Operation Lehrgang (German: ''Unternehmen Lehrgang'') was the evacuation of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and Italian forces from Sicily during World War II. Undertaken in mid-August 1943, ''Lehrgang'' evacuated just over 100,000 soldiers from Sicily, which had been the target of an Allied amphibious invasion since July.

Etymology

The codename, ''Lehrgang'', roughly translates to ''course'' or ''tutorial.''

Robert M. Citino Robert M. Citino (born June 19, 1958) is an American military historian and the Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian at the National WWII Museum. He is a leading authority on modern German military history, with an emphasis upon World War I ...

offers the translations ''course of study'' and ''curriculum''.

History

''Lehrgang'' was the codename given by German forces for the evacuation of Axis forces from Sicily, undertaken between 11 August and 17 August, 1943. After the beginning of the Allied invasion of Sicily ("Operation Husky"), it was quickly determined by OKW and the commander-in-chief of Army Group C (which contained all German forces in Italy), Albert Kesselring, that a repetition of the mass surrender of German forces at the end of the Tunisian campaign in May 1943 had to be avoided, and that an organized withdrawal from Sicily was preferable over a defense to the last man. The first official indication of Lehrgang's preparation was a meeting by senior operations officers in Frascati (Central Italy) chaired by

Siegfried Westphal __NOTOC__ Siegfried Carl Theodor Westphal (18 March 1902 – 2 July 1982) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He served as operations officer under Rommel and chief of staff under Kesselring and Rundstedt. He was a recipi ...

, Kesselring's chief of staff, who gave the operational details about Lehrgang. The evacuation plan was approved by Kesselring on 2 August and its execution authorized by him to the German commander of Axis forces in Sicily, Hans-Valentin Hube, on 8 August. The operation was finished when the Pz. Div. "Hermann Göring" completed evacuation on August 16/17, after 29th Panzergrenadier Division had already done so on August 15/16 and

15th Panzer Division The 15th Panzer Division (german: 15. Panzer-Division) was an armoured division in the German Army, the Wehrmacht, during World War II, established in 1940. The division, formed from the 33rd Infantry Division, fought exclusively in North Afri ...

on August 11/12. The evacuation between 11 and 17 August included 39,569 Wehrmacht troops with their weapons, 9,065 vehicles, 27 tanks, 94 heavy guns, 1,100 tons of ammunition, 970 tons of fuel. Between 3 and 17 August, a total of 62,000 Italian soldiers also reached the Italian mainland from Sicily. The operation was overseen by

Gustav Freiherr von Liebenstein The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded for a wide range of re ...

, the ''Seetransportführer'' (See Transport Leader) for the Strait of Messina. In spite of Allied air attacks, losses were very low due to sufficient Axis anti-aircraft coverage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehrgang, Operation Military operations of World War II involving Germany Battles and operations of World War II involving Italy