I’m reading a biography on Eisenhower.
This book suggests after the end of the Tunisia Campaign and before the invasion of Sicily that the Monarchy of Italy contacted Allied HQ about defecting from the Axis.
A plan was drawn up where the 82nd would drop into Rome and help secure the city and Italian government.
How would this have played out?
Curious. Would’ve been a complicated air operation, given that escorting aircraft may have had to come from carriers. Then again, the Western Allies ruled the skies.
The success would’ve depended on whether the Italian government collapsed (Mussolini and the facists overthrown) and the army would’ve defected as quickly and massive as they did following the invasion of Sicily. If a substantial number were at least disarmed, it’s quite possible enough Allied troops could’ve been ferried into Italian ports to hold against an expected German counterattack.
While I don’t think the Allies would’ve reached the Italian-Yugoslavian or Italian-German borders, they may have reached what would become the Gothic Line by early 1944. Just making probable estimates, I did not look this in detail.
