Churchill had served at senior levels during World War I and knew what fighting through the Alps had cost. Italian troops and the British and French forces sent to assist them had found the mountain front a nightmare. That experience made another advance through the mountains an unattractive prospect rather than an easy route into Germany. The precedent supports a communications strategy aimed at changing the wider war.
Notable Point · 6:11-6:31
World War I's warning about the Alps
Churchill's experience of Alpine fighting in World War I makes a direct advance through Italy an implausible reading of his strategy.