General George S. Patton uses new tactics in North Africa.

American soldiers in fox holes during the fight in North Africa.

Source: National Archives (208-AA-4NN-26)

Soldiers of Fifth Army advance toward Cassino along a rocky road in the Liri Valley, Italy. February 2, 1944.

Source: National Archives (208-N-22394PNT)

Bill Mauldin worked for Stars and Stripes during the war. His cartoons were viewed by GIs serving in Europe.

Source: Copyright 1945 by Bill Mauldin. Displayed courtesy of the William Mauldin Estate.

A series of engagements between the Allies and Germans for control of Monte Cassino, a massif strategically located at the entrance of the Liri Valley in Italy. The site of a Benedictine abbey established in A.D.529, Monte Cassino formed an important part of the German Gustav Line, a set of . . .

British stretcher-bearers carry a wounded soldier through the rubble of Cassino, Italy. May 1944.

Source: National Archives (208-AA-237F-1)

Approach to Monte Cassino showing the excellent line of fire the Germans had. Trees are parched and burned by shell fire and bombings.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-337120)

The battered remains of the coliseum and castle in the center of Cassino, Italy. June 15, 1944

Source: National Archives (208-AA-237F-2)

Gun crew attempts to protect a 50 cal. gun from the rain and mud near the Volturno River at Venafro, Italy. November 16, 1943

Source: National Archives (111-SC-183318)

The campaign in North Africa was fought over control of the Suez Canal. Great Britain depended on the canal for access to Middle Eastern oil and raw materials from Asia. The Suez Canal and the Mediterranean also formed the primary lifeline to Britain's overseas dominions. The ground campaign in North . . .

After two months of sporadic fighting, the battle for North Africa suddenly intensified.

American soldiers examine a line of German POWs taken during the fighting at Cassino, Italy. May 19, 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-377805)

Near Cassino, Italy, a shell-shocked American soldier sits against camouflaged artillery while a Sergeant holds his dog tags. February 4, 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-236338)

Allied invasion of Sicily, to that point the largest amphibious landing in history. At the January 1943 Casablanca Conference, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston L. S. Churchill and their staffs discussed the next military objective to follow the final defeat of Axis forces in North . . .

Soldiers battle muddy conditions in the Cassino sector, Italy. November 7, 1943

Source: National Archives (111-SC-183317)

British Infantrymen take cover in a shell hole as their comrades storm a damaged building in Cassino, Italy. July 25, 1944.

Source: National Archives (207-AA-237B-1)

Stretcher-bearers bring back the wounded after a costly attempt to cross the Rapido River. Near Cassino, Italy. January 22, 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-341880)

Ward Chamberlin of the American Field Service. He would serve with the British 8th Army in Italy. 1944.

Source: Ward Chamberlin

Portrait of Ward Chamberlin in his American Field Service uniform. He would serve with the British 8th Army in Italy.

Source: Ward Chamberlin

Ward Chamberlin was born August 4, 1921 and grew up in Norwalk, Connecticut. The son of a successful corporate lawyer who was a decorated veteran of World War One, Chamberlin was a junior and captain of the soccer team at Princeton when America entered World War Two. He was determined . . .