Mussolini: The Last Days Of Il Duce | Battlezone | War Stories

[Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] mussolini says we shall conquer [Applause] three years later in may 1943 what remains of the italian army in africa surrenders at capone in tunisia this is the end of the great fascist dream there isn't going to be another roman empire and from alexandria to tangiers the mediterranean coastline is in the hands of the allies the landing in sicily is the greatest amphibious operation ever attempted coming from all the north african ports hundreds of boats sail before a stormy wind towards the sicilian beaches at dawn on july the 10th 1943 two armies set foot on the shores of southern sicily in east montgomery's eighth army in the west the american seventh army under general george patton who with his boots his tourist camera and his cowboy cult immediately becomes the star of the campaign in spite of a certain amount of confusion due to an experience the landing is a complete success the italian coastal divisions don't put up much of a fight after all as the allies propaganda leaflets say why die for hitler montgomery the desert conqueror doesn't hide his satisfaction the allied soldiers find amongst the fascist background fanatical propaganda in favor of mussolini ill duchess [Music] but people are tired of war and ready to give the conquerors a triumphant welcome americans of sicilian origin leave pockets full of addresses in the villages looking for cousins above all there's the arrival of the american uncle handsome rich generous and well disposed to solace the misery of little people [Music] some partisans are brought out from the shadows people murmur that they also belong to the mafia [Music] everything has turned against fascism the party officers struggled terrified in the purifying stream of democracy [Music] italian officials who had found it easy to please the germans believed that they would have no difficulty in accommodating the new masters [Music] the start of the invasion of europe has been disconcertingly easy the italians no longer enemies are not yet trusted allies but the germans soon put a stop to this military parade from the north of italy flying low over the water to escape the attention of the allies the heavy junkers 52 of the luftwaffe drop a division of paratroops and launch an immediate counter attack [Music] anxiously watching this sudden hardening of the situation demands reinforcements urgently from algeria eisenhower sends him airborne troops but when the planes arrive above the bridgehead the allied anti-aircraft forces not recognizing them open fire the planes disperse and hundreds of the paratroopers are killed shot or drowned the allies who have air supremacy now have to conquer a sicily they believed was theirs for the taking the offensive continues in the east montgomery conference of his experience of the eighth army which is led since egypt intends to be the real victor but he loses valuable time at catania at the foot of mount edda between the two armies british and american a real race develops to take messina at the northern tip of the island the germans too few in number feel the game is lost but profiting from the spitting up maneuver of the allies they organize a sicilian dun kirk and thanks to this succeed in escaping to the italian mainland with most of their equipment [Music] when the american planes arrive over messina they are too late the bird has fled [Music] but for patton it's still a victory he's sure to smoke out later the germans who've escaped him now patton is first into messina where he welcomes the eighth army of his rival montgomery as well as his own chief eisenhower a stupid incident mars his career for a time in a field hospital patton slaps the face of a soldier affected by nervous depression eisenhower on roosevelt's orders signifies the president's displeasure at this shameful end opposite the narrow channel i can monty as the soldiers call them are studying the italian coast it has taken five weeks to conquer sicily which offered little resistance what is the battle of italy got in store for the allies the defeat of sicily has shaken mussolini's prestige bilduche calls a meeting of the fascist grand council for july the 24th 1943. it's agreed on a vote that the king will be restored as commander-in-chief in place of mussolini the next day mussolini girls confide his difficulties to the king victor emmanuel the third it's a trap as he leaves the royal palace mussolini is arrested on the king's orders he is taken away in an ambulance as soon as the news gets out the crowds rush into the streets and knock over the emblems left by 21 years of the fascist regime the successor to el duce whose appointment is kept secret for several days is marshall pietro bedolio a former monarchist who declares publicly the war goes on but secretly sends his invoice immediately to ask for an armistice with the allies on hearing the announcement of mussolini's downfall and realizing that since italy has ceased to be an ally she has become willy-nilly an occupied country hitler reacts as expected the wehrmacht marches in long columns down through the brenner pass [Music] [Music] outside rome the italian army attempts resistance but what can it do against the paratroopers and the panzers of the german war machine [Music] the post of commander in chief of the german troops in italy is entrusted to marshall kessel ring an ex-pilot who went to school with rommel for the german divisions coming out of russia italy seems by comparison a holiday resort hitler doesn't forget his friend mussolini and orders an ss commando and some paratroopers to rescue him their leader is a scar giant colonel otto skodzini mussolini is being detained in a mountain palace on the grand sasso in the abruzzi it's there that scott zania finds him on september 12 1943 with his commander unit he lands in a glider on the mountain summit [Music] the first words of el duchy to scots it's high time i was going to commit suicide he's anxious now to leave a small plane manages to land takes mussolini and scotsania board slides towards the precipice and succeeds in taking off again [Music] several hours later hitler welcomes the fallen ducey to his general field headquarters in east russia where he finds his son vittorio mussolini is fated and comforted no question of suicide or exile he must leave it once for italy to restore fascism and soon mussolini departs to meet his faith [Music] at milan he finds again the enthusiastic crowds are before the war those who betrayed him will be executed and this includes his son-in-law count channel but il ducey is only a shadow of his former self watched over if not actually guarded day and night by officers of the ss the officers who at the end of the war would abandon him to the party's hands after sicily the allies envisaged an immediate landing to the north of rome however the supreme command adopts a more prudent plan to land in the sun on september the 8th the day of the italian armistice the british at toronto the americans at soleno but at soleno nothing goes according to plan the germans are everywhere standing fast on the beaches of soleno entrenched in the hills they open fire on the americans on site the new commander the american army general mark clark has very bad memories of this first invasion of europe mr churchill he referred to the mediterranean as the soft underbelly of europe and it became my job to slit that soft underbelly later and i found instead it was a rather tough old gut [Music] the allied fleet assembles off the coast to back up the infantry on land there is total confusion even re-embarkation is suggested [Music] in 10 days there are thousands of wood finally the attackers succeed in breaking through and clark moves inland to rendezvous with montgomery's british troops coming from the south of calabria to break the german vice [Music] on october 1st 1943 the allies enter naples in the midst of ruins refugees and a population which at the same time is both terrified and relieved naples for the american soldiers from across the seas has a reputation of a tourist paradise it is pompeii and vesuvius but the volcano becomes active and the eruption adds to the miseries of [Music] war in the city the germans have planted time bombs with india allied soldiers and italian civilians alike naples is a shambles and the people try to survive in any way possible the general clark naples is the greatest port in southern italy to which reinforcements can be sent he is anxious now to open the road to rome now it's autumn wet and cold on the adriatic coast montgomery splashes around like his army one is a long way from the holiday brochures on the banks of the volcano in flood [Music] during this rainy autumn the allies have at great cost reach the river volcano while the germans have established a line of defense along the river's rapido and galileano the gustaf line solidly supported against a barrier of mountains in the middle of the valley like a sentinel guarding the road to rome is monte cassino the road leading from naples to rome the old roman catalina way passes through the natural fortress of monte cassino the site of a monastery founded by saint benedict at the foot of the cliff like an advanced post is the little town of casino the gustav line passes through here castle ring intends to make it the beardoon of italy this mountainous barrier however 150 kilometers slices right across the italian boot for six months it becomes a german [Music] rampart on monte cassino and in casino village the german first parachute division is entrenched everywhere on the slopes in the ravines on the heights the alpine corps and armored troops are dug in the americans prepare an advance led by tanks and trucks a sort of lightning attack in the narrow valleys on the broken up roads of the aponics their armored troops conspicuous in the starlight are going to suffer as the g.i say blood and guts they will be easy prey for the german 88 millimeter guns concealed in the peaks [Music] the allied armies are made up of a strange mixture of troops from all sorts of backgrounds and 17 countries indians canadians australians new zealanders south africans and maoris from the pacific there are even japanese recruited from those living in america before pearl harbor they have been given the choice of internment or italy they fight well as the nazai division [Music] bedolio's italians have reconstituted a mountain division brazil has sent a contingent the polish general anders commands a corps integrated into the british eighth army his men prisoners of the russians in 1939 liberated in 1942 have made a tour of the mediterranean to come and fight a casino it will soon be the turn of the french algiers in the spring of 1943 is not only the principal allies strategic base in the mediterranean but the capital of wartime france in may general the girl's army welcomed by general giro marks the reunification of the french forces in the struggle against germany the goal from now on is to give the french army fighting equipment and to find them a place on the battlefield commanders soldiers marine french colonists from north africa rise help our allies join them without reservation france at war needs you all those who have the courage to start again despite treason and the enemy are already approved welcomed and acclaimed by all french competences those who had escaped from occupied fronts thousands of young volunteers landed in algeria they had already escaped from the germans and had to endure spanish prisons in exchange for the freedom of these french prisoners the spanish demand a ransom for each in the form of phosphates minerals and even gold on all sides in algeria tunisia and morocco muslims and europeans come forward to enlist the fifth priority is to procure modern art jiro and ago have obtained from the allies sufficient modern equipment for their growing forces and the americans are the principal suppliers astonished the french soldiers who had fought in tunisia with miserable material discover the wealth of the american arsenal the fleet is rearmed the air force brought up to date the american advance towards the gustav line soon strikes the advanced german defenses the 36th texan division volunteers for the difficult mission of taking the little village of san pietro in phoenix gradually the combat takes on the dimensions of a great battle longer and longer bloodier and bloodier the texas representatives protest violently to the american congress about the sacrifice of the 36th division so [Music] finally san pietro is conquered several prisons are taken and the days on happy civilians find freedom again during the fighting the survivors have installed themselves in the abandoned ruins of the town by the end of the year the french expeditionary force is actively involved in the war to the old soldiers the atmosphere is reminiscent of 1914-18 with the agonizing proximity of the enemy who from the heights watches everything that happens [Music] on january the 3rd 1944 gets his power of independent command from the allies the third algerian infantry division of general monsavier reaches acrofondata the last ridge before the gustav line mosaic installs his artillery there now they must climb down into the valley opposite the well-entrenched enemy by a dizzy road which has earned the nickname of death road [Music] at the end of death road french advance posts are set up overlooked on all sides by the germans the village of santa elia is held by only a few dozen marksmen and algerian troops the allies are at last in contact with the gustav line it's winter the peaks are snow-capped and on each one of them the germans are watching ready to return fire from monte carlo an enormous frozen pyramid as far as monte cassino which bars the road to rome after the checks to their attacks on the casino front the allies decide to take the gustav line from the rear and to land here the americans at nutuno and the british at anzio on the first day of the operation january the 22nd 1944 ahead of the allies there's nothing and the road to rome seems open but the american general lucas who is in command holds back his troops and this excessive caution provokes our drama the germans have hastily concentrated their artillery on blocking the apennine way which leads to an enormous gun on the railway undertakes a systematic pounding of the bridgehead [Music] castle ring is the complete opposite to his adversary lucas while the american is slow to react the german replies in crushing fashion to demoralize the allies from anzio invents the slogan bridgehead deadhead [Music] he launches counter attack after counter attack he captures a battalion of american rangers who are about to march to rome to impress the italians general lucas is relieved of his command but from now on the allies are on the defensive the anzio operation which is going to be such a brilliant success becomes defeat there the allies are overwhelmed by the german artillery there are few survivors anzio is a flop the americans launch a new attack on the casino front [Music] the french expeditionary force installed on the right in the venapro acropodata centralia sector is entrusted with a diversionary maneuver in the direction of mount belvedere down in the valley the americans themselves are going to attempt to cross the river which separates them from monte cassino the rapido it's again the 36th texan division who suffered so much of san pietro who are charged with forcing her way through utter failure the 36 texans stagger back exhausted to their starting point having lost sixteen hundred men opposite monte casino the americans worn down by the battle of the river rapido are relieved at the beginning of february by a british force commanded by the new zealander general freiburg [Music] freiburg who made his name in the desert battles immediately launches his assault troops mostly workers of the fourth indian division in the direction of casino and the [Music] monastery foreign [Music] the infantry advances a little way but is soon stopped by the german artillery and freiburg recalls his depleted regiments [Music] [Music] surrounded by smoke like a volcano monte casino dominates the battlefield it obsesses everyone soldiers and generals alike [Music] the allied soldiers are beginning to think that monte casino is impregnable they believe the germans are using the monastery as a fortress and in the british and american ranks a hatred of the monastery is developing but at this time the monument is still intact and the only living quarters are those of the monks and refugees the german general von singer and eterlin even tries to remove its most precious treasures to the safety of rome he has forbidden his soldiers to approach nearer than 300 meters but the british generals aren't convinced and think it's a trick each day they photograph the monastery from piper cub observation planes general freiburg then declares that he will stop attacking so that the monument will not be destroyed in allied headquarters the mata goes up to field marshal alexander discussion is lively general clark for his part is against bombardment i was surprised for i did not think that it was the thing to do to destroy such an ancient work and i would be glad to do it if the enemy was using it but our intelligence revealed that the enemy was not using the abbey and then two i knew from experience that when you destroy a great edifice the rubble makes a better defensive work than before general clark did you point that out to general freiburg oh yes i did and we discussed it i appreciated his point of view and i discussed it at length i discussed it with general alexander who got into the picture because general freiburg asked him to intervene and so finally general alexander asked me to bomb the abbey and i said i will do it if you give me orders to do so which he did in the hope of saving the thousand italian refugees who had claimed asylum from the benedictines before the bombing began leaflets are fired in special shells [Music] [Music] on february the 15th at dawn the bombardment begins with artillery fire then hundreds of planes fly from sicily and naples towards monte cassino [Music] [Music] so in three hours said benedict's monastery is destroyed leaving the german defenses still intact the ruined monastery is taken over by the germans and makes a fairly effective strong point the first paratroop division entrenches itself there in the ruins of the monastery [Music] these german paratroops have fought at rotterdam in crete and in sicily but it's at casino they earn their name the green devils [Music] the day after the bombardment general freiburg launches a new frontal attack in theory now that the monastery is destroyed nothing more can stop him advancing but once again there is failure indians maoris and new zealanders try in vain to scale the peaks of monte cassino at the end of three hours field marshall alexander gives the order to stop the assault since they can't take the mountain an attack is mounted in the vani on the town of casino which on march the 15th is wiped off the map by a terrible bombardment of 775 planes and 750 guns [Music] immediately the new zealanders reinforced by canadian and british tanks advance battle is joined in the ruins which are held by only 150 german [Applause] paratroopers [Music] know the british infantry advances alone under the barrage of mortars the tanks stopped by the massive ruins are unable to fire at the end of four days it's clear the new zealand core in spite of their courage has failed all that remains now is to call a truce to allow each side to collect their wounded field marshal alexander considers it may be better to stop operations but his french and polish allies are determined to try their own strength the french general journal makes an outflanking attack on the left while the polish corps of general anders make a final frontal assault on the mountain strong point the combination proves too much for the germans the poles capture the monastery and take the ruins of the abbey on may the 12th breaking the five months deadlock a symbolic triumph the germans are now in full retreat harassed by the allied air force full of undisputed mastery of the sky along a road littered with german dead and debris the tanks trucks mules and infantry men push forward in the warm spring sunshine to take room [Music] high in the mountains the 22 000 moroccan scouts of general guillaume sweep from ridge to ridge the american soldiers are eager to rescue their comrades taken prisoner in january when caught in the anzio trap then a fighting advance on rome [Music] general clark in his jeep overtakes the leading tanks rome the eternal city is in his grasp [Music] the germans evacuate in haste of the north and their departure is secretly filled by an italian cameraman in the evening of june the 4th 1944 the first american patrols penetrate rome the french army reaches tivoli in the [Music] suburbs the next day clark and juan meet up and they inspect the city together [Music] a soldier of the french pacific battalion runs up the flag of the fanesse palace the headquarters of the french ambassador [Music] on june the 6th the french troops march into rome and the british hold a parade [Music] the germans continued to retreat towards the north towards siena and florence [Music] but they're still disciplined troops and still dangerous leaving behind them mines and traps blocking roads blowing up bridges [Music] in the mountains the italian partisans harass the retreating german colony the germans react ruthlessly and all those partisans captured are summary executed we had planned in italy as a result of a visit from marshall tito and from all the british the king of england and churchill that we would go across the adriatic go through the ljubljana gap and head towards vienna and budapest before the russians that was briefly the plan that we hoped we might execute but when i met president roosevelt in sicily when he came to see me from tehran he told me of a plan that had developed that stalin was greatly interested in for this southern france landing in the event policy changes abruptly the allies do not enter the vulcans and switch their main effort to the invasion of france in western europe the french army in italy takes sienna undamaged amid scenes of medieval triumph and the italian campaign is virtually ended [Music] [Laughter] however it is the memories of the epic battles at casino where the allies and the germans leave 50 000 dead that will be remembered as the turning point in the battle for italy the battle you have just seen was one of the decisive battles of the second world war a war that affected the destinies of manded nations the world over the film you have just witnessed was discovered in film libraries all over the world and painstakingly edited to show you the incredible impact these individual battles had on the outcome of this most devastating of wars the world thanks to these films we'll never forget the tremendous effort put forth by all people included in the big battles

Channel: War Stories

Views: 205,192

Rating: 4.7287774 out of 5

Keywords: military history, war, war documentary, military tactics, war stories, history of war, ww2 documentary, ww2, hitler, Mussolini, archive footage, il duce speech, mussolini documentary, patton, montgomery, sicily ww2 invasion, sicily ww2 history, ww2 sicily campaign, sicily war ww2, battle of sicily ww2, world war

Id: _uyl2BL2OLc

Length: 49min 37sec (2977 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 17 2021