The amphibious Battle of Gela was the opening engagement of the American portion of the Allied
Invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
ships landed
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
troops along the eastern end of the south coast of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
; and withstood attacks by
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
and
Regia Aeronautica
The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...
aircraft while defending the beachhead against German
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
s and Italian tanks of the
Livorno Division until the Army captured the
Ponte Olivo Airfield
Ponte Olivo Airfield is an abandoned pre-World War II airport and later wartime military airfield in Sicily, 3 km north of Gela. Its last known use was by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force in 1944 during the Italian Campai ...
for use by
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
planes. The battle convinced United States Army officers of the value of naval artillery support, and revealed problems coordinating air support from autonomous air forces during amphibious operations.
Background
The invasion of Sicily followed the
Allied capture of Tunisia in north
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and preceded the
Allied invasion of Italy
The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign (World War II), Italian campaign of World War II. The operation was undertaken by General (Unit ...
as a means of diverting Axis forces from the eastern front with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
until the Western Allies were prepared to invade
occupied Europe
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
through
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Ground forces under overall command of General
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
were transported by naval forces under overall command of Admiral
Andrew Cunningham. The invasion was constrained by marginally effective air cover from 670 Allied
fighters
Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to:
Combat and warfare
* Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict
* Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplan ...
operating at maximum range which limited patrolling time over one hundred miles of invasion beaches and prevented proportional response to incoming raids. There were three
wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
(twenty
squadrons) of
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
s operating from airfields on
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
and two
groups
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
of
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...
s from airfields on
Pantelleria
Pantelleria (; Sicilian: ''Pantiddirìa'', Maltese: ''Pantellerija'' or ''Qawsra''), the ancient Cossyra or Cossura, is an Italian island and comune in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and east of the Tunis ...
and
Gozo
Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After t ...
.
[Garland & Smyth, p. 107] Allied air forces refused to provide air support for Allied ground forces until Axis air forces had been neutralized; and, since Axis bombing continued through 12 July, the role of Allied aircraft was negligible in the fighting at Gela.
Pre-invasion strategic bombing reduced
Luftflotte 2
__NOTOC__
''Luftflotte'' 2For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organisation (Air Fleet 2) was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed 1 February 1939 in Braunsch ...
strength to 175 planes in Sicily,
[de Ste. Croix pp. 84–85] but 418 additional ''Luftwaffe'' and 449 ''Regia Aeronautica'' aircraft remained serviceable at bases in Italy to be flown in as required.
[Greene & Massignani (1998) pp. 288–289]
Allied ground forces had no idea when, where, in what numbers, or under what circumstances they might see Allied aircraft.
[ Unlike the earlier invasion of North Africa and later invasion of Italy, the United States invasion fleet included no aircraft carriers.] Carriers which had supported the American landings during Operation Torch
Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...
had been reassigned without replacement. The escort carrier
The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...
was defending UG convoys
The UG convoys were a series of east-bound trans-Atlantic convoys from the United States to Gibraltar carrying food, ammunition, and military hardware to the United States Army in North Africa and southern Europe during World War II. These con ...
from U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s while the other three Sangamon class escort carriers had been transferred to the Pacific to support the Guadalcanal campaign
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in th ...
and the fleet carrier was training new pilots on the United States Atlantic coast.
Setting
The fishing town of Gela
Gela (Sicilian and ; grc, Γέλα) is a city and (municipality) in the Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the Province of Cal ...
was on a limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
plateau at elevation behind a beach with a pier. Plains cultivated for grain extended inland behind the community of 32,000. The mouth of the Gela River was east of the pier and the mouth of the Acate River was east of the Gela River.[Garland & Smyth, pp. 99, 101] The sand and stone beach between the rivers was from wide and backed by of dunes.[LaMonte & Lewis (1993) pp. 56–61] The drainage divide between the two rivers was the Piano Lupo highland northeast of Gela with a strategic junction of roads including the coastal highway between Gela and Scoglitti
Scoglitti ( scn, Scugghitti) is a fishing village and hamlet () of Vittoria, a municipality in the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, Italy. In 2011 it had a population of 4,175.
History
Scoglitti found a niche in history after being selected by the All ...
and roads leading inland to Niscemi
Niscemi is a little town and ''comune'' in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily, Italy. It has a population of 27,558. It is located not far from Gela and Caltagirone and 90 km from Catania.
Etymology
The name Niscemi is derived from the ...
and Caltagirone
Caltagirone (; scn, Caltaggiruni ; Latin: ''Calata Hieronis'') is an inland city and ''comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administ ...
.[
]
American forces
The 52d Troop Carrier Wing
The 52d Troop Carrier Wing (52 TCW) is a disbanded unit of the United States Air Force. It was last assigned to the New York Air National Guard (NY ANG) as the 52d Fighter Wing, being stationed at Westchester County Airport, New York. It was in ...
of 222 Douglas C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...
s from North Africa carried the airborne 505th Infantry Regiment for a parachute drop over Piano Lupo. A western task force of 601 ships (including 130 warships and 324 landing craft and transports with 1,124 shipboard landing boats) under the command of Vice Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt
Henry Kent Hewitt (February 11, 1887 – September 15, 1972) was the United States Navy commander of amphibious operations in north Africa and southern Europe through World War II. He was born in Hackensack, New Jersey and graduated from the Unit ...
carried the Seventh United States Army
The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and Fran ...
under the command of Lieutenant General George S. Patton
George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...
. Both officers sailed aboard the flagship transport . Patton commanded three times as many soldiers as Hewitt had landed eight months earlier at Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
during Operation Torch. Americans had not previously sustained so many combat troops over beaches without a port; so the amphibious shipping included nine new types of landing boats, five new types of landing ships, and project Goldrush pontoon causeways untested under combat conditions. The invasion was the European combat premier of tank landing ships (LST)s only a week after the Pacific Operation Cartwheel
Operation Cartwheel (1943–1944) was a major military operation for the Allies in the Pacific theatre of World War II. Cartwheel was an operation aimed at neutralising the major Japanese base at Rabaul. The operation was directed by the ...
. The western task force was divided into Task Force C to land the 3rd Infantry Division near Licata
Licata (, ; grc, Φιντίας, whence la, Phintias or ''Plintis''), formerly also Alicata (), is a city and ''comune'' located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River (the ancient ''Himera''), about midway between Agr ...
(sector ''Joss'') on the western flank, Task Force K to land the 45th Infantry Division near Scoglitti (sector ''Cent'') on the eastern flank, and Task Force H to land the 16th
16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and .
In English speech, ...
and 26th Regiments of the 1st Infantry Division with the 531st Engineers and the 1st and 4th Rangers, with the 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion attached near Gela (sector ''Dime''). The reserve force of the 2nd Armored Division and 18th Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division was landed on the first day of fighting to support the 1st Infantry Division.
Axis forces
The Gela invasion beaches were defended by the Italian XVIII Coastal Brigade. The town itself was defended by the Italian 429th Coastal Battalion (Major Rubellino) using barbed wire
A close-up view of a barbed wire
Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...
, concrete pillboxes, and anti-tank
Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first deve ...
guns.[ The beach on either side of the Gela pier was mined and defended by ]machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s on both flanks and artillery batteries inland, on Cape Soprano to the west, and on Monte Lungo to the north. The sand and stone beach on the east side of the Gela River was defended by three machine gun nests at the east end and by artillery batteries to the north and to the northwest.[ The Italian 4th Infantry Division "Livorno" was positioned near Niscemi and supported by the Italian Mobile Group "E" at Ponte Olivo with obsolete R35 tanks to respond when invasion points became known.][Garland & Smyth, pp. 147–162] They were joined on the afternoon of the first day by 9,000 German combat troops of the 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring
The Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1. ''Hermann Göring'' (1st Paratroop Panzer Division ''Hermann Göring'' - abbreviated Fallschirm-Panzer-Div 1 ''HG'') was a German Luftwaffe armoured division. The ''HG'' saw action in France, North Africa, Sici ...
with 46 Panzerkampfwagen III
The ''Panzerkampfwagen III'', commonly known as the Panzer III, was a medium tank developed in the 1930s by Nazi Germany, Germany, and was used extensively in World War II. The official German ordnance designation was List of Sd.Kfz. designations ...
and 32 Panzerkampfwagen IV
The ''Panzerkampfwagen'' IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the ''Panzer'' IV, was a Nazi Germany, German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the World War II, Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation ...
tanks from Caltagirone, reinforced with a regiment of the 15th Panzergrenadier Division
15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16.
Mathematics
15 is:
* A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and .
* A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky number, a pernicious num ...
with the 215th Panzer Battalion with 17 Tiger I
The Tiger I () was a German heavy tank of World War II that operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted ...
tanks attached.
Air support was available from one ''staffel'' of Jagdgeschwader 53
''Jagdgeschwader'' 53 (JG 53) was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. It operated in Western Europe and in the Mediterranean.
''Jagdgeschwader'' 53 - or as it was better known, the "Pik As" ''(Ace of Spades)'' Geschwader - was one of the ...
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
G-6 fighters at Catania
Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...
, two ''staffeln'' of Jagdgeschwader 77
''Jagdgeschwader'' 77 (JG 77) ''Herz As'' ("Ace of Hearts") was a Luftwaffe fighter wing during World War II. It served in all the German theaters of war, from Western Europe to the Eastern Front, and from the high north in Norway to the Mediterr ...
Bf 109G-6 fighters at Trapani
Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an impor ...
, another Jagdgeschwader 77 staffel at Sciacca
Sciacca (; Greek language, Greek: ; Latin: Thermae Selinuntinae, Thermae Selinuntiae, Thermae, Aquae Labrodes and Aquae Labodes) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Agrigento on the southwestern coast of Sicily, southern Italy. It has vi ...
, two ''staffeln'' of Schlachtgeschwader 2
''Schlachtgeschwader'' 2 (SG 2) ''Immelmann'' was a Luftwaffe dive-bomber wing of World War II. It was named after Max Immelmann, the first German pilot to earn the Pour le Mérite.
This close-support ''Stuka'' unit fought principally in the so ...
Focke-Wulf Fw 190
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (" Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, ...
F-2 ground attack fighter-bombers at Castelvetrano
Castelvetrano ( scn, Castiḍḍuvitranu) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy. The archeological site of Selinunte is located within the municipal territory.
The municipality borders with Campobello di ...
, and two ''staffeln'' of Schnellkampfgeschwader 10
''Schnellkampfgeschwader'' 10 (SKG 10) was a Luftwaffe fast bomber wing of the Second World War. The unit was initially created with three ''Gruppen'' (groups) in December 1942 at Saint-André-de-l'Eure Airport and augmented by a fourth group on ...
Fw 190A-5 fast bombers at Gerbini Airfield
Gerbini Airfield is a series of abandoned World War II military airfields in Paternò, Sicily, located west of Catania, near the intersection of the A19 and SP24 highways. The airfields consisted of a series of flat agricultural fields, used ...
. Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...
A and Savoia-Marchetti SM 79 medium bombers could reach Gela from bases in Italy.
Prelude
The larger transports sailed from Oran
Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...
on 5 July as convoy NCF 1 and were screened by destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s as they hugged the African coast eastbound while the gunfire support cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.
The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
s sailed on a parallel course as a covering force to the north. The LSTs, LCIs
Lobular carcinoma ''in situ'' (LCIS) is an incidental microscopic finding with characteristic cellular morphology and multifocal tissue patterns. The condition is a laboratory diagnosis and refers to unusual cells in the lobules of the breast. Th ...
, LCTs and patrol craft sailed directly from Tunisia as convoys TJM 1 and TJS 1. The convoys were spotted and all German forces on Sicily were alerted at 18:40 on 9 July.[Morison (1954) p. 69] Beaufort scale
The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale.
History
The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufort ...
force 7 winds created seas causing widespread seasickness among the embarked troops. Winds moderated on the evening of 9 July as ships divided into task forces C, H, and K and proceeded to assigned anchorages off the Sicilian coast. As the ships anchored, airborne troops of the 505th Infantry Regiment were scattered by wind and aircraft navigation errors. Fewer than 200 of the 3,400 paratroopers were able to reach the strategic Piano Lupo highland before the defending Livorno Division arrived.
The transports ,[Ship manned by ]United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
crew. (Willoughby(1957) p. 221) , ''Prince Leopold'', , , ''Monrovia'', , , , , , , and anchored approximately off the mouth of the Gela River with LCIs, LSTs, and salvage vessels slightly further offshore; and the destroyers , , , , and screened the seaward side of the anchorage. The light cruiser and destroyer patrolled a gunfire support area west of the anchorage, while and patrolled a similar gunfire support area east of the anchorage. The Army hoped for surprise, and declined Navy suggestions for pre-invasion bombardment.[Potter & Nimitz (1960) pp. 589–591]
Battle
10 July
The transports started unloading shortly after midnight, and General Guzzoni declared an emergency at 01:00. The first assault wave from ''Barnett'', ''Lyon'', ''Thurston'' and ''Stanton'' landed about 02:45. ''Shubrick'' destroyed two XVIII Coastal Brigade searchlights illuminating the first wave and fired on several XVIII Coastal Brigade artillery positions. Initial waves had landed on all beaches by 03:35.[LaMonte & Lewis (1993) pp. 62–68, 81–82] The Rangers landed on either side of the Gela pier. The 26th Regiment landed on the east side of the Gela River, and the 16th Regiment landed east of the 26th Regiment. Three hundred men of the 45th Division's 180th Regiment accidentally landed among the 16th Regiment on beaches west of the Acate River.
The 12th Air Support Command planned to provide air cover of 12 fighters over Gela during daylight hours, but the number actually available was never more than eight and sometimes as few as two. Axis air raids took place around the clock; so no Allied fighters were present when most Axis aircraft arrived. The first Allied fighters arrived at 05:01 before sunrise at 05:46; but Axis bombers had arrived before first light. Bombs and flares began falling at 04:21 and ''Maddox'' sank at 04:58 with 212 of her crew less than two minutes after being hit by a bomb dropped by an Italian Stuka.''LST-345'' and submarine chaser ''PC-621'' were damaged by collision while maneuvering to avoid bombs.[Cressman (2000) p. 168]''Savannah'' shot down a Ju 88 at 05:14. Absence of fighter cover during the initial Axis bombing attack created an enduring shipboard perception they were responsible for their own air defense and should prioritize aircraft destruction above identification. Axis fighters and fighter-bombers were able to make undetected low-level approaches from Catania under the fleet's radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
horizon by flying down the Acate River canyon at the eastern edge of the Gela beachhead. Allied fighters patrolling at altitude to engage medium bombers were perceived as dive bombers and subjected to friendly fire losses when they attempted to engage low altitude air raids. Ships were using proximity fuze
A proximity fuze (or fuse) is a Fuze (munitions), fuze that detonates an Explosive material, explosive device automatically when the distance to the target becomes smaller than a predetermined value. Proximity fuzes are designed for targets such ...
d anti-aircraft ammunition for the first time in the European theater.
The Rangers attacked the town of Gela hoping to capture the Gela pier for offloading the LSTs. Italian defenders destroyed the masonry pier with demolition charges at 02:40; but the Rangers captured the town by 08:00 with three 8 cm FK M. 5 artillery pieces and 200 prisoners of the XVIII Coastal Brigade defenders. The 429th Coastal Battalion had lost 194 men killed or wounded, 45% of its force. The 1st Infantry Division hoped to capture the Ponte Olivo Airfield within 24 hours of landing. The 26th Regiment was prepared to assist the Rangers in capturing Gela; but, when that proved unnecessary, began moving inland to take the high ground west of Ponte Olivo. The 16th Regiment intended to join the 505th airborne regiment assumed to be in control of the Piano Lupo highland east of Ponte Olivo. There they planned to defend against attacks from Niscemi and prepare for a coordinated attack with the 26th Regiment against Ponte Olivo. The 16th Regiment encountered heavy resistance from the machine gun nests at the east end of their landing beach; and XVIII Coastal Brigade artillery and mortars were targeting the beach as LCIs began landing support troops east of the Gela River at 04:30.[
After sunrise, minesweepers began clearing mines near the beach so the LSTs could start landing vehicles at 08:00. ''LST-338'' was straddled by Italian shellfire as soon as it beached. Italian artillery intensified firing at the eastern beach from 07:10 until ''Boise'' and ''Savannah'' temporarily silenced the batteries at 09:40. Landing craft temporarily stopped using the beach when Italian artillery resumed firing at 10:10 and destroyed some landing craft and supplies offloaded onto the beach. ]Half-track
A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with regular wheels at the front for steering and continuous tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. The purpose of this combination is to produce a vehicle with the cro ...
s attempting to move inland from the eastern beach encountered an Italian minefield.[LaMonte & Lewis (1993) pp. 62–63, 83–84, 88] Teller mine
The Teller mine (german: Tellermine) was a German-made antitank mine common in World War II. With explosives sealed inside a sheet metal casing and fitted with a pressure-actuated fuze, Teller mines had a built-in carrying handle on the side. As t ...
s destroyed trucks, DUKW
The DUKW (colloquially known as Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the -ton CCKW trucks used by the U.S. military during World War II and the Korean War.
Designed by a partnership under military auspices of Sparkman & Step ...
s and five navy bulldozer
A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...
s. Mine detector
Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By contra ...
s were unreliable after exposure to salt water during the landing, and the first path through the minefield was not cleared until 12:12.[ By noon, not a single piece of Allied artillery had been landed, and none of the ten tanks assigned to the 1st Division were ashore. Landing craft had to wait up to four hours to be unloaded while the beach was congested by vehicles waiting to move inland. Unloading was frequently interrupted by air attacks and artillery fire; and a shortage of landing craft developed as nearly 200 were disabled by shellfire or broaching in the surf. Unexpected ]sand bar
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It o ...
s paralleled the beach offshore and prevented some landing craft (including LSTs carrying tanks) from getting ashore to offload their cargo. Some soldiers landing on the sandbars in darkness drowned wading toward the beach with their heavy packs. In the confusion ashore, some of the 1st Infantry Division's supporting artillery was diverted to the Licata beaches to the west and the Scoglitti beaches to the east; and was significantly delayed traveling overland to Gela.
''Boise'' and ''Savannah'' launched Curtiss SOC Seagull
The Curtiss SOC Seagull was an American single-engined scout observation seaplane, designed by Alexander Solla of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation for the United States Navy. The aircraft served on battleships and cruisers in a seaplane configurati ...
observation seaplanes at 06:00 to locate targets and perform gunnery spotting. Bf 109s had shot down both ''Savannah'' planes by 07:30 as the Italian Livorno Division launched a three-prong counterattack to recapture Gela. The Italian counterattack was reported by an American newspaper: "Supported by no less than forty-five tanks, a considerable force of infantry of the Livorno Division attacked the American troops around Gela. The American division beat them back with severe casualties. This was the heaviest response to the Allied advance."
An infantry column from Butera
Butera ( Sicilian: ''Vutera'') is an Italian town and a ''comune'' in the province of Caltanissetta, in the southern part of the island of Sicily. It is bounded by the ''comuni'' of Gela, Licata, Mazzarino, Ravanusa and Riesi. It has a populatio ...
approached Gela from the west while a second infantry column preceded by 13 Fiat 3000
The Fiat 3000 was the first tank to be produced in series in Italy. It became the standard tank of the emerging Italian armored units after World War I. The 3000 was based on the French Renault FT.
History
Although 1,400 units were ordered, with ...
tanks approached Gela along the road from Ponte Olivo, and a third infantry column preceded by about 25 Fiat 3000 tanks approached the beachhead east of the Gela River from Niscemi.[Garland & Smyth, pp. 150–152] ''Savannah'' launched its two remaining SOCs at 08:30 as Rangers directed ''Shubrick'' gunfire destroying three of the tanks approaching Gela along the Ponte Olivo Road. Surviving tanks entered the town of Gela while the Italian infantry was immobilized by gunfire from ''Shubrick''. The Rangers destroyed three of the tanks before the remaining seven retreated with their accompanying infantry. The Rangers used the captured 8 cm Italian artillery to repel the Livorno Division infantry column approaching Gela from Butera.
The Italian column from Niscemi pushed through a 505th Regiment roadblock to reach the Piano Lupo road junction before troops from the 16th Regiment arrived.[ ''Boise'' opened fire at 09:10 after their SOCs observed the Italian column approaching along the Niscemi Road and radioed coordinates before being chased off by Bf 109s.][LaMonte & Lewis (1993) pp. 62–63, 84–87] The Livorno infantry remained in previously prepared defensive positions to avoid the naval gunfire while the tanks continued toward the beachhead until they encountered the two forward battalions of the 16th Regiment.[ Bf 109s shot down another ''Savannah'' SOC and the last SOC returned to the ship damaged. ''Boise'', ''Savannah'' and the British monitor fired on the Italian column from 10:47 to 11:08.][ The 16th Regiment occupied Piano Lupo as the tanks and infantry from Niscemi withdrew under combined pressure from naval gunfire and the 16th Infantry Regiment.][ ''Boise'' launched the last operational SOC at 12:19 and it was shot down by Bf 109s as ''Boise'' fired on the Italians from 12:45 to 12:51.][ The naval artillery destroyed two tanks] and the 16th Infantry destroyed two others.[
Axis bombing raids hit the beach at 13:20 and 14:30 in support of the Hermann Göring Division armored regiment counterattack against the eastern beachhead. A high-altitude bombing attack at 15:30 was followed by intermittent attacks for the remainder of the day.][LaMonte & Lewis (1993) pp. 63, 89–90] The Hermann Göring Division approached Piano Lupo from Niscemi while 15th ''Panzergrenadiers'' supported by 17 Tiger I
The Tiger I () was a German heavy tank of World War II that operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted ...
tanks approached from the Acate River. After some difficulty maneuvering the Tiger tanks through olive groves, the 15th ''Panzergrenadiers'' overran the 1st battalion of the 45th Division's 180th infantry regiment before being stopped by the 3rd battalion. The Hermann Göring Division pushed through the 16th Infantry Regiment in Piano Lupo, but paused as they encountered naval gunfire when moving off the Piano Lupo highland toward the beachhead. After waiting through the remaining daylight for a rendezvous with the stalled 15th ''Panzergrenadiers'', the Hermann Göring Division withdrew at dusk to regroup. As the Hermann Göring Division withdrew, the reserve force of the 2nd Armored Division and 18th Infantry Regiment began landing at 17:00 over the beaches being vacated by the 26th Infantry Regiment. ''LST-313'' was attempting to offload anti-tank artillery when three or four fighters dropped bombs on the pontoon causeway being used to offload the LSTs. One bomb struck ''LST-313'', killing 21 men, damaging embarked vehicles, and igniting a gasoline fire causing a series of ammunition explosions. The burning LST, with the 26th Infantry's anti-tank artillery,[Atkinson (2007) p. 100] was abandoned at 18:24; and continuing explosions scattered the pontoons, causing nearby ''LST-312'' to broach, and prevented the offloading of more LSTs. The 1st Infantry Division requested extended air cover after being bombed from 17:30 to 19:30, and Axis bombing continued at a rate of 275–300 sorties per day with half arriving during hours of darkness. Gunfire support ships provided covering fire as the 1st Infantry Division began retreating back toward the beach at 21:50 under cover of darkness. Only three LSTs (carrying half-tracks but no tanks) had been unloaded when the 1st Infantry Division requested immediate tank support at 22:15. Axis bombing of beaches and ships intensified at 2245.[
The ''Luftwaffe'' had flown 370 sorties on 10 July and lost 16 aircraft destroyed or missing. According to Italian sources, 141 sorties were flown by the ''Regia Aeronautica'' which lost 11 aircraft on the first day of the landings. That evening, Italian Stukas or Reggiane Re.2002s sank the Indian hospital ship '' Talamba'' off the beaches of Sicily with heavy loss of lives.
]
11 July
Tugs refloated LST-312 around midnight.[LaMonte & Lewis (1993) pp. 90–93] The first American tanks were landed at 02:00 and these 67th Armor Regiment
The 67th Armored Regiment is an armored regiment in the United States Army. The regiment was first formed in 1929 in the Regular Army as the 2nd Tank Regiment (Heavy) and redesignated as the 67th Infantry Regiment (Medium Tanks) in 1932. It fi ...
vehicles promptly became stuck in soft beach sand.[Garland & Smyth, p. 159] Bent steel matting intended to support the tanks' weight became entangled in their treads and bogey wheels.[ replaced ''Shubrick'' as the western gunfire support destroyer at 05:30 and ''Glennon'' replaced ''Jeffers'' as the eastern destroyer at 06:20. Twelve SM 79s bombed the transport anchorage at 06:35 holing ''Dickman'' and ''Orizaba'' with near miss bomb fragments and striking ''Barnett'' with a bomb, killing seven army personnel, wounding 35 more, and starting a fire. It was the first of 14 Axis air raids on the beachhead that day, and covered a coordinated Axis attack.] While the Livorno Division attacked the Rangers at Gela in three columns from the west side of the Gela River, the Hermann Göring Division attacked the 1st Infantry Division beachhead on the east side of the Gela River. Sixty Panzer III
The ''Panzerkampfwagen III'', commonly known as the Panzer III, was a medium tank developed in the 1930s by Germany, and was used extensively in World War II. The official German ordnance designation was Sd.Kfz. 141. It was intended to fight oth ...
and Panzer IV
The ''Panzerkampfwagen'' IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the ''Panzer'' IV, was a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161.
The Panze ...
tanks surviving the previous day's naval gunfire advanced in two columns. The 1st Battalion advanced from Niscemi and the 2nd Battalion from the Ponte Olivo Airfield while the 15th ''Panzergrenadiers'' again advanced down the Acate River valley to the east. The German forces from the east planned to meet the Italian forces from the west at the Gela beachhead.[Garland & Smyth, pp. 163–174] The German 2nd Battalion swept past the 3rd Battalion of the 26th Infantry Regiment at 06:40; and the 26th began retreating toward the beach, while the 16th Infantry Regiment delayed the German 1st Battalion until naval gunfire began to take effect at mid-morning.
While the sixty tanks landed earlier still wallowed in the dunes, five American tanks landed from ''LST-2'' at 08:45 immediately went into action without being dewaterproofed. By that time, the German tanks were within of the beachhead. Every man on the beach, including yeomen, electricians, carpenters, and intelligence and supply officers of the Advanced Naval Base Group, was hastily armed and formed a firing line along the dunes with engineers of the Army shore parties. Ships began gunfire support requested by shore parties at 09:15, and ''Boise'' fired on the tanks from 10:40 to 11:42. Army observers reported 13 tanks destroyed by ''Boise'', but after the war it was claimed that majority of these had been destroyed by the four mobile tanks of CCB, 2nd Armored Division. The 15th ''Panzergrenadiers'' in the Acate River valley were stopped by the 505th airborne infantry troops who had landed 36 hours earlier; and the westernmost column of the Livorno Division was stopped by the 3rd Infantry Division. ''Savannah'' fired 500 rounds of 6-inch (150 mm) shells, killing more than half of the Italian infantry advancing on Gela and leaving human bodies hanging from trees. Rangers took 400 prisoners from the dazed survivors. Although unable to reach Gela, Lieutenant-Colonel Dante Hugo Leonardi's 3rd Battalion from the 34th ''Livorno'' Infantry Regiment took a number of prisoners from forward elements of the US 26th Infantry Regiment. The Sarasota Herald Tribune
The ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'' is a daily newspaper, located in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 1925 as the ''Sarasota Herald''.
History
The newspaper was owned by The New York Times Company from 1982 to 2012. It was then owned by Halifax Media ...
confirmed on 12 July that no less than seven determined counterattacks against the US beachhead on 10 and 11 July had been carried out on the part of the ''Livorno'' Division, "The heaviest of seven Italian counter-attacks was met and beaten back by American troops in the Gela area. The attack was launched by the Italian's Fourth Livorno Division with 45 tanks in support."
While American forces ashore stopped the Axis advance, Minelayer
A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...
s spent the afternoon placing a protective minefield offshore of the anchorage. Axis bombing of the anchorage resumed at 12:35 and continued intermittently with repeated attacks from 13:51 to 15:35. A 15:45 attack by 35 Ju 88s with escorting Bf 109s hit the Liberty ship
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...
''Robert Rowan''. The Liberty Ship's ammunition
Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
cargo detonated at 17:30; but the sunken ship was not submerged in the shallow anchorage, and fires illuminated the anchorage for a heavy bombing attack from 19:47 to 19:52 followed by a series of dive-bombing attacks beginning at 21:34 and lasting past midnight. Many ships were damaged by near misses, but only one LST remained to be unloaded at 16:00. ''Boise'' fired at Niscemi from 18:26 to 19:37. Surviving Axis tanks began to withdraw under cover of darkness at 22:35.
12 July
The invasion convoy was 90 percent unloaded before dawn; and the 1st Infantry Division captured the Ponte Olivo airfield at 08:45, approximately 27 hours later than planned. Allied fighters successfully broke up an Axis bomber raid at 09:36 and the daily number of Axis bombing sorties was halved by the end of the day. Ships continued to provide gunfire support, and ''Butler'' fired on tanks near Ponte Olivo airfield from 11:26 to 11:35. General Patton left ''Monrovia'' at 17:00 to establish headquarters ashore.[LaMonte & Lewis (1993) p. 94] The Twelfth Air Force
The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
The command is the air component to U ...
27th Fighter Bomber Group
The 27th Special Operations Group (27 SOG) is the flying component of the 27th Special Operations Wing, assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The group is stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.
The Group carr ...
landed North American A-36 Apache
The North American A-36 (listed in some sources as "Apache" or "Invader", but generally called Mustang) was the ground-attack/dive bomber version of the North American P-51 Mustang, from which it could be distinguished by the presence of rectang ...
ground support aircraft at Ponte Olivo as soon as the airfield was declared secure for operations, and provided air support for continuing operations against German and Italian forces.
Notes
Citations
References
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* Greene, Jack & Massignani, Alessandro ''The Naval War in the Mediterranean 1940–1943'' (1998) Sarpedon
* Kafka, Roger and Pepperburg, Roy L. ''Warships of the World'' (1946) Cornell Maritime Press
* Karig, Walter, CDR, USNR ''Battle Report: The Atlantic War'' (1946) Farrar & Rinehart
* La Monte, John L. & Lewis, Winston B. ''The Sicilian Campaign, 10 July – 17 August 1943'' (1993) United States Government Printing Office
* Macintyre, Donald ''The Naval War Against Hitler'' (1971) Charles Scribner's Sons
* Morison, Samuel Eliot ''Sicily-Salerno-Anzio: January 1943–June 1944 (History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: Volume IX)'' (1954) Little, Brown & Company
* Potter, E.B. and Nimitz, Chester W. ''Sea Power'' (1960) Prentice-Hall
* Preston, Antony ''Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II'' (1996) Random House
* Rohwer, Jurgen and Hummelchen, Gerhard ''Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945'' (1992) Naval Institute Press
* Ruge, Friedrich ''Der Seekrieg'' (1957) United States Naval Institute
* Silverstone, Paul H. ''U.S. Warships of World War II'' (1968) Doubleday & Company
* Willoughby, Malcolm F. ''The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II'' (1957) United States Naval Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gela
Conflicts in 1943
Naval battles and operations of the European theatre of World War II
Naval aviation operations and battles
Naval battles of World War II involving the United States
Allied invasion of Sicily
Battles in Sicily
Gela
1943 in Italy
July 1943 events