samneanderthal
Active member
Mussolini chose the worst possible time to invade Greece. Italy was reinforcing Libya, which was under attack by the British and Mussolini had just licenced 600,000 men to go home for the autumn harvest. There were very few Italian troops, trucks, etc, in Albania. The British captured large quantities of Italian cannon, machineguns, ammunition, etc, in Libya and provided them to the Greeks. The Greeks used these weapons not only to defeat the Italian offensive, but to capture part of Albania.
After the British had defeated the bulk of the Italian forces in Libya, Churchill pulled out most of those troops and sent them to Greece and the Sudan. This allowed the Italians to reinforce Tripoli and caused the British debacle in Greece.
Lets assume that Churchill decides to use his brain and does not send invaluable troops, planes, ships, etc, to suffer heavy losses and waste their time in Greece fighting the Germans. Instead Churchill invades poorly defended Sicily and Sardinia with his powerful navy and airforce. Malta, is only 93 km away from Sicily and Sardinia is close enough to invade by ship from Gibraltar. This prevents the Italians from supplying Tripoli, Pantelleria & Lampedusa (dooming those italian troops) and might induce Mussolini to disengage from Greece in order to recover his large islands.
Sardinia and Sicily in British hands ensure the sealanes to supply Egypt. They also allow Britain to bomb Italy easily, including the naval bases in Naples, Taranto, etc, the railroad centers, airports, factories, etc, Moreover, capturing these islands reduces the resources available to Mussolini (food, minerals, men, etc,) and allows the British to bomb the part of France that is occupied by the Germans, the parts of Germany adjacent to Switzerland and France, etc, The islands can also be used to launch the eventual liberation or invasion of France, Italy, Yugoslavia, etc,
With British planes, troops and ships established in these islands Italy does not stand a chance of recapturing them and the Italian navy would suffer heavy losses trying to supply its troops in Greece by sea.
After the British had defeated the bulk of the Italian forces in Libya, Churchill pulled out most of those troops and sent them to Greece and the Sudan. This allowed the Italians to reinforce Tripoli and caused the British debacle in Greece.
Lets assume that Churchill decides to use his brain and does not send invaluable troops, planes, ships, etc, to suffer heavy losses and waste their time in Greece fighting the Germans. Instead Churchill invades poorly defended Sicily and Sardinia with his powerful navy and airforce. Malta, is only 93 km away from Sicily and Sardinia is close enough to invade by ship from Gibraltar. This prevents the Italians from supplying Tripoli, Pantelleria & Lampedusa (dooming those italian troops) and might induce Mussolini to disengage from Greece in order to recover his large islands.
Sardinia and Sicily in British hands ensure the sealanes to supply Egypt. They also allow Britain to bomb Italy easily, including the naval bases in Naples, Taranto, etc, the railroad centers, airports, factories, etc, Moreover, capturing these islands reduces the resources available to Mussolini (food, minerals, men, etc,) and allows the British to bomb the part of France that is occupied by the Germans, the parts of Germany adjacent to Switzerland and France, etc, The islands can also be used to launch the eventual liberation or invasion of France, Italy, Yugoslavia, etc,
With British planes, troops and ships established in these islands Italy does not stand a chance of recapturing them and the Italian navy would suffer heavy losses trying to supply its troops in Greece by sea.
Last edited: