The World at War (TV Series) Tough Old Gut: Italy - November 1942-June 1944 (1974) User Reviews

"Not the sunny Italy of the postcards"

[nickenchuggets · 10/10 · 7 April 2022]

During world war 2, North African countries such as Libya and Egypt were the sites of many intense battles between Axis and Allied forces. After defeating Hitler's armies at the famous battle of El Alamein and squeezing the rest of Germany's forces from the continent, the Allies shifted their attention to Italy. Italian participation in the second world war was odd to say the least. The country's lack of industry combined with Mussolini's ridiculous ambitions to reinvent the Roman Empire saw the italian military crushed time and time again by the British, the Greeks, and eventually, even by their former nazi allies. Mussolini's nation had been sucked into a conflict it could not fight, and one that only he wanted. This World at War episode explains what happened in italy itself when the british and americans started landing there from bases in north africa. Some of the things depicted include endeavors like the invasion of sicily, which took place in summer 1943. Two highly esteemed and capable commanders, Bernard Montgomery and George Patton (for the british and americans respectively) led their forces into the southern italian island to take it from the nazis. Ironically, there was hardly a family there that didn't have relatives in the US. The mafia itself helped root out and kill nazi war criminals. After the island is taken over, Mussolini's regime falls apart, and italian general Pietro Badoglio takes his place as prime minister. The italian king, Victor Emmanuel (who also led italy during world war 1) orders Il Duce's arrest. After 2 decades of fascism, the italian public has had enough of Mussolini. Later on, we learn how Hitler was not surprised to find out italy had given up on him, so he orders his soldiers in italy to disarm italian troops and take their weapons/vehicles for german use in a plan ironically named Operation Axis. An italian battleship is even sunk by an advanced german glide bomb as it tries to sail to the allies for surrendering. The allied forces eventually come to what is known as the Gustav Line, defended by the forces of german general Albert Kesselring. Kesselring has a lot going for him, since the mountainous spine running down the italian peninsula provides a good natural barrier through the middle of the country. This means allied forces wanting to attack the germans have no choice but to funnel themselves into narrow passageways on either side. For months, the allies pound away at the german defenses, while rain and overcast weather turn the already miserable battlefield into a quagmire. The germans even deploy a huge artillery gun that is so large it has to be moved around on railway tracks, named "Anzio Annie" by the americans. The battle at Anzio itself was extremely difficult, with the americans losing over 40 thousand soldiers. This eventually paid off when they were able to capture Rome early in June, 2 days before d-day. On the other hand, the episode also depicts one of the most tragic stories of world war 2 in my opinion. Starting in january 1944, the allies begin attacking Kesselring's Gustav Line in an area called Monte Cassino. It consisted of a town (Cassino), some valleys, but most importantly, a huge and ancient Benedictine monastery sitting atop a hill. It was founded all the way back in the 500s, and the allies were certain the nazis were using its excellent view of the surrounding area to their advantage. Because of this, american planes reduced the entire structure into a pile of rubble. Even worse, american ground and air attacks were badly coordinated, allowing german Fallschirmjäger (paratroop) infantry to swarm into the ruins and use them as cover. The tragedy of this situation is that the nazis recognized the monastery was sacred, did not garrison it as a defensive structure, and thus, americans basically destroyed it for nothing. Still, after much brutal fighting and four different attacks, the allies were finally able to destroy german resistance and capture what was left of Monte Cassino. Polish troops were the first to raise their flag on it. With the Gustav Line broken, the germans start retreating from everywhere, knowing their cause is lost. Meanwhile, american and british forces in England start preparing for the most iconic amphibious invasion of the war. This episode does what World at War does best: give viewers an unprecedented look into an important world war 2 campaign and how sound strategy on the part of the allies got the job done. The episode also has interviews with important historical figures like General Mark Clark, commander of the US Fifth Army during the fighting in italy. He was also in charge when the allies took Rome on June 4th. In any case, this episode might not focus on a wildly outrageous topic of ww2, but it still has the impressive archive footage, amazing Laurence Olivier narrating, and interviews we know from the iconic series.