Italy
Operation Compass III
Wavell had been looking for an opportunity to attack the Italians since before the invasion of Egypt, and had ordered a study into the possible problems presented by an advance into eastern Libya as early as 11 September 1940. After Graziani’s force had been immobile around Sidi Barrani for a month he ordered Lieutenant-General Wilson to begin planning for a…
![The Loss of Cyprus [1564–1570] II](https://weaponsandwarfare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Loss-of-Cyprus-1564–1570-II-330x220.png "The Loss of Cyprus [1564–1570] II 6")
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Blunder in the Mountains-The Italian Invasion of Greece 1940
Greek troops during the spring offensive Introduction The Italian invasion of Greece in October 1940 was one of Mussolini’s major wartime disasters. A totally inadequate Italian army blundered into the mountains of north-west Greece, where it was defeated, thrown back into Albania, only to be rescued by the German invasion…
Malta Convoys (World War II)
Important World War II Allied resupply effort. The fall of France emboldened Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to declare war on Britain and thereby open the Mediterranean Sea as a new theater of operations. The entry of Italy into the war was a severe strategic threat. Its geographic position endangered Britain’s…
Rome 1944
A TANK-INFANTRY TEAM entering Rome on 4 June. The burning vehicle is a German Tiger tank. The enemy had been evacuating the city for several days, but had left a strong rear guard equipped with tanks and artillery to hold the Allies in and below the city as long as…
ANR and the Bf 109
The Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR) was the airforce deployed by the Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI). Although the ANR was organised by the RSI, much of its operational control came from the Luftwaffe. At first, the ANR fighter units (I° Gruppo Caccia and II° Gruppo Caccia) used Macchi C.205s and Fiat…
The Liberation War: 1943–1945
General Utili (centre hands of table) meets with Italian and British staff. The Italian Liberation Corps (CIL), formed in Apulia, was directed north by Allied Headquarters in October 1943. It first saw action on December 8, 1943. American headquarters ordered it to seize Monte Lungo and Monte Sammucro. The initial…
The Siege of Malta in World War Two
By Dr Eric Grove In 1940, Malta found itself at the heart of a raging battle between Allied and Axis powers for naval control of the Mediterranean. Eric Groves asks why the Allies invested so much effort in defending the island. First siege In 1940, in the early months of…