Wanderlust World Wanderlust World
July 10: Allied forces land in Sicily after heavy aerial bombings and start pushing north.
July 19: Benito Mussolini is ousted as prime minister by King Victor Emmanuel III. Italian Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio forms a new government and immediately begins seeking an armistice with the Allies.
September 3: Badoglio signs an armistice with the Allies. As German troops quickly move to occupy Rome following this announcement, King Victor Emmanuel and Badoglio flee south under Allied protection to Brindisi. Meanwhile, German forces rescue Mussolini while freeing him from arrest and install him the leader of "German-occupied North Italy." Subsequently, many Italian soldiers switch sides and align with the Allies who, on Sept 9, land forces along the mainland on Italy's "toe" region.
Sept 13: Mussolini issues the Declaration of Verona against "traitors who betrayed Italy by deserting the war," which further divides public opinion in Italy at large during this time of change.