In World War II, the Allies opened an offensive against Fascist Italy in 1943 after successfully defeating German and Italian forces in North Africa. The Allies first captured Sicily and then launched Operation Avalanche, a plan devised to seize the port of Naples, thus ensuring the Allies could resupply, and then to cut across to the east coast of the Italian boot, thereby trapping the German troops further south.
The Geography and Map Division holds rare photomosaic maps used in the planning of the invasion. The S. R. Carvo World War II map collection contains two rare photomosaic maps of the western Italian coast, along with numerous road maps of Italy. Carvo’s personal connection to the materials and his role in the war have not been ascertained by the Library.

“Operation Avalanche; Defense, Beach, and Underwater Information; Uncontrolled Mosaic [Sheet 8],” Joint Army Navy Intelligence Section, 1943. S. R. Carvo World War II Map Collection, Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress.

“Operation Avalanche; Defense, Beach, and Underwater Information; Uncontrolled Mosaic [Sheet 7],” Joint Army Navy Intelligence Section, 1943. S. R. Carvo World War II Map Collection, Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress.
The landings commenced September 9th, and although the Allied forces quickly seized the beachhead, the Germans launched numerous and tenacious counterattacks that nearly overran the Allied troops. The Allies held the line, and by October, the whole of southern Italy was under Allied control. Soon the Allies were landing reinforcements and supplies for their drive north to Rome.

“U.S. Coast Guardsmen swing an Army truck overside as their combat transport lies off a bridgehead established by the Americans at Paesternum [i.e., Paestum], just south of Salerno, [Italy]. Coast Guardsmen waiting in a landing barge alongside the transport will take the truck ashore,” Oct. 1943. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.