HOME | DD

Description
2nd Lieutenant, Gebirgsjäger
German Army, Italy, 1944
World War II

This officer is part of the German Gebirgsjäger or “Mountain Troops” in English. Stationed in the high mountains of Italy, the Gebirgsjäger were specially trained for high altitude warfare. Skilled in both climbing and fighting, they fought exceptionally well and bravely. Mountain warfare is extremely brutal, with arctic-like temperatures, perilous droops and cliffs, minimal room to move about and no armor and very little air support.

The Italian campaign in World War II featured some of the most brutal and difficult fighting in Europe. What was hoped to be a quick and decisive blow turned into a long and difficult slog that would last until the end of the war. While I would love to cover the entire camping right now, there is FAR too much information to go over in a single post. Therefore, I’ll cover the Italian campaign in future posts, and this post will cover the invasion of Sicily, the start of the campaign.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called Italy during World War II the “soft underbelly of Europe”, implying that it was an easy target. As well will see in future, that was far from the truth. Debate about invading Italy raged on as the Americans thought it would distract from the potential invasion of France. After much deliberation, the British won out and thus Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, was born.

Sicily was the ideal target, as it could be the jumping off point to invade mainland Italy. The plan was simple, land in the south, capture the port at Syracuse, and drive North to cut off the Axis forces. On the night of July 9th 1943, the operation began with a rather chaotic glider landing, of which only 12 of the 147 gliders landed near their objective. This was due to extreme wind and anti-aircraft fire. While this was indeed a setback, the Allies would have a relatively easy time invading the island due to multiple factors. Sicily was defended by the entire Italian 6th Army, backed up by several German divisions. However, Italian morale was at an all time low due to the loss of North Africa, and most of the divisions had little combat experience.
The naval landing began on July 10th, with little enemy opposition. The Allies soon began their inland advance, with Syracuse falling within a day. However delays soon began to mount as German and Italian resistance became fierce. American General George Patton did not care for these delays so he began pestering British General Harold Alexander for permission to make a breakout toward the west. Alexander reluctantly mumbled that Patton could conduct a limited reconnaissance mission. Naturally, Patton interpreted this as permission to charge the entire army west at breakneck speed. Needless to say this worked, to the disdain of the British. Meanwhile the German commander, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring was preparing his final defense at the Etna line, a defensive line in a mountainous area near the giant volcano of Mt. Etna.
Fighting in the area was intense, with harsh terrain and a stiff German defense by German paratroopers. While the Allies were bogged down for a while, by August 8th, the line was broken and they began to push forward. By then, Axis forces had begun to evacuate Sicily, and more than 100,000 German and Italian troops managed to escape to Italy.

Despite the force fighting both sides had suffered relatively little casualties. Out of the almost 500,000 Allied troops, only 1% percent were killed in action. The Germans lost around 26,000 men with 10,000 captured and the rest killed or wounded. Nearly the entire Italian 6th Army surrendered and 100,000 men became P.O.W’s.
This officer is wearing a mixture of uniform styles, with elements of both tropical and temperate dress. This was not uncommon in Italy, due to the wide range of climate conditions, especially in the mountains. He wears a khaki tunic and black trousers and leather mountaineering boots. His field cap and the Edelweiss badge on his right shoulder reveal that he is a mountain soldier. The Edelweiss is a white flower that only grows in the Alps above the tree line. It also represents the mark of a true soldier, as in order to get one you must be daring and brave due to its difficult location. He also has an Infantry Assault Badge and a Wound Badge.

Description
2nd Lieutenant, Gebirgsjäger
German Army, Italy, 1944
World War II

This officer is part of the German Gebirgsjäger or “Mountain Troops” in English. Stationed in the high mountains of Italy, the Gebirgsjäger were specially trained for high altitude warfare. Skilled in both climbing and fighting, they fought exceptionally well and bravely. Mountain warfare is extremely brutal, with arctic-like temperatures, perilous droops and cliffs, minimal room to move about and no armor and very little air support.

The Italian campaign in World War II featured some of the most brutal and difficult fighting in Europe. What was hoped to be a quick and decisive blow turned into a long and difficult slog that would last until the end of the war. While I would love to cover the entire camping right now, there is FAR too much information to go over in a single post. Therefore, I’ll cover the Italian campaign in future posts, and this post will cover the invasion of Sicily, the start of the campaign.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called Italy during World War II the “soft underbelly of Europe”, implying that it was an easy target. As well will see in future, that was far from the truth. Debate about invading Italy raged on as the Americans thought it would distract from the potential invasion of France. After much deliberation, the British won out and thus Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, was born.

Sicily was the ideal target, as it could be the jumping off point to invade mainland Italy. The plan was simple, land in the south, capture the port at Syracuse, and drive North to cut off the Axis forces. On the night of July 9th 1943, the operation began with a rather chaotic glider landing, of which only 12 of the 147 gliders landed near their objective. This was due to extreme wind and anti-aircraft fire. While this was indeed a setback, the Allies would have a relatively easy time invading the island due to multiple factors. Sicily was defended by the entire Italian 6th Army, backed up by several German divisions. However, Italian morale was at an all time low due to the loss of North Africa, and most of the divisions had little combat experience.
The naval landing began on July 10th, with little enemy opposition. The Allies soon began their inland advance, with Syracuse falling within a day. However delays soon began to mount as German and Italian resistance became fierce. American General George Patton did not care for these delays so he began pestering British General Harold Alexander for permission to make a breakout toward the west. Alexander reluctantly mumbled that Patton could conduct a limited reconnaissance mission. Naturally, Patton interpreted this as permission to charge the entire army west at breakneck speed. Needless to say this worked, to the disdain of the British. Meanwhile the German commander, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring was preparing his final defense at the Etna line, a defensive line in a mountainous area near the giant volcano of Mt. Etna.
Fighting in the area was intense, with harsh terrain and a stiff German defense by German paratroopers. While the Allies were bogged down for a while, by August 8th, the line was broken and they began to push forward. By then, Axis forces had begun to evacuate Sicily, and more than 100,000 German and Italian troops managed to escape to Italy.

Despite the force fighting both sides had suffered relatively little casualties. Out of the almost 500,000 Allied troops, only 1% percent were killed in action. The Germans lost around 26,000 men with 10,000 captured and the rest killed or wounded. Nearly the entire Italian 6th Army surrendered and 100,000 men became P.O.W’s.
This officer is wearing a mixture of uniform styles, with elements of both tropical and temperate dress. This was not uncommon in Italy, due to the wide range of climate conditions, especially in the mountains. He wears a khaki tunic and black trousers and leather mountaineering boots. His field cap and the Edelweiss badge on his right shoulder reveal that he is a mountain soldier. The Edelweiss is a white flower that only grows in the Alps above the tree line. It also represents the mark of a true soldier, as in order to get one you must be daring and brave due to its difficult location. He also has an Infantry Assault Badge and a Wound Badge.