The War North Of Rome June 1944- May 1945

The British had a song for it: "Oh, we are the D-Day Dodgers," based on a comment from a female member of Parliament that dismissed all those not on the beaches at Normandy as draft evaders. Indeed, after the invasion of France the Allied armies in Italy found themselves in a forgotten theater of war. Until now, their eleven-month saga of bitter combat and gallant sacrifice has been ignored. The problem for the Allies was that the fall of the Italian capital on June 4, 1944 -- although a spectacular public relations triumph -- did not end the campaign. The Germans had simply conducted a short strategic withdrawal, conceding one objective while proceeding to fortify additional defense lines. From Salerno to Rome, and most famously at Cassino, the Germans took advantage of the mountains, ridges, and rivers that crisscross Italy to exact every drop of blood from the Allied forces. Although the press was no longer paying attention, in the north of Rome the process of continued Allied offensives was met by a German resistance that alternated between ferocity and flexibility.

Thomas R. Brooks served as rifleman in the 10th Mountain Division 1943-46, before going on to Harvard. He has written six books, primarily on business and labor history. He has also written for Commentary, The New York Times Magazine, New York, and many other publications.