Trieste captured, Germans counter-attack

During June the allies in Italy pushed forward. Roosevelt had been convinced by Churchill that the main thrust should come from the south, and the invasion of France was put off, while the allies watched their progress out of Italy. General De Gaulle was appalled and lobbied furiously for a landing on his homeland, but he was over-ruled, creating a mood of bitterness in the leader of the free French. Stalin too, telegraphed the western allies asking for them to concentrate on the western portion of the Third Reich, warning them not to “meddle” in the Balkans. This was an alarming diplomatic development.

Nevertheless, the advance continued, and by the 14th the Allies had reached Austria and Slovenia, taking the much needed port of Trieste and reaching Ljubliana. However on the 17th a German counter attack, led by SS Panzer divisions mauled the British near Udine, and the German forces reached the sea, cutting off the defenders in the port. Supplied from the sea the British in Trieste held out, and the world watched and waited for the next development.