![]() ![]() Fascist Italy and its leader, dictator Benito Mussolini, declares war on France and Britain. But as we’ll see, the D-Day Dodgers played a vitally important role in the defeat of fascism. It’s D-Day and Normandy that typically get the headlines. Many veterans of Italy feel unfairly overlooked in the story of World War Two in Europe. They fought alongside Polish and Free French divisions as well as Italian Royalist and even Brazilian units. The men who would become the D-Day Dodgers came from around the world, including British, Canadians, New Zealanders, Indians, Australians, South Africans, and Nepalese Gurkhas. Of those, 123,000 would come from the multinational British 8 th Army alone. The Allies would suffer roughly 311,000 casualties across the Italian campaign. Italy was a tough old gut – not the “soft underbelly” of Europe some military planners were expecting it to be. ![]() They were the D-Dodgers who’ll stay in Italy." "You’ll find crosses some which bear no name. ![]() When you look ‘round the mountains through the mud and rain The song’s last verse cuts right to the heart: While you can feel that classic cheeky but self-deprecating British and Commonwealth soldiers’ humour in the tune, the D-Day Dodgers experience was anything but easy. The name came from troopers of the British Eighth Army turning an ill-advised remark from Conservative MP Nancy Astor into a cheeky song, set to the tune of soldier’s favourite Lili Marlene:ĭrinking all the vino, always on the spree.įor we’re the D-Day Dodgers out here in Italy." While the name D-Day Dodgers might seem like an insult, it’s really a piece of classic British soldiers’ irony. Instead, they were on campaign in Italy, fighting some of the toughest battles of the European theatre of World War Two. But if you were thinking they were dodging their service, think again. The D-Day Dodgers are the men and women of the Allies that missed the Normandy Landings on June 6 th, 1944. The D-Day Dodgers Who are the D-Day Dodgers? This is the story of the D-Day Dodgers and the Italian Campaign. They were all too often overlooked but they played a major role in achieving victory in World War Two. ![]()
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