By October 1943, the Allies were facing an ugly truth. Invading Italy was seen as a chance for a quick victory. But Albert Kesselring’s German forces had put an end to that. They had exacted a heavy toll for the beachhead at Salerno, before falling back to a series of fortified lines across central Italy. Now, before them stood the most formidable challenge yet and more bloody fighting.

In this final episode of our series sponsored by Company of Heroes 3, we’ll explore the battles for Monte Cassino, the landings at Anzio and the capture of Rome. All to understand whether the entire campaign was worth it at all.

This video is sponsored by Company of Heroes 3: https://www.companyofheroes.com/en

Explore and licence the film clips used in this video from IWM Film: https://film.iwmcollections.org.uk/my...

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Archive photos Wikimedia commons courtesy of:

Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I316119507 / Demmer / CCBYSA 3.0
Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I579196504A / Appe [Arppe] / CCBYSA 3.0
Bundesarchiv, Bild 183J15752 / Biedermann / CCBYSA 3.0
Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I579195719 / Girik / CCBYSA 3.0
Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I5671503B09 / Toni Schneiders / CCBYSA 3.0
Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I578193103A / Haas / CCBYSA 3.0