Storming Monte La Difensa - The First Special Service Force at the Winter Line, Italy 1943

Osprey Raid #48

by Bret Werner

Featuring full-color artwork, archive photographs, and first-hand accounts from participants, Storming Monte la Difensa examines the origins, execution, and aftermath of the FSSF's spectacular success at Monte La Difensa amid the savage winter conditions of December 1943.In December 1943 Monte La Difensa was part of the formidable German defenses overlooking the Allies' route to Rome via Monte Cassino. In the First Special Service Force's first combat in the Mediterranean theater, the Force would employ its special training in mountain and winter warfare to scale the peak, capture it, and then hold it against the inevitable German counterattacks. Astonishing their superiors, the First Special Service Force had succeeded in the face of seemingly impossible odds, but suffered a 77 percent casualty rate. Their victory, founded on their aggressive doctrine and extensive training in a variety of combat techniques, would prove instrumental in the postwar development of special forces.

Genres: World War II, Canada, History

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 17, 2015

Reviews

[Michael Dorosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good coverage of the battle and I like that Werner has used the most recent and in depth references, in particular Ken Joyce. Glad to see the firing of Lt.Col. Williamson given coverage, and in a fair and unbiased way. The photos in the book are nothing exceptional, most of them are well known to anyone who has used Google to research the Force, but the meat of the book - the text - seems comprehensive and includes some good primary stuff like the Force's kit list for the assault. The colour plates are ok, the paintings range from mediocre to above average. The really disappointing part is the colour map showing the phases of the battle, routes of assault, etc., which is spread over two pages, so much of it is trapped in the binding - if you want to lay the book flat to be able to understand the whole image, you have to break the spine of the book to do it. This is not the fault of the author. Werner seems well versed in the Force's history (his other Osprey book on the Force is quite good). The book is a pretty decent stand-alone, and even if you have a bunch of other Force references, there is still enough new content in this one to justify buying it.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed overview of the battle using mostly secondary sources.