Allied Tanks Italy: World War Two (Tanks Illustrated No 20)

Comparatively few people today would regard the Italian Campaign of 1943-45 as being one in which the use of armour was critical, yet one has only to consider the fearful loss of life incurred in the capture of Montecassino to digest the full implications of what happened in circumstances where tanks were unable to influence the nature of the fighting. Elsewhere, although the terrain also favoured the defence it was the combination of all arms coupled with sound tactics, that ensured a slow but sustained Allied advance up the peninsula. In Italy teamwork between reconnaissance units, tanks, tank destroyers, artillery infantry and assault engineers was brought to a pitch of efficiency sometimes equalled but seldom bettered in other theatres of war; in the end the reward for such continuous effort was a dashing pursuit of the beaten enemy and the first German surrender on the mainland of Europe. It would be impossible in a book this ize to tell the full story of Allied armour in Italy, or even attempt to do justice to the many armoured units from allover the world who fought there. Rather my aim has been to capture the feel of soldiering in armour in Italy, including some aspects which were peculiar to this theatre of war. I hope that those who were there will find the photographs evocative and that those who were not will discover a little of what it wa like. My sincere thanks are due to the following for their invaluable assistance in a sembling this collection: the National Army Mu eum· the Queen Elizabeth II Army Memorial Museum ew Zealand: the Public Archives, Canada· the South African ational Museum of Military History (SANMMH)' The United States Army Military History Institute (USAMHI), and James Enos; the Sikorski Polish Institute; and Krzysztof Barbarski. Bryan Perrett