Why We Fight ~ 1944

I'm joined again by COL Bryan Gibby, this time to discuss Operation Diadem and the breakout from Anzio, controversies during this period in Spring 1944 in Italy, and the failure of Allied command as LTG Mark Wayne Clark prioritizes an American-led liberation of Rome. Links The Will to Win: American Military Advisors in Korea, 1946-1953 Korean Showdown: National Policy and Military Strategy in a Limited War, 1951-1952 Cassino, The Hollow Victory: The Battle for Rome, January - June 1944 Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War The Impossible Victory: A Personal Account of the Battle of the River Po

Frank de Planta joins me again, this time to talk about Operation Chesterfield, an attack on the Hitler Line in late May 1944 carried out by Canadian and Polish forces in Italy. Links Cassino Battlefields (http://www.cassinobattlefields.co.uk/) Valor Tours (https://www.valortours.com/)

Back to talk about Operation Diadem and the final battle of Monte Cassino is Frank de Planta. Frank talks about the options considered when planning this attack, some of the controversies that arose, and the outcome, as well as the focus on liberating Rome from Axis hands. There will be another episode that also talks about Operation Diadem with a focus on the failure of Allied command. Links Cassino Battlefields (http://www.cassinobattlefields.co.uk/) Valor Tours (https://www.valortours.com/)

In this episode, Dr. Lance Blyth, Command Historian for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and US NORTHCOM, and Adjunct Professor of History at the US Air Force Academy, joins me to talk about Mountain Warfare training 80 years ago, the infamous D Series exercises in early 1944, the uncertainty plaguing the men who will form the 10th Mountain Division (eventually), and other aspects of this important time in US Army history. This is the fourth in a series of episodes discussing the 10th Mountain Division. Special thank you to the 10th Mountain Division Band for providing the music used in the intro to this episode. Links Follow Lance on Twitter/X (https://twitter.com/mtn_war) Ski, Climb, Fight: The 10th Mountain Division and the Rise of Mountain Warfare - Available 5 NOV 2024 (https://www.amazon.com/Ski-Climb-Fight-Campaigns-Commanders/dp/0806194650/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UJ-Y9eVOf7eijBTQQ6cwetd5xG-VPoYyZMdiiVvSm8SGnS9fwCUG-L1JV9v2GYcu.nI6pVs9CiV7xAEFSroXPlOZL1-C4Tqtd084wmN8wyzU&qid=1714909122&sr=8-1) Ninety-Pound Rucksack: The Story of the US Army's 10th Mountain Division and the dawn of outdoor recreation in America (https://christianbeckwith.com/) 10th Mountain Division & Fort Drum Museum (https://history.army.mil/museums/fieldMuseums/fortDrum/index.html) History Colorado (https://www.historycolorado.org/) 10th Mountain Division Resource Center (https://history.denverlibrary.org/research/western-history/10th-mountain-division-resource-center) Why We Fight Bonus Content (https://www.patreon.com/motheroftanks)

Returning to continue the story of the 10th Mountain Division are Doug Schmidt, Curator at the 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum Museum, and Dr. Chris Juergens, Head of Curatorial Services and Anschutz Curator of Military History at History Colorado. This time we talk about the Division heading into 1944, with an extremely challenge exercise to test their training. Special thank you to the 10th Mountain Division Band for providing the music as a response to the challenge issued by Lt. Col. Brian Kerg in the Operation Flintlock episode. Links Building Camp Hale: A Deeper History of America's High-Altitude Army Training Ground (https://www.historycolorado.org/story/2022/10/07/building-camp-hale-deeper-history-americas-high-altitude-army-training-ground) 10th Mountain Division Resource Center (https://history.denverlibrary.org/research/western-history/10th-mountain-division-resource-center) 10th Mountain Division History (https://home.army.mil/drum/units-tenants/10th-mountain-division-li) 10th Mountain Division & Fort Drum Museum (https://history.army.mil/museums/fieldMuseums/fortDrum/index.html) Ninety-Pound Rucksack (https://christianbeckwith.com/) History Colorado (https://www.historycolorado.org/) Why We Fight Bonus Content (https://www.patreon.com/motheroftanks)

In this episode, Dr. Thomas Bradbeer talks to me about the Royal Air Force raid on Nuremberg at the end of March in 1944. He also details some of the tactics these pilots and aircrews used, as well as the challenges they faced with the Luftwaffe, and towards the end of the episode we talk a bit about his work with the US Army's Command and General Staff College in the Department of Command and Leadership. Links Books by Dr. Thomas Bradbeer (https://www.amazon.com/Books-Thomas-G-Bradbeer/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AThomas+G.+Bradbeer) Army University Press SMEs (https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Experts/) Mother of Tanks website (www.motheroftanks.com) Why We Fight Bonus Content (https://www.patreon.com/motheroftanks) One of the photos in the title graphic was downloaded from the British Imperial War Museum: ©IWM(CH12598)

In this episode, Christopher Kolakowski returns to tell the story of the Battles of Imphal and Kohima in March-July 1944. Links Wisconsin Veterans Museum (https://wisvetsmuseum.com/) Defeat Into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 1942-1945 by Field-Marshal Viscount (https://shorturl.at/BDWZ6) Nations in the Balance: The India-Burma Campaigns, December 1943 - August 1944 by Christopher L. Kolakowski (https://shorturl.at/qtDPY) "Is That the End or Do We Go On?": The Battle of Kohima, 1944 by Christopher L. Kolakowski (https://history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH-Magazine/2019AH_spring/AH111(W).pdf) Road of Bones: The Epic Siege of Kohima 1944 by Fergal Keane (https://shorturl.at/uwKVX) United States Army in World War II: China-Burma-India Theater: Stilwell's Mission to China (https://history.army.mil/html/books/009/9-1/CMH_Pub_9-1.pdf) Stilwell's Command Problems (https://history.army.mil/html/books/009/9-2/CMH_Pub_9-2.pdf) Time Runs Out in CBI (https://history.army.mil/html/books/009/9-3/CMH_Pub_9-3.pdf) Mother of Tanks website (www.motheroftanks.com) Why We Fight Bonus Content (https://www.patreon.com/motheroftanks)

Frank de Planta joins me again to continue the story of the Allies fighting the Battles of Monte Cassino. Links Cassino Battlefields (http://www.cassinobattlefields.co.uk/about/) US Army Center of Military History - Italy WWII Maps (https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/wwii/part03ETO/anzio/sec04.html) US Army CMH Video - Anzio Landings in Italy, Monte Cassino, Russian Offensive in Romania WWII Newsreel 70842 (https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/wwii/part03ETO/anzio/sec05.html) Anzio Beachhead (https://history.army.mil/html/books/100/100-10/CMH_Pub_100-10.pdf) Anzio (https://history.army.mil/html/books/072/72-19/CMH_Pub_72-19.pdf) Return to Cassino by Harold L. Bond (https://www.amazon.com/Return-Cassino-memoir-fight-Rome/dp/B0007DZTG0) Cassino Battlefields Tours (http://www.cassinobattlefields.co.uk/) Series Website (www.motheroftanks.com) Bonus Series Content on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/motheroftanks)

Back again is Christopher Kolakowski, the director of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, this time to talk about the Chindits, Long-Range Penetration Groups operation in the China-Burma-India Theater. (In the episode I refer to three episodes contributed by this guest but the third hasn’t been released yet.) Links Operation THURSDAY (https://www.hurlburt.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Fact-Sheets/Article/204577/operation-thursday/) The Chindits - Operation Thursday (https://thechinditsociety.org.uk/operation-thursday-part-1) Art of War Papers Orde Wingate and the British Internal Security Strategy During the Arab Rebellion in Palestine, 1936-1939 (https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/ArtofWar_OrdeWingate1936.pdf) The Coming of Modern War: The Coalition War in North Burma, 1944 by Christopher Kolakowski, pg. 7-27 (https://history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH-Magazine/2018AH_spring/AH107(W).pdf) Wisconsin Veterans Museum (https://wisvetsmuseum.com/) Why We Fight Bonus Content (https://www.patreon.com/motheroftanks)

Back again is Frank de Planta to continue the story of the Allies fighting the Battles of Monte Cassino. Links Cassino Battlefields (http://www.cassinobattlefields.co.uk/about/) US Army Center of Military History - Italy WWII Maps (https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/wwii/part03ETO/anzio/sec04.html) US Army CMH Video - Anzio Landings in Italy, Monte Cassino, Russian Offensive in Romania WWII Newsreel 70842 (https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/wwii/part03ETO/anzio/sec05.html) Anzio Beachhead (https://history.army.mil/html/books/100/100-10/CMH_Pub_100-10.pdf) Anzio (https://history.army.mil/html/books/072/72-19/CMH_Pub_72-19.pdf) Return to Cassino by Harold L. Bond (https://www.amazon.com/Return-Cassino-memoir-fight-Rome/dp/B0007DZTG0) Series Website (www.motheroftanks.com) Bonus Series Content on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/motheroftanks)