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(Kennedy McConnell was an R.A.F. electrical engineer working on the Turing designed "Bombe" decoding machines. In 2003 he produced a professionally filmed lecture series, which has been copied on to videotape and DVD. The full series, comprising approximately seven hours of detailed historical analysis, can be viewed at Dundee Central Library. There are additional copies of the film at the Bletchley Park Trust, the Scottish National Museum, the Imperial War Museum and the National War Museums of America, Australia, and Canada. An abstract of Part 3 follows).

CAPTURE OF SICILY
The Americans were keen to finish the war in Europe and concentrate on defeating Japan. They advocated an amphibious invasion of France. Churchill persuaded Roosevelt to accept that the invasion of Italy should be next. The objective was to force Hitler to withdraw land and air forces from France and Russia. British and American forces invaded Sicily on 10th July 1943. Ultra provided details of the Axis strength and defensive strategy. Montgomery met fierce resistance in the east, but Patton made rapid progress in the west. Ultra also warned that Kesselring would evacuate the island on 11th August. This warning was ignored by Allied Commanders. Consequently, 60,000 Italian and 10,000 German troops with their equipment escaped across the Straits of Messina. The liberation of Sicily was completed by 17th August. Mussolini was deposed and Italy signed an armistice on 8th September. Hitler had been expecting this betrayal and immediately disarmed all Italian forces.

INVASION OF ITALY
The Eighth Army began the invasion from Sicily on 3rd September 1943 and met minimum resistance initially. A combined British and American force landed at Salerno on 9th September. Ultra had warned that the Germans were well entrenched and the beachhead came close to disaster during the first few days. The crisis was averted by airborne reinforcements plus massive air and naval bombardments. Naples was captured on 1st October but all the essential services had been sabotaged.

CASSINO AND ANZIO
Allied strategy had to be revised after Ultra revealed that Hitler had ordered Kesselring to stop the allied advance south of Rome. The German forces retreated from Salerno to the ‘Gustav Line’ which was centred on Monte Cassino. Allied assaults during the winter of 1943/1944 were repulsed with heavy casualties on both sides. In an attempt to break the deadlock, Allied troops landed at Anzio, 35 miles south of Rome, on 22nd January 1944. As Ultra predicted, the landings were unopposed, but the American commander, General Lucas, failed to drive inland and straddle the German supply routes. Kesselring quickly assembled the Fourteenth Army and organised a major counter attack. Ultra revealed that the offensive would be launched at 06.30 hours on 16th February 1944. This advance warning enabled the Allied to repel the enemy assault and save the beachhead.

GRUELLING PURSUIT
After four months of bitter fighting, the Gustav Line was finally breached on 11th May 1944. This major offensive was linked with a belated breakout from the Anzio beachhead on 24th May. General Clark failed to trap the retreating Germans because he diverted his American troops to capture Rome on 4th June 1944. The enemy armies were pursued northward until they reached the ‘Gothic Line’, a few miles north of Florence.

FINAL OFFENSIVE
During the autumn and winter of 1944, the Allied campaign was frustrated by determined enemy resistance, coupled with mountainous terrain and atrocious weather. After another winter stalemate, Alexander launched his final offensive in April 1945, which was preceded by heavy bombing. Ultra revealed that the enemy forces were short of fuel and ammunition, and also that Hitler had refused to allow a strategic withdrawal beyond the River Po. Consequently, the German forces were surrounded and finally surrendered on 2nd May 1945. Throughout the 570 days of the campaign, Ultra had kept the Allied commanders up-to-date with enemy tactics and strategy by means of over 30,000 decoded Enigma signals.
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STRATEGIC BOMBING
For the first two years of the war, RAF Bomber Command was unable to inflict significant damage on German industrial production, because the available twin engined Hampden, Wellington and Whitley bombers could not cope with the much faster Luftwaffe fighters. Consequently, daylight bombing had to be abandoned. Night time bombing of specific targets also proved to be unsuccessful, mainly due to inadequate navigational and bomb aiming equipment. On 14th February 1942, the Air Ministry ordered the indiscriminate bombing of enemy civilians to undermine their morale. Air Marshall Harris took over Bomber Command on 22nd February and implemented this ruthless policy.

The introduction of four engined Stirling, Halifax and Lancaster bombers, plus improved navigational devices, enabled Harris to mount heavy attacks on industrial targets and major cities. These missions were spearheaded by high speed Mosquitoes. However, radar controlled night fighters shot down many bombers and thousands of aircrew perished. Ultra provided invaluable data on the German electronic defensive systems and the Luftwaffe order of battle.

DAYLIGHT CAMPAIGN
The US Army Air Force began daylight bombing from England in August 1942, using Flying Fortresses and Liberators. Their strategy was based on the precision bombing of specific targets. Clear weather over the target area was essential and Ultra was able to supply local weather forecasts, plus valuable information on the location of Luftwaffe fighter squadrons.

Unfortunately, the Fortresses sustained heavy losses when operating beyond the range of fighter protection, and the daylight bombing campaign had to be suspended in October 1943. The introduction of Mustang fighters, powered by Rolls Royce Merlin engines and long range fuel tanks, enabled the bombers to be escorted deep into enemy territory.

POINT BLANK
This was the code name for an Allied bomber offensive agreed by Churchill and Roosevelt at the ‘Trident’ Conference held in Washington in May 1943. The RAF and USAAF were ordered to co-ordinate their day and night campaigns to maximise the damage to German war production. Top priorities were aircraft production plants, ball bearing factories and oil plants.
The famous ‘Dambuster Raid’ took place on 16th May 1943, when 19 Lancasters of 617 Squadron breached hydro-electric dams in the Ruhr, using ‘bouncing bombs’ developed by Barnes Wallis. Eight Lancasters failed to return. The most costly raids for the USAAF were made on 17th August 1943, when 376 ‘Flying Fortresses’ attacked the factories at Regensburg and Schweinfurt. The bombers had to fly 300 miles without fighter cover and 60 were shot down, while another 47 were badly damaged.

CRITICAL SHORTAGE
During the second half of 1944, Ultra reported that German forces were being crippled by shortage of fuel. The Luftwaffe was forced to ration its operations. Consequently, the Allied air forces were ordered to concentrate their attacks on oil plants. However, Harris continued the bombing of cities because he believed that civilian morale would collapse. At the Yalta conference in February 1945, Stalin urged that road and rail centres in East Germany be bombed to hamper the movement of enemy troops. On 13th February, the RAF and USAAF combined to destroy the ancient city of Dresden by causing an uncontrollable fire storm which incinerated many thousands of inhabitants.

The Allied strategic bombing campaign played a major part in the defeat of Germany, particularly after 1943 when the American contribution became significant. Both the RAF and USAAF suffered heavy casualties. Each lost about 80,000 aircrew.
Kennedy McConnell via Dundee Central Library

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