Armoured Warfare in the Italian Campaign 1943 to 1945: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives

The Second World War campaigns in North Africa, on the Eastern Front and in northwest Europe were dominated by armored warfare, but the battles in Italy were not. The mountainous topography of the Italian peninsula ensured that it was foremost an infantry war, so it could be said that tanks played a supporting role. Yet, as Anthony Tucker-Jones demonstrates, in the battles fought from the Allied landings in Sicily in 1943 to the German surrender after the crossing of the Po in 1945, tanks, self-propelled guns and armored cars were essential elements in the operations of both sides. His selecti. Read more... Abstract: Photographic history of armoured warfare throughout the Italian campaign Axis and Allied tanks in action at Salerno, Anzio, Monte Cassino Rare photographs of the German, Italian and Allied military vehicles of the period Read more... The Second World War campaigns in North Africa, on the Eastern Front and in northwest Europe were dominated by armored warfare, but the battles in Italy were not. The mountainous topography of the Italian peninsula ensured that it was foremost an infantry war, so it could be said that tanks played a supporting role. Yet, as Anthony Tucker-Jones demonstrates, in the battles fought from the Allied landings in Sicily in 1943 to the German surrender after the crossing of the Po in 1945, tanks, self-propelled guns and armored cars were essential elements in the operations of both sides. His selection of rare wartime photographs shows armor in battle at Salerno, Anzio and Monte Cassino, during the struggle for the Gustav Line, the advance on Rome and the liberation of northern Italy. In addition, they reveal the full array of Axis and Allied armored vehicles that was deployed - most famous among them were the German Mk IVs, Panthers, and Tigers and Allied Stuarts, Chafees, Shermans and Churchills. This volume in Anthony Tucker-Jones's series of books on armored warfare in the Second World War gives readers a vivid impression of the Italian landscapes over which the campaign was fought, the wide range of military vehicles that were used, and the grueling conditions endured by the men who fought in them This WWII pictorial history illustrates the wide array of armored vehicles deployed by Allied and Axis powers in Italy. The Second World War campaigns in North Africa, on the Eastern Front and in northwest Europe were dominated by armored warfare, but the battles in Italy were not. The Italian peninsula’s mountainous terrain was best suited to an infantry war. Yet from the Allied landings in Sicily in 1943 to the German surrender after the crossing of the Po in 1945, tanks, self-propelled guns and armored cars were essential elements in the operations of both sides. Anthony Tucker-Jones’s selection of rare wartime photographs shows armor in battle at Salerno, Anzio and Monte Cassino, during the struggle for the Gustav Line, the advance on Rome and the liberation of northern Italy. These dramatic images reveal the full array of Axis and Allied armored vehicles that was deployed, including German Panzers, Panthers, and Tigers and Allied Stuarts, Chafees, Shermans and Churchills. They also vividly illustrate the Italian landscapes over which the campaign was fought and the grueling conditions endured by the men who fought in it. Content: Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Introduction: An Infantry War Photograph Sources Chapter One -- The Luftwaffe's Sicilian Panzers Chapter Two -- The Race to Messina Chapter Three -- Kesselring's Italian Coup Chapter Four -- Battle of the Bridgeheads Chapter Five -- Mussolini's Shanghaied Panzers Chapter Six -- Tanks at Monte Cassino Chapter Seven -- Piercing the Gustav Line Chapter Eight -- Gothic Horror Chapter Nine -- Defeat on the Po.