The Italian campaign of World War II, also called the Liberation of Italy, consisted of Allied and Axis operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to 1945. The Joint Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre and it planned and led the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, followed in September by the invasion of the Italian mainland and the campaign in Italy until the surrender of the German Armed Forces in Italy in May 1945.
Before dawn on July 10, 1942, 150,000 American and British troops along with Canadian, Free French and other Allies, and 3,000 ships, 600 tanks and 4,000 aircraft made for the southern shores of the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea: the storied, 10,000-square-mile land of Sicily. Within six weeks, the Allies had pushed Axis troops (primarily Germans) out of Sicily and were poised for the invasion of mainland Italy and one of the most arduous 20 months of the entire war: the long, often brutal Italian Campaign.
Tens of thousands of troops, on both sides, were killed or listed as missing, while hundreds of thousands more were wounded. And, of course as in most every major campaign of the war hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed, while countless more were wounded, raped, left homeless and otherwise traumatized.
The campaign ended when Army Group C surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on May 2, 1945, one week before the formal German Instrument of Surrender. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican, both surrounded by Italian territory, also suffered damage during the conflict.
Here, a series of both rare and classic color pictures made throughout the Italian Campaign by LIFE’s photographer Carl Mydans.
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| American jeeps traveled through a bombed-out town during the drive towards Rome, World War II. |
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| American armor moved up the Appian Way during the drive towards Rome. |
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| American soldiers marched up the Appian Way during the drive towards Rome in World War II. |
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| Italians watched American armor pass during the drive towards Rome along the Appian Way, World War II. |
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| A column of American medical vehicles during the drive towards Rome, World War II. |
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| American soldiers rested in a courtyard during the drive towards Rome, World War II. |
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| American troops stood in front of a bombed-out building during the drive towards Rome, World War II. |
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| Ruins of the town of Monte Cassino, a result of massive Allied bombing during an attempt to dislodge German troops occupying the city, 1944. |
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| Ruins in the Rapido Valley, 1944. |
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| A German graveyard along the Esperia Road, photographed during the Allied drive towards Rome, World War II. |
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| Troops in the Liri Valley, on the road to Rome, Italian Campaign, 1944. |
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| An American soldier tried to spot German positions during the Allied drive towards Rome, 1944. |
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| Liri Valley, on the road to Rome, 1944. |
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| American troops camped by the roadside during the drive towards Rome, 1944. |
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| An American soldier slept on a pile of rocks during the drive towards Rome, 1944. |
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| Liri Valley, on the road to Rome, 1944. |
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| In the Rapido Valley, 1944. |
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| American troops rested in a field during the drive towards Rome, 1944. |
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| An American soldier took a meal break during the drive towards Rome, 1944. |
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| American troops looked over German armor destroyed during the drive towards Rome, 1944. |
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| The Italian Campaign, World War II, 1944. |
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| British and South African soldiers held up a Nazi trophy flag while combat engineers on bulldozers cleared a path through the debris of a bombed-out city, Italian Campaign, World War II. |
