Osprey's Salerno 1943

Once Sicily had been occupied by that Allies, it was pretty obvious that mainland Italy would have to be next. The big question was where. There were several choices from very southern Italy, to the Adriatic coast and a number of places up the western side. It was quickly obvious that the Adriatic coast would not be good due to the issues with air cover. Basically the Allies would have little or none, the Luftwaffe would have bases relatively close by and ships would have to maneuver in the relatively narrow confines of the Adriatic.

The heel of Italy wasn't the first choice either as troops would have to fight up the entire length of Italy. So it had to be the western sides. The place chosen had to be within the range of Allied air power without having to use aircraft carriers, it also had to be open enough to handle the mass of ships and the landing beaches had to be relatively broad.

An area around the town of Salerno, just south of Naples was chosen. It was at the near limit of Allied air power and provided many of the pluses sought by the Allies in terms of a broad, open bay and open beaches. A down side of it was that it was surrounded by hills from which enemy artillery would be able to easily see the troops on the beaches. However, no landing is without risk and so it was decided.

The Americans would land in the northern section and the British in the southern section. Salerno Bay was fed by many small rivers, more like streams, that came down from the mountains. Small they were, but they were enough of an obstacle that they could not be easily crossed unless by bridges. They also tended to confine units within the boundaries of a pair of these small rivers, channeling the attacking troops.

The Allies also hoped that by invading shortly after the Armistice with Italy would not allow the Germans to be properly situated. In this, they were wrong and the Germans were in full control of defensive positions by the time of the landings. Where the Allies lucked out is that there were not any beach obstacles such as they ran into at Normandy.

This unexpected strength in German forces was a major surprise to the Allies and were it not for the assistance of naval gunfire from ships off shore, it is quite probable that the landings would have failed. Though a bloody battle where the Allies suffered many times the casualties of the defending Germans, the Allies were able to gain a hold and move north towards Naples.

There is, of course, much more to the tale than the outline provided above. Author Angus Konstam does a masterful job of telling the tale of hopes, incompetence, bravery and eventual Allied success. Though greatly outnumbered, the Germans did quite well in slowing down and nearly defeating the landing. This is all enhanced by some great period photos from both sides and the art work of Mark Stille. As is typical of the series, we are provided with some great campaign maps and information on visiting this area today. Overall, it is a fascinating read of this important operation and one that I can easily recommend to you.

July 2013

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