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My grandfather was stationed in Sicily, in 1943, with the Italian Army. He often told stories about how the fire of the American gunships set the night sky on fire, while he anxiously held his 1898 model rifle. He got a bronze medal there, for fixing a machine gun while under heavy artillery fire - stalling the enemies and giving his company time to retreat safely. Like many other Italians, he was fighting in a war he didn't want, for a cause he didn't share or understand.
I’m italian American, my family came to USA before the war. My dads uncle fought in Europe though, must’ve been strange. Was your family from the south or the north?
My grandparents were farmers and bakers in central Italy (right before the Gothic Line). Watching this video made me think of their stories, about the Nazi occupation and the war in general. I'm really lucky to even been born (as most Europeans are), all things considered.
My Great great grandfather fought in Sicily as well, but for the Lord Strathconas horse Armoured regiment. He was killed in battle on September 23 1943, a few boys from my hometown were murdered by civilians as well.
There are many stories of Italian American soldiers meeting their distant family during the invasion of Sicily and the Italian peninsula, with some troops even specifically requested by their families in the U.S. to make contact with their cousins in the Old Country. Those must’ve been some crazy family reunions!
@linlinö önilnil the real sicilians...hated government control...and many young guys with mob ties fled to USA when Mussolini got into power..His regime was hunting em down. . So idk if the native sicilians were that against USA...beyond not dishonoring their uniform. But non sicilian Italians? Different story
8:20 “Alexander reluctantly mumbled that Patton could conduct a limited reconnaissance mission. Naturally, Patton interpreted this as permission to *CHARGE THE ENTIRE 7TH ARMY WEST AT BREAKNECK SPEED.* “
Patton: "Hey, Alexander, can we break out west?" Alexander: "..fine, but only for a limited reconnaissance mission." Patton: "Yes...reconnaissance mission..."
Patton : "Alright chocks off let's do this ... *GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORGE PAAAAAAAAAATTOOOOOOOOOONN* Alexander : "Ho my god he's just running in"
My grandfather was a Royal Marine Commando involved in the Battle of Elba, sad not to see this mentioned. He was one of only 6 to survive from his regiment. It was overshadowed by the Normandy invasions, but their heroic effort should not be forgotten
When you're covering as 2-year-long campaign in a 30-minute-long video, there is no room to mention anything but the absolute essentials. That battle was just another brick in the wall, in the grand scheme of things
My great grandfather fought in this invasion as part of the 88 “Blue Devils” Division All but him and one other man made it out from his original squad He is currently 96 years old and as far as I can tell, part of the last remaining WW2 Vets still alive I salute my Pépé and all the other boys who fought in this often overlooked part of the war
If my great grandfather were still alive, he would honor him for his service with the Blue Devils. Serving the Devils has been equated with serving in Rommel's units by every veteran I know. Greetings from Germany✌🏻 :D
My great grandfather passed away about 5 years but he fought with the 88 Blue Devils in Italy. He is mentioned in the book Blue Devils in Italy. Glad to hear your story thanks for sharing!
He did a great thing. My grandfather fought and was captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. A good man, I wish I'd known him longer. It's not a coincidence that as we've lost the generation that lived through fascism and killed fascists, that the cancerous ideology is coming back.
My grandfather participated in the invasion of Sicily with the Canadian army in 1943, and worked his way up Italy till the end of the war. He was shot once, but recovered quickly and rushed back to be with his men. I feel like the Italian campaign get's overshadowed by the Normandy landings and the Eastern Front so i'm always glad to see any video's made on this topic.
@linlinö önilnil Yes, and with Italy was easy since they Partisans and in general who opposed resistance to the nazi-fascists were the majority. Before the war this type of resistance was mostly political and then armed. This guy bio is a good example of what I'm trying to explain, the Italian situation was very hard to describe and for most italians of that time fight on the side of who was their worst enemy not so many years before was inconceivable, for others was just fighting for the country after years of brainwashing, then there's who tried the best hiding for not being recruited for that dumb war led by a dumb regime. The 46', with the born of the Republic is when finally the italians tied together again like happened in the WW1
RANDOM FACT: During the landings on France after the assault on Italy and D-Day, a landing team near Nice, France landed on a beach with only one French man handing out Champagne.
my family lived in italy at the time, extended family and family friends, they moreso hated the germans than mussolini cause they were basically pressured into a war, occupied, and stuck between a rock and a hard place
@TheCrazyKid138l the Ethiopian army wasn't well equipped but they weren't primitives. Ethiopia was basically the only country existing in Africa at the time with a government and an army structure. Before Italy invaded, the average ethiopian soldier had outdated weaponry (still they were WWI era carbines, not spears), but by the time war began Ethiopia was supplied by almost everyone. Even Nazi Germany sent them rifles and artillery because Hitler wanted Italy weakened before he attempted the Anschluss. Italians were outnumbered, they had insufficient logistical support, didn't know the lay of the land and had outdated maps who led to a rather impressive number of positioning blunders. Technologically speaking Ethiopians weren't a match for the Italians, but war is a complicated affair, no one wins by strenght of arms alone.
@TheCrazyKid138l1) 3 731 soldati e 619 civili italiani (totale 4 350)[5] 3 000-4 500 àscari[6] ~ 9 000 feriti this were the loses in Etiopia 2) study the second battle of elalamein and the Folgore last stand 3) any unit is if is well armed and leaded, the italian lack both
@TheCrazyKid138l they haven't spears but rifles (supplied by russian and British) and used guerriglia tactics so even America have losed in Afghanistan and Vietnam so Italy isn't different
"Yo so I just lost 700,000 men and 6000 tanks at Kursk so if yall don't open another front real quick then I ain't giving you jack at the peace conference . XOXO - Stalin"
The part of Texas where I live had a few churches and lots of brick roads built during WWII by Italian POWs who had been shipped here as a labor force. The relationship between the prisoners and the locals was somewhat amicable, with many sharing meals together and becoming friends, with relationships continuing in some cases even after the war had ended. The local Catholic church in Umbarger has a gorgeous fresco behind the altar that was painted by Italian soldiers who happened to be skilled devotional artists, and it was recently restored by West Texas A&M University art students. I believe there might even be a memorial to the Italian POWs that was erected many years later as thanks for their work in improving the infrastructure of our communities.
There were many prisoners who served as agricultural workers in the south. Generally they were treated better than the local blacks. Interesting that they also did skilled labor.
26:48 Voytek the Bear is there. For those who don’t know what the bear is it was a bear that was gifted to Polish soldiers by an Iranian boy and was then drafted into the Free Polish Army were during the Battle of Monte Cassino he was seen giving the soldiers artillery shells to fire at Axis positions
@@patriks9531 you forget the modern US education system was expressly designed to create mindless automatons that do not question the government or otherwise think for themselves.
Because he has the authority to command armies and assault other armies, and of course the feeling of godliness and autocracy and pride it feels good but of course he is good.
As italian I want to say a thing: Since 1925 some cities or even factories on strike were opposing to Mussolini's regime because most people ,especially in cities, were against the dictatorship. Partisans weren't only comunists or socialists, but also priests, monarchics, liberals, wealthy corporation owners, soldiers and even generals. The sicilian invasion was the coup de grâce at that time. Workers' strikes, city rebellions, failed campaigns in Libya, USSR and Greece. I'm sayng that because people believe italians surrended without fighing, but italians were already fighing against Mussolini
Yes, but it was the weakness of the Axis as Northern France, the Netherlands and Belgium were heavily fortified by Germans willing to fight to the end.
My grandmother is from Catania, born 1933, she fled during 1943 to southern Brazil, where we live today, I always knew it was war, but now I know better, great video!
My father fought from Selarno past Rome. He was on the second vehicle to enter the city. Severely wounded, he spend the rest of the war in a Naples hospital. Thanks for the excellent presentation.
@@eugenio5774 Well, there is an Austrian/German saying which states that "nothing separates Germans and Austrians more than our common language" (because of the many different meanings of common German words and phrases in our respective countries) - so maybe that was a similar example that this can be equally true for the US and the British sometimes (especially for certain very ambitious US generals raring to finally go for a fight)? *;-))*
My great grandfather was a warrant officer 2nd class in the Coldstream Guards. He was part of a rearguard at dunkirk, in Africa and finally Italy where he sadly died at monte cassino. He suffered shrapnel from a mortar in both legs. He crawled back a few miles to the 8th Army base but died of wounds in a military hospital. He suvived dunkirk, a stuka dive bomber hitting his jeep in Africa but died in Italy. Such a great guy who inspired me to do greater.
My great grandfather a British MP solider was fighting in southern Italy on this campaign. What I found recently is he was apart of his own conquest & had relations with an Italian women who was the mother of my very recently discovered great aunt in Italy. This was only discovered though 23&ME, she did this test hoping she could find the family she never knew. I was a 6.25% DNA match with her & I contacted her to figure out how she fitted into my family. Though that we figured everything else & she finally discovered who her father was & the family she never knew. Apparently my great grandfather aimed to bring her mother to England with him, but her mother decided to hide. Of course none of this would of been spoken at the dinner table on my side of the family & even for my great aunt she didn't find out the full details till near before her mothers passing. Since this only happened over a year ago she of course never got in contact with her father since if he lived he would of been 109 years old, he died in year 2000 well before any of this was easily possible to be discovered. Just an interesting story of war I decided to share a compressed version of. I'd of never imagined I would of made such a discovery when I did the 23&ME DNA test.
Kind of dissapointing that you didnt say anything more about the battle of Monte Casino since it was a very bloody battle (if not the bloodiest of the whole Italian campaign). Polish forces finnaly took the hill after huge losses and many attempts. Also thats where Wojtek the bear got most of his fame.
@@stanisawnielepkowicz1881 Lets be honest - this video has lacking of many battles from Italian Campaign. For example Salerno,Monte La Difensa, Elba, Gothic Line, Monte Castello, Argenta, Bologne,Ortona, siege of Rimini Italian "Ofensiva di Natale" (which took place at the same time as German offensive in Ardennes) when Italian forces save few German division from encirclement by Americans. So Polish participation is to small to being mention as a major factor.
@@Ranio_ well, in reality everybody received help. THe yugoslavians received ton of weapons. In italy it was very particular. We even created little partisans state that lasted for a while. Naples was liberated only by partisans and in Genova the germans surrendered to the partisans after some useless counterattacks
I loved the video, I didn’t know that Brazil, Poland and France were actually involved in the assault. I googled some of their battles and I am surprised that Brazil did really good.
If you haven't already, you should check out Sabaton's "Smoking Snakes" song, it also shares some details of Brazil's noteworthy role in the Italy campaign.
@@mattbite The taking of Monte Cassino was due to both the Polish forces and the French soldiers, mostly Moroccan Goumiers and tirailleurs as well as Tunisian tirailleurs. I'd say Monte Cassino was a common effort by all allied troops from 12 nations which saw 3 underdog nations distinguished themselves: The Poles, The French and their colonial soldiers (2/3 of French losses were Maghrebins soldiers) as well as New Zealand
(Just a correction: at 17:35 , the Italian puppet-state was called "Italian SOCIAL Republic", not "Socialist". I'm no fan of socialists, but they had nothing to do with this)
26:24 “Where crosses glow on Anzio, where no soldier sleeps And where hell’s six feet Where Death does wait there’s no debate, we’ll charge and attack, Going to Hell and Back” -Sabaton
"Aided by the French Expeditionary Corps and even some Polish troops" Actually, the "some" Polish troops as well had the strength of an Corps (Polish II Corps / II. Korpus Wojska Polskiego) and their advance towards Monte Cassino had the same importance like the French advance in the valley. So if the French troop was mentioned with the exact unit, why not the Polish as well?
I don't know if this is still true, because formal cemeteries may have been created since, but at Monte Casino you will find Allied all along the slopes. But you'll find the Polish graves at the top, because they were the ones who took the place.
@@bigredwolf6 I think he is not a bad historian. If he is checking a history book for the French unit, at the battle o Monte Cassino, he will be able to read the name of Polish unit.
@@bigredwolf6 "Maybe they just overlooked it." If yes, this would be nothing but pure incompetence. The only other possibility is ignorance... No matter if a "research team" or Mr. Johnson himself.
@@Flurb_Xray He barely mentioned the Canadians as well. Over 26k casualties in that campaign. My great grandad got blown out of tanks there. 5th Armoured, 8th Hussars. This guy was not thorough with his research in terms of allies fighting, which he chalked down to two flags when in reality many Allies fought.
Actually a co worker of my dad fought at Monto Cassino with the German Fallschirmjäger. When he told old war stories he always spoke highly of the bravery of the Polish soldiers, who succeeded, where all others (including the famous Gurkhas) failed. He also used to say, that the Poles would have had far less losses, if the French would have pushed more on. I don't know if its true... As a matter of fact, I think the bravery and importance of the Poles much undervalued today.
Italy never had an emperor, the Roman Emperors were Roman, there was no Italy back then, it was only in around 1800s that any 'thought' of an Italy began to emerge.
@@darrenbutler9819 Although "Italy" or "Italia" as a word is extremely ancient, nobody really knows the etymology. The romans, the venetian republic, the reign of naples, and every state that existed there acknowledged they "were in Italy" geographically, it's just that they were never united. Italy as a single nation, that's the recent concept.
My grandmother was a child in Sicily when the Allies invaded, she remembered hiding under a wagon while she could hear bombs going off nearby, and that there was an observation bunker near her house.
Italy: Former center of the Roman Empire, which literally owned _the entire Mediterranean Sea_ throughout Classical Antiquity. Location of the Vatican, site of the Colosseum, birthplace of the Renaissance, ancestral homeland of nearly the entire American Mafia, bore witness to such influential Maritime city-states as Venice and Genoa, etc. Winston Churchill: "Soft underbelly of Europe."
I mean, Mongolia once had the largest continuous empire of all time, and yet in recent centuries became a minor and mostly unknown state. Just because Italy was once home to powerful states in the past, doesnt mean the modern Italy is powerful or had a good army/military industry in the 20th century.
@@Simoky99 Mongolia is an interesting case because the country itself isn't even home to the majority of ethnic Mongols-the neighboring Chinese prefecture of Inner Mongolia has roughly twice as many as Mongolia proper. However, even today, I wouldn't call Mongolia the "soft underbelly of Asia" any more than I would call Italy the soft underbelly of Europe. To me, it just smacks of overconfidence to assume that a country is weak and easy to invade simply because they are outperformed by other neighboring countries. Italy was certainly unprepared for WWII, and they were consequently the easiest Axis power to take out, but only a fool would expect a land invasion to go smoothly.
@@KurtisC93 It did go smoothly, Italy was the weak underbelly of Europe and Italian troops performed pretty terribly all war. Doesn't take anything away from Italy as a culture.
@@ashjones2627 No, it didn't-not in the long-term. This video even goes into detail about it. The initial invasion went relatively smoothly, but then Germany got involved and the easy victory they'd forecasted became a two-year entanglement costing several hundred thousand lives.
One of my grandfathers was a radio operator on a US bomber in Italy. Before that, he flew on missions in North Africa. Later, he'd fly on missions in Austria and southern Germany. I'm damn proud of him. Wish I could have met him.
Brazilian soldiers arrived in Italy on July 16, 1944. In September 1944, Brazilian soldiers took Massarosa, Camaiore and Monte Prano. In early 1945, they helped to conquer strategic points such as Monte Castelo, Castelnuovo and Montese.
Mark Clark still continues to go down in history as one of the most vain, self-centered generals to ever take command. Potentially hundreds of thousands of casualties could have been avoided if he didn't go for personal glory.
@@mattbite a person who understands that defeating the enemy is more important than nice-sounding headlines at home. Because of his decision to go for Rome, rather than to surround and prevent the retreat of the Axis forces, the war continued in Italy for just over 1 more year.
@@AllCanadiaReject Well, nazi germans killed socialists too... actually italian fascists feared the word "socialist" was associated too much with "Marxist socialism" and they called their Republic "social". However fascists promoted a sort of corporatist socialism, where private property still existed but were The State controlled a large part of the national economy. Therefore "Socialist Republic" is not so far from being true...
My grandfather was a tank commander with the US in Italy, he told me a few stories as a child, showed me his medals which included a Bronze Star, but mostly, he just said it was really horrible, and didn't ever want to talk about it. He was a great grandfather who took me on lots of walks as a little kid but there were a few times he got really angry really fast in a way that didn't make sense, at the time anyway. He would always listen to Dodgers games on a little radio outside... now, as an adult who understands PTSD, everything about him makes complete sense, but I remember as a kid not understanding why he was so distant and kind of always seemed in his own world. He experienced and did things that were not only traumatic, but he knew that people who hadn't been though it could never understand so it was pointless to say anything... and it's crazy thinking of how he came from a generation where the way he dealt with it was the only option. He would never have been okay accepting any outside help... it was honestly probably not many years since he passed away that PTSD became something publicly discussed. I wish I had been able to get to know him better.
After being injured in a battle, my Great Grandpa who was deployed in Italy met my Great Grandma who was a nurse. Interesting to learn the history of how they got there!
Brazilian Expeditionary Force also gave their very best in the Italian Campaign. The Brazilian 1st Division of the FEB was subordinate to the Allied 15th Army Group under Field Marshal Harold Alexander (later succeeded by General Mark Clark), via the US Fifth Army of Lieutenant General Mark Clark (later succeeded by Lieutenant General Lucian Truscott) and the US IV Corps of Major General Willis D. Crittenberger. Sadly 75 yrs after such event new generations hardly have known about (even including ourselves Brazilians).
And also we had some of the most dumb, yet smart decisions people have ever made in a war. Seriously, lighting a campfire on the middle of a Battlefield? Who would have thought of that
For a look at Italian life and death during the allied invasion, view Roberto Rossellini's "Rome Open City"... There's more to a war than just a chess game...
I'm guessing you meant to say "This video is great. A video about German unification would be nice" which you're not wrong theres not many if any videos about the Franco Prussian war or even the build up with Otto Von Bismarck
My dad was in the invasion of sicily he was a british paratrooper he told me storys about battles he was shot in the leg and he still has the bullet in his leg he died in 2019 age 89
A video about the Brazilian participation on the campaign, especially the fight at Monte Castelo, would be nice. My grandfather was being sent to fight in Italy, but the war ended before the transport left the Brazilian coast, and it was ordered back. Fun fact: the smoking snake emblem is the result of an "internal joke". Detractors of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) in Brazil would say that "It's more likely for a snake to smoke a pipe than for the FEB to go the front and fight". When the troops really joined the fight, the snake became their symbol.
Lê sinto muito em dizer, mas nossos camaradas estatunidense não creditam a gente em muita coisa, não somos lembrados, mas fomos importante na batalha com a Itália e teve uma história que daria um filme com certeza se fosse estatunidense.
My grandfather grew up in Calabria and recalled the relief when Allied troops came through. He said they were helpful and gave them food. This ultimately led to his decision to move to the states years later
Even though Italy hadn't the best equipment nor the best troops of all Europe, we all must recognise that the Italians tried so hard to defend their homeland with all they could in a war which they didn't want to participate. But they fought hard anyway with the best they had. Salutes from Brazil!
No wrong. Italians didnt care about defending The country. The fascists did. Italians tried to defend as much they could The nation but they were happy to slaughter Mussolini like a pig with his whore And try to build the country anew
30:30 I have watched the whole video just to see something about the brazilian expeditionary forces actions in Italy, specially in Monte Castello, which we won by sheer ignorance and disprepare of our troops, which led enemies to believe we were doing baits or fake attacks and moves which ended up giving us victories and an edge to the allies. Diversity made a difference, and brazilians behaved like brazilians during all the expedition, with high morale, faith, confidence and a bit of humor (as depicted in some photographs) and adapting and improvising as they had no adequate equipment to fight nor for the climate or terrain. Cobras fumantes, eterna é a sua vitória.
My grandfather was in " The Italian campaign" we tried to get some stories out of him provoking an initial angry reaction along the lines of " we don't want to know" but he did mention the reluctance of the italians to fight and to surrender quickly when we (inc the americans) got serious and the time they thought they were all going to fry to death when vesuvius erupted in 1944.
I hope you upload video about the explanation of the battle of Luzon or the liberation of the Philippines in WW2. Also i love all video that makes me a lot to have experience on map wars or something. Keep it doing a great historian!.
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k
Can i get a heart griff???
@@therealcountryofspain6436 o k
@@jcjustin2907 what are u the Tin Man?
@@Dimitri-Jordania We remade the Crimean War, we just released it dude!
Seeing Eisenhower play Hoi4 made my day
He was playing as Germany rho
tag switched to delete their divisions
Hilarious 🤣
Bah he deleted the stockpile and sent the mp to italy
ye
My grandfather was stationed in Sicily, in 1943, with the Italian Army.
He often told stories about how the fire of the American gunships set the night sky on fire, while he anxiously held his 1898 model rifle. He got a bronze medal there, for fixing a machine gun while under heavy artillery fire - stalling the enemies and giving his company time to retreat safely. Like many other Italians, he was fighting in a war he didn't want, for a cause he didn't share or understand.
My grandmother was in milano and saw Mussolinis body, attached to the neck by a rope, paraded through the streets.
I’m italian American, my family came to USA before the war. My dads uncle fought in Europe though, must’ve been strange. Was your family from the south or the north?
My grandparents were farmers and bakers in central Italy (right before the Gothic Line). Watching this video made me think of their stories, about the Nazi occupation and the war in general. I'm really lucky to even been born (as most Europeans are), all things considered.
My Great great grandfather fought in Sicily as well, but for the Lord Strathconas horse Armoured regiment. He was killed in battle on September 23 1943, a few boys from my hometown were murdered by civilians as well.
1944*^
There are many stories of Italian American soldiers meeting their distant family during the invasion of Sicily and the Italian peninsula, with some troops even specifically requested by their families in the U.S. to make contact with their cousins in the Old Country. Those must’ve been some crazy family reunions!
Hello fellow furry who likes history
Awkward for sure. "Sorry about the whole war thing, cousin. Our leader just went insane tyrant. Want some spaghetti?" "Uhhh...sure..."
@@thunderbird1921 wouldn't be surprised at all. Fascism was quite unpopular in Italy
@linlinö önilnil the real sicilians...hated government control...and many young guys with mob ties fled to USA when Mussolini got into power..His regime was hunting em down. .
So idk if the native sicilians were that against USA...beyond not dishonoring their uniform. But non sicilian Italians? Different story
Marty Robbins cringe
8:20 “Alexander reluctantly mumbled that Patton could conduct a limited reconnaissance mission. Naturally, Patton interpreted this as permission to *CHARGE THE ENTIRE 7TH ARMY WEST AT BREAKNECK SPEED.* “
Which, as General Bradley, pointed out quite lucidly, was of minimal benefit to the Allied campaign on Sicily.
I mean they did say his job was to secure the flank he just made the amount of flank he needed to secure smaller
And decided not to give his allies support becayse he didnt feel like it
@@bboygman8149 Admit it all the Generals of WW2 were Prima Donnas and Patton was the biggest and most aware of that fact of them all.
The American way.
Patton: "Hey, Alexander, can we break out west?"
Alexander: "..fine, but only for a limited reconnaissance mission."
Patton: "Yes...reconnaissance mission..."
Patton after invading most of Western Sicily: If that ain't a reconnaissance mission, than I don't know what is.
@@wisemonke194 that joke is dead
@@masac2853 so is your mom, sorry for your loss.
F's in the chat
Sir we have located the ocean
@@masac2853 Apply water to burned area because your ass just got burnt
Alexander: fine, just scout out the area.
Patton: ok... *Yeeeets into the western half of Sicily"
Patton : "Alright chocks off let's do this ... *GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORGE PAAAAAAAAAATTOOOOOOOOOONN*
Alexander : "Ho my god he's just running in"
A Leeroy Jenkins reference at this age? Interesting.
@@lanvinseandelossantos6118, indeed it is.
@@saltyfrenchy4324 Lmao
th-cam.com/video/0R2JCVLrYaU/w-d-xo.html
Who ever created the thumbnail is a king
Yes the valiant Hearst style and comic book eyes
I did
Every animator a king
@@WallaceBreenFromKentucky Kaiserreich Second American civil war intensetify
That pasta lover just looks like he's screaming in confusion
My grandfather was a Royal Marine Commando involved in the Battle of Elba, sad not to see this mentioned. He was one of only 6 to survive from his regiment. It was overshadowed by the Normandy invasions, but their heroic effort should not be forgotten
When you're covering as 2-year-long campaign in a 30-minute-long video, there is no room to mention anything but the absolute essentials. That battle was just another brick in the wall, in the grand scheme of things
Of course it wasn't mentioned because America re wrote their own version 🙄
Because the invasion of Elba wasn't part of the invasion of Sicily , Elba is in central Italy while Sicily is in the south
@@theaverageitaliandon998 video is “Invasion of Italy 1943-45”, not “Invasion of Sicily”
@@maxwkh fair enough
My great grandfather fought in this invasion as part of the 88 “Blue Devils” Division
All but him and one other man made it out from his original squad
He is currently 96 years old and as far as I can tell, part of the last remaining WW2 Vets still alive
I salute my Pépé and all the other boys who fought in this often overlooked part of the war
If my great grandfather were still alive, he would honor him for his service with the Blue Devils. Serving the Devils has been equated with serving in Rommel's units by every veteran I know.
Greetings from Germany✌🏻 :D
My great grandfather passed away about 5 years but he fought with the 88 Blue Devils in Italy. He is mentioned in the book Blue Devils in Italy. Glad to hear your story thanks for sharing!
He did a great thing. My grandfather fought and was captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. A good man, I wish I'd known him longer.
It's not a coincidence that as we've lost the generation that lived through fascism and killed fascists, that the cancerous ideology is coming back.
@@fluffskunk yeah, and this time, the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom aren't being spared (by the spectre of fascism)!
OMG THATS A NAZI NUMBER TH-cam BAN THIS GUY
My grandfather participated in the invasion of Sicily with the Canadian army in 1943, and worked his way up Italy till the end of the war. He was shot once, but recovered quickly and rushed back to be with his men. I feel like the Italian campaign get's overshadowed by the Normandy landings and the Eastern Front so i'm always glad to see any video's made on this topic.
Don’t forget that the U.S. had to get the support of the Sicilian mafia and immigrants to map the island
No way. That's absurd
@@wisemonke194 it’s real bro check simple history’s vid
@@Primegamin-yh4jm oh, I wasn't claiming you were wrong, I just couldn't believe it.
@@wisemonke194 yea it’s pretty unbelievable but in a lot of cases in war a side would use rebels to fight against the other side so yea
@linlinö önilnil Yes, and with Italy was easy since they Partisans and in general who opposed resistance to the nazi-fascists were the majority. Before the war this type of resistance was mostly political and then armed. This guy bio is a good example of what I'm trying to explain, the Italian situation was very hard to describe and for most italians of that time fight on the side of who was their worst enemy not so many years before was inconceivable, for others was just fighting for the country after years of brainwashing, then there's who tried the best hiding for not being recruited for that dumb war led by a dumb regime. The 46', with the born of the Republic is when finally the italians tied together again like happened in the WW1
Doctor: Eisenhower playing Hoi4 doesnt exist, he can't hurt you
Eisenhower playing Hoi4: 2:36
That ain't cursed that would be cool
N what did i was see
This man is the guy who will destroy you and end you even he is low of division and your stronger
nah he did more than just hurt
What do you mean
More regular new content for the year starting next week! :)
Yes
Thanks so much!
Iranian Revolution or Boxer Rebellion?
@@isaiahslack2011 Boxer rebellion please
India and Pakistan would also be a good topic. But most historians don't go in depth of the Kashmir issue because Kashmir is a very complex situation
I never realized how big of a role Canada played in almost every war
Canadians, the unsung heroes of every era.
@@sweepingtime even the Punic wars were fought by mostly Canadians and Australians
@@octopussmasher2694 Can I get a citation for that? :/
@@EnigmaEnginseer r/woosh
Canada doesn't send many soldiers to the war, but they do send a boatload of bodies home.
“The soft underbelly of Europe” just wait til Churchill finds out about the alps
Dare I say it's, the Iron belly of Europe?...
Nahhhh.
Wait till he finds neutral land.
Or as Mark Clark called it "Tough old gut"
Well Italian command did kinda suck
"The soft belly fungus of Europe?"
RANDOM FACT: During the landings on France after the assault on Italy and D-Day, a landing team near Nice, France landed on a beach with only one French man handing out Champagne.
Germans: We need to defend Southern France!!
Also Germans: best I can do is *man with champagne*
Now thats pretty Nice
you knew that because of oversimplified
@@frenzy1-123 Yup.
O V E R S I M P L I F I E D
To be fair, most italian soldier at that point hated their regime so they didn't found the will to fight
You don't say
my family lived in italy at the time, extended family and family friends, they moreso hated the germans than mussolini cause they were basically pressured into a war, occupied, and stuck between a rock and a hard place
@TheCrazyKid138l the Ethiopian army wasn't well equipped but they weren't primitives. Ethiopia was basically the only country existing in Africa at the time with a government and an army structure.
Before Italy invaded, the average ethiopian soldier had outdated weaponry (still they were WWI era carbines, not spears), but by the time war began Ethiopia was supplied by almost everyone. Even Nazi Germany sent them rifles and artillery because Hitler wanted Italy weakened before he attempted the Anschluss.
Italians were outnumbered, they had insufficient logistical support, didn't know the lay of the land and had outdated maps who led to a rather impressive number of positioning blunders.
Technologically speaking Ethiopians weren't a match for the Italians, but war is a complicated affair, no one wins by strenght of arms alone.
@TheCrazyKid138l1) 3 731 soldati e 619 civili italiani (totale 4 350)[5]
3 000-4 500 àscari[6]
~ 9 000 feriti this were the loses in Etiopia
2) study the second battle of elalamein and the Folgore last stand
3) any unit is if is well armed and leaded, the italian lack both
@TheCrazyKid138l they haven't spears but rifles (supplied by russian and British) and used guerriglia tactics so even America have losed in Afghanistan and Vietnam so Italy isn't different
"Yo so I just lost 700,000 men and 6000 tanks at Kursk so if yall don't open another front real quick then I ain't giving you jack at the peace conference
. XOXO - Stalin"
Hoi4 in a nutshell
The part of Texas where I live had a few churches and lots of brick roads built during WWII by Italian POWs who had been shipped here as a labor force. The relationship between the prisoners and the locals was somewhat amicable, with many sharing meals together and becoming friends, with relationships continuing in some cases even after the war had ended. The local Catholic church in Umbarger has a gorgeous fresco behind the altar that was painted by Italian soldiers who happened to be skilled devotional artists, and it was recently restored by West Texas A&M University art students. I believe there might even be a memorial to the Italian POWs that was erected many years later as thanks for their work in improving the infrastructure of our communities.
Damn that's pretty cool
There were many prisoners who served as agricultural workers in the south. Generally they were treated better than the local blacks. Interesting that they also did skilled labor.
26:48 Voytek the Bear is there. For those who don’t know what the bear is it was a bear that was gifted to Polish soldiers by an Iranian boy and was then drafted into the Free Polish Army were during the Battle of Monte Cassino he was seen giving the soldiers artillery shells to fire at Axis positions
Thanks for this, in the age of online school this we’ll help with my final essay on the North African and Italian campaign
your school teaches about World War 2? That's awesome
@@wireworks4252 doesnt every school teach that?😅
Check out Mark Felton productions and the World War 2 channel with Andy
@@patriks9531 nope mine doesn't... its sad :(
@@patriks9531 you forget the modern US education system was expressly designed to create mindless automatons that do not question the government or otherwise think for themselves.
Why does Eisenhower look so scary
Gamer Man eisen who
@@TRUECRISTIANJESUS the supreme commander of the Allied Army
Because he has the authority to command armies and assault other armies, and of course the feeling of godliness and autocracy and pride it feels good but of course he is good.
Because he was
@Isaac Ridout to the germans
26:47 wojtek is that you?
yes
Its splendid to see Private Wojtek the polish soldier-bear at 26:45. The story of Private Wojtek is one of the most interresting of the entire war.
@@walterbar3118 Actually a corporal. He got promoted for his service in battle for Monte Cassino :D
As italian I want to say a thing:
Since 1925 some cities or even factories on strike were opposing to Mussolini's regime because most people ,especially in cities, were against the dictatorship.
Partisans weren't only comunists or socialists, but also priests, monarchics, liberals, wealthy corporation owners, soldiers and even generals.
The sicilian invasion was the coup de grâce at that time. Workers' strikes, city rebellions, failed campaigns in Libya, USSR and Greece.
I'm sayng that because people believe italians surrended without fighing, but italians were already fighing against Mussolini
Deathblow. Don’t think anyone says coup de grace.
The average muricans are far too biased and propaganda-struck to be able to conceive real facts and truths they cannot handle.
Said the Democrat Party's voter
Nobody cares
My wife's Nono was there and the only time he has talked about his childhood he straight up cursed out Mussolini lol
"Soft underbelly." Italy is mostly mountains.
Yes, but it was the weakness of the Axis as Northern France, the Netherlands and Belgium were heavily fortified by Germans willing to fight to the end.
Correct. Fighting through those mountains was foolish.
th-cam.com/video/JVbX0AWKYMo/w-d-xo.html
@ Still. The Italians and the Germans used this to their advantage.
Mostly mountainous and capitulated before it was even invaded. Forcing German troops away from other fronts. Sounds like a pretty soft belly to me.
They were referring to the defenders, not the terrain
I know it’s to be expected, but the animation really has come a long way and it’s beautiful
Patton had a "Marching Through Georgia" moment there.
they didn't scorch doe
not enough fire
I mean they're tanks are called Sherman's so why not?
Sherman would be proud
Recon Mission? You mean overrun them? Ok.
Wait no no no-
*Too late buckaroo*
"I have scouted the Fascists' defenses and found that they have no defenses...anymore..."
th-cam.com/video/0R2JCVLrYaU/w-d-xo.html
Patton went full leroy jenkins
"noooooo! you can't just thrust forward and leave a giant gap in our lines!"
Patton: "hehe, sherman go brrrrrrrrrrrrr"
Patton OP, nerfed by the US.
My grandmother is from Catania, born 1933, she fled during 1943 to southern Brazil, where we live today, I always knew it was war, but now I know better, great video!
The British: Small reconnaissance mission okay?
Patton: *THE ENTIRE ISLAND OF SICILY IT IS*
My father fought from Selarno past Rome. He was on the second vehicle to enter the city. Severely wounded, he spend the rest of the war in a Naples hospital. Thanks for the excellent presentation.
This channel should have many millions of subscribers. Knowledge of history might save humanity from repeating its mistakes.
The HOI IV invasion screen 😂😂😂
"Recon operation"
Patton: "Odd way to spell 'attack with everything you have' but whatever :) "
yeah, those little differences between british english and american english, amrite?
@@eugenio5774
Well, there is an Austrian/German saying which states that "nothing separates Germans and Austrians more than our common language" (because of the many different meanings of common German words and phrases in our respective countries) - so maybe that was a similar example that this can be equally true for the US and the British sometimes (especially for certain very ambitious US generals raring to finally go for a fight)? *;-))*
26:48 , He also showed polish artillery division who had a bear as corporal . Nice work Griffin 😀
WOW Didn't notice him!
I was hoping that was it!
This just showed up in my notification box while I’m playing HOI4
As Italy
In 1943
Uh oh
Now you know what will hapen.
NOW PREPARE TO DEFEND YOUR SPAGETTI
@@g.o.paciong3015 the spaghetti is safe, can’t say the same for Mussolini
That totally happened, wow..
@@greaterbritannia5745 Britain was safe Thank to Uncle Sam And a bunch of friends 😂 you are just laughable
Me playing as Britain in 1943... 2:42
My great grandfather was a warrant officer 2nd class in the Coldstream Guards. He was part of a rearguard at dunkirk, in Africa and finally Italy where he sadly died at monte cassino. He suffered shrapnel from a mortar in both legs. He crawled back a few miles to the 8th Army base but died of wounds in a military hospital. He suvived dunkirk, a stuka dive bomber hitting his jeep in Africa but died in Italy. Such a great guy who inspired me to do greater.
My great grandfather a British MP solider was fighting in southern Italy on this campaign. What I found recently is he was apart of his own conquest & had relations with an Italian women who was the mother of my very recently discovered great aunt in Italy.
This was only discovered though 23&ME, she did this test hoping she could find the family she never knew. I was a 6.25% DNA match with her & I contacted her to figure out how she fitted into my family. Though that we figured everything else & she finally discovered who her father was & the family she never knew.
Apparently my great grandfather aimed to bring her mother to England with him, but her mother decided to hide.
Of course none of this would of been spoken at the dinner table on my side of the family & even for my great aunt she didn't find out the full details till near before her mothers passing.
Since this only happened over a year ago she of course never got in contact with her father since if he lived he would of been 109 years old, he died in year 2000 well before any of this was easily possible to be discovered.
Just an interesting story of war I decided to share a compressed version of.
I'd of never imagined I would of made such a discovery when I did the 23&ME DNA test.
being able to pronounce names of cities and words in foreign languages is an important skill for a historian to know, in my opinion
Agree. Operation Husky - gliders over Sicily “…but winds gusseling (?) at over 45 mph…” I think he means winds “gusting”.
I agree. Fantastic video but Cat-a-nia, really?
You sir, have balls of pure titanium for showing the Swatsika on TH-cam and risk getting demonetized for doing so. Mad respects.
swastika big deal who cares doesn't make me a nazi for showing it
Kind of dissapointing that you didnt say anything more about the battle of Monte Casino since it was a very bloody battle (if not the bloodiest of the whole Italian campaign). Polish forces finnaly took the hill after huge losses and many attempts. Also thats where Wojtek the bear got most of his fame.
There is Wojtek at 26:46
@@Camel-from-Arabia yeah but its like an easter egg and nothing more.
@@stanisawnielepkowicz1881 Lets be honest - this video has lacking of many battles from Italian Campaign. For example Salerno,Monte La Difensa, Elba, Gothic Line, Monte Castello, Argenta, Bologne,Ortona, siege of Rimini Italian "Ofensiva di Natale" (which took place at the same time as German offensive in Ardennes) when Italian forces save few German division from encirclement by Americans. So Polish participation is to small to being mention as a major factor.
@@Camel-from-Arabia i mean, honestly most of the battles you mentioned are not nearly as famous as battle of Monte Casino.
Not mentioning the annihilation of a historical monastery
21:45
When you've fought allied troops for so long only to get captured by kids in Naples
Naples the only city in ww2 that kicked the Germans out without outside help.
@@rifleman4005 Yugoslavian partisans liberate most of the country without help of outside
@@Ranio_ well, in reality everybody received help. THe yugoslavians received ton of weapons. In italy it was very particular. We even created little partisans state that lasted for a while. Naples was liberated only by partisans and in Genova the germans surrendered to the partisans after some useless counterattacks
@@ygspnlr3680 in start of the war yugo partisans didn't receive and help because they wasn't recognized as officially army
@@ygspnlr3680 until 1943
And even later
Alexander: I mean, you could recce the area?
Patton: *Yes.*
th-cam.com/video/0R2JCVLrYaU/w-d-xo.html
I loved the video, I didn’t know that Brazil, Poland and France were actually involved in the assault. I googled some of their battles and I am surprised that Brazil did really good.
Brazil has send 25000 And lost 400
France had 250000 troops there they left to invade southern france in 1944
If you haven't already, you should check out Sabaton's "Smoking Snakes" song, it also shares some details of Brazil's noteworthy role in the Italy campaign.
Poland had between 50-100 thousands of soldiers during Italian campaign. They for example took Monte Cassino in the last assault.
@@mattbite The taking of Monte Cassino was due to both the Polish forces and the French soldiers, mostly Moroccan Goumiers and tirailleurs as well as Tunisian tirailleurs. I'd say Monte Cassino was a common effort by all allied troops from 12 nations which saw 3 underdog nations distinguished themselves: The Poles, The French and their colonial soldiers (2/3 of French losses were Maghrebins soldiers) as well as New Zealand
(Just a correction: at 17:35 , the Italian puppet-state was called "Italian SOCIAL Republic", not "Socialist". I'm no fan of socialists, but they had nothing to do with this)
Yay but italy was socialist
@@masac2853 yeah sure, and nazists were communists, and communists were fascists 🤣
@@masac2853
It’s like saying anarcho-capitalists are anarchist
@@teamcastro9187 not close.
@@masac2853 not until after the war with the PSI/PCI/DC coalition governments and that would be a stretch
26:24 “Where crosses glow on Anzio, where no soldier sleeps
And where hell’s six feet
Where Death does wait there’s no debate, we’ll charge and attack,
Going to Hell and Back”
-Sabaton
Wow you know a song. Shut up. No one cares. That's not even a quote by Sabaton. It was from Auddie Murphy's poem
@@adulescentuluscarnifex8412 let the man sing
@@adulescentuluscarnifex8412 damn why are you so mad
I’ve been waiting for this for a LONG time...
Then you are silly...this is a compilation video, they already released all of this previously lol.
@@fatalshore5068 yes I know. I was waiting for an entire compilation.
"Aided by the French Expeditionary Corps and even some Polish troops" Actually, the "some" Polish troops as well had the strength of an Corps (Polish II Corps / II. Korpus Wojska Polskiego) and their advance towards Monte Cassino had the same importance like the French advance in the valley. So if the French troop was mentioned with the exact unit, why not the Polish as well?
I don't know if this is still true, because formal cemeteries may have been created since, but at Monte Casino you will find Allied all along the slopes. But you'll find the Polish graves at the top, because they were the ones who took the place.
@@bigredwolf6 I think he is not a bad historian. If he is checking a history book for the French unit, at the battle o Monte Cassino, he will be able to read the name of Polish unit.
@@bigredwolf6 "Maybe they just overlooked it." If yes, this would be nothing but pure incompetence.
The only other possibility is ignorance...
No matter if a "research team" or Mr. Johnson himself.
@@Flurb_Xray He barely mentioned the Canadians as well. Over 26k casualties in that campaign. My great grandad got blown out of tanks there. 5th Armoured, 8th Hussars. This guy was not thorough with his research in terms of allies fighting, which he chalked down to two flags when in reality many Allies fought.
Actually a co worker of my dad fought at Monto Cassino with the German Fallschirmjäger. When he told old war stories he always spoke highly of the bravery of the Polish soldiers, who succeeded, where all others (including the famous Gurkhas) failed. He also used to say, that the Poles would have had far less losses, if the French would have pushed more on. I don't know if its true...
As a matter of fact, I think the bravery and importance of the Poles much undervalued today.
Another excellent history focused TH-cam channel. Picking up and protecting the mantle that many of the “history” channels on TV have abandoned.
Allies:How many lines of defense do u have
Keesiring:Yes
Kesselring* but yes
Last time I was early, Italy was actually having successes
How early were you then XD
1937 mate?
@@quedtion_marks_kirby_modding When TH-cam shows No views and 10 likes
Or I am immortal just like Queen Elizabeth II
Byzantine empire???
Last time I was this early, Italy still had an Emperor.
Last time I was this early Pompeii was still a bustling coastal city
Italy never had an emperor, the Roman Emperors were Roman, there was no Italy back then, it was only in around 1800s that any 'thought' of an Italy began to emerge.
@@darrenbutler9819 just... take a joke man.
@@martyrobbins9059 Jokes like that have to have some historical background though.
@@darrenbutler9819 Although "Italy" or "Italia" as a word is extremely ancient, nobody really knows the etymology. The romans, the venetian republic, the reign of naples, and every state that existed there acknowledged they "were in Italy" geographically, it's just that they were never united.
Italy as a single nation, that's the recent concept.
Love your videos! Could you do the italian resistance?
Bella ciao
This would give him a neverending supply of fascist tears...
@@FlagAnthem
Possibly. But I'd say that fascist tears are always a good thing.
My grandmother was a child in Sicily when the Allies invaded, she remembered hiding under a wagon while she could hear bombs going off nearby, and that there was an observation bunker near her house.
Italy: Former center of the Roman Empire, which literally owned _the entire Mediterranean Sea_ throughout Classical Antiquity. Location of the Vatican, site of the Colosseum, birthplace of the Renaissance, ancestral homeland of nearly the entire American Mafia, bore witness to such influential Maritime city-states as Venice and Genoa, etc.
Winston Churchill: "Soft underbelly of Europe."
I mean, Mongolia once had the largest continuous empire of all time, and yet in recent centuries became a minor and mostly unknown state. Just because Italy was once home to powerful states in the past, doesnt mean the modern Italy is powerful or had a good army/military industry in the 20th century.
@@Simoky99 Mongolia is an interesting case because the country itself isn't even home to the majority of ethnic Mongols-the neighboring Chinese prefecture of Inner Mongolia has roughly twice as many as Mongolia proper.
However, even today, I wouldn't call Mongolia the "soft underbelly of Asia" any more than I would call Italy the soft underbelly of Europe. To me, it just smacks of overconfidence to assume that a country is weak and easy to invade simply because they are outperformed by other neighboring countries. Italy was certainly unprepared for WWII, and they were consequently the easiest Axis power to take out, but only a fool would expect a land invasion to go smoothly.
@@Simoky99 The have a good Army And wasnt too bad 70 years ago
@@KurtisC93 It did go smoothly, Italy was the weak underbelly of Europe and Italian troops performed pretty terribly all war. Doesn't take anything away from Italy as a culture.
@@ashjones2627 No, it didn't-not in the long-term. This video even goes into detail about it. The initial invasion went relatively smoothly, but then Germany got involved and the easy victory they'd forecasted became a two-year entanglement costing several hundred thousand lives.
BRAZIL APARECEU FINALMENTE
Claro mano eles ajudaram na segunda guerra mundial
There’s a song by Sabaton about them called ‘Smoking Snakes’ if I remember correctly.
@@imbatman2702 pois rapaz o yt nao disse ou esqueceu que os brasileiros lutaram no monte castelo na italia
What?
@Fєliρασ77 No 30:33 aparece o simbolo da FEB, e alguns segundos após isso ele fala sobre e mostra alguns soldados brasileiros
One of my grandfathers was a radio operator on a US bomber in Italy. Before that, he flew on missions in North Africa. Later, he'd fly on missions in Austria and southern Germany.
I'm damn proud of him. Wish I could have met him.
Brazilian soldiers arrived in Italy on July 16, 1944. In September 1944, Brazilian soldiers took Massarosa, Camaiore and Monte Prano. In early 1945, they helped to conquer strategic points such as Monte Castelo, Castelnuovo and Montese.
Mark Clark still continues to go down in history as one of the most vain, self-centered generals to ever take command.
Potentially hundreds of thousands of casualties could have been avoided if he didn't go for personal glory.
Wow.
Who wouldn't want to take Rome?
@@mattbite a person who understands that defeating the enemy is more important than nice-sounding headlines at home.
Because of his decision to go for Rome, rather than to surround and prevent the retreat of the Axis forces, the war continued in Italy for just over 1 more year.
The effort that this man puts in his channel is incredible, keep going!
17:35 It was called the Italian Social Republic. Mussolini's socialist days have been long gone at this point.
I mean technically the nazis were called national socialists despite being fiercely opposed to socialism
@@thekommunistkrusader3921 And German, not Italian. And still doesn't change the FACT that it was not called that. Because they killed socialists.
@@AllCanadiaReject Well, nazi germans killed socialists too... actually italian fascists feared the word "socialist" was associated too much with "Marxist socialism" and they called their Republic "social". However fascists promoted a sort of corporatist socialism, where private property still existed but were The State controlled a large part of the national economy. Therefore "Socialist Republic" is not so far from being true...
watched this guy for a year, still haven't seen him use his armchairs
My grandfather was a tank commander with the US in Italy, he told me a few stories as a child, showed me his medals which included a Bronze Star, but mostly, he just said it was really horrible, and didn't ever want to talk about it. He was a great grandfather who took me on lots of walks as a little kid but there were a few times he got really angry really fast in a way that didn't make sense, at the time anyway. He would always listen to Dodgers games on a little radio outside... now, as an adult who understands PTSD, everything about him makes complete sense, but I remember as a kid not understanding why he was so distant and kind of always seemed in his own world. He experienced and did things that were not only traumatic, but he knew that people who hadn't been though it could never understand so it was pointless to say anything... and it's crazy thinking of how he came from a generation where the way he dealt with it was the only option. He would never have been okay accepting any outside help... it was honestly probably not many years since he passed away that PTSD became something publicly discussed. I wish I had been able to get to know him better.
Alexander: How much of western Sicily did you do reconnaissance missions?
Patton: *Yes*
After being injured in a battle, my Great Grandpa who was deployed in Italy met my Great Grandma who was a nurse. Interesting to learn the history of how they got there!
Brazilian Expeditionary Force also gave their very best in the Italian Campaign. The Brazilian 1st Division of the FEB was subordinate to the Allied 15th Army Group under Field Marshal Harold Alexander (later succeeded by General Mark Clark), via the US Fifth Army of Lieutenant General Mark Clark (later succeeded by Lieutenant General Lucian Truscott) and the US IV Corps of Major General Willis D. Crittenberger. Sadly 75 yrs after such event new generations hardly have known about (even including ourselves Brazilians).
And also we had some of the most dumb, yet smart decisions people have ever made in a war. Seriously, lighting a campfire on the middle of a Battlefield? Who would have thought of that
@@psga5555 the germans thought no one would be stupid enough to do something like that and didnt attack thinking it was a trap lol
The one thing I like the most about this masterpiece of a vidio is the map, they just look so unbelivebly crisp
For a look at Italian life and death during the allied invasion, view Roberto Rossellini's "Rome Open City"...
There's more to a war than just a chess game...
My grandfather was an Anzio. He had part of his shoulder blown off and spent 14 months at a military hospital recuperating.
Thank you for covering this. Italians are merely seen as not fighting hard but in fact fought harder than the Germans
Yeah…..no
@@scottwhitley3392 In truth, yes
@@leandromoretti3711 not even close
@@leandromoretti3711 in eating pizza , yes
This video is great, a video about the unification of Germany would be nice
I'm guessing you meant to say "This video is great. A video about German unification would be nice" which you're not wrong theres not many if any videos about the Franco Prussian war or even the build up with Otto Von Bismarck
@@chrisprizzle278 Just... dont
Which one? In 843? 962? 1815? 1871? 1939? 1990? Lol just saying it’s happened a lot
@@TheLocalLt I thought it was pretty obvious I'm talking about the Franco-Prussian war of 1871 that created the German empire
@@chrisprizzle278 wasn’t replying to you I was replying to OP. Idk why TH-cam doesn’t let you tag the OP anymore
8:50 - 9:05
Memories of playing Day of Defeat are flooding back to me.
My dad was in the invasion of sicily he was a british paratrooper he told me storys about battles he was shot in the leg and he still has the bullet in his leg he died in 2019 age 89
Thanks!
Alexander: You can do some l i g h t recon
Patton: YAY
Patton: *takes half of island*
26:46 nice reference to Wojtek :D
A video about the Brazilian participation on the campaign, especially the fight at Monte Castelo, would be nice. My grandfather was being sent to fight in Italy, but the war ended before the transport left the Brazilian coast, and it was ordered back.
Fun fact: the smoking snake emblem is the result of an "internal joke". Detractors of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) in Brazil would say that "It's more likely for a snake to smoke a pipe than for the FEB to go the front and fight". When the troops really joined the fight, the snake became their symbol.
Lê sinto muito em dizer, mas nossos camaradas estatunidense não creditam a gente em muita coisa, não somos lembrados, mas fomos importante na batalha com a Itália e teve uma história que daria um filme com certeza se fosse estatunidense.
My grandfather grew up in Calabria and recalled the relief when Allied troops came through. He said they were helpful and gave them food. This ultimately led to his decision to move to the states years later
Even though Italy hadn't the best equipment nor the best troops of all Europe, we all must recognise that the Italians tried so hard to defend their homeland with all they could in a war which they didn't want to participate. But they fought hard anyway with the best they had.
Salutes from Brazil!
No wrong. Italians didnt care about defending The country. The fascists did. Italians tried to defend as much they could The nation but they were happy to slaughter Mussolini like a pig with his whore And try to build the country anew
Dear Armchair Historian,
please, do an episode about the Brazilian
expeditionary force!
They fought in Italy
Otherwise known as "That Time when Mussolini Recieved the Allied Bukkake."
ROFL
@Kyle Palomares
Similar to:
"Why was the ground all white after Custer's Last Stand?"
"Because the Indians kept on coming and coming and coming..."
@@drops2cents260 I will remember this forever
Last time I was this early, Rudolph Hess was still Deputy Furher
And then he was sent to prison because he only wanted peace. And murdered by the British agents in 1987.
These videos are always so quality... thank you for putting in the work!
British paratroopers having to hold out for 3 days for reinforcements to take a bridge
Me: hmmm, where have I heard that one before
Another great video and series of animations as usual, Armchair Historian! Thank you for all that you do
This channel is so well descriptive and good. Love the channel :)
8:00 The Italian cockade is red outside and green inside, not the other way around.
30:30 I have watched the whole video just to see something about the brazilian expeditionary forces actions in Italy, specially in Monte Castello, which we won by sheer ignorance and disprepare of our troops, which led enemies to believe we were doing baits or fake attacks and moves which ended up giving us victories and an edge to the allies. Diversity made a difference, and brazilians behaved like brazilians during all the expedition, with high morale, faith, confidence and a bit of humor (as depicted in some photographs) and adapting and improvising as they had no adequate equipment to fight nor for the climate or terrain. Cobras fumantes, eterna é a sua vitória.
🇧🇷
I love how at 24:47 you included Wojtek the polish corporal
My grandfather was in " The Italian campaign" we tried to get some stories out of him provoking an
initial angry reaction along the lines of " we don't want to know" but he did mention the reluctance of the italians
to fight and to surrender quickly when we (inc the americans) got serious and the time they thought they were all going to fry to death
when vesuvius erupted in 1944.
Sounds like someone who have done war crimes
@@someguy7723 in general people are scared to recall war stories
I thought this was hitler at 2:16
Lol me to
I’m not even looking but assuming it’s the guy who’s supposed to be DeGaulle...
same
Me to
Yeah, seems like Hitler, but that man is supposed to represent Charles de Gaulle.
I hope you upload video about the explanation of the battle of Luzon or the liberation of the Philippines in WW2.
Also i love all video that makes me a lot to have experience on map wars or something.
Keep it doing a great historian!.
Proud to say that my granpa joined the war against the Repubblica di Salò after surrendering to the allies in a costal province of centre Italy
If Italiens arent surrendering, then they are busy switching side
Inserting the timeline at the bottom was a really nice touch
It's crazy listening to this knowing that my grandfather lived threw and watched this unfold when he was a young boy.
2:27 Hearts of iron 4, sound effects and menu UI and everything!
Eisenhower playing video games that is pure gold right there
This content is genuinely extremely high quality. Thank you for making it!
Just an FYI Catania is pronounced more like "Ka-Ta-Ni-Ah" not "Kah-Ta-Knee-Ya" eg: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:It-Catania.ogg