Ahead of Prince Harry's visit to mark the 70th anniversary of the battle of Monte Cassino on the 18 May, author Richard Hall tells us about the sacrifices that Italian men and women made during the country's WWII campaign - sacrifices that largely went under-reported and overlooked. His move to the rolling hills of Umbria several years ago inspired his research into the campaign - and also inspired him to write a novel on the subject.
RJJ Hall
Remembering Italy's forgotten campaign
Posted on: Thu 08-May-14 12:12:48
(16 comments )
A war memorial in Rome.
18 May 1944: is this a date we should remember? Ten years ago I thought not; I had heard of Monte Cassino but I didn't know what happened there or even where it was.
Yet the date marks the end of one of the hardest-fought actions of WWII. Four battles were fought at Cassino between January and May 1944 in dreadful winter conditions - soaking wet and freezing cold - in the mountains of central Italy, between Naples and Rome.
We hear a lot now about WWI. And we hear about certain battles of WWII - Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, El Alamein and the Normandy landings. But we don't hear about the Italian campaign. Yet from July 1943 to May 1945 hundreds of thousands of Allied servicemen (from six continents) fought their way up the peninsula, across well-defended rivers and rugged mountains.
So why don't we remember how our fathers and uncles footslogged from Sicily to Trieste - a thousand miles to the north - suffering heavy casualties as they went? Well, this forgetting isn't new.
"We are the D-Day Dodgers in Sunny Italy." Thus went the soldiers' bitter song (to the tune of Lili Marlene). Even then their fortitude was overlooked. Italy was just a side show: the landings in France were the real thing. And before May 1944 many of the war correspondents had left - to cover the Normandy landings.
Let us hope - for the sake of all the veterans - that this will be the moment when Britain finally remembers the Italian campaign and how much we owe to those who served in it.
So the final breakthrough at Cassino and the liberation of Rome on 4th remained under-reported: overshadowed by D-Day. But the Italian campaign didn't stop at Rome. The Allied armies battled across the Apennines and then the Po river, liberating Milan, Turin, Venice and finally Trieste. Whilst always controversial, the campaign was important: it opened a second front, taking pressure off Russia; it pinned down 25 German divisions that could otherwise have been in Normandy; and it provided a springboard for the landings in southern France.
I have loved Italy since I stayed in Naples in 1952. Later I lived and worked in Milan for two years and visited many parts of the country. But I found little reference to the war. Only when I read about the history did I understand that much of Italy – including the ancient hilltop towns and quiet olive groves that I love – had recently been a battlefield in which many of our parents’ generation risked or gave their lives. Now I cannot visit Italy without feeling a debt of gratitude to those men and women who served in its liberation.
The 70th anniversary may be the last occasion when many campaign veterans will return to Cassino. It is therefore marvellous news that Prince Harry will attend the commemorations there on 18 May 2014.
So let us hope – for the sake of all the veterans - that this will be the moment when Britain finally remembers the Italian campaign and how much we owe to those who served in it.
Richard's book Theatres of War is out now and available from Amazon.