This week in the war, on the morning of 3 September 1943, General Bernard Montgomery’s Eighth Army invaded the mainland of southern Italy. It was the beginning of what would become a two-pronged assault on the Italian mainland, with Lieutenant-General Mark Clark’s US Fifth Army landing further north at Salerno (on 9 September).

There had been much behind-the-scenes diplomacy on the part of the Italians. Later that same day, Italian General Giuseppe Castellano secretly met American generals Eisenhower and Bedell Smith in Sicily and signed an armistice agreement on behalf of Italy’s head of government, Marshal Badoglio. It was agreed that the armistice would come into effect on 8 September.

The Salerno landings soon ran into trouble. Although much of southern part of the country was taken, the Italian campaign would eventually develop into a long and difficult slog up the boot of Italy with the Germans under Luftwaffe Field Marshal Albert Kesselring mounting a effective defense. The Italy campaign did not end until close to the end of April 1945.