Today Italy is one of the world's most alluring travel destinations, celebrated for its classical and Renaissance history, delicious food and wine, romantic cities and spectacular views. But between 1943 and 1945 the country was ravaged by a savage storm of war, as the Allies battled their way up the leg of Italy, heroically overcoming German forces determined to fight for every yard.
On this fascinating 8-day tour, devised and led by the bestselling and award-winning historian James Holland, you will follow the course of the brutal Italian campaign from the Allied landings at Salerno in September 1943 all the way to the liberation of Rome the following June. To reach the Eternal City, the Allies had to fight their way, inch by inch, up the Italian peninsula, overcoming flooded rivers and blown-up bridges, battling over steep mountains and through thick mud, all in bitter winter conditions that favoured the German defenders. As you will hear, the campaign became a terrible, grinding struggle of men, material and mud -which also created unspeakable miseries for Italian civilians, as whole towns and villages were destroyed.
However, it was also a time of astonishing bravery and human drama. And during this unique and unmissable tour you will hear the fascinating stories of people from all sides - Allied, German and civilians, too - who heroically fought, lived and died through it, as James recounts their moving first-hand experiences.
With James and battlefields author Mike Peters as your expert guides, you will discover many new and revealing things about one of the Second World War's most misunderstood campaigns, all set against a spectacular Italian backdrop of towering peaks and beautiful valleys, with the sparkling Mediterranean Sea beyond.
"Join me in this stunningly beautiful part of Italy, where we will learn much about one of the Second World War's most misunderstood campaigns, hearing dramatic and moving tales, and about events which highlight the astonishing indefatigability of the human spirit" - James Holland
Additional information
Flights
Flights are not included but can be added at a supplement, please call to arrange.
Flight BA0536, 7 October
Departing London Heathrow at 9.50, arriving Naples at 13.40
Flight BA0549, 14 October
Departing Rome Fiumicino at 12.55, arriving London Heathrow at 14.35Single supplement
£399*Please note this information is indicative and subject to change*
James Holland is an award-winning historian, writer and broadcaster. He has written numerous history books, including Brothers in Arms, which tells the story of the Sherwood Rangers from D-Day to VE Day, and co-hosts the hugely successful podcast, We Have Ways of Making You Talk, with Al Murray.
Mike served in the British Army for more than thirty years. As an Army Air Corps Soldier, and later in his career as an Officer, he served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. He has maintained a lifelong interest in military history, working as a Battlefield Guide, an author, and recently as a TV Historian. Mike has published Glider Pilots at Arnhem, Glider Pilots in Sicily, and Bomb Group - a history of the 381st Bomb Group USAAF.
After flying from London to Naples, you will meet your local tour coach and take a one hour drive to the scenic port of Salerno. Here you will enjoy a welcome dinner and the chance to meet and hear from James Holland and Mike Peters, your expert guides for the tour.
We will start our second day by climbing high into the hills overlooking Salerno to survey the battleground, before descending to the beaches where the British X Corps landed in September 1943. Next we head south, first to the ancient Greek city of Paestum, where the US Army's 36th Texas Division landed, before moving on to nearby Monte Cicerale to view the battlefield from the south. Here we will examine the battle's key crisis points, including the focus of the German counterattack. Next we will visit the ruins of the Tobacco Factory - a circular, fortress-like complex which was the scene of ferocious fighting - and see where, and why, the Germans came unstuck. Across the day you will get a clear overview of the entire Battle of Salerno, including fascinating on-the-ground visits to relive the battle's pivotal moments.
In the evening, we will take a two and a half-hour drive to Foggia.
Air power was vital to the Italian campaign and the capture of the Foggia airfield complex was a key - if not the key - objective for the first phase of the Allied invasion. The plain here, which is flat as a board, became home to the US heavy bombers of the Fifteenth Air Force. Here we will visit one of those vital airfields before continuing up the coast to Termoli, scene of a vicious battle and the place where the SAS under Paddy Mayne suffered a major blow. We will then follow the Eighth Army's path north along the Adriatic coast, while also focusing on the New Zealanders' advance as they crossed the River Sangro and pushed on to the ridgetop towns of Castel Frentano and Orsogna.
The Battle of Ortona has been called the "Stalingrad of the Adriatic" and this morning we will be looking at its month-long, close-quarter fighting in detail - from the Canadians' early attempts to cross the River Moro and the clearing of "the Gulley", to the fierce street battles through the town itself, which still shows plenty of signs of damage 80 years on. We then have a coach ride - albeit a very scenic one - back to the western side of the leg of Italy, where we rejoin the story of the US Fifth Army at the point it crossed the River Volturno. Next we take a short climb on foot to Teatro Tempio di Pietravairano, the breathtaking hilltop amphitheatre where we will share the view that greeted US Generals Mark Clark and John Lucas of the Germans' mighty Bernhardt defensive line beyond.
The Battle for the Bernhardt Line - or Winter Line, as the Americans called it - was unspeakably tough, as soldiers on both sides engaged in bitter fighting atop towering 3,000-foot peaks. Today we will follow in their footsteps as we climb Monte Sammucro, albeit from the easier German side. Still littered with shrapnel from the fighting of December 1944 and with remains of the Germans' stone sangers dotting the crest, this is a special chance to see a very well-preserved and evocative battleground. Needless to say, the views are stunning and provide a vivid panorama of the surrounding area. After our descent, we will visit the deeply moving ruined village of San Pietro Infine, which was destroyed in the fighting and has been left just as it was in December 1944.
Today the Allies' campaign crosses over into 1944 as we look at the early battles of January that year. We will take a short climb up to the southern saddle of Monte Trocchio, which affords fantastic views of the Cassino battleground, before heading south to see where the British crossed the River Garigliano - a battle often overlooked but which proved vital to the events that followed. In the afternoon, we focus on the Texas Division's attempt to cross the River Rapido before heading to the beautiful and moving CWGC Cemetery at Cassino.
This evening we will enjoy a group dinner together at the 4-star Hotel Rocca.
On our last full day of the tour, we will head to Monte Cassino, and from the Polish Cemetery walk up onto Snakeshead Ridge and Calvary Hill (Point 593) to see relics from one of the most famous battles of the Second World War. There will also be a chance for a brief tour of the Abbey before we head down into the Liri Valley to see remnants of the Senger Line and the scene of the decisive Allied breakthrough of May 1944. We then head north, stopping at a viewpoint overlooking the Anzio beachhead to examine how the troops of the US VI Corps finally broke out and turned the Battle for Rome.
You will be driven from your hotel to Rome's Fiumicino airport before your flight back to the UK.
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