Rome Liberated 5 Jun '44
North Africa Cemetery
bigpigeon.us webpage  WWII Germany > The MTO, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 16 Jan 2023.
World War II's Mediterranean Theater of Operations - the MTO - consisted of North Africa and Italy.

US ground combat in the Mediterranean Theater began with Allied landings in northwest Africa on 8 Nov 1942 and ended with the surrender of Axis forces in northern Italy effective 2 May 1945.
Links to all of Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The MTO webpages:
The MTO - Overview The North Africa Campaigns The Italian Campaigns  ​​The MTO Air War
The MTO Sea War
The MTO Communications Zone
About the above links to WWII-Germany > The MTO subpages:
  • MTO means Mediterranean Theater of Operations (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Italy).
  • Some webpages are currently incomplete.
United States Army official list of MTO campaigns:
  1. Algeria–French Morocco Campaign, 8 November 1942 – 11 November 1942, Allied victory over Vichy French.
  2. Tunisia Campaign, 17 November 1942 – 13 May 1943, Allied victory, Axis withdraw to Italy.
  3. Sicily Campaign, 9 July – 17 August 1943, Allied victory, Germans retreat into Italy.
  4. Naples–Foggia Campaign, 9 September 1943 – 21 January 1944, stalemate; Germans conduct a fighting withdrawal to the Gustav Line.
  5. Anzio Campaign, 22 January – 24 May 1944, stalemate at first; Allies fail to capture Rome, Germans fail to destroy Allied beachhead. The Allies broke out from the beachhead several months later.
  6. Rome–Arno Campaign, 22 January – 9 September 1944, Allied victory, Germans withdraw to the Gothic Line.
  7. North Apennines Campaign, 10 September 1944 – 4 April 1945, stalemate.
  8. Po Valley Campaign, 5 April – 8 May 1945, Allied victory, Germans surrender in Italy.
The Allied Armies in the Mediterranean Theater, 1942-45
For North Africa
  • British First Army, Algeria & Tunisia, November 1942 - May 1943 (General Kenneth Anderson)
  • British Eighth Army, Egypt, Libya & Tunisia, General Bernard Montgomery, August 1942 - May 1943
For Sicily, July-August 1943, 15th Army Group, General Harold Alexander
  • US Seventh Army, General George Patton
  • British Eighth Army, General Bernard Montgomery
For the Italian mainland, September 1943 - May 1945, 15th Army Group, Harold Alexander (until December 1944)
  • US Fifth Army, General Mark Clark (until December 1944)
  • British Eighth Army, Bernard Montgomery (until December 1943), General Oliver Leese (until October 1944)
Mediterranean Theater Executive Summary
(See The MTO - Overview for a fuller treatment.)
North Africa:
  • MTO ground combat began with Operation Torch, the Allied amphibious invasion of Morocco and Algeria on 8 November 1942.
  • After subduing Vichy French opposition, Allied forces entered northern Tunisia.
  • Meanwhile, Germany rushed Axis troops into northern Tunisia.
  • A six month land campaign in Tunisia ensued, which included the arrival by land of Rommel's Afrika Corps and Montgomery's British Eighth Army from western Egypt via Libya.
The US in the Mediterranean
The US Landings in the Mediterranean (Operation Torch was in November).
Italy:
  • Sicily, 1943 - Operation Husky landings 9 July, campaign ended 17 August.
  • Salerno, 1943 - Operation Avalanche landings 9 September. (British Eighth Army landed at Messina and Taranto.)
  • The Italian campaign bogged down near the Gustav Line in the winter of 1943-44. 
  • Anzio, 1944 - Operation Shingle landings 22 January bogged down. Beachhead breakout in May.
  • Summer 1944 - Allied advance to Gothic Line.
  • The Italian campaign bogged down near the Gothic line in the winter of 1944-45.
The Mediterranean Theater - Italy
The Mediterranean Theater - Italy
Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The MTO webpage:​​