The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
in which the
Allied forces invaded the island of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
in July 1943 and took it from the
Axis powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
(
Fascist Italy and
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
). It began with a large
amphibious
Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to:
Animals
* Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water)
* Amphibious caterpillar
* Amphibious fish, a fish ...
and
airborne
Airborne or Airborn may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis
* ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film
* ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...
operation
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
, followed by a six-week land campaign, and initiated the
Italian campaign.
To divert some of the Axis forces to other areas, the Allies engaged in several deception operations, the most famous and successful of which was
Operation Mincemeat
Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating ...
. Husky began on the night of 9–10 July 1943 and ended on 17 August. Strategically, Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners; the Allies drove Axis air, land and naval forces from the island and the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
sea lane
A sea lane, sea road or shipping lane is a regularly used navigable route for large water vessels (ships) on wide waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation wi ...
s were opened for Allied merchant ships for the first time since 1941. These events led to the Italian leader,
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...
, being
toppled from power in Italy on 25 July, and to 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 of World War II. The operation was undertaken by General Sir Harold Alexander's 15th Army ...
on 3 September.
The German leader,
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
, "canceled a major
offensive at Kursk after only a week, in part to divert forces to Italy," resulting in a reduction of German strength on the
Eastern Front. The collapse of Italy necessitated German troops replacing the Italians in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and to a lesser extent
the Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, resulting in one-fifth of the entire German army being diverted from the east to southern Europe, a proportion that would remain until near the end of the war.
Background
Allies
The plan for Operation Husky called for the
amphibious assault
Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted u ...
of Sicily by two
Allied armies
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, one landing on the south-eastern and one on the central southern coast. The amphibious assaults were to be supported by naval gunfire, as well as tactical bombing, interdiction and close air support by the combined air forces. As such, the operation required a complex command structure, incorporating land, naval and air forces. The overall commander was American
General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...
Dwight D. Eisenhower, as
Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of all the Allied forces in North Africa. British
General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...
Sir Harold Alexander acted as his
second-in-command
Second-in-command (2i/c or 2IC) is a title denoting that the holder of the title is the second-highest authority within a certain organisation.
Usage
In the British Army or Royal Marines, the second-in-command is the deputy commander of a unit, ...
and as the
15th Army Group
The 15th Army Group was an Army Group in World War II, composed of the British Eighth and the U.S. Fifth Armies, which apart from troops from the British Empire and U.S.A., also had whole units from other allied countries/regions; like two of ...
commander. The American
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
Walter Bedell Smith
General Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith (5 October 1895 – 9 August 1961) was a senior officer of the United States Army who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) during the Tunisia Campai ...
was appointed as Eisenhower's
Chief of Staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
. The overall Naval Force Commander was the British
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...
Sir Andrew Cunningham.
The Allied land forces were from the American, British and Canadian armies, and were structured as two task forces. The Eastern Task Force (also known as Task Force 545) was led by General
Sir Bernard Montgomery and consisted of the
British Eighth Army
The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Force ...
(which included the
1st Canadian Infantry Division
The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short ...
). The Western Task Force (Task Force 343) was commanded by
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...
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 ...
and consisted of the
American Seventh Army. The two task force commanders reported to Alexander as commander of the 15th Army Group.
[D'Este Appendix A]
![Allied leaders in the Sicilian campaign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Allied_leaders_in_the_Sicilian_campaign.jpg)
The U.S. Seventh Army consisted initially of three infantry divisions, organized under
II Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General
Omar Bradley
Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893April 8, 1981) was a senior officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army. Bradley was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and over ...
. The
1st and
3rd Infantry Divisions, commanded by Major Generals
Terry Allen and
Lucian Truscott
General Lucian King Truscott Jr. (January 9, 1895 – September 12, 1965) was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer, who saw distinguished active service during World War II. Between 1943–1945, he successively commanded the 3rd ...
respectively, sailed from ports in
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, while the
45th Infantry Division, under Major General
Troy H. Middleton, sailed from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
via
Oran in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
. The
2nd Armored Division, under Major General
Hugh Joseph Gaffey, also sailing from Oran, was to be a floating reserve and be fed into combat as required. On 15 July, Patton reorganized his command into two corps by creating a new ''Provisional Corps'' headquarters, commanded by his deputy army commander, Major General
Geoffrey Keyes
Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes (October 30, 1888 – September 17, 1967) was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer who served with distinction in Sicily and Italy during World War II.
Early life
Keyes was born on October 30, ...
.
The British Eighth Army had four infantry divisions and an independent infantry brigade organized under
XIII Corps, commanded by
Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey, and
XXX Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General
Sir Oliver Leese. The two divisions of XIII Corps, the
5th
Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five.
Fifth or The Fifth may refer to:
* Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth"
* Fifth column, a political term
* Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...
and
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Divisions, commanded by Major-Generals
Horatio Berney-Ficklin
Major General Horatio Pettus Mackintosh Berney-Ficklin, (13 June 1892 – 17 February 1961) was a British Army officer who served in both the First and Second World Wars. During the latter, he commanded for just over three years – from July 1 ...
and
Sidney Kirkman
General Sir Sidney Chevalier Kirkman, (29 July 1895 – 29 October 1982) was a British Army officer, who served in both the First World War and Second World War. During the latter he commanded the artillery of the Eighth Army during the Second B ...
, sailed from
Suez
Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...
in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. The formations of XXX Corps sailed from more diverse ports: the
1st Canadian Infantry Division
The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short ...
, under
Major-General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Guy Simonds
Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds, (April 23, 1903 – May 15, 1974) was a senior Canadian Army officer who served with distinction during World War II. Acknowledged by many military historians and senior commanders, among them Sir Max Ha ...
, sailed from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, the
51st (Highland) Infantry Division
The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...
, under Major-General
Douglas Wimberley
Major-General Douglas Neil Wimberley, (15 August 1896 – 26 August 1983) was a British Army officer who, during the Second World War, commanded the 51st (Highland) Division for two years, from 1941 to 1943, notably at the Second Battle of El ...
, from Tunisia and
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 the
231st Independent Infantry Brigade Group from Suez.
The 1st Canadian Infantry Division was included in Operation Husky at the insistence of the
Canadian Prime Minister
The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as such ...
,
William Mackenzie King, and the Canadian Military Headquarters in the United Kingdom. This request was granted by the British, displacing the veteran
British 3rd Infantry Division. The change was not finalized until 27 April 1943, when
Lieutenant-General Andrew McNaughton, then commanding the
Canadian First Army
The First Canadian Army (french: 1reArmée canadienne) was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 ...
in the United Kingdom, deemed Operation Husky to be a viable military undertaking and agreed to the detachment of both the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the
1st Canadian Tank Brigade
The 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade, later known as 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade, was an armoured brigade of the Canadian Army, raised during the Second World War. The brigade was composed of the 11th, 12th and 14th Canadian Armoured regiments ...
. The "Red Patch Division" was added to Leese's XXX Corps to become part of the British Eighth Army.
[Copp (2008), pp. 5–42]
In addition to the amphibious landings,
airborne troops
Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in a ...
were to be flown in to support both the Western and Eastern Task Forces. To the east, the
British 1st Airborne Division, commanded by Major-General
George F. Hopkinson, was to seize vital bridges and high ground in support of the British Eighth Army. The initial plan dictated that the
U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, commanded by Major General
Matthew Ridgway
General Matthew Bunker Ridgway (March 3, 1895 – July 26, 1993) was a senior officer in the United States Army, who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1952–1953) and the 19th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1953–1955). Altho ...
, was to be held as a tactical reserve in Tunisia.
Allied naval forces were also grouped into two task forces to transport and support the invading armies. The Eastern Naval Task Force was formed from the British
Mediterranean Fleet and was commanded by
Admiral Bertram Ramsay. The Western Naval Task Force was formed around the
U.S. Eighth Fleet, commanded by
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 ...
. The two naval task force commanders reported to Admiral Cunningham as overall Naval Forces Commander.
Two
sloops
A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...
of the
Royal Indian Navy
The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India.
F ...
–
HMIS ''Sutlej'' and
HMIS ''Jumna'' – also participated.
At the time of Operation Husky, the Allied air forces in North Africa and the Mediterranean were organized into the
Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) under
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder, (11 July 1890 – 3 June 1967) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. He was a pilot and squadron commander in the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and he went o ...
. The major sub-command of MAC was the
Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) under the command of Lieutenant General
Carl Spaatz with headquarters in Tunisia. NAAF consisted primarily of groups from the United States
12th Air Force,
9th Air Force
The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...
, and the British
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
(RAF) that provided the primary air support for the operation. Other groups from the 9th Air Force under Lieutenant General
Lewis H. Brereton operating from Tunisia and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, and
Air H.Q. Malta under
Air Vice-Marshal
Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...
Sir Keith Park operating from the island of Malta, also provided important air support.
The
U.S. Army Air Force
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 ...
9th Air Force's medium bombers and
P-40 fighters that were detached to NAAF's
Northwest African Tactical Air Force under the command of Air Marshal
Sir Arthur Coningham moved to southern airfields on Sicily as soon they were secured. At the time, the 9th Air Force was a sub-command of RAF
Middle East Command under Air Chief Marshal
Sir Sholto Douglas. Middle East Command, like NAAF and Air H.Q. Malta were sub-commands of MAC under Tedder who reported to Eisenhower for NAAF operations
and to the British Chiefs of Staff for Air H.Q. Malta and Middle East Command operations.
Axis
![Alfredo guzzoni](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Alfredo_guzzoni.jpg)
The island was defended by the two corps of the
Italian 6th Army under
General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
Alfredo Guzzoni, although specially designated Fortress Areas around the main ports (), were commanded by admirals subordinate to Naval Headquarters and independent of the 6th Army. In early July, the total Axis force in Sicily was about 200,000 Italian troops, 32,000 German troops and 30,000 ''Luftwaffe'' ground staff. The main German formations were the
Panzer Division ''Hermann Göring'' and the
15th Panzergrenadier Division. The
Panzer division had 99 tanks in two battalions but was short of infantry (with only three battalions), while the 15th Panzergrenadier Division had three grenadier regiments and a tank battalion with 60 tanks. About half of the Italian troops were formed into four front-line infantry divisions and headquarters troops; the remainder were support troops or inferior coastal divisions and coastal brigades. Guzzoni's defence plan was for the coastal formations to form a screen to receive the invasion and allow time for the field divisions further back to intervene.
By late July, the German units had been reinforced, principally by elements of the
1st Parachute Division,
29th Panzergrenadier Division
The 29th Infantry Division was a unit of the German army created in the fall of 1936. It was based on the old Reichswehr 15th Infantry Regiment and drew its initial recruits from Thuringia. It was upgraded to 29th Motorized Infantry Division in ...
and the
XIV Panzer Corps
XIV Panzer Corps (also: XIV Army Corps or XIV. ''Armeekorps'') was a corps-level formation of the German Army which fought on both the Eastern Front and in the Italian Campaign.
History
The XIV Panzer Corps was originally formed as the XIV Mot ...
headquarters (''
General der Panzertruppe
General der Panzertruppe () was a General of the branch OF8 rank of the German Army, introduced in 1935. A ''General der Panzertruppe'' was a Lieutenant General, above Major General (Generalleutnant), commanding a Panzer corps.
Rank and ran ...
''
Hans-Valentin Hube
Hans-Valentin Hube (29 October 1890 – 21 April 1944) was a German general during World War II who commanded armoured forces in the invasions of Poland, France and the Soviet Union. In the course of the war, Hube led the 16th Infantry Divisi ...
), bringing the number of German troops to around 70,000. Until the arrival of the corps headquarters, the two German divisions were nominally under Italian tactical control. The panzer division, with a reinforced infantry regiment from the panzergrenadier division to compensate for its lack of infantry, was under Italian
XVI Corps and the rest of the panzergrenadier division under the Italian
XII Corps 12th Corps, Twelfth Corps, or XII Corps may refer to:
* 12th Army Corps (France)
* XII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps, a unit of the Imperial German Army
* XII ...
. The German commanders in Sicily were contemptuous of their allies and German units took their orders from the German liaison officer attached to the 6th Army HQ, ''
Generalleutnant
is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries.
Austria
Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of ...
''
Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin who was subordinate to ''
Generalfeldmarschall
''Generalfeldmarschall'' (from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; en, general field marshal, field marshal general, or field marshal; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several ...
''
Albert Kesselring
Albert Kesselring (30 November 1885 – 16 July 1960) was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' of the Luftwaffe during World War II who was subsequently convicted of war crimes. In a military career that spanned both world wars, Kesselring beca ...
, the German C-in-C Army Command South (). Von Senger had arrived in Sicily in late June as part of a German plan to gain greater operational control of its units. Guzzoni agreed from 16 July to delegate to Hube control of all sectors where there were German units involved, and from 2 August, he commanded the Sicilian front.
Planning
![Sicily in Italy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Sicily_in_Italy.svg)
At the
Casablanca Conference
The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL) or Anfa Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. In attendance were ...
in January 1943, with the end of the
North African Campaign in sight, the political leaders and the military Chiefs of Staff of the United States and Britain met to discuss future strategy. The
British Chiefs of Staff were in favour of an invasion of Sicily or
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
, arguing that it would force Germany to disperse its forces and might knock Italy out of the war and move Turkey to join the Allies.
At first, the Americans opposed the plan as opportunistic and irrelevant, but were persuaded to agree to a Sicilian invasion on the grounds of the great savings to Allied shipping that would result from the opening of the Mediterranean by the removal of Axis air and naval forces from the island.
The
Combined Chiefs of Staff appointed General Eisenhower as C-in-C of the Allied Expeditionary Force, General Alexander as Deputy C-in-C with responsibility for detailed planning and execution of the operation, Admiral Cunningham as Naval Commander, and Air Chief Marshal Tedder as Air Commander.
The outline plan given to Eisenhower by the Chiefs of Staff involved dispersed landings by brigade and division-sized formations in the south-east, south and north-west areas of the island. The logic behind the plan was that it would result in the rapid capture of key Axis airfields that posed a threat to the beachheads and the invasion fleet lying off them. It would also see the rapid capture of all the main ports on the island, except for
Messina, including
Catania,
Palermo,
Syracuse,
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 Ag ...
and
Augusta. This would facilitate a rapid Allied build-up, as well as denying their use to the Axis. High-level planning for the operation lacked direction because the three mainland commanders, Alexander, Montgomery and Patton, were fully occupied in operations in Tunisia. Effort was wasted in presenting plans that Montgomery, in particular, disliked because of the dispersion of forces involved. He was finally able to articulate his objections and put forward alternative proposals on 24 April. Tedder and Cunningham opposed Montgomery's plan because it would leave 13 landing grounds in Axis hands, posing a considerable threat to the Allied invasion fleet.
Eisenhower called a meeting for 2 May with Montgomery, Cunningham and Tedder, in which Montgomery made new proposals to concentrate the Allied effort on the southeast corner of Sicily, discarding the intended landings close to Palermo and using the south-eastern ports.
After Alexander joined the meeting on 3 May, Montgomery's proposals were finally accepted on the basis that it was better to take an administrative risk (having to support troops by landing supplies across beaches) than an operational one (dispersion of effort).
Not for the last time, Montgomery had argued a sound course of action, yet done so in a conceited manner, which suggested to others, particularly his American allies, that he was preoccupied with his own interests. In the event, maintaining the armies by landing supplies across the beaches proved easier than expected, partly because of the successful introduction of large numbers of the new amphibious
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 ...
vehicle.
Alexander was later to write "It is not too much to say that the DUKW revolutionised the problem of beach maintenance."
![Map operation husky landing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Map_operation_husky_landing.jpg)
On 17 May, Alexander issued his Operation Instruction No. 1 setting out his broad plan and defining the tasks of the two armies.
Broadly speaking, he intended to establish his armies along a line from Catania to
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 Ag ...
preparatory to a final operation to reduce the island. He later wrote that at that stage it was not practicable to plan further ahead but that his intentions were clear in his own mind what the next step would be: he would drive north ultimately to
Santo Stefano on the northern coast to split the island in two and cut his enemy's east-west communications. The Seventh Army was assigned to land in the Gulf 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 Ca ...
, in south-central Sicily, with the 3rd Infantry Division and 2nd Armored Division to the west at
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 Ag ...
Mollarella beach, 1st Division in the center at
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 Ca ...
, and 45th Division to the east at
Scoglitti. The 82nd Airborne Division was assigned to drop behind the defences at Gela and Scoglitti. The Seventh Army's beach-front stretched over . The British Eighth Army was assigned to land in south-eastern Sicily. XXX Corps would land on either side of
Cape Passero, while XIII Corps would land in the Gulf of
Noto
Noto ( scn, Notu; la, Netum) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and i ...
, around
Avola, off to the north. The Eighth Army's beach front also stretched , and there was a gap of some between the two armies.
Preparatory operations
Once the Axis forces had been defeated in Tunisia, the Allied strategic bomber force commenced attacks on the principal airfields of Sardinia, Sicily and southern Italy, industrial targets in southern Italy and the ports of
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, Messina, Palermo and
Cagliari (in Sardinia). The attacks were spread to maintain uncertainty as to the next Allied move, and to pin down Axis aircraft and keep them away from Sicily. Bombing of northern Italy (by aircraft based in the UK) and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
(by aircraft based in the Middle East) was increased. From 3 July, bombing concentrated on Sicilian airfields and Axis communications with Italy, although beach defences were left alone, to preserve surprise as to where the landings would occur. By 10 July, only two airfields in Sicily remained fully operational and over half the Axis aircraft had been forced to leave the island.
Between mid-May and the invasion, Allied airmen flew 42,227 sorties and destroyed 323 German and 105 Italian aircraft, for the loss of 250 aircraft, mostly to anti-aircraft fire over Sicily.
Operations began in May against the small island of
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 Tunisi ...
, some southwest of Sicily and northwest of Malta, to prevent the airfield there being used in support of Axis troops attempting to withdraw from North Africa. On 13 and 31 May the cruiser bombarded the island and from 6 June, Allied attacks increased. On 11 June, after a naval bombardment and seaborne landing by the
British 1st Infantry Division (
Operation Corkscrew
Operation Corkscrew was the codename for the Allied invasion of the Italian island of Pantelleria (between Sicily and Tunisia) on 11 June 1943, prior to the Allied invasion of Sicily, during the Second World War. There had been an early plan to ...
) the island garrison surrendered. The
Pelagie Islands
The Pelagie Islands ( it, Isole Pelagie; scn, Ìsuli Pilaggî), from the Greek , meaning "open sea", are the three small islands of Lampedusa, Lampione, and Linosa, located in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and Tunisia, south of Sicily. ...
of
Lampedusa
Lampedusa ( , , ; scn, Lampidusa ; grc, Λοπαδοῦσσα and Λοπαδοῦσα and Λοπαδυῦσσα, Lopadoûssa; mt, Lampeduża) is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.
The ''comune'' of L ...
and
Linosa
Linosa (; scn, Linusa; ar, نموشة, ''Nammūša'') is one of the Pelagie Islands in the Sicily Channel of the Mediterranean Sea.
The island is a part of the Italian comune of Lampedusa e Linosa, part of the province of Agrigento in Sicily, ...
, some west of Malta, followed in short order on 12 June.
Headquarters
![Malta - Valletta - St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Malta_-_Valletta_-_St._James_Ditch_-_Lascaris_War_Rooms_02_ies.jpg)
The Allies used a network of tunnels and chambers located below the
Lascaris Battery
Lascaris Battery ( mt, Batterija ta' Lascaris), also known as Fort Lascaris ( mt, Forti Lascaris) or Lascaris Bastion ( mt, Sur ta' Lascaris), is an artillery battery located on the east side of Valletta, Malta. The battery was built by the Briti ...
in
Valletta
Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...
, Malta (the "Lascaris War Rooms"), for the advance headquarters of the invasion of Sicily. In July 1943, General Eisenhower, Admiral Cunningham, General Montgomery, and Air Marshal Tedder occupied the war rooms. Earlier, the war rooms had served as the British headquarters for the defence of Malta.
Deception
To distract the Axis, and if possible divert some of their forces to other areas, the Allies engaged in several deception operations. The most famous and successful of these was
Operation Mincemeat
Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating ...
, conceived by Naval intelligence officer
Ewen Montagu
Ewen Edward Samuel Montagu (29 March 1901 – 19 July 1985) was a British judge, Naval intelligence officer and author.
He is best known for his leading role in Operation Mincemeat, a critical military deception operation which misdirected G ...
and RAF Squadron Leader Charles Cholmondeley. The British allowed
a corpse, disguised as a British
Royal Marines officer, to drift ashore in Spain carrying a briefcase containing fake secret documents. The documents purported to reveal that the Allies were planning "Operation Brimstone" and that an "Operation Husky" was an invasion of Greece. German intelligence accepted the authenticity of the documents and the Germans diverted much of their defensive effort from Sicily to Greece until the occupation of
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 Tunisi ...
on 11 June, which concentrated German and Italian attention on the western Mediterranean. ''
Generalfeldmarschall
''Generalfeldmarschall'' (from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; en, general field marshal, field marshal general, or field marshal; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several ...
''
Erwin Rommel was sent to Greece to assume command. The Germans transferred a group of "
R boat
The R boats (''Räumboote'' in German, meaning ''minesweeper'') were a group of small naval vessels built as minesweepers for the ''Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) before and during the Second World War. They were used for several purposes during th ...
s" (German minesweepers and minelayers) from Sicily and laid three additional minefields off the Greek coast. They also moved three panzer divisions to Greece, one from France and two from the
Eastern Front which reduced German combat strength in the
Kursk salient.
Campaign
Allied landings
Airborne landings
![The Campaign in Sicily 1943 CNA1002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/The_Campaign_in_Sicily_1943_CNA1002.jpg)
Two American and two British attacks by
airborne troops
Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in a ...
were carried out just after midnight on the night of 9–10 July, as part of the invasion. The American
paratrooper
A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...
s consisted largely of
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
James M. Gavin's
505th Parachute Infantry Regiment
The 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (505th PIR), originally the 505th Infantry Regiment, is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army, one of four infantry regiments of the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army, with ...
(expanded into the 505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team with the addition of the 3rd Battalion of the
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment
The 504th Infantry Regiment, originally the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (504th PIR), is an airborne forces regiment of the United States Army, part of the 82nd Airborne Division, with a long and distinguished history. The regiment was f ...
, along with the
456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, Company 'B' of the
307th Airborne Engineer Battalion and other supporting units) of the
U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, making their first combat drop. The British landings were preceded by
pathfinders of the 21st Independent Parachute Company, who were to mark
landing zone
In military terminology a landing zone (LZ) is an area where aircraft can land.
In the United States military, a landing zone is the actual point where aircraft, especially helicopters, land (equivalent to the commonwealth landing point.)
In ...
s for the troops who were intending to seize the Ponte Grande, the bridge over the River Anape just south of Syracuse, and hold it until the
British 5th Infantry Division arrived from the beaches at Cassibile, some to the south.
Glider infantry
Glider infantry (also referred to as airlanding infantry esp. in British usage) was a type of airborne infantry in which soldiers and their equipment were inserted into enemy-controlled territory via military glider. Initially developed in the l ...
from the
British 1st Airborne Division's
1st Airlanding Brigade
The 1st Airlanding Brigade was an airborne infantry brigade of the British Army during the Second World War and the only glider infantry formation assigned to the 1st Airborne Division, serving alongside the 1st Parachute Brigade and 4th Par ...
, commanded by
Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...
Philip Hicks, were to seize landing zones inland. Strong winds of up to blew the troop-carrying aircraft off course and the American force was scattered widely over south-east Sicily between Gela and Syracuse. By 14 July, about two-thirds of the 505th had managed to concentrate, and half the U.S. paratroopers failed to reach their rallying points.
The British air-landing troops fared little better, with only 12 of the 147 gliders landing on target and 69 crashing into the sea, with over 200 men drowning. Among those who landed in the sea were
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
George F. Hopkinson, commander of the British 1st Airborne Division, who, after several hours spent clutching a piece of wreckage, was eventually rescued by the landing ship HMS ''Keren''. The scattered airborne troops attacked patrols and created confusion wherever possible. A
platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...
of the 2nd Battalion,
South Staffordshire Regiment
The South Staffordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for only 68 years. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot an ...
, under
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
Louis Withers, part of the British 1st Airlanding Brigade, landed on target, captured Ponte Grande and repulsed counterattacks. Additional paratroops rallied to the sound of shooting and by 08:30 were holding the bridge. By 11:30, a battalion of the Italian 75th Infantry Regiment (Colonel Francesco Ronco) from the
54th Infantry Division "Napoli"
The 54th Infantry Division "Napoli" ( it, 54ª Divisione di fanteria "Napoli") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Napoli was formed on 15 April 1939 in Caltanissetta and named for the city of Naples. The d ...
arrived with some artillery.
The British force held out until about 15:30 hours, when, low on ammunition and by now reduced to 18 men, they were forced to surrender, 45 minutes before the leading elements of the British 5th Division arrived from the south.
Despite these mishaps, the widespread landing of airborne troops, both American and British, had a positive effect as small isolated units, acting on their initiative, attacked vital points and created confusion.
Seaborne landings
The strong wind also made matters difficult for the amphibious landings but also ensured surprise as many of the defenders had assumed that no one would attempt a landing in such poor conditions.
Landings were made in the early hours of 10 July from 2:45am on 26 main beaches spread along of the southern and eastern coasts of the island between the town of
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 Ag ...
where the
U.S. 3rd Infantry Division
The 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) (nicknamed Rock of the Marne) is a combined arms division of the United States Army based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. It is a direct subordinate unit of the XVIII Airborne Corps and U.S. Army Forces Command. Its cu ...
, under the command of
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
Lucian Truscott
General Lucian King Truscott Jr. (January 9, 1895 – September 12, 1965) was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer, who saw distinguished active service during World War II. Between 1943–1945, he successively commanded the 3rd ...
, landed at Torre di Gaffe, red beach, and Mollarella and Poliscia, green beaches in the west, and Cassibile in the east, with British and Canadian forces in the east and Americans toward the west. This constituted the largest amphibious operation of World War II in terms of size of the landing zone and the number of divisions put ashore on the first day. The Italian defensive plan did not contemplate a pitched battle on the beaches and so the landings themselves were somewhat anti-climactic.
![SC180455t](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/SC180455t.jpg)
More trouble was experienced from the difficult weather conditions (especially on the southern beaches) and unexpected hidden offshore sandbars than from the coastal divisions. Some troops landed in the wrong place, in the wrong order and as much as six hours behind schedule, but the weakness of the defensive response allowed the Allied force to make up lost time.
Nevertheless, several Italian coastal units fought well; the 429th Coastal Battalion (under Major Marco Rubellino), tasked with defending Gela, lost 45 percent of its men, while the attacking
U.S. Army Ranger Battalion lost several men to mines and machine-gun and cannon fire. ''Gruppo Tattico Carmito'' (under Lieutenant-Colonel Francesco Tropea), tasked with defending Malati Bridge, defeated a
Royal Marines Commando Battalion on 13 July with the help of the local middle-age reservists. The Italian 4th Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion attacked the Commandos with the help of the 372nd Coastal Defence Battalion, 553rd (under Captain Giovanni Sartor) and 554th (under Captain Fausto Clementi) Motorcycle Companies, and three Panzer IV medium tanks.
[Patrick Cloutier. ''Regio Esercito: The Italian Royal Army in Mussolini's Wars, 1935–1943''. Lulu Press, 2013. p. 193] The 246th Coastal Battalion (under Major Rollo Franco) defeated British attempts to capture Augusta on the night of 11–12 July.
In Major General
Terry Allen's
U.S. 1st Infantry Division sector at
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 Ca ...
, there was an Italian
division-sized counterattack where the dispersed 505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team was supposed to have been.
Tiger tanks of the
Hermann Göring Panzer Division, which had been due to advance with the
4th Infantry Division "Livorno"
The 4th Infantry Division "Livorno" ( it, 4ª Divisione di fanteria "Livorno") was a infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Livorno was classified as a mountain infantry division, which meant that the division's arti ...
, were late.
On highways 115 and 117 during 10 July, Italian tanks of the "Niscemi" Armoured Combat Group and Livorno Division infantry nearly reached the Allied position at Gela, but gunfire from the destroyer and the light cruiser destroyed several tanks and dispersed the attacking infantry battalion. The 3rd Battalion, 34th Regiment, "Livorno" Infantry Division, composed mainly of conscripts, made a daylight attack on the Gela beachhead two days later, with infantry and armor of the Hermann Göring Panzer Division, but was repulsed.
![Treno armato Licata](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Treno_armato_Licata.JPG)
By the morning of 10 July, the Joint Task Force Operations Support System Force captured the port of
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 Ag ...
, at the cost of nearly 100 killed and wounded in the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, and the division beat back a counter-attack from the 538th Coastal Defence Battalion. By 11:30,
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 Ag ...
was firmly in American hands and the U.S. 3rd Division had lost fewer than one hundred men. Salvage parties had already partially cleared the harbor, and shortly after noon Truscott and his staff came ashore and set up headquarters at Palazzo La Lumia. About that time, the 538th Coastal Defense Battalion, which had been deployed as a tactical reserve, launched a counter-attack. By the evening of 10 July, the seven Allied assault divisions—three American, three British and one Canadian—were well established ashore, the port of
Syracuse had been captured, and fears of an Axis air onslaught had proved unfounded.
The preparatory bombing of the previous weeks had greatly weakened the Axis air capability and the heavy Allied presence of aircraft operating from Malta, Gozo, and Pantelleria kept most of the Axis attempts at air attack at bay. Some attacks on the first day of the invasion got through, and German aircraft sank the
landing ship
An amphibious warfare ship (or amphib) is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault.
Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most crud ...
''LST-313'' and minesweeper . Italian
Stukas
The Orchestre Stukas (also referred to as the Stukas Boys, the Stukas or the Stukas of Zaire) was a congolese soukous band of the 1970s. It was based in Kinshasa, Zaire (now DR Congo). At the apex of their popularity, the Stukas were led by singe ...
sank the destroyer and Re.2002s sunk the Indian hospital ship ''
Talamba'' with heavy loss of life, and in the following days Axis aircraft damaged or sank several more warships, transport vessels and landing craft starting with the Allied troopship hit and damaged by an Italian bomber formation on the morning of 11 July. Italian Stukas (named ''Picchiatello'' in Italian service) and
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 torpedo-bombers coordinated their attacks with German Stuka and
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 ...
bomber units. As part of the seaborne landings south at Agnone, some 400 men of
Lieutenant Colonel John Durnford-Slater
Brigadier John Frederick Durnford-Slater, DSO and bar (1909 – 5 February 1972) was a British Army officer who was credited with establishing the first Army commando unit during the Second World War.
An officer in the Royal Artillery who eve ...
's
No. 3 Commando
No. 3 Commando was a battalion-sized Commando unit raised by the British Army during the Second World War. Formed in July 1940 from volunteers for special service, it was the first such unit to carry the title of "Commando". Shortly afterwards the ...
captured Malati Bridge on 13 July, only to lose possession of it when the 4th Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Francesco Tropea) and the Italian 553rd and 554th Motorcycle Companies counter-attacked. The Commandos lost 28 killed, 66 wounded and 59 captured or missing.
Exploitation
General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...
Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
's plan was to first establish his forces on a line between
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 Ag ...
in the west and
Catania in the east before embarking on operations to reduce the rest of the island. Key to this was capturing ports to facilitate the buildup of his forces and the capture of airfields. The task of General
Montgomery's
British Eighth Army
The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Force ...
was, therefore, to capture the
Pachino
Pachino (; scn, Pachinu ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (Italy). The name derives from the Latin word ''bacchus,'' which is the Roman god of wine, and the word ''vinum'', which means wine in Latin; originally the ...
airfield on Cape Passero and the port of
Syracuse before moving northwards to take the ports of Augusta and Catania. Their objectives also included the landing fields around Gerbini, on the Catania plain. The objectives of
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...
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 Franc ...
's
U.S. Seventh Army included capturing the port of Licata and the airfields of Ponte Olivo, Biscari and Comiso. It was then to prevent the enemy reserves from moving eastward against the Eighth Army's left flank.
According to Axis plans, (Colonel Wilhelm Schmalz), in conjunction with the
54th Infantry Division "Napoli"
The 54th Infantry Division "Napoli" ( it, 54ª Divisione di fanteria "Napoli") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Napoli was formed on 15 April 1939 in Caltanissetta and named for the city of Naples. The d ...
(Major-General
Giulio Cesare Gotti Porcinari), was to counter-attack an Allied landing on the Augusta–Syracuse coast. On 10 July, Colonel Schmalz had been unable to contact the Italian division and had proceeded alone towards Syracuse. Unknown to Schmalz, a battalion of 18
Renault R35
The Renault R35, an abbreviation of ''Char léger Modèle 1935 R'' or R 35, was a French light infantry tank of the Second World War.
Designed from 1933 onwards and produced from 1936, the type was intended as an infantry support light tank, ...
tanks (under Lieutenant-Colonel Massimo D'Andretta) and supporting infantry battalion from the 75th Infantry Regiment (under Colonel Paolo Giovanni Ronco) of the Napoli Division, broke through the forward positions held by the 2nd Battalion,
Wiltshire Regiment
The Wiltshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot and the 99th Duke of Edinburgh's (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot.
The ...
, part of the
13th Brigade of
Major-General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Horatio Berney-Ficklin
Major General Horatio Pettus Mackintosh Berney-Ficklin, (13 June 1892 – 17 February 1961) was a British Army officer who served in both the First and Second World Wars. During the latter, he commanded for just over three years – from July 1 ...
's
British 5th Division
The 5th Infantry Division was a regular army infantry division of the British Army. It was established by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington for service in the Peninsular War, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, and was active for most o ...
, and were stopped only by anti-tank and artillery fire in the Priolo and Floridia suburbs of Syracuse.
![Prigionieri 206a Divisione Costiera](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Prigionieri_206a_Divisione_Costiera.JPG)
On the night of 11–12 July, the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
attempted to capture Augusta but the 246th Coastal Battalion repelled the British landing force that was supported by three destroyers. On 12 July, several Italian units took up rearguard positions and covered the withdrawal of and the Hermann Göring Division. The American advance toward
Canicattì
Canicattì (; scn, Caniattì) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about east of Agrigento. In 2016, it had a population of 35,698.
Histo ...
was temporarily held up by
Semovente da 90/53 tank destroyers from the 161st Self-propelled Artillery Battalion, 526th Bersaglieri Battalion and 177th Bersaglieri Regiment from ''Gruppo Tattico Venturi'' (under General
Enrico Francisci, killed in action and posthumously awarded the
Gold Medal of Military Valour
The Gold Medal of Military Valour ( it, Medaglia d'oro al valor militare) is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers.
The fac ...
), as retreated toward Catania. The 246th Coastal Battalion retreated to strong points at Cozzo Telegrafo and
Acquedolci
Acquedolci ( Sicilian: ''Acquaduci'') is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Messina in Sicily.
Its name, that can be translated in English as "sweet waters", probably came from the fresh water springs which are part of th ...
. The 76th Infantry Regiment of the Napoli Division covered the left flank of which withdrew toward Lentini and then retired to Palermo. The
Hermann Göring Division Hermann or Herrmann may refer to:
* Hermann (name), list of people with this name
* Arminius, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe in the 1st century, known as Hermann in the German language
* Éditions Hermann, French publisher
* Hermann, Miss ...
eventually pulled back from the Piano Lupo area toward
Caltagirone and the Livorno Division withdrew its right flank toward
Piazza Armerina
Piazza Armerina ( Gallo-Italic of Sicily: ''Ciazza''; Sicilian: ''Chiazza'') is a ''comune'' in the province of Enna of the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy.
History
The city of Piazza (as it was called before 1862) developed ...
, to cover the Hermann Göring Division.
Early on 13 July, elements of the British 5th Division on Eighth Army's right flank, which had been delayed by , entered Augusta. On their left, Major-General
Sidney Kirkman
General Sir Sidney Chevalier Kirkman, (29 July 1895 – 29 October 1982) was a British Army officer, who served in both the First World War and Second World War. During the latter he commanded the artillery of the Eighth Army during the Second B ...
's
British 50th Division had pushed up Route 114 toward Lentini, northwest of Augusta and met increasing resistance from the Napoli Division. The commander of the Italian division and his staff were captured by Brigadier
John Currie's
British 4th Armoured Brigade
4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East, previously known as 4th Mechanized Brigade and before that 4th Armoured Brigade is a brigade formation of the British Army, currently based in Catterick, North Yorkshire as part of 1st ...
on 13 July and it was not until 18:45 on 14 July that the town was cleared of obstructions and snipers and the advance resumed. A battalion of the Napoli Division managed to break through the British lines and took up new positions at Augusta but the British advance forced it to retire again on 14 July.
![Canadians Sicily1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Loyal_Edmonton_Regiment_soldiers_entering_Modica_Sicily_July_1943.jpg)
Further left, in the
XXX Corps sector, Major-General
Douglas Wimberley
Major-General Douglas Neil Wimberley, (15 August 1896 – 26 August 1983) was a British Army officer who, during the Second World War, commanded the 51st (Highland) Division for two years, from 1941 to 1943, notably at the Second Battle of El ...
's
51st (Highland) Division
The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...
had moved directly north to take Palazzolo and Vizzini west of Syracuse, while the Canadians secured Pachino airfield and headed north-west to make contact with the American right wing at Ragusa; after having driven off the Italian 122 Infantry Regiment north of Pachino. The Canadians captured more than 500 Italians. In the Canadian area, the
2nd Special Service Brigade
The 2nd Special Service Brigade was formed in late 1943 in the Middle East and saw service in Italy, the Adriatic, the landings at Anzio and took part in operations in Yugoslavia.Army Commandos 1940–45 By Mike Chappell, p 31
On 6 December 1944 th ...
, under
Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...
Robert Laycock
Major-General Sir Robert Edward Laycock, (18 April 1907 – 10 March 1968) was a senior British Army officer best known for his influential role in the establishment and command of British Commandos during the Second World War.
Early life
L ...
, was counter-attacked by the 206th Coastal Division (under General
Achille d'Havet) who launched a strong counter-attack that threatened to penetrate the area between the Canadians and the Royal Marine Commandos before being repulsed.
![US paratroops bound for Sicily](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/US_paratroops_bound_for_Sicily.jpg)
In the American sector, by the morning of 10 July, the port of Licata had been captured. On 11 July, Patton ordered his reserve parachute troops from the
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment
The 504th Infantry Regiment, originally the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (504th PIR), is an airborne forces regiment of the United States Army, part of the 82nd Airborne Division, with a long and distinguished history. The regiment was f ...
(minus the 3rd Battalion already deployed in Sicily, attached to the 505th) under
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
Reuben Tucker
Reuben Tucker (born 30 December 1956) is a wrestler from Guam. He competed in the men's freestyle 90 kg at the 1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as ...
, part of Major General
Matthew Ridgway
General Matthew Bunker Ridgway (March 3, 1895 – July 26, 1993) was a senior officer in the United States Army, who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1952–1953) and the 19th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1953–1955). Altho ...
's
82nd Airborne Division, to drop and reinforce the center. In addition, going along with the 504th would be the
376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, Company 'C' of the
307th Airborne Engineer Battalion and other supporting units. Warning orders had been issued to the fleet and troops on 6, 7, 10 and 11 July concerning the planned route and timing of the drop, so that the aircraft would not be fired on by friendly forces.
They were intended to drop east of Ponte Olivo, about inland from Gela, to block routes to the
1st Infantry Division's bridgehead at Gela.
The 144
Douglas C-47
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...
transports arrived at the same time as an Axis air raid; the first echelon of troop carrying planes had dropped their loads without interference, when an Allied naval vessel fired on the formation. Immediately, all the other naval vessels and shore troops joined in, shooting down friendly aircraft and forcing paratroopers to jump far from their drop zones. The
52nd Troop Carrier Wing lost 23 of 144 С-47s to
friendly fire
In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...
; there were 318 casualties with 83 dead. Thirty-seven aircraft were damaged, while eight returned to base without dropping their parachutists. The paratroopers suffered 229 casualties to "friendly fire", including 81 dead.
Among the casualties was
Brigadier General
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
Charles L. Keerans, Jr., the 82nd Airborne's assistant division commander (ADC), who was along with the 504th as an unofficial observer. The
325th Glider Infantry Regiment, part of the 82nd Airborne Division and commanded by Colonel
Harry L. Lewis, was then waiting in North Africa and scheduled to land in Sicily by glider that night, together with the rest of the division staff. After what happened to the 504th, Ridgway canceled the operation.
Despite this, the American beach landings went well and a substantial amount of supplies and transport was landed. Despite the failure of the airborne operation, the 1st Infantry Division took Ponte Olivo on 12 July and continued north, while Major General
Troy H. Middleton's
45th Infantry Division on the right had taken the airfield at Comiso and entered Ragusa to link-up with the Canadians. On the left, Major General Truscott's 3rd Infantry Division, having landed at Licata, pushed troops up the coast almost to Argento and inland to Canicatti.
Once the beachheads were secure, Alexander planned to split the island in half by thrusting north through the
Caltanissetta
Caltanissetta (; scn, Nissa or ) is a ''comune'' in the central interior of Sicily, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta. Its inhabitants are called ''Nisseni''.
In 2017, the city had a population of 62,797. It is the 14th ...
and Enna region, to deny the defenders the central east-west lateral road. A further push north to Nicosia would cut the next lateral route and a final advance to Santo Stefano on the north coast would cut the coastal route. In new orders issued on 13 July, he gave this task to Montgomery's Eighth Army, perhaps based on a somewhat over-optimistic situation report by Montgomery late on 12 July, while the Seventh Army were to continue their holding role on the left flank of the Eighth Army, despite what appeared to be an opportunity for them to make a bold offensive move.
On 12 July, ''
Generalfeldmarschall
''Generalfeldmarschall'' (from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; en, general field marshal, field marshal general, or field marshal; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several ...
''
Albert Kesselring
Albert Kesselring (30 November 1885 – 16 July 1960) was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' of the Luftwaffe during World War II who was subsequently convicted of war crimes. In a military career that spanned both world wars, Kesselring beca ...
had visited Sicily and formed the opinion that German troops were fighting virtually on their own. As a consequence, he concluded that the German formations needed to be reinforced, and that western Sicily should be abandoned in order to shorten the front line. The priority was first to slow and then halt the Allied advance, while a was formed running from San Stefano on the northern coast, through Nicosia and Agira to Cantenanuova and from there to the eastern coast south of Catania.
While
XIII Corps, under
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Miles Dempsey
General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey, (15 December 1896 – 5 June 1969) was a senior British Army officer who served in both world wars. During the Second World War he commanded the Second Army in north west Europe. A highly professional an ...
, continued to push along the Catania road, XXX Corps, under Lieutenant General
Oliver Leese
Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver William Hargreaves Leese, 3rd Baronet, (27 October 1894 – 22 January 1978) was a senior British Army officer who saw distinguished active service during both the world wars. He is probably most notable during the ...
, were directed north along two routes; the first was an inland route through Vizzini, and the second following Route 124, which cut across the U.S. 45th Infantry Division, which had to return to the coast at Gela for redeployment behind the U.S. 1st Infantry Division. Progress was slow as skilfully delayed the British 5th Infantry Division, allowing time for two regiments from the
German 1st Parachute Division
The 1st Parachute Division (german: 1. Fallschirmjäger-Division) was an elite German military parachute-landing division that fought during World War II. A division of paratroopers was termed a ''Fallschirmjäger'' Division. For reasons of sec ...
flying to Catania to deploy. On 12 July, the
British 1st Parachute Brigade, commanded by Brigadier
Gerald Lathbury
General Sir Gerald William Lathbury, (14 July 1906 – 16 May 1978) was a senior British Army officer who fought during the Second World War, serving with distinction with the British Army's airborne forces, commanding the 1st Parachute Briga ...
, had been dropped in
Operation Fustian
Operation Fustian was an airborne forces operation undertaken during the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 in the Second World War. The operation was carried out by Brigadier Gerald Lathbury's 1st Parachute Brigade, part of the British 1s ...
, an attempt to capture the Primosole Bridge over the river Simeto, on the southern edge of the Catania plain. The British paratroopers suffered heavy casualties over their designated drop zones due to heavy fire from alert Italian anti-aircraft gunners, but managed to seize and hold the bridge against fierce Axis attacks. The initial counterattacks were Italian in the form of reinforcements from the 10th Arditi Paratroop Regiment (Major Vito Marciano),
reservists from the 372nd Coastal Battalion(Major Nino Bolla)and gunners from the 29th Artillery Group fighting in the infantry role and an armoured car squadron that nearly overran the headquarters of 9th Battalion, the Durham Light Infantry, at nightfall in the first day of the battle for Primosole Bridge. The British 5th Division was delayed by strong opposition, but made contact early on 15 July; nevertheless, it was not until 17 July that a shallow bridgehead north of the river was consolidated.
![Sherman-Tank-in-Sicily](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Sherman-Tank-in-Sicily.png)
On 16 July, the surviving Italian aircraft withdrew to the mainland. About 160 Italian planes had been lost in the first week of the invasion, 57 lost to Allied fighters and anti-aircraft fire on 10–12 July alone. That day, an Italian bomber torpedoed the aircraft carrier
HMS ''Indomitable'', and the torpedoed the cruiser HMS ''
Cleopatra''. Both ships were put out of action for over a year.
On the night of 17 July, the , equipped with
EC.3 ''Gufo'' radar,
detected and engaged four British
Elco motor torpedo boats lurking away, while passing the Strait of Messina at high speed. MTB 316 was sunk and MTB 313 damaged between
Reggio di Calabria
Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label=Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popula ...
and
Pellaro–twelve British sailors were killed.
On the night of 17–18 July, Montgomery renewed his attack toward Catania, with two brigades of Major General Kirkman's 50th Division. They met strong opposition and by 19 July Montgomery decided to call off the attack and instead increase the pressure on his left. The 5th Division attacked on the 50th Division's left but with no greater success, and on 20 July, the 51st Division, further west, crossed the river Dittaino at Sferro and made for the Gerbini airfields. They too were driven back by counter-attacks on 21 July.
On the left flank, the 1st Canadian Division continued to advance but it was becoming clear that, as German units settled into their new positions in north eastern Sicily, the army would not have sufficient strength to carry the whole front and the Canadians were ordered to continue north to Leonforte and then turn eastward to Adrano on the south-western slopes of
Mount Etna, instead of an encirclement of Mount Etna using Route 120 to Randazzo. Montgomery called forward his reserve division from North Africa, Major-General
Vyvyan Evelegh
Major General Vyvyan Evelegh, (14 December 1898 – 27 August 1958) was a senior officer of the British Army during the Second World War, commanding the 78th Infantry Division (otherwise known as the Battleaxe Division) and the 6th Armoured Di ...
's
British 78th Infantry Division.
![The British Army in Sicily 1943 NA5666](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/The_British_Army_in_Sicily_1943_NA5666.jpg)
Patton had reorganised his forces into two corps. The Provisional Corps, commanded by Major General
Geoffrey Keyes
Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes (October 30, 1888 – September 17, 1967) was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer who served with distinction in Sicily and Italy during World War II.
Early life
Keyes was born on October 30, ...
, consisting of the
2nd Armored, 3rd Infantry, and 82nd Airborne Divisions, was on the left. Lieutenant General
Omar Bradley
Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893April 8, 1981) was a senior officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army. Bradley was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and over ...
's
U.S. II Corps was on the right. By 17 July, Provisional Corps had captured Porto Empedocle and Agrigento. On 18 July, II Corps took Caltanissetta, just short of Route 121, the main east–west lateral through the center of Sicily. The American advance toward Agrigento was temporarily held up by the 207th Coastal Defence Division (under Colonel Augusto De Laurentis) that was at Sant'Oliva Station, inland from Licata. The 10th Bersaglieri Regiment (under Colonel Fabrizio Storti) forced
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
William O. Darby's
1st and
3rd Ranger Battalions of the 3rd Infantry Division to fight their way into Agrigento. By late afternoon on 16 July, the city was in American hands.
![Mortars-At-Palermo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Mortars-At-Palermo.png)
The
15th Panzer Grenadier Division managed to join the other German formations in the east of the island. Patton was ordered on 18 July to push troops north through Petralia on Route 120, the next east–west lateral, and then to cut the northern coast road. After that, he would mop up the west of the island. Bradley's II Corps were given the task of making the northward move, while the Provisional Corps was tasked with the mopping up operation. Alexander issued further orders to Patton to develop an eastward threat along the coast road once he had cut it. He was also directed to capture Palermo as quickly as possible as the main supply base for further eastward commitment north of Mount Etna.
On 21 July, the Seventh Army's Provisional Corps overran the Italian battlegroup ''Raggruppamento Schreiber'' (under General
Ottorino Schreiber), covering the withdrawal of the 15th ''Panzer Panzergrenadier ''Division, but Patton lost 300 men killed and wounded in the process. On 22 July, the Provisional Corps entered Palermo, and the next day the 45th Division cut the north coast road.
Battles for Etna positions
During the last week in July,
General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...
Montgomery gathered his forces to renew the attack on 1 August. His immediate objective was Adrano, the capture of which would split the German forces on either side of Mount Etna. During the week, the Canadians and Brigadier
Roy Urquhart
Major General Robert Elliot "Roy" Urquhart, (28 November 1901 – 13 December 1988) was a British Army officer who saw service during the Second World War and Malayan Emergency. He became prominent for his role as General Officer Commanding th ...
's
231st Brigade Group continued their eastward push from Leonforte, and on 29 July had taken Agira, some west of Adrano. On the night of 29 July, the
British 78th Division with the
3rd Canadian Brigade under command, took Catenanuova and made a bridgehead across the river Dittaino. On the night of 1 August, they resumed their attack to the northwest toward Centuripe, an isolated pinnacle of rock, which was the main southern outpost of the Adrano defences. After heavy fighting against the
Hermann Göring Division Hermann or Herrmann may refer to:
* Hermann (name), list of people with this name
* Arminius, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe in the 1st century, known as Hermann in the German language
* Éditions Hermann, French publisher
* Hermann, Miss ...
and the
3rd Parachute Regiment all day on 2 August, the town was finally cleared of defenders on the morning of 3 August. The capture of Centuripe proved critical, in that the growing threat to Adrano made the position covering Catania untenable.
Patton had decided that his communications could support two divisions pushing east, the
45th Division on the coast road and the
1st Division on Route 120. In order to maintain the pressure, he relieved the 45th Division with the fresher
3rd Division and called up Major General
Manton Eddy
Lieutenant General Manton Sprague Eddy (May 16, 1892 – April 10, 1962) was a senior United States Army officer who served in both World War I and World War II. During the latter conflict he served with distinction, commanding the 9th Infantry D ...
's
9th Infantry Division from reserve in North Africa to relieve the 1st Division.
Axis forces were now settled on a second defensive line, the
Etna Line, running from San Fratello on the north coast through Troina and Aderno. On 31 July, the 1st Division with elements of the arriving 9th Division attached, reached Troina and the
Battle of Troina
The Battle of Troina was an important battle that took place between 31 July and 6 August 1943, as part of the Allied invasion of Sicily during World War II. Forces of the U.S. II Corps, part of the U.S. Seventh Army, under George S. Patton, eng ...
commenced. This important position was held by the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division. The remnants of the
28th Infantry Division "Aosta" in the form of four battalions had also been pulled back to Troina to assist in the defensive preparations and forthcoming battle.
For six days, the Germans and Italians conducted a costly defence; during the battle, they launched 24 counter-attacks and many small local ones. By 7 August, Colonel
George Smith's
U.S. 18th Infantry Regiment, of the 9th Division, had captured Mount Pellegrino, which overlooked the Troina defences, allowing accurate direction of Allied artillery. The defenders' left flank was also becoming exposed as the adjacent Hermann Göring Division was pushed back by
British XXX Corps
XXX Corps (30 Corps) was a corps of the British Army during the Second World War. The Corps was formed in the Western Desert in September 1941. It provided extensive service in the North African Campaign and many of its units were in action at ...
and they were ordered to withdraw that night in phases to the defensive positions of the Tortorici Line. Elements of the
29th Panzergrenadier Division
The 29th Infantry Division was a unit of the German army created in the fall of 1936. It was based on the old Reichswehr 15th Infantry Regiment and drew its initial recruits from Thuringia. It was upgraded to 29th Motorized Infantry Division in ...
and
26th Infantry Division "Assietta", were also proving difficult to dislodge on the coast at Santa Agata and San Fratello. Patton sent a small amphibious force behind the defences, which led to the fall of Santa Agata on 8 August after holding out for six days.
![The British Army in Sicily 1943 NA5545](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/The_British_Army_in_Sicily_1943_NA5545.jpg)
On 3 August,
XIII Corps exploited the disorganisation caused by the threat to Adrano and resumed their advance on Catania, and by 5 August the town was in their hands. Adrano fell to the 78th Division on the night of 6 August, while on the right, the
51st (Highland) Division
The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...
took Biancavilla, southeast of Adrano.
After the fall of Adrano, the
1st Canadian Division
The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very shor ...
was withdrawn into Army Reserve. On 8 August, the 78th Division moved north from Adrano took Bronte and the 9th Division, advancing from Troina, took Cesaro, valuable positions on the New Hube Line. Both divisions converged on Randazzo, on the north-west slopes of Etna. Randazzo fell on 13 August and 78th Division was taken into reserve.
As the Allied advance continued, the front line shortened and Montgomery decided to withdraw XIII Corps HQ and the
British 5th Infantry Division, now commanded by Major General
Gerard Bucknall
Lieutenant General Gerard Corfield Bucknall, (14 September 1894 – 7 December 1980) was a senior British Army officer who served in both the First and Second World Wars. He is most notable for being the commander of XXX Corps during the Norman ...
(replacing Major General Berney-Ficklin who returned to England), on 10 August, to allow them to prepare for the landings on mainland Italy. On the northern coast, the U.S. 3rd Division continued to meet strong resistance and difficulties created by extensive demolition of the road. Two more end-run amphibious attacks, and the rebuilding efforts of the engineers, kept the advance moving. Although ''
Generalfeldmarschall
''Generalfeldmarschall'' (from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; en, general field marshal, field marshal general, or field marshal; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several ...
''
Kesselring had already decided to evacuate, the Axis forces continued their delaying tactics, assisted by the favorable defensive terrain of the Messina Peninsula; on the night of 16 August, the leading elements of the 3rd Division entered Messina.
Axis evacuation
By 27 July, the Axis commanders had realised that the outcome of the campaign would be an evacuation from
Messina. Kesselring reported to
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
on 29 July that an evacuation could be accomplished in three days and initial written plans were formulated dated 1 August. However, when Hube suggested on 4 August that a start should be made by transferring superfluous men and equipment, Guzzoni refused to sanction the idea without the approval of the ''
Comando Supremo
''Comando Supremo'' (High Command) was the highest command echelon of the Italian armed forces between June 1941 and May 1945. Its predecessor, the ''Stato Maggiore Generale'' (Supreme General Staff), was a purely advisory body with no direct cont ...
''. The Germans nevertheless went ahead, transferring over 12,000 men, 4,500 vehicles and 5,000 tons of equipment from 1–10 August. On 6 August, Hube suggested to Guzzoni, via von Senger, that HQ 6th Army should move to Calabria. Guzzoni rejected the idea but asked if Hube had decided to evacuate Sicily. Von Senger replied that Hube had not.
The next day, Guzzoni learned of the German plan for evacuation and reported to Rome of his conviction of their intentions. On 7 August, Guzzoni reported that, without German support, any last ditch stand would only be short. On 9 August, Rome ordered that Guzzoni's authority should be extended to Calabria and that he should transfer some forces there to reinforce the area. On 10 August, Guzzoni informed Hube that he was responsible for the defence of northeast Sicily and that Italian coastal units and the Messina garrison were under his command. Guzzoni then crossed to the mainland with 6th Army HQ and 16th Corps HQ, leaving Admiral
Pietro Barone
Pietro Barone (Modica, 9 April 1881 – Naples, 28 November 1975) was an Italian admiral during World War II. He was the naval commander of Sicily for most of the war.
Biography
Born in Modica on April 9, 1881, he entered the Naval Academy ...
and Admiral Pietro Parenti to organise the evacuation of the remains of the Livorno and Assietta divisions (and any other troops and equipment that could be saved).
The German plan was thorough, with clear lines of command imposing strict discipline on the operation. ''
Oberst
''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...
''
Ernst-Günther Baade
Ernst-Günther Baade (20 August 1897 – 8 May 1945) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. Baade was wounded in action and died from his i ...
was the German Commandant Messina Straits, with Fortress Commander powers, including control over infantry, artillery, anti-aircraft, engineer and construction, transport and administration units as well as German naval transport headquarters. On the mainland, ''
Generalmajor''
Richard Heidrich
__NOTOC__
Richard Heidrich (27 July 1896 – 22 December 1947) was a German paratroop general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany.
Heidrich was taken prison ...
, who had remained in Calabria with the
1st Parachute Division headquarters and the
1st Parachute Regiment, when the rest of the division had been sent as reinforcements to Sicily, was appointed
XIV Panzer Corps
XIV Panzer Corps (also: XIV Army Corps or XIV. ''Armeekorps'') was a corps-level formation of the German Army which fought on both the Eastern Front and in the Italian Campaign.
History
The XIV Panzer Corps was originally formed as the XIV Mot ...
Mainland Commander to receive evacuating formations, while Hube continued to control the operations on the island.
![The British Army in Sicily 1943 NA5335](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/The_British_Army_in_Sicily_1943_NA5335.jpg)
Full-scale withdrawal began on 11 August and continued to 17 August. During this period, Hube ordered successive withdrawals each night of between , keeping the following Allied units at arm's length with the use of mines, demolitions and other obstacles. As the peninsula narrowed, shortening his front, he was able to withdraw units for evacuation. The Allies attempted to counter this by launching brigade-sized amphibious assaults, one each by the Seventh and Eighth Armies, on 15 August. However, the speed of the Axis withdrawal was such that these operations "hit air".
The German and Italian evacuation schemes proved highly successful. The Allies were not able to prevent the orderly withdrawal nor effectively interfere with transports across the
Strait of Messina
The Strait of Messina ( it, Stretto di Messina, Sicilian: Strittu di Missina) is a narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily ( Punta del Faro) and the western tip of Calabria ( Punta Pezzo) in Southern Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian S ...
. The narrow straits were protected by 120 heavy and 112 light anti-aircraft guns.
with about half being Italian-built pieces. The resulting overlapping gunfire from both sides of the strait was described by Allied pilots as worse than the Ruhr, making daylight air attacks highly hazardous and generally unsuccessful.
Night attacks were less hazardous and there were times when air attack was able to delay and even suspend traffic across the straits but when daylight returned, the Axis were able to clear the backlog from the previous night. Nor was naval interdiction any more practicable. The straits varied from wide and were covered by artillery up to in caliber. This, combined with the hazards of a current and fear that Italian warships were preparing to attack the Straits of Messina in a suicide run, made risking warships unjustifiable.
Aftermath
On 18 August, the ''
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' recorded that 60,000 troops had been recovered and the Italian figure was about 75,000. In 2004, Tomlin wrote that the Italians evacuated 62,182 men, 41 guns and 227 vehicles with the loss of only one motor raft and the train ferry ''Carridi'', which was scuttled when Allied troops entered Messina. The Germans evacuated some 52,000 troops (including 4,444 wounded), 14,105 vehicles, 47 tanks, 94 guns, 1,100 tons of ammunition, and about 20,700 tons of gear and stores.
Casualties
![The Royal Navy during the Second World War A18091](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/The_Royal_Navy_during_the_Second_World_War_A18091.jpg)
The U.S. Seventh Army lost 8,781 men (2,237 killed or missing, 5,946 wounded, and 598 captured), while the British Eighth Army suffered 11,843 casualties (2,062 killed or missing, 7,137 wounded and 2,644 captured). The
U.S. 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 o ...
lost 546 killed or missing and 484 wounded and the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
lost 314 killed or missing, 411 wounded and four captured. The
USAAF
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 ...
reported 28 killed, 88 missing and 41 wounded.
[The Battle of Sicily: How the Allies Lost Their Chance for Total Victory, Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Friedrich Von Stauffenberg, p. 305, Stackpole Books, 10 June 2007] Canadian forces had suffered 2,310 casualties, including 562 killed, 1,664 wounded, and 84 captured.
[Decisive Decades: A History of the Twentieth Century for Canadians, A. B. Hodgetts, J. D. Burns, p. 354, T. Nelson & Sons (Canada), 1973]
In 2007, Samuel W. Mitcham and Friederich von Stauffenberg wrote that German units lost about 20,000 men who were either killed, wounded or captured and in ''
Germany and the Second World War
''Germany and the Second World War'' (german: Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg) is a 12,000-page, 13-volume work published by the Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (DVA), that has taken academics from the military history centre of the German ...
'' (2007) Messerschmidt ''et al.'' reported that the German forces lost 4,325 men killed, 4,583 missing, 5,532 captured and 13,500 wounded, a total of 27,940 casualties.
[Le Operazioni in Sicilia e in Calabria (Luglio-Settembre 1943), Alberto Santoni, p. 401, Stato maggiore dell'Esercito, Ufficio storico, 1989] According to the Historical Branch of the Italian Army, Italian military losses were 4,678 killed, 36,072 missing, 32,500 wounded and 116,681 captured.
A large part of the missing were presumed to have been killed and buried on the battlefield or in unknown locations,
whereas another part presumably included locally recruited soldiers who deserted and returned to their homes. In 2007, Mitcham and Von Stauffenberg estimated Italian total casualties as 147,000.
[Mitcham & von Stauffenberg (2007), p. 305] An earlier Canadian study of the Allied invasion estimated the total number of Italian and Germans taken prisoner in Sicily to be around 100,000.
War crimes
Immediately after landing in Sicily, some killings of civilians by US troops were reported. These include the
Vittoria massacre, where 12 Italians died (including Giuseppe Mangano, ''
podestà
Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...
'' (mayor) of
Acate
Acate ( Sicilian: ''Acati'' or ''Vischiri'') is a small town and ''comune'' in the south of Sicily, Italy, part of the province of Ragusa. It is located in the Dirillo River valley, from Ragusa.
Until 1938 it was called Biscari, and its hist ...
, and his seventeen-year-old son Valerio, who was killed by a bayonet thrust to his face), in Piano Stella, Agrigento, where a group of peasants was murdered,
and the
Canicattì massacre
The Canicattì massacre (or Canicattì slaughter) was a massacre that occurred in Canicattì, Italy following its capture by American forces. During the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, eight unarmed Italian civilians were killed by U.S. troops ...
, in which at least eight civilians, including an eleven-year-old girl, were killed.
After the capture of Biscari airfield on 14 July, American soldiers from the
180th Regimental Combat Team of the 45th Division murdered 74 Italian and two German
prisoners of war in
two massacres at Biscari airfield on 14 July 1943. Sergeant Horace T. West and Captain John T. Compton were charged with a
war crime; West was convicted and sentenced to life in prison and stripped of his rank but was released back to active service in November 1944 as a private, and honorably discharged at the end of his service. Compton was charged with killing 40 prisoners in his charge but was acquitted and transferred to another regiment, where he died in November 1943 in the fighting in Italy.
Various sources, including the Special Investigation Branch as well as evidences from Belgian reporters, said that rape and sexual harassment by British troops occurred frequently following the invasion of Sicily in 1943. On 19 July 1943, just over a week after the Allied landings, Captain Angelo Thomas Sesia from the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, reported a number of crimes involving Canadian soldiers, including the shooting of civilians, looting and a case of gang rape at Piazza Armerina.
According to Mitcham and von Stauffenberg, the Canadian
The Loyal Edmonton Regiment
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
also murdered German prisoners of war during the Invasion of Sicily.
Constituent operations
*
Operation Barclay
Operation Barclay was a World War II deception by the Allies in support of Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943.
The goal was to deceive the Axis powers as to the location of the Allies' assault across the Mediterranea ...
/
Operation Mincemeat
Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating ...
: Deception operations aimed at misleading Axis forces as to the actual date and location of the Allied landings.
*
Operation Corkscrew
Operation Corkscrew was the codename for the Allied invasion of the Italian island of Pantelleria (between Sicily and Tunisia) on 11 June 1943, prior to the Allied invasion of Sicily, during the Second World War. There had been an early plan to ...
: Allied invasion of the Italian island
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 Tunisi ...
on 10 June 1943.
*
Operation Ladbroke
Operation Ladbroke was a glider landing by British airborne troops during the Second World War near Syracuse, Sicily, that began on 9 July 1943 as part of Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. The first Allied mission usin ...
: Glider landing at Syracuse on 9 July 1943.
*
Operation Narcissus: Commando raid on a lighthouse near the main landings on 10 July 1943.
*
Operation Chestnut: Advanced air drop by 2 SAS to disrupt communications on 12 July 1943.
*
Operation Fustian
Operation Fustian was an airborne forces operation undertaken during the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 in the Second World War. The operation was carried out by Brigadier Gerald Lathbury's 1st Parachute Brigade, part of the British 1s ...
: Airborne landing at Primosole Bridge ahead on 13–14 July 1943.
See also
*
Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories
The Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories (originally abbreviated AMGOT, later AMG) was the form of military rule administered by Allied forces during and after World War II within European territories they occupied.
Notable AMGOT ...
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
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External links
Describes Operation MincemeatGela Beachhead Counterattack of 1943Husky Operations Plan Sicily
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040826005615/http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/newspapers/operations/sicilianitalian_e.html World War Two Online Newspaper Archives – The Sicilian and Italian Campaigns, 1943–1945]
Operation Husky: The Allied Invasion of Sicily, 1943 by Thomas E. Nutter*
ttp://www.bestofsicily.com/ww2.htm 2nd World War Best of Sicily History of the Allied Campaign and its social contextThe 82nd Airborne during World War IIHistorical Museum of the Military Invasion of Sicily, 1943
* ttp://www.volksbund.de/kgs/stadt.asp?stadt=38 German Soldiers' Cemetery, Motta S. Anastasia, Sicily (in German)
Commonwealth War Cemetery, Catania, Sicily
Syracuse War Cemetery, Sicily
Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial
COHQ bulletin Y6 digest of reports on Operation 'Husky'
COHQ bulletin Y1 notes on the planning and assault phase of the Sicilian operation
45th Infantry Division in the Sicilian Campaign
The Irish Brigade 1941–47 account of the 38th (Irish) Brigade in Sicily in August 1943
Licata Landing La Vedettaonline
Sicily and the Surrender of Italy/Landing at Mollarella Beach
Agrigento-Licata from 10–16 July
Husky Planning on 10 July 1943
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