ITALIAN Battlefield tours

Appreciate the reasons for Operation HUSKY in July 1943. Visit the landing sites at Avola and Gela. Understand the challenges the British faced at Primosole Bridge, the Canadians at Agira and the Americans at Troina. Recognise the success Axis Forces had in withdrawing across the Messina Straits.

Sense the urgency that planners were under in putting together the largest amphibious landing the Allies had undertaken. Hear of the lessons that the American and British airborne forces learnt from the campaign. From the hilltop towns in the centre of the island look at the Allies’ development of the campaign. Feel the rivalry between Montgomery and Patton and how this affects decision making. View the Sferro Hills battlefield and visit the 51st Highland Division Memorial. Witness the skilful defence undertaken by the German Forces under General Hube around Mount Etna. Marvel at the feats of the 1^st Canadian Infantry Division’s ‘Hasty Pees’ at Assoro and the 38th Irish Brigade's amazing feat of arms in seizing Centuripe. Remember the brave Canadian soldiers who fought at Agira through the beautiful Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. Visit both the excellent museum in Catania and the German Cemetery at Motta San Anastasia. Consider the role of the Allied Military Government of the Occupied Territories and the resurgence of the Mafia.

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Discover the multiple challenges facing Alexander’s armies during offensive operations against the Germans on mainland Italy.

Visit the Salerno beaches south of Naples and appreciate the risks US General Mark Clark faced during Operation AVALANCHE. Understand the British 56 Division fought for the Battipaglia Tobacco Factory and see the surviving Fiocche Tobacco Factory in the American sector. Witness the determined German counterattacks that very nearly split the Allied Corps along the Sele River. Appreciate the operational level measures that General Alexander took to ensure the survival of the beachhead. Perhaps also visit the culturally important sites of Herculaneum, Paestum and Pompei. Discover the mountainous Winter Line, its excellent museum in Venafro and consider climbing Monte Camino as the Guards battalions did in late 1944. Understand the importance of capturing Monte Cassino in Von Senger’s Gustav Line defences. Visit the reconstructed Benedictine monastery, the Polish Cemetery, Doctor’s House and Albaneta Farm. Gain an understanding of the scale and scope of Operation DIADEM from Point 593. Sense the frustration experienced by the allies at Anzio through the diorama at the US Cemetery at Nettuno. Visit the wadis and gullies to recognise the nature of the fighting that took place during the stalemate period. From the Mussolini Canal gain an understanding of the plans for the breakout, and from Ariccia contemplate Clark’s controversial decision to drive for Rome in June 1944.

Consider the 8^th Army’s Op BAYTOWN landings in the toe and heel of the Italian Mainland.

Examine 1^st Airborne Divison’s part in this known as Op SLAPTICK and visit CWGC Bari Cemetery to see the grave of the Airborne’s Commander, Maj Gen ‘Hoppy’ Hopkinson who was killed during the operation. Whilst at Taranto look at the famous November 1940 battle when the Fleet Air Arm’s Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers destroyed half the Italian Fleet in a single night.

Move on to the USAF Foggia airbases and gain an understanding of the hugely significant role they played in the strategic bombing campaign into Southern Europe. At Termoli examine the Commando/SRS amphibious landing in October 1943 named Op DEVON that secured the port at some cost to the British. Visit the terrain over which the bloody battles of the Sangro River were fought and appreciate how they stalled the 8th Army advance in November 1943.

Whilst in the Abruzzi Mountains, understand how the first use of the Italian Partisans was championed by the talented Lionel Wigram, and visit the hilltop village of Pizzaferata where he met his death. At Ortona witness the eastern extent of the German defences on the Gustav Line and step through the 1^st Canadian Infantry Divisions battles across the Moro River and the desperate fight over Christmas 1943 for ‘Cider Crossroads’ and the town itself. See where Capt Paul Triquet wins the VC for his assault on Casa Barardi. Appreciate why Ortona is often referred to as ‘the Italian Stalingrad’.

Understand the decision to move the 8th Army to the east coast after the fall of Rome in June 1944. Appreciate the limited space to manoeuvre over the harsh terrain.

Observe the opening of the offensive in 1944 from Belvedere Churchill at Montemaggiore al Metauro. Witness the Canadian assaults onto Hill 111 and Hill 204 above Montecchio. Appreciate the challenges the 1st Armoured Division faced at Coriano Ridge and the difficulties that beset the Queens Brigade at Gemmano. Understand the composition of Alexander’s Allied Army Group by Winter 1944. Visit the American Cemetery outside Florence and follow the 5th US Army through the Apennines. Understand the scale of human loss by seeing the German Cemetery at the Futa Pass. Appreciate what it is must have been like as an Italian at this stage of the war by going to the Monte Sole Memorial Park. Consider the role of the partisans through the Museo Memoriale della Liberta in Bologna. Walk the route of Anders Lassen VC at Lake Comacchio. Discover the innovation achieved by the 8th Army with its ingenious armoured vehicles that were developed to help finally breach the German defences, reach the Po River and end the war in Italy.

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