or safe. So, once General Patton had swung his tanks northwest and overrun Palermo, Axis troops headed toward Messina [...]
Patton’s Push to Palermo
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, General Bernard Montgomery, General George Patton, Messina, Operation Husky, Palermo, Sicily on July 22 | 2 Comments »
U.S. and British troops had landed on the island of Sicily during the late evening and early morning of July 9-10, 1943. Codenamed Husky, the operation had as its goal the removal (by whatever means necessary) of the Italian and German military. Having done that, the island would be the staging area for the bigger [...]
The “Other” Armistice
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Armistice, Compiegne Forest, France, Italy on June 24 | Leave a Comment »
On June 24, 1940, France signed an Armistice which signified the end of the fighting. But it wasn’t with Germany as you might have expected. That deed was done back on June 22nd, and Adolf Hitler had gone to great lengths to make the ceremony as “meaningful” as possible. He chose the Compiègne Forest because [...]
The Siege of Malta
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Abbeville Boys, Jagdgeschwader 26, Malta on June 11 | Leave a Comment »
For Today’s History Lesson, let’s talk about the island of Malta. If you can find Italy on a map, you can find Malta. Sicily is the big island off the toe of Italy, and Malta is tiny island that lies about 60 miles off the southeast corner of Sicily. Actually, it’s not just one island, [...]
Maybe We Should Have Knocked First
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1941, Crete, General Bernard Freyberg, General Kurt Student, Operation Mercury on May 20 | 2 Comments »
Since late 1940, Germany had been working diligently to gain as much of the Balkans as possible. Having decided to invade the Soviet Union, Adolf Hitler sought, by pen or sword, to protect the area’s backside…the Mediterranean Sea. Using the pen and the Tripartite Pact, he gained Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. With the sword, Hitler rescued Mussolini’s troops and [...]
Breaking the Stalemate
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Cassino, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, General Harold Alexander, Gustav Line, Italy on May 14 | 1 Comment »
Allied forces had been fighting a World War I-style static war in Italy for several months. And much like the little boy that repeatedly tries to get through the gate you set up to keep him out of the basement, they had run up against Germany’s Gustav Line and been soundly repulsed. But unlike the little boy’s [...]
From Westerns to Western Italy
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Frederick Schiller Faust, Italy, Max Brand, Santa Maria Infante on May 12 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve mentioned Rick Atkinson’s terrific Liberation Trilogy in the past. Two of the three books have been published, “An Army at Dawn” (covering the North Africa campaign) and “The Day of Battle” (dealing with the invasions of Sicily and Italy). As I was reading “The Day of Battle“, I came across the story of Max [...]
Arrivederci, Il Duce
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, Italy, Mezzegra, Otto Skorzeny on April 28 | 1 Comment »
April 28, 1945 marks the death of Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. Il Duce had taken the reigns of Italy in 1922 and had served as its leader until his removal from office and subsequent arrest in July of 1943, when the Allied invasion of Italy began.
For two months he had been constantly moved around, as [...]
The 3 R’s – Ruthless, Relentless, Remorseless – Pt. 2
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Ardeatine Caves, Catacombs, Herbert Kappler, Rome on March 24 | Leave a Comment »
By noon of March 24, 1944, Kappler (with the help of Roman police chief Pietro Caruso) had his list completed, and it contained 320 names, 10 for each of the 32 soldiers killed. When a 33rd soldier died, Kappler added another 10 names to the list. A great many were simply political prisoners, along with a number of [...]
