Hello and

welcome to another episode of the World War II podcast

long-standing listeners will have heard me chat to Walter Zappatachney before.

In episode 57, we looked at the Ardennes offensive, and in episode 63, we looked

to the German penal battalions.

Patrons of the podcast might recall on both occasions after I'd finished recording, we got to talking about the Italians

in North Africa.

Well, Walter's book on the topic was released a couple of months ago.

The Italian Army in North Africa Africa a poor fighting force or

doomed by circumstance and hopefully we can answer the question of poor fighting

force or doomed by circumstance in today's discussion.

But before we get to that, with Christmas coming, why not treat yourself next year for just a dollar or two or whatever change you have in your virtual

pocket you can become a patron of the podcast and in doing so treat yourself to extra World War II talk chat from guests that never made it into the main podcast.

You can find out more at patreon.com slash W.W.2 Podcast. Not only that, you'll be helping me bring a

veritable feast of World War II podcast listening toening to next year with topics such as the SES in Italy, Anseo,

Otto Scorsone, Hitler's Favorite Commander, Dede, and the Heinkel H-H-E-177. So that is

Patreon.com slash W-W-2 podcast to sign up. Right so Walter to assess their war started performance but before we get to that I think we need to look at the Italian forces

I I guess we could say their war started

1936 there's a huge contingent sent to Ethiopia.

When people say the Germans learned a lot from the Spanish Civil War, can the same be

said for the Italian army fighting in East Africa?

Well I think they learned from both, both Spain and from Ethiopia.

...