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As the final British and French troops were

evacuated from the
beaches of Dunkirk in June

1940, the outlook for
the Allies appeared grim

in the early stages of
the Second World War.

Shortly after, Hitler's Nazi
forces marched into Paris

and France fell under German occupation.

For the German Führer, the
United Kingdom, separated

from continental Europe
only by the narrow English

Channel, became his next target.

Yet, despite the defeat
at Dunkirk, the miraculous

rescue of thousands of Allied
soldiers revealed a critical truth.

Hitler was not as invincible
as he had seemed.

When the Battle of Britain
commenced, a German

victory was far from certain, despite
the Luftwaffe's apparent superiority.

The brave pilots of the Royal Air Force,

RAF, defended their island nation
with unwavering determination.

But just as the tides of war seemed

focused on Britain, Hitler
made an unexpected move.

Turning his attention
eastward, he launched a surprise

attack on the Soviet
Union, violating the non

aggression pact he had established
with Joseph Stalin at the war's outset.

Across the vast, frozen
plains of Russia, the

German army quickly
discovered that swift victory was

far more elusive than anticipated.

Meanwhile, in December
1941, Hitler's Axis partner, Japan,

bombed Pearl Harbour.

This act of aggression
dragged the United States

into the conflict, transforming the
war into a truly global struggle by 1942.

As the world descended
into chaos, it became

clear that Hitler had gravely
underestimated the strength

and resilience of his enemies.

With America, the Soviet
Union and Great Britain

now united against him, the
Allies were poised to strike back.

From the scorching
deserts of North Africa to

the dense jungles of the Far East, wherever

Hitler and his Axis of Evil sought to

oppress, the Allies stood
ready to confront them.

In 1940, the people of occupied Europe
were forced to bow to the iron fist of

Nazi rule.

A brutal police state followed
swiftly behind the invading armies.

Private transport was banned,
independent newspapers were either

shut down or transformed
into pro-German propaganda

outlets, and entire populations lived
under the constant shadow of fear.

Most horrifying of all, Jewish families
vanished from their homes overnight.

Many, like the family of young diarist Anne

Frank in Amsterdam,
were driven into hiding.

Concentration camps began
to appear across Europe.

Initially used to imprison
Hitler's political opponents in

the early 1930s, these camps evolved
into centres of unspeakable horror.

Hitler's vision of an Aryan
master race demanded

the extermination of anyone
he deemed undesirable.

Jews, communists, homosexuals,
disabled individuals and ethnic minorities

were systematically rounded
up, imprisoned and murdered as

the Nazis tightened their
grip on occupied territories.

Governments across
Europe fell under Nazi control.

Pro-German leaders
were installed in positions of

power, none more
infamous than Henri Petain in

France, who led the Vichy government
under direct German influence.

Yet, amid the terror and
oppression, a flicker of hope remained.

Hitler's failure to conquer
Britain and the resilience

shown during the Blitz
bolstered the resolve of

the British people to resist Nazi tyranny.

By 1941, Britain had endured the worst of

the Luftwaffe's attacks and
was beginning to fight back.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill's
stirring speeches echoed across

the continent via BBC
broadcasts, rallying the spirit

of resistance with the symbol of V for

Victory, accompanied by the iconic opening
notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

Across occupied Europe,
people tapped out the victory

rhythm in defiance of their captors.

In London, exiled politicians
and military leaders began

to organise and inspire
their nations from afar.

Among them was General
Charles de Gaulle, who

broadcast messages to the
French people, urging them

to hold on to hope and
rise against Nazi occupation.

Though resistance movements
were still in their infancy

and unlikely to dislodge the Nazis on their

own, Hitler was about to make
a catastrophic strategic blunder.

Blinded by his hatred of
communism, Hitler launched

Operation Barbarossa on
22 June 1941, amassing a

vast army along the Eastern Front to
confront Stalin's formidable Red Army.

Having secured alliances with
Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria,

millions of German soldiers
marched onto Soviet soil.

The invasion sparked
the largest land battle in

history, and in the initial
months, German forces

made rapid gains, capturing
key cities like Minsk,

Kiev and Odessa and pushing towards Moscow.

However, while Nazi generals
planned their next moves,

events unfolding on the other side of the

world would dramatically
shift the balance of power

in what had, until then, been Hitler's war.

In the Pacific, tensions had
escalated between Japan

and the United States, leading
to an American oil embargo.

In response, Japan targeted
Allied territories for their resources.

With Japan preparing
to move its forces south,

Stalin was able to redeploy his troops from

the border with Japanese-occupied
northeastern China.

Elite Siberian divisions poured into
Moscow and halted the German advance.

By 5 December 1941, the German offensive on

Moscow was abandoned, and the
Soviets launched a fierce counterattack.

Meanwhile, Japanese fleets were
quietly assembling in the Pacific.

On 7 December 1941, they
changed the course of history.

In the early morning
hours, waves of Japanese

aircraft descended upon Pearl
Harbour, devastating the US Pacific fleet.

Battleships were bombarded,
airfields destroyed, and over 2

,000 American lives were lost in just 90

minutes as the skies
filled with smoke and fire.

The attack didn't end there.

Japanese forces launched assaults
across Allied territories in the Pacific.

The following day, on 8
December, President Franklin D.

Roosevelt declared war on Japan.

The United States, long
adhering to an isolationist

stance, was now fully
engaged in the global conflict.

Not only were the Americans
prepared to confront

Japan, but they also turned their focus
towards Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.

The German nation now
faced an adversary far

greater than anything Hitler or
his supporters had ever anticipated.

Having signed the
Tripartite Pact with Japan and

Italy the previous year, Hitler was
now obligated to honour the agreement.

The United States, with
its vast resources and

enormous population ready for
war, presented a formidable challenge.

Yet, from his Wolf's Lair
headquarters in Eastern

Europe, Hitler remained jubilant.

With Japan locked in
conflict with America, he

believed victory was within his grasp.

On 11 November 1941, in a move that

surprised few, he declared
war on the United States.

It was precisely the
response President Franklin D.

Roosevelt had anticipated
and, to some extent, welcomed.

Hitler's declaration provided the
justification Roosevelt needed to

send American troops
into the European theatre of

war, offering critical support
to Winston Churchill and

the British in their fight
against the Third Reich.

Roosevelt and Churchill
had forged a strong bond

since Churchill assumed
office in 1940, but by

entering the war against
Hitler, Roosevelt found himself

allied with an unexpected partner,
the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

This alliance was extraordinary,
given the stark political

differences between Roosevelt and Stalin.

While Roosevelt placed a degree of trust in

the Soviets, Churchill remained
cautious, willing to leverage

Soviet strength, but ever
wary of Stalin's intentions.

As the war progressed
towards its conclusion, tensions

between the United States and the
Soviet Union would begin to surface.

But for now, the combined military power of

the so-called Big Three
rendered Hitler's dreams

of conquest increasingly unattainable.

On the Russian front,
as battles raged around

Moscow and the tide turned
against Germany, Hitler's

decisions grew more erratic.

Refusing to accept defeat, he
declared himself commander

in-chief of the German army, assuming
full control over military strategy.

He ordered that there would be no retreat

from Moscow or the broader Eastern Front.

This stubbornness frustrated
his generals, who began to

lose faith in their Fuhrer's
leadership as the situation deteriorated.

While the Soviets held firm in the East,

Japan was making rapid
advances in the Pacific.

The Japanese military had seized a
string of territories rich in resources.

Guam, the Philippines, Malaya,
Hong Kong and Singapore all fell swiftly.

Japanese forces pushed as far south as the

Solomon Islands,
threatening Australian territory.

Confident in their
momentum, they set their sights

on the small but strategically
critical Midway Atoll.

However, the Battle of Midway in June 1942

marked a turning point.

After six months of unbroken
victories, Japan suffered

a devastating defeat, forcing
them onto the defensive.

As American forces
surged into the Pacific, the

United States prepared
for its first major offensive,

the Battle of Guadalcanal
in the Solomon Islands.

For many American
servicemen, the horrors of jungle

warfare were a rude awakening.

The dense, disease-infested
forests of Guadalcanal presented

brutal challenges, and the
fighting was fierce and unforgiving.

Meanwhile, 800 miles to
the west, Australian soldiers

faced their own gruelling battle.

General Douglas MacArthur
had mobilised Australian troops to

defend the vital stronghold of
Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.

He feared that if the port fell, Northern

Australia would be vulnerable to invasion.

The Japanese had previously
attempted to capture Port

Moresby in May 1942, but were
repelled in the Battle of the Coral Sea.

This time, rather than
launching a seaborne assault,

Japanese commanders opted
for a land invasion, sending

Imperial troops over the treacherous
Owen Stanley Mountain Range.

Australian and American forces
responded, embarking on one

of the most arduous campaigns
of the war along the Kokoda Track.

Battling through unforgiving
jungles and over towering ridges,

the soldiers faced extreme conditions.

By the time they completed the trail, the

survivors were so exhausted
they could barely continue the fight.

Meanwhile, at Milne Bay, on the eastern tip

of New Guinea, the Allies confronted
yet another Japanese assault.

As reinforcements flooded
into the Pacific theatre, another

front of the war was drawing attention.

The barren expanses of North Africa.

In the subterranean war rooms
beneath Whitehall, Winston

Churchill watched events in
Africa with mounting concern.

The famed Nazi commander
Erwin Rommel, known as

the Desert Fox, had
seized Tobruk, a critical

port in Libya, from Allied forces.

Tobruk was a key strategic asset in the

North African campaign,
and its proximity to Egypt

posed a dire threat to the Suez Canal,

a lifeline for British supply routes
and control over the Middle East.

The fall of British-held Singapore to the

Japanese in February,
coupled with a humiliating defeat

in North Africa, left Churchill
deeply concerned about

the future of the British
Empire and the free world.

He feared that Cairo
would be the next target.

Determined to turn the
tide, he sent General

Bernard Montgomery to
North Africa to revitalise the

Eighth Army and prepare
for a counter-offensive.

At the same time, Churchill
sought support from his allies.

He pushed for a large-scale Anglo-American

landing in North West Africa, but he knew

that Stalin had been
demanding a second front

against Germany since
mid-1941, while Roosevelt was

eager to strike directly
at occupied Europe.

In August 1942, Churchill
travelled to Moscow to

meet Stalin in person
and justify his strategy.

If the Allies could, as he put it,

end the year in possession of North Africa,

Hitler's so-called soft
underbelly would be exposed.

This would pave the way for an invasion

of Italy, and Churchill reassured Stalin
that a landing in France would follow.

Stalin, though sceptical, agreed.

He pledged that Soviet
forces could hold out

against Hitler's army through the winter.

Yet even as Churchill flew home, the German

advance on Stalingrad
was reaching a critical point.

Over a million Axis troops were just 50

miles from the city, but
this was no ordinary battle.

Stalingrad held symbolic
and strategic importance.

Hitler, consumed by
his hatred for the Soviets,

saw its capture as a personal victory.

For Stalin, it was equally significant.

Positioned on the Volga
River, Stalingrad was a

key transport hub linking the
Caspian Sea to northern Russia.

If it fell, the Germans would have a

direct route into the
oil-rich Caucasus, cutting

off vital fuel supplies
to the Soviet war effort.

While Churchill and Roosevelt
finalised plans for North

Africa, Stalin prepared
for a desperate defence.

Civilians, including women
and children, were forced to

dig trenches and fortifications, while
Stalin decreed that no one was to flee.

Retreat, he feared, would
demoralise his troops.

On 23rd August 1942,
the Luftwaffe unleashed a

devastating aerial assault on the city.

Thousands perished in the firestorm
as entire districts were reduced to rubble.

Despite the Soviet air force
outnumbering the Germans,

the Luftwaffe dominated the skies,
relentlessly bombing Stalingrad for weeks.

By 13th September, General
Friedrich Paulus and the

German 6th Army launched
their ground assault, marking

the start of one of the
war's most brutal battles.

As the fight raged on,
Stalingrad itself became

the battlefield, soldiers
engaged in savage, street-by

street, hand-to-hand
combat amid the ruins.

Civilians fought alongside the Red
Army, determined to defend their city.

By mid-September, the Germans had seized 90

% of Stalingrad, splitting
Soviet forces into two

isolated pockets along the Volga.

Hitler was on the brink
of a long -coveted victory.

But as the Russian winter
set in, the tide began to turn.

Bitter winds froze the Volga, and thick fog

crippled the Luftwaffe's ability to
supply German troops on the ground.

While Hitler waited
for better weather in his

Ukrainian headquarters, his forces in
Africa were suffering a similar reversal.

In the blistering desert,
Montgomery's 8th Army was

pushing back Rommel's forces at El Alamein.

Hitler had ordered his troops to stand and

fight to the death, but
Rommel, unwilling to

sacrifice his men needlessly,
made the decision to withdraw.

Rommel's forces retreated
to Tunisia, and for Churchill,

it was a decisive victory.

Reflecting on the moment, he famously
wrote, Before Alamein, we had no victory.

After it, we had no defeats.

Determined to capitalize
on this success, the Allies

pressed forward with the
long-planned invasion of North Africa.

Under the careful command
of American General Dwight D.

Eisenhower, the plan was to seize key ports

and airfields in Morocco and Algeria in a

simultaneous assault on
Casablanca, Oran and Algiers before

advancing into Tunisia.

The operation was
codenamed Operation Torch.

With the French still
dominant in North Africa,

the Allies hoped for
cooperation from Vichy France.

However, Roosevelt was
wary of British involvement in

the initial invasion, fearing
it would reignite tensions.

Just two years earlier, after the fall of

France, Churchill had
ordered the destruction of the

French fleet at Oran to prevent
it from falling into German hands.

The resulting bitterness between
the two nations was still raw.

To navigate this delicate
situation, Roosevelt decided that

British forces would
delay their involvement by a

week, giving the Americans time
to negotiate with Vichy commanders.

Roosevelt sought to sideline
Charles de Gaulle, presenting

General Henri Giraud as an
alternative leader for the French forces.

Giraud, though aligned
with Vichy, had refused to

cooperate with the Nazis and had
spent two years as a prisoner of war.

While Roosevelt reached
out to Marshal Pétain, the

leader of Vichy France, in October, he also

dispatched General Mark Clark,
America's youngest three-star

general, on a covert mission.

Smuggled into Algeria by
submarine, Clark met with

Vichy officials in Churchill,
attempting to secure their

cooperation ahead of the invasion.

The stakes were high.

French forces in the
region far outnumbered the

combined British and American troops.

Clark's negotiations made progress,
with senior French commanders

agreeing to work with Giraud.

But Roosevelt's plan faced
an unexpected complication.

Admiral François Darlan, the
second highest-ranking officer

in Vichy France, was in Algiers
at the time of the landings.

Moreover, Pétain had flatly rejected
Roosevelt's appeal for support.

Despite the uncertainties,
the operation moved ahead.

The invasion was set
for November 8th, 1942.

The Western Naval Task
Force, comprising 102 ships

and over 24,000 American troops under the

command of the fiercely
determined General George S.

Pétain, set sail across the
treacherous, U-boat -infested Atlantic.

Pétain's forces targeted
Casablanca, while a central force

of 18,500 American
troops was bound for Oran.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Task
Force, consisting of British

and American troops under
Major General Charles Ryder,

prepared to land in Algiers.

As the largest amphibious
assault since the war

began, Operation Torch was about
to reshape the course of the conflict.

Following the successful landings,
British General Kenneth Anderson

took command, while
American ex-stunt pilot Jimmy

Doolittle oversaw air
operations for Pétain.

Just days after Montgomery's
victory at El Alamein

on the eve of the invasion, Giraud was

taken by submarine to Eisenhower's
headquarters in Gibraltar,

buried deep within the rock's base.

Under the impression
that he would be leading

the invasion, Giraud was
momentarily confused as Eisenhower,

through an interpreter, outlined
the true nature of the mission.

Eventually, Giraud accepted
a more passive role, preparing

to step in later as the
administrator of French North Africa.

In the early hours of 8th November, Allied

ships approached the African coast,
but the operation was far from seamless.

A coup to overthrow the Pro-Vichy commander

in Casablanca had failed,
leaving French defences fully

prepared for Pétain's forces.

American troops and destroyers
came under intense fire,

but despite the resistance,
Pétain's men secured the

beachhead, and within two days,
US troops entered Casablanca.

Meanwhile, the Central Attack
Force faced difficulties landing

near Oran due to shallow waters.

But after some damage
to the landing crafts and

a brief skirmish with French
defenders, Allied troops

pushed inland through the desert.

In contrast, Algiers saw
a more successful coup,

with some French generals even
welcoming the invading forces.

With swift victories secured
in Casablanca, Oran and

Algiers, Eisenhower emerged
as a highly capable military leader.

Despite these triumphs,
political tensions remained.

Upon entering Algiers, the
Allies discovered that Admiral

Darlan, a senior Vichy figure,
was in the city on a private visit.

Recognising an opportunity, Eisenhower
opened negotiations with Darlan,

offering him continued command of
French forces if he sided with the Allies.

This move sparked outrage
among free French supporters,

particularly Charles de
Gaulle, who was incensed at

the idea of maintaining
Vichy rule, complete with

its oppressive policies
and concentration camps.

Hitler and Mussolini were
equally furious when they

learned of Darlan's betrayal,
prompting the immediate occupation

of Vichy France.

Meanwhile, in North Africa,
Rommel realised the threat

posed by advancing American
forces which could trap

him between Montgomery's
Eighth Army and the new Allied front.

In response, Hitler dispatched
thousands of troops and

Tiger tanks to reinforce Axis positions.

Uncertainty in Tunisia allowed
German battalions to flood

the region by air and sea.

Planes from Italian bases
bombarded the advancing Allies,

while the onset of torrential
December rains turned

the terrain into a muddy quagmire,
significantly slowing their progress.

By Christmas Eve, another
unexpected event added to

the political chaos in Algiers.

A young French student, enraged by the Nazi

occupation of Paris and a supporter of the

free French, assassinated
Darlan at his headquarters.

The assassin was swiftly executed, but
few mourn the fallen Vichy commander.

With Darlan gone, Giraud finally
took charge, yet he immediately

caused further discord by imprisoning
leaders of the Algerian resistance.

At the Casablanca conference in
January, tensions came to a head.

De Gaulle, initially refusing
to attend, was forced

by Churchill to cooperate
under the threat of

Giraud being officially recognised
as the leader of the free French.

Their meeting was tense
and awkward, but ultimately

they agreed to share command, with
Giraud overseeing military operations.

Although Giraud maintained
Vichy policies initially, he gradually

shifted towards the Allied cause,
eventually releasing prisoners

from the concentration camps.

However, the ongoing instability
among the French leadership

would contribute to
the eventual loss of their

North African empire, setting the stage
for Algerian resistance in the future.

While General Anderson pressed
forward through the treacherous

mud towards Rommel's
forces, events in Stalingrad took

a dire turn for the Germans.

With the Volga frozen,
Soviet supply lines remained

intact and Marshal Zhukov
encircled the city with

a formidable force of one million troops.

The German 6th Army
found itself trapped with

little food, fuel or medical supplies.

As thousands succumbed to
frostbite, malnutrition and disease,

the Soviets offered General
Friedrich Paulus the opportunity

to surrender on 8th January 1943.

However, Hitler promoted
Paulus to Field Marshal, making

it clear that he expected
him to fight to the last man.

Realising that their commander
had chosen personal honour

over their survival, the German troops
continued to suffer devastating losses.

As Soviet forces reclaimed
more territory, another surrender

offer was made, but
Hitler refused once again.

Unlike Rommel, who
prioritised the welfare of his

men, Paulus felt bound by Hitler's
orders, even as the battle became hopeless.

Soviet forces finally
crushed the last remnants of

German resistance, and
on February 2nd, over 90

,000 survivors surrendered.

These were all that remained of
the original 220,000-strong 6th Army.

Many had perished in combat,
from starvation or by suicide.

Of the captured soldiers, only 5,000 would

survive the brutal conditions of Soviet
captivity to see their homeland again.

The loss of the men of
Stalingrad, senselessly

and irresponsibly driven
to death, has shaken our

people, read a statement
from the White Rose,

a student-led resistance
group opposing the Nazi regime.

The defeat at Stalingrad
marked a crucial turning

point in the war, dealing an enormous
psychological blow to German morale.

As resistance against Hitler
intensified, his physical and

mental health deteriorated.

Some historians suggest
that he exhibited early signs

of Parkinson's disease, evident
in his declining handwriting

and impaired speech.

This growing frailty
led the Fuhrer to retreat

further from public view,
while his once unstoppable

war machine began to crumble.

While Hitler refused
to accept the defeat at

Stalingrad, resistance to German
occupation was growing across Europe.

One of his generals
had been assassinated in

Prague, Yugoslav partisans
had united under Tito, and

resistance movements in
France were merging into de

Gaulle's Free French Forces.

Meanwhile, the Japanese were
also feeling the strain of war.

On 9 February 1943, after months of brutal

fighting, US troops claimed
victory in Guadalcanal, inflicting

heavy casualties on Japan.

Just two months later,
the Allies dealt another

blow by taking down Admiral Yamamoto,
the mastermind behind Pearl Harbor.

His plane was shot down over the Solomon

Islands, crashing into the jungle below.

As the Imperial Army lost
ground, General Douglas

MacArthur and Admiral Chester
Nimitz launched invasions across

the Pacific, edging closer to Japan.

Yet, with every soldier bound by duty to

the Emperor, the fight was far from over.

In North Africa, Patton
faced his first battle

against German forces,
suffering heavy casualties.

Fresh from the US, his troops lacked the

experience of Montgomery's
men, but once they joined

the forces, progress was swift.

The final push for Tunisia began on 19

April, and by 7 May, Tunis had
been seized from Hitler's control.

Just six days later,
the last Axis resistance

in Africa crumbled, with a quarter of a

million German and Italian troops captured.

Eisenhower celebrated alongside
Giraud as triumphant troops paraded

through the streets, knew
the fight was far from over.

At the Casablanca Conference,
following the success of

Operation Torch, the Allies agreed
that their next target would be Sicily.

Seizing the island would
grant them naval and

air dominance in the
Mediterranean and put pressure

on Mussolini's weakening regime.

By summer 1943, Italy was struggling.

The defeat in Tunisia
had been devastating, and

Italian troops were faltering
on the Eastern Front.

At home, Allied bombings
were relentless, food was

scarce, and strikes
had erupted in the north.

With factories grinding
to a halt and public

trust in fascist propaganda
fading, Mussolini realised his

alliance with Hitler had brought
Italy neither glory nor victory.

The Allies began their
assault by targeting the

small but strategically vital
island of Pantelleria, which

disrupted British sea and air
routes in the Mediterranean.

Over May and June, Allied
bombers dropped more

than 6,000 tons of explosives,
weakening defences.

On 10th June, Italian
forces, overwhelmed by the

relentless bombardment,
surrendered without a ground invasion.

The first time in history such
a feat had been achieved.

With the island secured,
Eisenhower turned his attention

to the Sicilian invasion.

To mislead the Germans, the
Allies staged an elaborate deception.

They planted fake
invasion plans on a corpse

dressed as a British officer, which
washed up on the Spanish coast.

Nazi generals fell for the
ruse, diverting defences

to Sardinia instead of Sicily.

On 9th July, Operation Husky began.

Fierce winds made the landings perilous,
with many aircraft blown off course.

However, the unexpected
storm worked in the Allies'

favour, catching the enemy off guard.

By the first day, Syracuse had fallen, and

within two weeks, the
Allies entered Palermo.

Italian civilians largely
welcomed the invaders, hoping for

an end to their suffering.

By mid-July, Montgomery's
8th Army had taken

Catania, pressing north towards Mount Etna.

Patton, advancing from
the west, was furious when

Montgomery's forces cut off his route.

Determined to reach
Messina first, Patton drove his

troops hard, seeing the
invasion as a competition

between British and American forces.

In the end, Patton won the race, entering

Messina just hours before the last
Axis forces escaped to mainland Italy.

The fall of Sicily had a profound effect.

Italians knew their country was next.

With pressure mounting, Mussolini
was overthrown and imprisoned,

while an armistice was secretly
negotiated with the Allies.

Bombing raids on Italy
ceased, offering civilians a

brief respite, yet Hitler was
not ready to abandon his ally.

Furious at Italy's betrayal,
he ordered troops from

the Eastern Front to reinforce the country.

The Luftwaffe targeted
Italian ships fleeing to Malta,

while German soldiers marched into Rome.

In a dramatic operation,
Mussolini was freed from

captivity and installed as the leader of a

German-controlled
puppet state in the north.

Despite these complications,
the Allies pushed forward with

plans to invade mainland Italy.

Roosevelt, eager to launch
a campaign in France,

hesitated, but the swift success
in Sicily convinced him to proceed.

The mission, codenamed
Operation Baytown, was led by

Montgomery, whose troops
gathered in Messina, poised to

cross the narrow strait
of Messina to Calabria,

the toe of Italy's boot.

On 3rd September, the
first Allied troops landed

unopposed, with Rommel
reassigned to Northern Italy and

General Kesselring commanding
the German forces in the south.

The tension grew.

Meanwhile, British and American
forces assembled in North

Africa, ready for a
second, larger invasion at

Salerno, 35 miles south of Naples.

On 9th September, the
main attack force, led

by General Mark Clark,
landed under the cover

of darkness, setting the stage
for a gruelling battle ahead.

The invasion of the Italian
mainland had begun, and the

beaches of Salerno erupted into
chaos as the Allies came under heavy fire.

German artillery rained
down upon the landing troops,

and fierce counterattacks turned
the coastline into a brutal battlefield.

But as the Allies fought
desperately to hold

their positions, resistance
against the Germans was also

growing within Italy itself.

In Naples, a spontaneous
uprising saw ordinary citizens

take to the streets, determined
to drive out their oppressors.

For three days, the
people of Naples battled

against the occupying
forces, facing brutal reprisals as

the Germans sought to crush their defiance.

Yet against all odds, they succeeded.

When the Allies finally
entered the ancient city,

they found a scene of utter devastation.

In a scorched earth retreat,
Kesselring had ordered

the destruction of all infrastructure.

Bridges were bombed,
railway tracks torn up, and

the port left in ruins, its waters filled
with the wreckage of sunken ships.

Even Naples' water and
power supplies had been

obliterated, leaving its people
in desperate need of aid.

To the credit of the
Allies, despite persistent

German air raids, the
port was reopened within

a week, though rebuilding
the city would take far longer.

With nearly 800,000
Neapolitans now dependent on

Allied support, soldiers worked
tirelessly alongside civilians to

restore order.

But there was no time to pause, and as
soon as Naples was secure, the troops

pressed north.

By mid-October, the battle lines had been

drawn along the Volturno and Trigno rivers.

The Volturno itself was a
formidable natural barrier,

stretching up to 200 feet across in places,

with floodwaters swelling
to depths of 15 feet.

The Allies struggled through
torrential rain and fierce

winds, desperately trying to build
pontoon bridges while under enemy fire.

Progress was painfully
slow, and as one frustrated

soldier remarked, every
river in this crazy country

seems to be called Volturno.

The swift victory the
Allies had achieved in

Sicily now seemed a distant memory, and And

with every passing
day, the struggle for Italy

became an exhausting war of attrition.

The dream of capturing Rome
slipped further from reach.

The month-long battle to push from the

Volturno to the Bernhardt
Line stretched both the

Fifth and Eighth Armies to their limits.

Meanwhile, on the Eastern
Front, Stalin continued to

drive the Germans south, bringing
the war to the doorstep of the Balkans.

Winston Churchill, though
satisfied with the progress in

Africa, Russia and the
Pacific, was growing frustrated

by the stalemate in Italy.

Yet as the battle for the mainland raged

on, the Allied leaders prepared
for a more decisive confrontation.

On November 28th, 1943,
Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill

met in Tehran, determined to chart
the course of the war's final phase.

Stalin was adamant that
an Anglo-American invasion

of France was the key to victory, and

Roosevelt was ready to commit,
pressing Churchill to agree.

A reluctant to divert
British forces from Italy,

Churchill argued for continued
pressure on Rome, but

in the end, he accepted the inevitable.

The Allies set their sights on the Normandy

landings, promising a full-scale
assault by the spring of 1944.

With Italy's capital
still locked in a bitter

struggle, Churchill vowed
to commit all available forces

to France once Rome had fallen.

But the battle for Italy continued to drain

resources, and casualties mounted
as the Allies inched their way north.

By December, Eisenhower
was recalled from the Italian

front, summoned to
America for a brief family visit.

It was there, in Massachusetts, that he
received news of his next assignment.

He would not be returning to Italy.

Instead, he was to take up the role

of Supreme Allied Commander
in Europe, tasked with

leading the most ambitious
invasion of the war.

The fate of the conflict now rested on
his shoulders, and he was not the only

leader to leave.

Just two days after Christmas,
Montgomery was also

recalled to Britain, ordered to
begin preparations for D-Day.

As the new year of 1944 dawned,
fresh victories buoyed the Allied cause.

The siege of Leningrad
was finally broken, and

across the continent, from
Crimea to Italy, German

forces were beginning to surrender.

The once unshakable grip of
the Third Reich was faltering.

Then, on June 5th, the moment Churchill had

been waiting for arrived,
the Allies entered Rome.

The Eternal City, once the heart of an

empire, now witnessed the fall of another.

Jubilant crowds filled the streets
as the Nazi occupation crumbled.

The path to victory was finally opening.

And just across the
Channel, the greatest invasion

in history was about to begin.

British, American, and
Commonwealth forces had gathered in

their hundreds of thousands, ready
to storm the beaches of Normandy.

As the Allies took their first steps into

Rome, France stood
on the brink of liberation.

The final battle for Europe had begun.