[nickcarraway]

I’m not sure I understand the gist of what you are saying. Of course, Churchill’s correspondence, of course, backs up his point of view. But there is still 2500 years of military history going against that.

[Billthedrill]

Well, not with respect to the British Empire, anyway, it wasn't 2500 years old. What I'm saying is that Churchill's motives were very clear, as was his appreciation of his and the Americans' limitations. He and Roosevelt agreed with Stalin about the necessity of a second front, just not about the place and time. Stalin wanted it immediately. He was to be disappointed, but not by much.

The problem with positing a British imperial motive for the Italy invasion is simply that it is entirely inconsistent with Churchill's approach to the rest of the war, especially what he allowed to happen at Yalta. I don't blame Roosevelt quite so much for the latter as he was a dying man at that point, but Churchill essentially ceded the Balkans to Stalin. And Britain, quite honestly, had no imperial ambitions in Italy.