Operation Olive

And that goal to create a corridor to countries such as Eastern Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and others was a key reason Churchill pushed for another amphibious landing, this one into northeast Italy near Trieste in early 1945.

In the same way that Churchill proposed the Allied forces Anzio amphibious end around from Napoli to Anzio, southwest of Rome in early 1944, and which was designed to overcome the bogged down Gustav line battles around Monte Cassino, the proposed Adriatic crossing was designed to overcome the bogged down Gothic line offensive.

in the winter of 1944 and early 1945.

To get more retrospective insight into Churchill's strategy for the Allied Gothic Line Offensive, especially as it bogged down in 1944 and did not resume until the spring of 1945, I went to the University of Cambridge in England where all of Churchill's records, including more than one million documents, including his personal and official files, are located.

Archived at the Churchill College, which is part of the University of Cambridge, the man who oversees this now digitized catalog known as the Churchill Papers, is Alan Packwood.

On a late sunny 2026 September morning, as the geopolitical skies grow ever darker in Europe, I sat down with Director Packwood to help us try to better understand the mindset of a man who played such a pivotal role in defeating fascism and repressive communism in 20th century Europe, and if there are any Churchillian lessons applicable to today's national security and defense challenges.

So Alan, can you describe why Churchill was so insistent to continue the Allied campaign in Italy via the Gothic Line Offensive, despite the massive troop reduction? Because after all, at this point, the D-Day landings were somewhat successful.

And by September of 1944, the Allied troops were well on their way to Berlin.