The Hunters Become the Hunted

After the Italians announced an armistice with the Allies, the Germans put into place plans to capture Rome and disarm the Italians. As part of these operations, a battalion of German paratroops, led by Major Walter Gericke, was tasked with dropping at Monterotondo, a hilly town northeast of Rome …

1943-09-09

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After the Italians announced an armistice with the Allies, the Germans put into place plans to capture Rome and disarm the Italians. As part of these operations, a battalion of German paratroops, led by Major Walter Gericke, was tasked with dropping at Monterotondo, a hilly town northeast of Rome where the headquarters of General Mario Roatta, the chief of staff of the Italian Army, was based in Orsini Castle. The Germans hoped to paralyze the Italian high command in one fell swoop.

Monterotondo, Italy

Operation Achse, originally called Operation Alaric, was the codename for the German operation to forcibly disarm the Italian armed forces after Italy's armistice with the Allies on 3 September 1943. The Germans disarmed over a million Italian troops within a matter of days, annihilating the Italian military and state. Several German divisions had entered Italy after the fall of Benito Mussolini in July 1943, while Italy was officially still an ally of Germany, despite the protests of the new Italian government under Pietro Badoglio. The Armistice of Cassibile was made public on 8 September. German forces moved rapidly to take over the Italian zones of occupation in the Balkans and southern France, and to disarm Italian forces in Italy.

German

Italian

Scenario Type = Standard