A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945: Volume 4 - Sicily and Italy to the fall of Rome 14 May, 1943 - 5 June, 1944

by Russell Guest, Giovanni Massimello, Christopher Shores

Overview

The fourth volume in this momentous series commences with the attacks on the Italian island fortress of Pantellaria which led to its surrender and occupation achieved almost by air attack alone. The account continues with the ultimately successful, but at times very hard fought, invasions of Sicily and southern Italy as burgeoning Allied air power, now with full US involvement, increasingly dominated the skies overhead. The successive occupations of Sardinia and Corsica are also covered in detail. This volume, then, is essentially the story of the tactical air forces up to the point when Rome was occupied, just at the same time as the Normandy landings were occurring in north-west France. In its pages are found what can justifiably be considered the story of ‘the soldiers’ air force’. Frequently overlooked by more immediate newsworthy events elsewhere, their struggle was often of an equally Homeric nature. With regards to the long-range tactical role of the Allied heavy bombers, only the period from May to October is examined herein, while they remained based in North Africa. Thus the period from November 1943 when the US 15th Air Force was formed to pursue the strategic air offensive against the Reich, together with the RAF’s 205 Group of night bombers, will be covered in a future (sixth) volume. Volume Five will deal with the rest of the tactical war in Italy and Greece, over the Adriatic and Aegean, and with the entry into the South of France to join forces advancing southwards from Normandy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781911621102
Publisher:	Grub Street
Publication date:	11/05/2018
Pages:	680
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.60(h) x 2.10(d)

About the Author

Christopher Shores began by writing the occasional book about military aviation, then quickened the pace as he grew older. By now, readers and reviewers are hard-pressed to keep up with him. Meanwhile, he pursued a career as a land surveyor and director of one of Europe's largest firms of property advisers.

Table of Contents

Preamble 7

Map of the Central Mediterranean 10

Chapter 1 Setting the Scene 11

Chapter 2 Operation Corkscrew 31

Chapter 3 Operation Husky - The Invasion of Sicily 122

Map of Sicily in Detail 151

Allied Order of Battle 152

Axis Order of Battle 157

Map of the Invasion Beaches 159

Map of the Gerbini Satellites 177

Map of Northern Sicily 275

Chapter 4 On into Italy 325

Operation Avalanche 346

The Armistice 350

Sardinia and Corsica 382

Chapter 5 1944- New Plans 481

Chapter 6 Operation Diadem: Rome - at last! 597

Index 639

Editorial Reviews

"For those already familiar with the nuances of the air war over the Mediterranean, the book furnishes details that will deepen that knowledge.... fills a gap in the existing narrative and will help others to reappraise how we remember that part of the air war."

Journal of Military History

"No future publication on the Mediterranean air war will be credible without use of this series."

Air Power History

Anyone with an interest in the campaigns in the Mediterranean theater, especially air operations, will want to acquire this volume ... highly recommended, one of the best books of the year, and we're already impatient to see volume five."

Stone & Stone Second World War Books - Bill Stone