The Brutal Truth Behind the Allied Invasion of Italy in 1943

Comments · 241

• PA

  @paolodicarli4220 · 2 months ago

  My Grand-Dad saved 2 British soldiers in the country of the Viterbo province. He was awarded by the British Army at the end of the war. I am so proud of him!

  43

• MI

  @MichaelLeBlanc-p4f · 2 months ago

  My uncle served there with the Royal Canadian Engineer. I have his map where he marked his route through Italy and on to southern France. Also have a couple of letters and photos sent to him by his Italian girl friend. An old Italian lady in Toronto translated they for me. Her daughter said they made her cry

  5

• PO

  @Poejah · 2 months ago

  My grandfather died in the battles after Monte Cassino. Body never found, just his watch. His name is on the Cassino war memorial. His death impacted my family's fortune's for the following  generations.

  36

• RI

  @richardfitzgerald7365 · 2 months ago

  My uncle was a territorial officer in New Zealand and as such was held back as a trainer. He was so desperate to get away that he took a drop in rank to join the 24th battalion in Italy. 3 weeks later he was dead, killed at Orsogna at the age of 22. He lies with the Canadians at Moro River.

  11

• ZC

  @zcam1969 · 3 months ago (edited)

  my dad parachuted into Sicily in July 1943 with the 82nd Airborne Division and fought along side the British 8th Army all the way to Rome . he would have liked this video

  19

• AN

  @anbealbochtdc · 3 months ago

  My grandad's cousin was an Irish Guardsman at Anzio, he's still there now.

  30

• AR

  @ardshielcomplex8917 · 3 months ago

  Subscribed, wherever James Holland goes I follow.

  8

• BA

  @barneyrubble9309 · 3 months ago (edited)

  Spike Milligans "where have all the bullets gone" is not only hillarious, its also a very touching account of a soldiers experience of fighting in Italy. His memoirs are an excellent read of a normal bloke during WW2, highly recommended.

  34

• GO

  @Gobsmacked52 · 2 months ago (edited)

  My Dad, a Monaghan Irishman, landed at Salerno as a British soldier and fought till the end, in Austria. He never spoke of it in my presence, and seldom in Mum's hearing. It must have been awful. He came to Canada after the war and started a construction company. All of his hires were Veterans of Italy, from either side. Brits, Canadians, Germans and Italians. The two guys my dad was tightest with were a German and an Italian. They were quite the bunch.

  2

• KI

  @kimchipig · 3 months ago

  Not a single mention of the word "Canada," which did some of the hardest fighting of the campaign. You quote Farley Mowat, but neglect to mention he was Canadian.

  47

• MR

  @MrRunner · 2 months ago

  I worked with a chap in the 70&apos;s, who had been a (volunteer) driver of a landing craft at Anzio. &nbsp;Truth be told, he was a bit `woobly&apos; and had frequent mood swings, but a &nbsp;good man nonetheless. He opened up once ( I wouldn&apos;t have dreamt of asking).<br>My pal was on top, steering heading for the beaches, when an 88mm shell went clean through the front door, and the packed toops, killing most, into the engine room, exploded, sinking the boat, killing everyone else, except for my pal who was thrown high into the air. He was retrieved from the water, more dead than alive and spent the rest of the war in recovery. &nbsp;He lost a lung, kidney, all his teeth, spleen and severely burned.<br>His false teeth never fitted, so he fixed them and others who asked. &nbsp;He left our employer, without saying goodbye and went to work as a teeth repair man.<br>I never once heard him complain about anything.

  2

• PE

  @peteross1246 · 2 months ago

  My uncle was killed in north east Italy in 43 and is buried at the Sangro River war cemetery . I am planning a visit later this year.

  3