Churchill came up with Gallipoli in WW1
https://www.history.com/news/winston-churchills-world-war-disaster
He also thought Italy was the soft underbelly in WW2.
Many people killed because of one man.
It turned into a "tough, old gut". But still, it diverted enough German forces to make the Normandy invasion possible. Even Churchill grudgingly had to admit it. Ironically, the liberation of Rome on June 5th, was quickly overshadowed by D-Day.
They referred to the troops on the Italian front as the "D-Day Dodgers". There was a song about it, to the tune of Lili Marlene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcFC57nT0xY
The comment there is that if strategically Italy was the soft underbelly of Europe, tactically it was the strong backbone. Mountainous with lots of E-W rivers running from the mountains to the sea made for *great* defensive positions.