The story
US B-26 Marauder bomber attacked Scanzano Jonico, Italy, 50 kilometers southwest of Taranto. At Taranto, four British cruisers disembarked troops of British 1st Airborne Division, taking the port city with Italian cooperation; the British troops began marching inland after sundown. To the west, the main Allied assault on Italy, Operation Avalanche, began with the landing of two British divisions and one American division at Salerno; the British troops pushed 8 to 11 kilometers inland, which the Americans held on to a precarious beachhead. To the north, German troops disarmed their former Italian allies and classified them as prisoners of war while a new Fascist Anti-Badoglio government was formed. Italian leaders King Vittorio Emanuele III, the queen, Pietro Badoglio, Vittorio Ambrosio, and others fled Rome eastward, then turned south toward Brindisi
There's more to discover
You have arrived at just one small part of Back to Normandy — a personal project dedicated to preserving stories, images, music and memories of the Second World War.
Every record is a doorway to a larger story. Explore Back to Normandy to discover more, or visit Fred Vogels' personal website to learn about the person and the projects behind it.