ruclips.net/video/9BZgLLuN-IQ/видео.html The History Guy, I wonder if you'd consider doing an episode on this bit of "Forgotten History that deserves to be remembered"
This is a side note. I was stationed in Naples in 1975, we when to Monte Cassino and gave a ride to a very old man. He had fought with the Polish army when they tried to take the Cassino. He told us what it was like and showed us the grave yard for all the soldiers who died in the battle. Then we got to meet the monks who ran the Cassno and got a private tour of it. Will always remember it.
(Matt's mom) I want to thank you personally for introducing me to this story and the city of Naples in general. The oldest continuously inhabited city outside the Middle East it has captured my heart with its character and characters, it's all out and folksy Catholic warmth and saints. Thanks so much! This event is unpopular with the BBC and perhaps US military. First we bombed the he** out of the historic city but even worse, we came to free the city and met the welcoming crowd of teenage hoodlums and old mamas and school teachers who did the job first. The movie with English subtitles is adorable from beans, lousy potatoes to the juvenile prison, which is being remodeled now for homeless and refugees, not just from foreign troubles but from the cold industrialism of Milano.
No one understands freedom more than a people that have had to fight for it; not just to determine their own destiny, but to survive. Great story History Guy!
I loved the end of this video. When people are being slaughtered and their homes and city destroyed, there will always be heros, young and old, who will fight against injustice and cruelty. Bravo! to the Italians who saved who and what they were able to save. They truly deserve to be remembered!
In Naples you would be corrected for saying "Italians"...they haven't gotten over being their own country and most speak the French/Spanish Napolitan language as well as Italian. The amazing old city is a treasure of such details.
It is incredible how the population of Naples organised a fight against the Nazi, filling the vacuum left from the instant dissolution and disappearance of the military structure. Changing side in the middle of a war was never going to end well, but in 1943 it was clear to everyone that Italy should have never sided with the Nazi in the first place. Most Italians didn't share the imperial ambitions of Mussolini, who acted foolishly since that infamous day of June 10th, 1940. It has remained in Italian language, "It's gonna be an eight of September", a form of speech to indicate of any unmitigated disaster. Thank you for this video...
My Grandfather was the son of a Sicilian, and got to see the "Family village" during the war. He wound up in Southern Germany. Because so many Italians had family in the States, there was a gut feeling of "This is not going to end well".
It is not forgotten, the Neapolitans where very pissed of to say the least about the Germans mining and destroying the port of Naples. And when the people are pissed they rebel, no leaders, politicians or "intellectuals" needed.
This is best ,why the don't u do ur part too show the battle of Monte Cassino, some voices are well told of ITALY History, IDE like ur version, my GRANDPARENTS Lived not to far from that battle ,thank God they moved to America in the early 1900'S ,,although many relatives still lived during thoose times...some of my uncle's fought during the war some in America & others in ITALY so i would like to hear more about,the ITALIAN Experience of that battle of the surrounding villages during those times Thank u so Much,,ESPECIALLY Advent Torno,the crossing of the river & the village AWESOME History THANKS....!!!🌀🦀🌀🦀🙌🙌💖💖🤟🤟😍😍🌅🌅🤨THE OLD FISHERMAN
@@sergioleone3583 -- Indeed, as the sheep surrender their bodily autonomy to the lying, censoring fascists in power. Parasites enjoy the comfort of being part of the herd, and Karens love the idea of telling the useful idiots what's "for their own good." Some of the parasites are beginning to see the dark side of turning their lives over to the Karens, and even some of the Karens are getting sick of being lied to by the sociopaths on the left.
Dear History Guy, Since moving to the Naples area (from Brooklyn) I have always been amazed at the sheer concentration of history here. Naples' suffering did not end as Naples '44: A World War II Diary of Occupied Italy by Norman Lewis can attest. I sought out this book to better understand what my grandparents and parents went through and was both amazed and horrified what happened after "liberation". Thanks as always!
@@lizj5740 Incredibly sad and heart wrenching but also informative and eye opening. As a child of the economy of plenty that the USA offers it explains what difficulties my mother and father had while living in Naples, adds substance to the stories my grandmother told and sheds light on the hard work, success and dreams they nurtured.
My mom and dad were from Naples and since I was a kid Ive heard stories about the war. There wasn't much food to begin with because the war took men and resources that would have otherwise sustained the people of Italy. And when the Germans retreated they stole what supplies they could, and destroyed anything they couldn't take with them. They also destroyed bridges and railways, so there was no transport for the little food that was left. The government no longer existed. Everything fell apart. The people starved.
The History Guy is just a marvellous storyteller. I had never heard of this rebellion before. Italy has such a profoundly deep and durable culture, but I could never have imagined this story, both horrible and wonderful in turns. I hope the History Guy carries on a long , long time.
Children resisted and now you tell me your excuses in the face of massive government overreach are "valid" my fathers side is from Naples - these folks deserve respect and love !
I noticed our golden award in the video. It belongs to you but I think all of us one million subscribers should be as proud of it as you are. I am proud to be a part of THG channel. Thank you for placing it where we all can see it and be reminded that we are part of THG FAMILY! 1 MILLION STRONG AND GROWING! 🤣Have a wonderfully blessed day history guy! We love what you do and how you do it.
My father was a part of the allied occupation of Naples during WW2 and was involved in the fighting at Monte Casino and Anzio.. I myself have spent weeks in Naples during my Navy career in the 1970s and 80s.
Wow, this was an amazing episode. Honestly though, this is the first time I ever watched an episode and came away feeling like this was a 30,000 foot view. I would like to hear more first hand stories from the people who fought for their freedoms.
Most are already dead from old age. Those that are still around are being lost quickly. While not in Italy, my father was with the 82nd Airborne in WWII. He passed away 16 years ago, at the age of 80.
@@rickb3288 Yes of course, I wasn't thinking of doing interviews from current survivors. I was thinking that there must be many more first and second hand stories that have already been told. My grandfather fought in WW2. We have a few great stories, but I do wish I had gotten more. I was too young to really know what to ask.
What a coincidence! I just bought Aubrey Menen's 1979 book on this event, "Four Days of Naples," which is available on both Amazon and eBay. Can't wait for it to arrive. Thank you so much for this wonderful channel. You do what TV's "The History Channel" should have done but didn't.
My Father Paul Dawson Dominy ,fought with the fifth and was assigned to the 91st Inf Div. Both in North Africa and Italy . Thou he pass in 2003 I can still remember his stories and about the 88's that were fired at them.Thanks for the information signed Paul Wayne Dominy U.S. Infantry Retired.
The book Naples '44: An Intelligence Officer in the Italian Labyrinth is a military memoir of the Second World War written by the British travel writer and novelist Norman Lewis. It is notable for its depiction of the wartime suffering endured by the civilian population of the city of Naples after its liberation.
I recommend this book, it is a very interesting read. Lewis seems to have great empathy for a people his nation had arrived to defeat, not liberate, and I read it many decades ago but I clearly remember his descriptions of the harrowing times Naples went thru.
Facts an Neapolitans people themselves chased Nazis in 4 days before Allie’s arrived to a already liberated Naples; as the coalition just docked and arrived “late” at Salerno !
Fascinating part of the Italian campaign! The whole campaign is a bit forgotten. The "soft underbelly" turned out to not be so soft after all. What's worse, the soldiers fighting bitter battles in the Apennines got called the "D-Day Dodgers".
So sad that people still remember this front by the advertising slogans from the British...especially since the Allies rejected the British strategy and essentially only invaded Italy to knock the Italian government out of the war. After that, the only real purpose to the fighting was to keep the German's having to defend in Italy rather than redeploying to France. I always feel for the soldiers in these kinds of campaigns...Italy, Burma, etc. They were told to bring glory but never given the means to actually achieve it.
That's shameful. I hate how the Italian Campaign folks are seldom talked about, it actually was one of the most important parts of the entire European Theater (it happened right around the same time the Soviets and Germans were having their major showdown at Kursk). If Italy wasn't knocked out, Hitler would have still had a major ally with a powerful navy and surprisingly effective air force (Mussolini's planes even bombed Britain at one point, according to historian Dr. Mark Felton). The fighting was critical but hellish, and sadly our boys had to fight under that pompous IDIOT Mark Clark. Some have actually compared the WWII Italian Campaign to the Korean War, because of how they were both fought on mountainous peninsulas and proved to be brutally harder than thought.
I enjoyed this video.....always trying to convince my Neapolitan husband, who loves American music, films, TV....etc...but takes a shot t the US every time we discuss the war....even betraying his mother's memory, as a young girl how she saw the liberation of Naples and how happy they were when they saw allied troops enter her home. Of course, my husband's response to that was that "the Americans bought you off with chocolate bars, which you hadn't had for several years", but we all know it goes much deeper than that. Indeed, I just found a film made in Italy after the war called, "4 Days in Naples", not recommended for anyone who doesn't speak the dialect unless you find a copy of it which is subtitled. It proved every point I was trying to make to him....a movie made by Italians, in his dialect, after the war....and demonstrated that it was not chocolate bard but much more. He refused to watch it with me saying he'd seen it before. I knew the stories you recounted as my parents, grandparents, were from Salerno and remembered, well, the war and the liberation, especially as 2 brothers and 1 sister of my grandmother were killed by the Nazi troops (I can't say "Germans" as so many Nazi troops were not Nazi's but forced to be there. Anyway, liked the video very much but the plugging of another channel, though I know it is needed to help support yours, was so terribly lengthy. Cheers!
@@steve-rw7ty Lucky Luciano was freed from prison for agreeing to secure the docks in NYC from German sabotage, since the mob controlled the Union for the longshoreman. He was deported to Sicily.
Please please please do a video on the WW2 red ball express to include when and how the military pushed from truck to rail service. Thank you I love your channel and all the wonderful information you bring to the world.
Four days of Naples did that when my ship pulled in for visit 4 days liberty 2 duty! Only bad thing is having to ride boat from ship since carriers to big to dock! I did throw up in the bay of Naples on way back to much bar hopping!
My mother-in-law was selected “Little Miss Naples” before the war. She survived the German occupation. Her grandfather refused to leave his house during a German air raid. He survived. Later during an American air raid he also refused the leave and the house (and him) took a direct hit. My mother-in-law (Antoinetta) was hiding in a barn and snuck out at night to get some apples in an orchard. She was confronted by a German soldier who let her go. She was struck by how young he was. Later she was coming home from school and an American ammo ship blew in the Naples harbor. She saw a human head and metal fragments fly by from the explosion. My father-in-law (Salvatore) met Antonietta in a shop during the war and after the war went back to get her. They married in Naples. Her father tried to follow them on the honeymoon but was disabused of trying to hang on to his daughter. Life is for the living.
@@sorryforthings72 You're welcome. Off topic, but I have another interesting story about my Werner Klemperer ("Col. Klink") and my mother, both actors in Pearl Harbor during the War. Does that sound of any interest?
There's actually a pretty powerful film (I haven't seen all of it though) set in the midst of the 1944 Italian Campaign called Force of Arms. The story is how an American GI and a WAC bond over their pains, the dangers (a surprise Luftwaffe raid on the town nearly kills them both IIRC) and just being fed up with violence and death (she lost her fiance, and he lost many comrades). It actually leads to them falling in love, because they're able to relate. The question though is can HE survive the violent battles with the German Army (which only seem to get worse). VERY different than many wartime romance movies.
My mother was an actress during the War in Pearl Harbor - entertaining the troops, of course. She acted opposite Werner Klemperer. They fell in love and became engaged to be married. They were both always being interviewed by the media. For example, my mother was on the cover of “Stars and Stripes.” They developed a ‘secret code’ to use to let each other know they were looking for the other ‘should the events of the War separate’ them. They were, in fact, separated when Klemperer was sent on a South Pacific tour. My father, on a Commanders staff as an MIT engineer who had worked on the Manhattan Project, intervened. In 1989, Werner Klemperer came though San Francisco with a Shakespearean acting troupe. The San Francisco “Chronicle” did a full page interview of Klemperer. My mother said that he was using their secret code.
Lance I'm a huge fan of history. I have an idea for you to review and maybe do a show. This piece of history I would have never known if I didn't have a friend that, lived in a little town name of Denham in Pine County, MN. While I was up visiting, we would go on these road trips around the area. On one of these trips, he drove down Interstate 35W to a town called Hinkley where he showed me this huge swamp named Skunk lake and told me about the Great Hinkley Fire. I'll give you the gist of it. In 1894 there was a fire near Hinkley in which 400+ people were killed, In the Eastern Minnesota Railroad yard where it got so hot barrels of nails melted into one lump the R.R. car's wheels fused with the track. There were 2 heroes of this story, two engineers backed their full trains 5 miles (8.05 km) to Skunk lake. Saving 300 people from the fire. If you do the story, email me to let me know. I love the show, I don't miss any of the new ones.
I recently read a book called "Disaster At Bari", somewhat related to this part of history. Not entirely forgotten, it was covered up for decades and consequently badly overlooked. I'd love to hear the "History Guy's" take on it.
“In ascending order the qualities of Patriotism are: 1. To work, fight, or die for your own survival. 2. To work, fight, or die for your immediate family. 3. To work, fight, or die for a group, extended family, tribe, or clan. 4. To work, fight, or die for a group too large for all the individuals to know each other. 5. To work, fight, or die for a way of life.” - Robert A. Heinlein
That's RELIGIOUS thinking - ideal behavior. Not everybody or every nation operates on those principles, adheres to them, or accepts them. Teddy Roosevelt knew this. His "Speak softly and carry a big stick" policy was well suited to the real world. Moral standards are NEVER universal.
@@HM2SGT Commander Robert Anson Heinlein was a real hero. When he was medically discharged from the Navy he had no official obligation to serve in WWII, but he pushed and pushed to be allowed to do his part. He was not allowed to go in harms way because of his health, but he was instrumental in solving many problems in naval weapons that led to the final victory against the Axis.
@@TedBronson1918 , The problems with the "big stick" philosophy of leadership is that one) it seems you can never have enough big sticks, and two) every problem starts to look like something that you can beat into submission with a cudgel.
My grandfather was on a Navy ship that took part in the sacking of Naples. He and a bunch of sailors went into the city in search of souvenirs. He brought back a Nazi flag that had been hanging from the frame of a building. He has gone now, but we still have that flag and the story that goes with it.
It's interesting that Italian soldiers were more than happy to surrender to the Allies during the war, and at the same time the population of Naples rebelled against the Nazi abuse they were subjected to after they got out of the war. It's my understanding that the average Italian wanted no part of the war, for very practical reasons. But when the Italian people in Naples became outraged by persecution at the hands of the Nazis, they were ruthless enough to cause the Nazi army, air force, and navy to retreat under a white flag.
It was guerilla warfare...the very narrow streets were impossible to use tanks and big guns. The householders pushed furniture and toilets on the Germans, the junior mafia hoodlums were crazy brave, and the women screamed in the Germans faces to keep their men from going to slave labor. Sophia Loren was there as a little girl and always talked about the wild boys who jumped on tanks to drop little alcohol bombs.
The implication that it should be surprising that there was an uprising seems a bit off. Seems instead like the most natural thing in the world, given the circumstances. Salute to the valor of the citizens of Naples.
Naples is a very independent minded place...if the govt. made a law to always pick up your dog's poop the whole city would be full of dog poop....they believe in being good for love, not fear or rules.
I learned a few things here lately a lot of Italians didn't like their leader or his friends and decided they helped the resistance these people were everyday people who put their one life at risk and much to their relief help was coming thanks to the family some weren't pleased but as the saying goes getting help no matter where it came from was help enough.
Some hundreds of people have pointed out that I stumbled on the word "Armistice" in the introduction. I apologize for misspeaking.
Purple makes that kind of person angry. You asked for it.
ruclips.net/video/9BZgLLuN-IQ/видео.html
The History Guy, I wonder if you'd consider doing an episode on this bit of "Forgotten History that deserves to be remembered"
The French Revolution of 1789!
Wow! You told a great story and some are going to nitpick about that?? Please don't stress over it. It was a top notch video as always
And it is your heart and that exact attention to detail that makes you THE BEST at what you do
This is a side note. I was stationed in Naples in 1975, we when to Monte Cassino and gave a ride to a very old man. He had fought with the Polish army when they tried to take the Cassino. He told us what it was like and showed us the grave yard for all the soldiers who died in the battle. Then we got to meet the monks who ran the Cassno and got a private tour of it. Will always remember it.
...the Poles and the Khurkas kicked German ass at Casino...
What an amazing experience! Thank you for sharing that with everyone 😊
Did they still have, “Camp Fire Girls” along the roadside?
@@Johnnycdrums yes with truck tires
@@mohammedcohen
(Matt's mom) I want to thank you personally for introducing me to this story and the city of Naples in general. The oldest continuously inhabited city outside the Middle East it has captured my heart with its character and characters, it's all out and folksy Catholic warmth and saints. Thanks so much!
This event is unpopular with the BBC and perhaps US military. First we bombed the he** out of the historic city but even worse, we came to free the city and met the welcoming crowd of teenage hoodlums and old mamas and school teachers who did the job first. The movie with English subtitles is adorable from beans, lousy potatoes to the juvenile prison, which is being remodeled now for homeless and refugees, not just from foreign troubles but from the cold industrialism of Milano.
No one understands freedom more than a people that have had to fight for it; not just to determine their own destiny, but to survive. Great story History Guy!
I loved the end of this video. When people are being slaughtered and their homes and city destroyed, there will always be heros, young and old, who will fight against injustice and cruelty. Bravo! to the Italians who saved who and what they were able to save. They truly deserve to be remembered!
Sounds the the script pitch for the A Team 😂
And, I wonder, if deep in that point, is the entire point of history that deserves to be remembered
In Naples you would be corrected for saying "Italians"...they haven't gotten over being their own country and most speak the French/Spanish Napolitan language as well as Italian. The amazing old city is a treasure of such details.
It is incredible how the population of Naples organised a fight against the Nazi, filling the vacuum left from the instant dissolution and disappearance of the military structure.
Changing side in the middle of a war was never going to end well, but in 1943 it was clear to everyone that Italy should have never sided with the Nazi in the first place. Most Italians didn't share the imperial ambitions of Mussolini, who acted foolishly since that infamous day of June 10th, 1940.
It has remained in Italian language, "It's gonna be an eight of September", a form of speech to indicate of any unmitigated disaster.
Thank you for this video...
Four Days in Naples sounds like a Call of Duty - Far Cry spin off
@@LawIV i'd play that!
My Grandfather was the son of a Sicilian, and got to see the "Family village" during the war. He wound up in Southern Germany. Because so many Italians had family in the States, there was a gut feeling of "This is not going to end well".
Your explanation is the definition of why vigilantism can and often MUST surface!
It is not forgotten, the Neapolitans where very pissed of to say the least about the Germans mining and destroying the port of Naples. And when the people are pissed they rebel, no leaders, politicians or "intellectuals" needed.
This is best ,why the don't u do ur part too show the battle of Monte Cassino, some voices are well told of ITALY History, IDE like ur version, my GRANDPARENTS Lived not to far from that battle ,thank God they moved to America in the early 1900'S ,,although many relatives still lived during thoose times...some of my uncle's fought during the war some in America & others in ITALY so i would like to hear more about,the ITALIAN Experience of that battle of the surrounding villages during those times Thank u so Much,,ESPECIALLY Advent Torno,the crossing of the river & the village AWESOME History THANKS....!!!🌀🦀🌀🦀🙌🙌💖💖🤟🤟😍😍🌅🌅🤨THE OLD FISHERMAN
Well it took them freaking long enough..
A lesson we could learn.
@@sergioleone3583 -- Indeed, as the sheep surrender their bodily autonomy to the lying, censoring fascists in power. Parasites enjoy the comfort of being part of the herd, and Karens love the idea of telling the useful idiots what's "for their own good." Some of the parasites are beginning to see the dark side of turning their lives over to the Karens, and even some of the Karens are getting sick of being lied to by the sociopaths on the left.
This is how and why good people will survive until everything is truly lost.
Dear History Guy, Since moving to the Naples area (from Brooklyn) I have always been amazed at the sheer concentration of history here. Naples' suffering did not end as Naples '44: A World War II Diary of Occupied Italy by Norman Lewis can attest. I sought out this book to better understand what my grandparents and parents went through and was both amazed and horrified what happened after "liberation". Thanks as always!
Naples '44 is available to order online from various used book stores. It sounds like a tragically fascinating read.
@@lizj5740 Incredibly sad and heart wrenching but also informative and eye opening. As a child of the economy of plenty that the USA offers it explains what difficulties my mother and father had while living in Naples, adds substance to the stories my grandmother told and sheds light on the hard work, success and dreams they nurtured.
My mom and dad were from Naples and since I was a kid Ive heard stories about the war. There wasn't much food to begin with because the war took men and resources that would have otherwise sustained the people of Italy. And when the Germans retreated they stole what supplies they could, and destroyed anything they couldn't take with them. They also destroyed bridges and railways, so there was no transport for the little food that was left. The government no longer existed. Everything fell apart. The people starved.
The History Guy is just a marvellous storyteller. I had never heard of this rebellion before. Italy has such a profoundly deep and durable culture, but I could never have imagined this story, both horrible and wonderful in turns. I hope the History Guy carries on a long , long time.
Not having circulated out of Italy does not mean it didn't happen. There are a lot of WW2 Italian "stories" which are not told abroad.
Children resisted and now you tell me your excuses in the face of massive government overreach are "valid" my fathers side is from Naples - these folks deserve respect and love !
I noticed our golden award in the video. It belongs to you but I think all of us one million subscribers should be as proud of it as you are. I am proud to be a part of THG channel. Thank you for placing it where we all can see it and be reminded that we are part of THG FAMILY! 1 MILLION STRONG AND GROWING! 🤣Have a wonderfully blessed day history guy! We love what you do and how you do it.
Apparently my cat wanted me to see this. He chewed on my phone while I was out of the room and this started playing. :)
Cats love this channel. I think it is produced by cats the history guy is just a talking head
@@curtismcelhaney2512 Most people don't know this but there are 10 hidden cats in each video. How many did you find?
@@NotThatBob occasionally not so hidden. Those are extra good days!😻
@@HM2SGT Agree , and to other friends, yes I was joking ;)
You've got a smart cat.
My father was a part of the allied occupation of Naples during WW2 and was involved in the fighting at Monte Casino and Anzio.. I myself have spent weeks in Naples during my Navy career in the 1970s and 80s.
Wow, this was an amazing episode. Honestly though, this is the first time I ever watched an episode and came away feeling like this was a 30,000 foot view. I would like to hear more first hand stories from the people who fought for their freedoms.
Indeed. I can’t wait to see what he’s going to cover on armistice day!
Most are already dead from old age. Those that are still around are being lost quickly.
While not in Italy, my father was with the 82nd Airborne in WWII. He passed away 16 years ago, at the age of 80.
@@rickb3288 Yes of course, I wasn't thinking of doing interviews from current survivors. I was thinking that there must be many more first and second hand stories that have already been told. My grandfather fought in WW2. We have a few great stories, but I do wish I had gotten more. I was too young to really know what to ask.
What a coincidence! I just bought Aubrey Menen's 1979 book on this event, "Four Days of Naples," which is available on both Amazon and eBay. Can't wait for it to arrive. Thank you so much for this wonderful channel. You do what TV's "The History Channel" should have done but didn't.
I read that book. You'll enjoy it. After reading that book you should read Naples '44: A World War II Diary of Occupied Italy.
My dad is from Catania, Sicily and remembers American tanks rolling through his city
Went to Catania quite often while stationed in Comiso back in 1988-1989.
@@sreggird60 Would love to visit myself some day
A most enjoyable personality is our dear host! Thanks always for your poigniant and intriguing history capsules!
My Father Paul Dawson Dominy ,fought with the fifth and was assigned to the 91st Inf Div. Both in North Africa and Italy . Thou he pass in 2003 I can still remember his stories and about the 88's that were fired at them.Thanks for the information signed Paul Wayne Dominy U.S. Infantry Retired.
I have a spent casing from a German 88 in my basement.
Thanks for another high quality episode. It’s why I keep tuning in.
Thanks
Naples liberated herself by it’s own !
Look forward to your work every day.
The book Naples '44: An Intelligence Officer in the Italian Labyrinth is a military memoir of the Second World War written by the British travel writer and novelist Norman Lewis. It is notable for its depiction of the wartime suffering endured by the civilian population of the city of Naples after its liberation.
I recommend this book, it is a very interesting read. Lewis seems to have great empathy for a people his nation had arrived to defeat, not liberate, and I read it many decades ago but I clearly remember his descriptions of the harrowing times Naples went thru.
Wow... What a captivating episode! Thanks History Guy!
Facts an Neapolitans people themselves chased Nazis in 4 days before Allie’s arrived to a already liberated Naples; as the coalition just docked and arrived “late” at Salerno !
Fascinating part of the Italian campaign! The whole campaign is a bit forgotten. The "soft underbelly" turned out to not be so soft after all. What's worse, the soldiers fighting bitter battles in the Apennines got called the "D-Day Dodgers".
So sad that people still remember this front by the advertising slogans from the British...especially since the Allies rejected the British strategy and essentially only invaded Italy to knock the Italian government out of the war. After that, the only real purpose to the fighting was to keep the German's having to defend in Italy rather than redeploying to France.
I always feel for the soldiers in these kinds of campaigns...Italy, Burma, etc. They were told to bring glory but never given the means to actually achieve it.
That's shameful. I hate how the Italian Campaign folks are seldom talked about, it actually was one of the most important parts of the entire European Theater (it happened right around the same time the Soviets and Germans were having their major showdown at Kursk). If Italy wasn't knocked out, Hitler would have still had a major ally with a powerful navy and surprisingly effective air force (Mussolini's planes even bombed Britain at one point, according to historian Dr. Mark Felton). The fighting was critical but hellish, and sadly our boys had to fight under that pompous IDIOT Mark Clark. Some have actually compared the WWII Italian Campaign to the Korean War, because of how they were both fought on mountainous peninsulas and proved to be brutally harder than thought.
I had one uncle overhead bombing Monte Cassino- and another uncle on the ground below watching him do it!
"The city they loved." Poetic ending words by the History Guy.
I enjoyed this video.....always trying to convince my Neapolitan husband, who loves American music, films, TV....etc...but takes a shot t the US every time we discuss the war....even betraying his mother's memory, as a young girl how she saw the liberation of Naples and how happy they were when they saw allied troops enter her home. Of course, my husband's response to that was that "the Americans bought you off with chocolate bars, which you hadn't had for several years", but we all know it goes much deeper than that. Indeed, I just found a film made in Italy after the war called, "4 Days in Naples", not recommended for anyone who doesn't speak the dialect unless you find a copy of it which is subtitled. It proved every point I was trying to make to him....a movie made by Italians, in his dialect, after the war....and demonstrated that it was not chocolate bard but much more. He refused to watch it with me saying he'd seen it before. I knew the stories you recounted as my parents, grandparents, were from Salerno and remembered, well, the war and the liberation, especially as 2 brothers and 1 sister of my grandmother were killed by the Nazi troops (I can't say "Germans" as so many Nazi troops were not Nazi's but forced to be there. Anyway, liked the video very much but the plugging of another channel, though I know it is needed to help support yours, was so terribly lengthy. Cheers!
An episode about how the Mafia helped the Allies in Sicily and the mainland would be interesting.
Simple history did one.
Ned. now i'm curious. i'll have to research that. very interesting.
@@steve-rw7ty Lucky Luciano was freed from prison for agreeing to secure the docks in NYC from German sabotage, since the mob controlled the Union for the longshoreman. He was deported to Sicily.
Also research how the mafia REFUSED to help the allies at the Salerno landing after Sicily
@@Pretermit_Sound yes, which is why the mafia refused to help the allies at the Salerno landing 😒😔
Very timely video. Thank you.
Please please please do a video on the WW2 red ball express to include when and how the military pushed from truck to rail service. Thank you I love your channel and all the wonderful information you bring to the world.
Thanks for another video!!
Again History Guy, details, details, details..................I love it !! Thanks.
Interesting snippet of history. Thanks for sharing!
Fact: the city of Naples has a medal for the brave on battlefield in that days. They are the only City liberated it's self
Congrats on reaching over a million subs!!
excellent video my friend
Interesting episode! I don’t remember a hole lot of WW2 videos about Italy. Thanks for another great episode!
thanks
thank you for this channel. I've learned more watching these videos than I ever did in college history classes.
Lovely stuff.
Always good
That was quite awesome. Thank you The History Guy. Humanity when called upon can produce the utmost good in the face of utmost evil.
Another great video. I love them all. But I always thought it was pronounced Walter "Beedle" Smith.
Four days of Naples did that when my ship pulled in for visit 4 days liberty 2 duty! Only bad thing is having to ride boat from ship since carriers to big to dock! I did throw up in the bay of Naples on way back to much bar hopping!
Our ship (USS Independence) actually pulled into that long pier one visit.....SO much better than riding those liberty boats!
I used to live there. The Napoletani are a unique people, and have been for thousands of years.
My mother-in-law was selected “Little Miss Naples” before the war. She survived the German occupation. Her grandfather refused to leave his house during a German air raid. He survived. Later during an American air raid he also refused the leave and the house (and him) took a direct hit. My mother-in-law (Antoinetta) was hiding in a barn and snuck out at night to get some apples in an orchard. She was confronted by a German soldier who let her go. She was struck by how young he was. Later she was coming home from school and an American ammo ship blew in the Naples harbor. She saw a human head and metal fragments fly by from the explosion. My father-in-law (Salvatore) met Antonietta in a shop during the war and after the war went back to get her. They married in Naples. Her father tried to follow them on the honeymoon but was disabused of trying to hang on to his daughter. Life is for the living.
Wow……..what a story…..thanks for sharing
@@sorryforthings72 You're welcome. Off topic, but I have another interesting story about my Werner Klemperer ("Col. Klink") and my mother, both actors in Pearl Harbor during the War. Does that sound of any interest?
There's actually a pretty powerful film (I haven't seen all of it though) set in the midst of the 1944 Italian Campaign called Force of Arms. The story is how an American GI and a WAC bond over their pains, the dangers (a surprise Luftwaffe raid on the town nearly kills them both IIRC) and just being fed up with violence and death (she lost her fiance, and he lost many comrades). It actually leads to them falling in love, because they're able to relate. The question though is can HE survive the violent battles with the German Army (which only seem to get worse). VERY different than many wartime romance movies.
My mother was an actress during the War in Pearl Harbor - entertaining the troops, of course. She acted opposite Werner Klemperer. They fell in love and became engaged to be married. They were both always being interviewed by the media. For example, my mother was on the cover of “Stars and Stripes.” They developed a ‘secret code’ to use to let each other know they were looking for the other ‘should the events of the War separate’ them. They were, in fact, separated when Klemperer was sent on a South Pacific tour. My father, on a Commanders staff as an MIT engineer who had worked on the Manhattan Project, intervened. In 1989, Werner Klemperer came though San Francisco with a Shakespearean acting troupe. The San Francisco “Chronicle” did a full page interview of Klemperer. My mother said that he was using their secret code.
Very interesting. Was not aware of this event. My father landed at Salerno as a second lieutenant back in the day. He was in Rome when the war ended.
Lance I'm a huge fan of history. I have an idea for you to review and maybe do a show. This piece of history I would have never known if I didn't have a friend that, lived in a little town name of Denham in Pine County, MN. While I was up visiting, we would go on these road trips around the area. On one of these trips, he drove down Interstate 35W to a town called Hinkley where he showed me this huge swamp named Skunk lake and told me about the Great Hinkley Fire. I'll give you the gist of it. In 1894 there was a fire near Hinkley in which 400+ people were killed, In the Eastern Minnesota Railroad yard where it got so hot barrels of nails melted into one lump the R.R. car's wheels fused with the track. There were 2 heroes of this story, two engineers backed their full trains 5 miles (8.05 km) to Skunk lake. Saving 300 people from the fire. If you do the story, email me to let me know. I love the show, I don't miss any of the new ones.
Excellent as always!!
Thanks for all of your efforts!
There is a long history of popular rebellion in Southern Italy. A segment on the Carbonari might be interesting
Thanks for this piece of history!!
A very nice tale well told. Thank you, sir.
I recently read a book called "Disaster At Bari", somewhat related to this part of history. Not entirely forgotten, it was covered up for decades and consequently badly overlooked. I'd love to hear the "History Guy's" take on it.
Very good review of a relatively little known period of history, thanks, Lance!
You should look into the history of clamming on the Mississippi River and the use of clam shell's to make buttons.
Fascinating!
As ever, enjoyably, and succiently, enlightened!
You are always so informative. Thank you!
Great bit of history!
Another great video. Thanks.
My great grandparents were from Naples they left for Australia in 1893
Another great video.
Great story, and one that I was unaware of.
Great history, as always. It goes to show that you can only push people so long. When they get tired of being pushed they push back.
Don't mess with Neapolitans.
To save yourself, your city, your neighbors and friends is the only moral justification to take up arms against others.
“In ascending order the qualities of Patriotism are:
1. To work, fight, or die for your own survival.
2. To work, fight, or die for your immediate family.
3. To work, fight, or die for a group, extended family, tribe, or clan.
4. To work, fight, or die for a group too large for all the individuals to know each other.
5. To work, fight, or die for a way of life.”
- Robert A. Heinlein
That's RELIGIOUS thinking - ideal behavior. Not everybody or every nation operates on those principles, adheres to them, or accepts them. Teddy Roosevelt knew this. His "Speak softly and carry a big stick" policy was well suited to the real world. Moral standards are NEVER universal.
@@HM2SGT Commander Robert Anson Heinlein was a real hero. When he was medically discharged from the Navy he had no official obligation to serve in WWII, but he pushed and pushed to be allowed to do his part. He was not allowed to go in harms way because of his health, but he was instrumental in solving many problems in naval weapons that led to the final victory against the Axis.
@Ben Jones sure, whatever 🙄
@@TedBronson1918 , The problems with the "big stick" philosophy of leadership is that one) it seems you can never have enough big sticks, and two) every problem starts to look like something that you can beat into submission with a cudgel.
Thanks for the good show.
Once again, something I did not know. Thanks
Thank you again THG.
Neapolitans are quite different from other Italians. Calling them fiercely independent would not be enough.
It was hell on earth in Italy 🇮🇹.
One of your best.
My grandfather was on a Navy ship that took part in the sacking of Naples. He and a bunch of sailors went into the city in search of souvenirs. He brought back a Nazi flag that had been hanging from the frame of a building. He has gone now, but we still have that flag and the story that goes with it.
Another great history lesson!
Wonderful story
It's interesting that Italian soldiers were more than happy to surrender to the Allies during the war, and at the same time the population of Naples rebelled against the Nazi abuse they were subjected to after they got out of the war. It's my understanding that the average Italian wanted no part of the war, for very practical reasons. But when the Italian people in Naples became outraged by persecution at the hands of the Nazis, they were ruthless enough to cause the Nazi army, air force, and navy to retreat under a white flag.
It was guerilla warfare...the very narrow streets were impossible to use tanks and big guns. The householders pushed furniture and toilets on the Germans, the junior mafia hoodlums were crazy brave, and the women screamed in the Germans faces to keep their men from going to slave labor. Sophia Loren was there as a little girl and always talked about the wild boys who jumped on tanks to drop little alcohol bombs.
The Lattimer Massacre deserves to be remembered.
Prelude to Catch-22.
Fascinating
love you THG
Outstanding
Great bit of history, sad that Warsaw didn't manage the same outcome.
The implication that it should be surprising that there was an uprising seems a bit off. Seems instead like the most natural thing in the world, given the circumstances. Salute to the valor of the citizens of Naples.
Naples is a very independent minded place...if the govt. made a law to always pick up your dog's poop the whole city would be full of dog poop....they believe in being good for love, not fear or rules.
They were most resistant to Italian unification too.
Amazing what an armed citizenry is capable of, isn't it?
It's a politician's worst nightmare....
I Love History!
Walter Bedell Smith became the fourth DCI or Director of central intelligence from 1950 to 1953.
I always learn.. thanks
Could you do a video on Venice's board of commerce who opposed quarantine measures in 1630? :)
Another YT group did a 3 part documentary on the plague.
Very well done.
Try Time Ghost History.
0:57 cut is unusual. Makes one wonder what happened…?
That is just the jump from the introduction to the Magellan TV ad
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I had imagined the phone ringing, somebody wanted to talk to you about your student loan debt…
@@HM2SGT no, it was about his extend car warranty. 🤦♂️
It is a simple equation. Push folks too hard, they push back.
Sometimes. It is unpredictable and undependable. Evidence recently the populace of North Korea…
I learned a few things here lately a lot of Italians didn't like their leader or his friends and decided they helped the resistance these people were everyday people who put their one life at risk and much to their relief help was coming thanks to the family some weren't pleased but as the saying goes getting help no matter where it came from was help enough.
Another amazing story that I've never heard 👍
the evil of war. sickens me - targeting non-military targets - not okay.
The Nazis and the Imperial Japanese military did seem to specialize in and perfect man’s inhumanity to man.
@@HM2SGT they were just the ones brought to trial for it.
@@HM2SGT Left out the Soviet contribution to that.
Hey Playboy 👋 🤓I like those colors on you! Hells Bells myself also. Have a great weekend. 🤓
Liberty is the responsibility of the citizens, not the government.
Come on people now smile on your brother.
Interesting video.
You don't f*(k with the Camorra...