1.
Allies of World War II
–
The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
2.
Regia Marina
–
The Royal Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic, the Royal Navy changed its name to Military Navy, the Regia Marina was established on 17 March 1861 following the proclamation of the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. These problems were compounded by the continuation of separate officer schools at Genoa and Naples and these innovations quickly made older warships obsolete. The new navys baptism of fire came on 20 July 1866 at the Battle of Lissa during the Third Italian War of Independence, the battle was fought against the Austrian Empire and occurred near the island of Vis in the Adriatic sea. The Italian fleet, commanded by Admiral Persano, mustered 12 ironclad and 17 wooden-hulled ships, though only one, in 1896 the corvette Magenta completed a circumnavigation of the world. The following year the Regia Marina conducted experiments with Guglielmo Marconi in the use of radio communications,1909 saw the first use of aircraft with the fleet. An Italian naval officer, Vittorio Cuniberti, was the first in 1903 to envision in an article the all-big gun battleship design. In 1911 and 1912, the Regia Marina was involved in the Italo-Turkish War against forces of the Ottoman Empire, in the Red Sea the Italian forces were vastly superior to those of the Ottomans who only possessed a squadron of gunboats there. These were destroyed while attempting to withdraw into the Mediterranean at the Battle of Kunfuda Bay, during the war, the Regia Marina spent its major efforts in the Adriatic Sea, fighting the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Considered a relatively minor part of the warfare of World War I. For most of the war the Italian and Austro-Hungarian navies each kept a relatively passive watch over their adversaries, the Italian fleet lost the pre-dreadnought battleship Benedetto Brin at Brindisi and the dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci at Taranto due to a magazine explosion. The battleship SMS Tegetthoff was handed over to Italy as a war prize in 1919, during the interwar years the Italian government set about modernizing the Regia Marina in a way that could enable it to reach dominance over the Mediterranean Sea. Italian naval construction was limited by the Washington Naval Conference, the 1922 treaty required a parity in naval forces between the Italian and French navies, with equality in total displacement in battleships and carriers. The treaty influenced the development of the Italian fleet over the years between the two world wars, much of these new naval units were responses to French naval constructions, as the Marine nationale was seen until the mid 1930s as the most likely enemy in a hypothetical conflict. In theory this would allow them to engage or break off at their own choosing, New guns were developed with longer ranges than their British counterparts of similar caliber. Speed was emphasized in their new construction, subsequently, newer Italian cruisers such as the Giovanni dalle Bande Nere were built with a newly designed and relatively thin armour. The armor of these vessels was 24 mm, as compared to 102 mm on their contemporaries and this would have a decisive role in a number of naval battles, including the Battle of Cape Spada. The modernization work on the four Great War era battleships turned into a significant reconstruction project, the ships guns were upgraded in main armament, going from 13 guns of 305mm diameter, to 10 guns of 320mm diameter
3.
Regia Aeronautica
–
The Italian Royal Air Force was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as an independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolished and the Kingdom of Italy became the Italian Republic, during World War I, the Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare, then still part of the Regio Esercito, operated a mix of French fighters and locally-built bombers, notably the gigantic Caproni aircraft. The Regia Marina had its own air arm, operating locally-built flying boats, the Italian air force became an independent service—the Regia Aeronautica—on March 28,1923. This pioneering achievement was organized and led by General of Aviation Italo Balbo, during the latter half of the 1930s, the Regia Aeronautica participated in the Spanish Civil War, as well as the invasions of Ethiopia and Albania. The first test for the new Italian Royal Air force came in October 1935, during the final stages of the war, Regia Aeronautica deployed up to 386 aircraft, operating from Eritrea and Somalia. The Italian aviators did not have any opposition in the air, as the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force had just 15 transport and liaison aircraft, only nine of which were serviceable. However the Regia Aeronautica lost 72 planes and 122 aircrew members while supporting the operations of the Regio Esercito, and after the end of hostilities, on 5 May 1936, for the following 13 months the Regia Aeronautica had to assist Italian forces in fighting Ethiopian guerrillas. During the Spanish Civil War Italian pilots fought alongside Spanish Nationalist and this deployment took place from July 1936 to March 1939 and complimented an expeditionary force of Italian ground troops titled Corps of Volunteer Troops. In Spain, the Italian pilots were under command of the Spanish Nationalists and took part in training. The Aviazione legionaria achieved approximately 500 air victories, losing 86 aircraft in air combat, the Regia Aeronautica played a limited role during the Italian invasion of Albania. When World War II began in 1939, Italy had the smallest air force among the three major Axis powers, with a paper strength of 3,296 machines, only 2,000 were fit for operations, of which just 166 were modern fighters. The Macchi MC.200 and Fiat G.50 were the best available but were slower than potential Allied fighters. While numerically still a force to be reckoned with, it was hampered by the aircraft industry which was using obsolete production methods. Technical assistance provided by its German ally did little to improve the situation, on 10 June 1940, during the closing days of the Battle of France, Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom. On 13 June, Fiat CR. 42s attacked French air bases, two days later, CR. 42s from 3° Stormo and 53° Stormo attacked again French Air Force bases and clashed with Dewoitine D. 520s and Bloch MB. 152s, claiming eight kills for five losses. The Regia Aeronautica carried out 716 bombing missions in support of the Italian invasion of France by the Regio Esercito, Italian aircraft dropped a total of 276 tons of bombs. Only about 80 long tons of bombs were dropped on the targets, during this short war, Regia Aeronautica lost 10 aircraft in aerial combat and 24 aircrew personnel, while claiming 10 kills and 40 French planes destroyed on the ground
4.
Axis powers
–
The Axis powers, also known as the Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allied Powers. The Axis agreed on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity, the Axis grew out of the diplomatic efforts of Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s. The first step was the treaty signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936, Mussolini declared on 1 November that all other European countries would from then on rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term Axis. The almost simultaneous second step was the signing in November 1936 of the Anti-Comintern Pact, Italy joined the Pact in 1937. At its zenith during World War II, the Axis presided over territories that occupied parts of Europe, North Africa. There were no three-way summit meetings and cooperation and coordination was minimal, the war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance. As in the case of the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, at the time he was seeking an alliance with the Weimar Republic against Yugoslavia and France in the dispute over the Free State of Fiume. The term was used by Hungarys prime minister Gyula Gömbös when advocating an alliance of Hungary with Germany, when Mussolini publicly announced the signing on 1 November, he proclaimed the creation of a Rome–Berlin axis. Italy under Duce Benito Mussolini had pursued an alliance of Italy with Germany against France since the early 1920s. He believed that Italy could expand its influence in Europe by allying with Germany against France, in early 1923, as a goodwill gesture to Germany, Italy secretly delivered weapons for the German Army, which had faced major disarmament under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. General Hans von Seeckt supported an alliance between Germany and the Soviet Union to invade and partition Poland between them and restore the German-Russian border of 1914. The discussions concluded that Germans still wanted a war of revenge against France but were short on weapons, however at this time Mussolini stressed one important condition that Italy must pursue in an alliance with Germany, that Italy must. Tow them, not be towed by them, the French government warned Italy that it had to choose whether to be on the side of the pro-Versailles powers or that of the anti-Versailles revanchists. Grandi responded that Italy would be willing to offer France support against Germany if France gave Italy its mandate over Cameroon, France refused Italys proposed exchange for support, as it believed Italys demands were unacceptable and the threat from Germany was not yet immediate. In 1932, Gyula Gömbös and the Party of National Unity rose to power in Hungary, Gömbös sought to alter Hungarys post–Treaty of Trianon borders by forming an alliance with Austria and Italy, knowing that Hungary alone was not capable of challenging the Little Entente powers. At the meeting between Gömbös and Mussolini in Rome on 10 November 1932, the question came up of the sovereignty of Austria in relation to the rise to power in Germany of the Nazi Party. Mussolini was worried about Nazi ambitions towards Austria, and indicated that at least in the term he was committed to maintaining Austria as a sovereign state. Italy had concerns over a Germany which included Austria laying land claims to German-populated territories of the South Tyrol within Italy, Mussolini said he hoped the Anschluss could be postponed as long as possible until the breakout of a European war that he estimated would begin in 1938
5.
Italian Social Republic
–
The Italian Social Republic, informally known as the Republic of Salò, was a state with limited recognition that was created during the later part of World War II, existing from 1943 until 1945. Mussolini had originally intended to call his new republic the “Italian ‘Socialist’ Republic. ”It was the second and last incarnation of the Fascist Italian state and was led by Duce Benito Mussolini and his reformed Republican Fascist Party. The state declared Rome its capital, but was de facto centered on Salò, a town on Lake Garda, near Brescia, where Mussolini. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern and central Italy, but was dependent on German troops to maintain control. The new government began peace negotiations with the Allied powers. When the Armistice of Cassibile was announced in September, Germany was prepared, Germany seized control of the northern half of Italy, freed Mussolini and brought him to the German-occupied area to establish a satellite regime. The RSI was proclaimed on 23 September 1943, although the RSI claimed most of the lands of Italy as rightfully belonging to it, it held political control over a vastly reduced portion of Italy. The RSI received diplomatic recognition from only Germany, Japan and their puppet states, around 25 April 1945, Mussolinis republic came to an end. In Italy, this day is known as Liberation Day, on this day a general partisan uprising alongside the efforts of Allied forces, during their final offensive in Italy, managed to oust the Germans from Italy almost entirely. At the point of its demise, the Italian Social Republic had existed for more than nineteen months. On 27 April partisans caught Mussolini, his mistress, several RSI ministers, on 28 April the partisans shot Mussolini and most of the other captives. The RSI Minister of Defense, Rodolfo Graziani, surrendered what was left of the RSI on 2 May when the German forces in Italy capitulated, this put a definitive end to the Italian Social Republic. On 24 July 1943, after the Allied landings in Sicily, the next day, King Victor Emmanuel III dismissed Mussolini from office and ordered him arrested. The failed war effort left Mussolini humiliated at home and abroad as a sawdust Caesar, the new government, under Marshal Pietro Badoglio, began secret negotiations with the Allied powers and made preparations for the capitulation of Italy. These surrender talks implied a commitment from Badoglio not only to leave the Axis alliance, while the Germans formally recognised the new status quo in Italian politics, they intervened by sending some of the best units of the Wehrmacht to Italy. This was done both to resist new Allied advances and to face the predictably imminent defection of Italy, on 8 September, Badoglio announced Italys armistice with the Allies. German Führer Adolf Hitler and his staff, long aware of the negotiations, acted immediately by ordering German troops to control of northern. The Germans disarmed the Italian troops and took all of the Italian Armys materials
6.
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
–
Victor Emmanuel III was the King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. In addition, he claimed the thrones of Ethiopia and Albania as Emperor of Ethiopia and King of the Albanians, during his long reign, which began after the assassination of his father Umberto I, the Kingdom of Italy became involved in two World Wars. His reign also encompassed the birth, rise, and fall of Italian Fascism, Victor Emmanuel abdicated his throne in 1946 in favour of his son Umberto II, hoping to strengthen support for the monarchy against an ultimately successful referendum to abolish it. He then went in exile to Alexandria, Egypt, where he died and was buried the following year. He was called by the Italians Il Re soldato for having led his country during both the wars, and, after Italys victory in the First World War Il Re vittorioso. He was also nicknamed Sciaboletta due to his height of 1.53 m, Victor Emmanuel was born in Naples, Italy. He was the child of Umberto I, King of Italy. Margherita was the daughter of the Duke of Genoa, from birth until his accession, Victor Emmanuel was known by the title of the Prince of Naples. On 24 October 1896, Prince Victor Emmanuel married Princess Elena of Montenegro, on 29 July 1900, at the age of 30, Victor Emmanuel acceded to the throne upon his fathers assassination. The only advice that his father Umberto ever gave his heir was Remember, to be a king, all you need to know is how to sign your name, read a newspaper, and mount a horse. His early years showed evidence that, by the standards of the Savoy monarchy, indeed, even though his father was killed by an anarchist, the new King showed a commitment to constitutional freedoms. Though parliamentary rule had been established in Italy, the Statuto Albertino, or constitution. For instance, he had the right to appoint the Prime Minister even if the individual in question did not command majority support in the Chamber of Deputies, when World War I began, Italy at first remained neutral, despite being part of the Triple Alliance. However, in 1915, Italy signed several secret treaties committing her to enter the war on the side of the Triple Entente, most of the politicians opposed war, however, and the Italian Chamber of Deputies forced Prime Minister Antonio Salandra to resign. At this juncture, Victor Emmanuel declined Salandras resignation and personally made the decision for Italy to enter the war and he was well within his rights to do so under the Statuto. Popular demonstrations in favor of the war were staged in Rome, with 200,000 gathering on 16 May 1915 and it was at this time, the period of World War I, that the King enjoyed the genuine affection of the majority of his people. Still, during the war he received about 400 threatening letters from people of social background. The economic depression which followed World War I gave rise to much extremism among Italys sorely tried working classes and this caused the country as a whole to become politically unstable
7.
Benito Mussolini
–
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 to 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he dropped all pretense of democracy, known as Il Duce, Mussolini was the founder of Italian Fascism. In 1912 Mussolini was the member of the National Directorate of the Italian Socialist Party. Mussolini was expelled from the PSI for withdrawing his support for the stance on neutrality in World War I. He served in the Royal Italian Army during the war until he was wounded and discharged in 1917, Mussolini denounced the PSI, his views now centering on nationalism instead of socialism, and later founded the fascist movement. Following the March on Rome in October 1922 he became the youngest Prime Minister in Italian history until the appointment of Matteo Renzi in February 2014, within five years he had established dictatorial authority by both legal and extraordinary means, aspiring to create a totalitarian state. Mussolini remained in power until he was deposed by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1943, a few months later, he became the leader of the Italian Social Republic, a German client regime in northern Italy, he held this post until his death in 1945. Mussolini had sought to delay a major war in Europe until at least 1942, however, Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, resulting in declarations of war by France and the United Kingdom and starting World War II. In the summer of 1941 Mussolini sent Italian forces to participate in the invasion of the Soviet Union, and war with the United States followed in December. On 24 July 1943, soon after the start of the Allied invasion of Italy, the Grand Council of Fascism voted against him, on 12 September 1943, Mussolini was rescued from prison in the Gran Sasso raid by German special forces. In late April 1945, with total defeat looming, Mussolini attempted to escape north and his body was then taken to Milan, where it was hung upside down at a service station for public viewing and to provide confirmation of his demise. Mussolini was born in Dovia di Predappio, a town in the province of Forlì in Romagna on 29 July 1883. During the Fascist era, Predappio was dubbed Duces town, pilgrims went to Predappio and Forlì, to see the birthplace of Mussolini. His father, Alessandro Mussolini, was a blacksmith and a Socialist, while his mother, Benito was the eldest of his parents three children. His siblings Arnaldo and Edvige followed, as a young boy, Mussolini would spend some time helping his father in his smithy. His fathers political outlook combined views of anarchist figures like Carlo Cafiero and Mikhail Bakunin, the military authoritarianism of Garibaldi, in 1902, at the anniversary of Garibaldis death, Benito Mussolini made a public speech in praise of the republican nationalist. The conflict between his parents about religion meant that, unlike most Italians, Mussolini was not baptized at birth, as a compromise with his mother, Mussolini was sent to a boarding school run by Salesian monks. After joining a new school, Mussolini achieved good grades, in 1902, Mussolini emigrated to Switzerland, partly to avoid military service
8.
Lecce
–
It is the main city of the Salentine Peninsula, a sub-peninsula at the heel of the Italian Peninsula and is over 2,000 years old. Because of the rich Baroque architectural monuments found in the city, the city also has a long traditional affinity with Greek culture going back to its foundation, the Messapii who founded the city are said to have been Cretans in Greek records. To this day, in the Grecìa Salentina, a group of towns not far from Lecce, in terms of industry, the Lecce stone—a particular kind of limestone—is one of the citys main exports, because it is very soft and workable, thus suitable for sculptures. Lecce is also an important agricultural centre, chiefly for its oil and wine production. According to legend, a city called Sybar existed at the time of the Trojan War and it was conquered by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, receiving the new name of Lupiae. Under the emperor Hadrian the city was moved 3 kilometres to the northeast, Lecce had a theater and an amphitheater and was connected to the Hadrian Port. Orontius of Lecce, locally called SantOronzo, is considered to have served as the citys first Christian bishop and is Lecces patron saint, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Lecce was sacked by the Ostrogoth king Totila in the Gothic Wars. It was restored to Roman rule in 549, and remained part of the Eastern Empire for five centuries, with brief conquests by Saracens, Lombards, Hungarians and Slavs. After the Norman conquest in the 11th century, Lecce regained commercial importance, flourishing in the subsequent Hohenstaufen, the County of Lecce was one of the largest and most important fiefs in the Kingdom of Sicily from 1053 to 1463, when it was annexed directly to the crown. From the 15th century, Lecce was one of the most important cities of southern Italy, to avert invasion by the Ottomans, a new line of walls and a castle were built by Charles V, in the first part of the 16th century. In 1656, a plague broke out in the city, killing a thousand inhabitants, in 1943, fighter aircraft based in Lecce helped support isolated Italian garrisons in the Aegean Sea during World War 2. Because they were delayed by the Allies, they couldnt prevent a defeat, church of the Holy Cross, Construction of the Chiesa di Santa Croce) was begun in 1353, but work halted until 1549, and it was completed only by 1695. The church has a richly decorated façade with animals, grotesque figures and vegetables, next to the church is the Government Palace, a former convent. San Niccolò and Cataldo The church is an example of Italo-Norman architecture and it was founded by Tancred of Sicily in 1180. In 1716 the façade was rebuilt, with the addition of numerous statues, the walls were frescoed during the 15th-17th centuries. Celestine Convent, Built in Baroque-style by Giuseppe Zimbalo, the courtyard was designed by Gabriele Riccardi. Santa Irene, This church was commissioned in 1591 by the Theatines and it has a large façade showing different styles in the upper and lower parts. Above the portal stands a statue of Ste Irene by Mauro Manieri, the interior is on the Latin cross plan and is rather sober
9.
Battle of San Pietro Infine
–
The eventual Allied victory in the battle was crucial in the ultimate drive to the north to liberate Rome. The battle is remembered as the first in which the troops of the Royal Italian Army fought as co-belligerents of the Allies following the armistice with Italy. The original town of San Pietro Infine was destroyed in the battle, the Allied invasion of Italy from the south followed the Allied successes in North Africa. The invasion was launched by the American Seventh Army, under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr. both armies were under the command of the 15th Army Group, commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander. Over the next five weeks,500,000 Allied soldiers, sailors, although the Allied powers were victorious, the Axis managed to evacuate over 100,000 men and 10,000 vehicles from Sicily across the Straits of Messina during the first seventeen days in August. The Allies then invaded the Italian mainland in early September 1943 at Salerno, in Calabria, on 8 September, before the main invasion at Salerno by Lieutenant General Mark W. Clarks U. S. Fifth Army, the surrender of Italy to the Allies was announced, Italian units ceased combat, and the Royal Italian Navy sailed to Allied ports to surrender. This changed the German defensive strategy greatly, and the Germans now regarded their former allies as enemies and moved to disarm Italian units, the invasion at Salerno was ultimately successful, although the Allies sustained heavy casualties, and subsequently captured nearby Naples on 1 October. German forces then withdrew to the north, towards Rome, by late 1943 the fighting had reached the Winter Line. The German Commander-in-Chief Albert Kesselring—had marked out the Winter Line as three parallel defensive systems to the south of Rome, the Reinhard was actually a southern bulge in the stronger Gustav line to the north. The Germans occupied San Pietro in September 1943 to prepare the defenses and they set up a defensive apparatus in the whole territory, in particular on Mount Sambúcaro and Mount Lungo, which overlooked the Mignano Gap. These were strategically important positions because they allowed the control of the stretch of Route 6. The Fifth Army began to attack the Reinhard/Bernhardt Line on 5 November, the Battle of San Pietro was preceded by Allied attacks on the Camino hill mass at the entrance to the Mignano Gap. The entire hill mass is about 10 km long and 6 kilometres wide, after that, the main Allied effort was against the German defenses on Mount Sambúcaro and Mount Lungo, which dominated the narrow valley on the northeast and southwest respectively. The direct attack on the German positions in and around San Pietro began on 8 December by Major General Geoffrey Keyes II Corps of the Fifth Army. The positions were defended by two battalion sized elements of the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division and a battalion of the 71st Infantrie Division, the U. S. 36th Division, then planned a further effort for 15 December. In the center, the 141st Infantry would attack San Pietro itself, the main attack of the 36th Division started at 12,00 on 15 December. In an effort to break the German defenses in the town, the armored attack failed due to mines and anti-tank fire
10.
Mark W. Clark
–
Mark Wayne Clark was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He was the youngest lieutenant general in the United States Army during World War II, during World War I, he was a company commander and served in France in 1918, as a 22-year old captain, where he was seriously wounded by shrapnel. After the war, the future U. S. Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall, during World War II, he commanded the United States Fifth Army, and later the 15th Army Group, in the Italian campaign. He is known for leading the Fifth Army in its capture of Rome in June 1944, the German 10th Army then joined with the rest of the German army group at the Trasimene Line. In March 1945, Clark, at the age of 48, General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, a close friend of Clarks, considered him a brilliant staff officer and trainer of men. Clark was awarded medals, including the Distinguished Service Cross. A legacy of the Clark task force that he led in 1953–1955 and his mother, Rebecca Beckie Ezekkiels, was the daughter of Romanian Jews, but Mark Clark was baptized Episcopalian while a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Clark gained an appointment to the USMA in 1913 at the age of 17. Although Eisenhower two years senior to him, having graduated as part of the West Point class of 1915 and he graduated alongside young men such as Matthew Ridgway, J. Lawton Collins, Ernest N. Harmon, William W. Eagles, Norman Cota, Laurence B. Keiser, Frederick Augustus Irving, William C, mcMahon, Bryant Moore and William Kelly Harrison, Jr. Like his father, he decided to join the Infantry Branch, oDaniel serving as a platoon commander in his company. In the rapid expansion of the U. S. Army during World War I, he rose quickly in rank, promoted to first lieutenant on May 15 and captain on August 5,1917. In late April 1918, shortly before Clarks 22nd birthday and over a year since his graduation from the USMA, he arrived on the Western Front, pershing, the Commander-in-Chief of the AEF on the Western Front. They were two of the first casualties in the division, despite his injuries, however, Clark managed to recover within six weeks, although he was graded unfit to return to the infantry. As a result of his convalescence, Captain Clark was transferred to the Supply Section of the First Army. In this position he served with Colonel John L. DeWitt, and supervised the provision of food for the men of the First Army. He stayed in this post until the end of hostilities on November 11,1918 and he then served with the Third Army in its occupation duties in Germany and returned to the United States in June 1919. During the period between the wars, Clark served in a variety of staff and training roles
11.
II Corps (Poland)
–
The Polish II Corps, 1943–1947, was a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders and fought with distinction in the Italian Campaign, by the end of 1945, the corps had grown to well over 100,000 soldiers. Victims of Soviet deportations from occupied Poland in 1939–40 had been processed by the NKVD and sent to concentration camps, the Nazi-Soviet pact of August 1939 effectively ended on 22 June 1941 when the German Wehrmacht invaded the USSR. Its first commander, General Michał Tokarzewski, began the task of forming this army in the Soviet town of Totskoye on 17 August and this army would grow over the following two years and provide the bulk of the units and troops of the Polish II Corps. The Polish II Corps was created in 1943 from various units fighting alongside the Allies in all theatres of war. Its creation was based on the British Allied Forces Act 1940, however, the British High Command never agreed to incorporate the exiled Polish Air Force into the Corps. In February 1944, the Polish II Corps was transferred from Egypt to Italy, in 1944, the Polish II Corps numbered about 50,000 soldiers. During three subsequent battles, it suffered losses and it was suggested to General Anders that he withdraw his units. By 1945, new units were added, composed mainly of freed POWs and this increased the Corps strength to around 75,000 men, approximately 20,000 of whom were transferred to other Polish units fighting in the West. After the war, the divisions of the Corps were used in Italy until 1946, the total establishment of the Polish II Corps in 1946 was 103,000. The majority of soldiers remained in exile and settled in Britain, the Corps had a consistently high fighting reputation and was well-regarded by the American and Commonwealth troops with whom they fought. In May 1945, the Corps consisted of 55,780 men, there was also a bear mascot, named Wojtek, who was officially entered onto the unit roll as a private soldier, subsequently being promoted to corporal. The majority of the Corps were Polish citizens who had been deported by the NKVD to the Soviet Gulags during the Soviet Unions annexation of Eastern Poland in 1939. Following Operation Barbarossa and the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement, many of them were released and allowed to join the Polish Armed Forces in the East being formed in Southern Russia, the main bulk of the soldiers were from the eastern voivodeships of pre-war Poland. Although the majority were ethnic Poles, there were other nationalities, most notably Jews. After being relocated to Palestine, many Jewish soldiers deserted and fled into the countryside, menachem Begin, however, though urged by his friends to desert, refused to remove his uniform until he had been officially discharged. Among them were 2,301 killed in action,8,543 wounded in action and 535 missing in action. At the time of its demobilisation in 1946, the 2nd Polish Corps establishment was as follows, Polish 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division CO, krótki informator historyczny o Wojsku Polskim w latach II wojny światowej
12.
Oliver Leese
–
Lieutenant General Sir Oliver William Hargreaves Leese, 3rd Baronet, KCB, CBE, DSO was a senior British Army officer who saw distinguished active service during both the First and Second World Wars. Leese was the first son of Sir William Hargreaves Leese, 2nd Baronet, a barrister, early in World War I, he joined the British Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Coldstream Guards on 15 May 1915. Leese was wounded three times, the last during the Somme offensive in 1916, an action in which he was mentioned in despatches, the citation to his DSO, which was gazetted in November 1916, read, For conspicuous gallantry in action. He led the assault against a strongly held part of the enemys line and he personally accounted for many of the enemy and enabled the attack to proceed. He was wounded during the fight, after the war, he remained in the British Army, being promoted captain in 1921, and attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1927 to 1928. In November 1929 he was appointed as major to 1st Infantry Brigade and was formally promoted to major a few days later. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in July 1933. Lady Leeses brother was the last of the line to own the Tabley estate which he left on his death in 1975 to the National Trust. From 1932 to 1938 Leese held a number of appointments and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in December 1936, brevet colonel in September 1938. In September 1938 he was posted to India to be a GSO1 instructor at the Staff College and he had succeeded to the baronetcy on his fathers death on 17 January 1937. Leese returned to England from India in March 1940, six months after the outbreak of the Second World War and he evacuated from Dunkirk with Gort on 31 May. On his return to the United Kingdom Leese was ordered to form and train a brigade group. In December 1940 he was appointed acting major general and given command of the West Sussex County Division, a month later he was moved to become General Officer Commanding of the 15th Infantry Division, then stationed in East Anglia. His rank was upgraded to major general in November and was made substantive in December. In June 1941 he became GOC of the newly created Guards Armoured Division during its formation and training. Montgomery had formed an opinion of Leese when he had instructed him at the Staff College. Leese commanded XXX Corps for the rest of the campaign ended with the Axis surrender in May 1943 in Tunisia. He was mentioned in despatches for his services in North Africa, Leese was promoted to temporary lieutenant general in September
