First the Anglo-American armies in North Africa forced the surrender of the Axis Army which Hitler had been reinforcing – involving a loss of men and matériel comparable to that at Stalingrad. Next the Allies invaded Sicily as a stepping-stone to Italy, and towards the end of July Italian disaffection towards the war and Italy’s German ally resulted in the overthrow of Mussolini and the fascist government. These shocks were compounded by continuous Anglo-American ‘terror’ air-raids on German cities, especially Hamburg, where firestorms were created of devastating proportions, sucking trees,
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