Festung Europa (The Intelligence Handbook For January - August 1944)

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Festung Europa (The Intelligence Handbook For January - August 1944)

By Array

Publisher: Buttlefront Miniatures 2006 192 Pages

ISBN: 0958275505

PDF 107 MB

After conquering Sicily in July and August 1943, the victorious Allies turned their attention to the Italian mainland, dubbed 'the soft underbelly of Europe' by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

An occupying force

Following secret negotiations the new Italian government of Marshal Badoglio signed an armistice with the Allies. Any hopes of a peaceful reso­lution to the conflict in the Mediterra­nean were dashed when German troops occupied Rome within hours of this being announced, and began to disarm or imprison much of the Italian Army. Their response was so fast that it pre-empted Operation Giant, the planned seizure of Rome by Allied airborne troops. Germany's Wehrmacht, their armed forces, assumed the role of an army of occupation and speedily set about fortifying the Ital­ian Peninsula. The scene was set for a long and bitterly fought campaign.