Allied Invasion of Sicily

(Mediterranean)

With the defeat of the Axis Powers in Tunisia, the Allies began bombing principle airfields of Sardinia, Sicily and southern Italy. In order to confuse the Axis Powers as to where the Allied attack was to be launched, Naples, Messina, Palermo and Cagliari, Sardinia were also bombed. The most successful deception was Operation Mincemeat whereby the body of a British Royal Marines officer was washed up on the coast of Spain. The British officer was in fact a dead tramp dressed up as an officer and carrying false papers and details of the invasion of Greece and Sardinia. Consequently The Germans reinforced that area but not Sicily.

Sicily was defended by about 200,000 Italian troops, 32,000 German troops and 30,000 Luftwaffe ground staff. The Germans also had 160 tanks at their disposal. They had to defend 105 mile (170km) coast with 26 possible invasion beaches.

The proposed Allied invasion of Sicily was code named Operation Husky, which began on the night of the 9^th/10^th July 1943. The assault was a joint amphibious and airborne attack.

On the 10^th/11^th July 1943 the Italian defenders had assumed that the strong winds blowing that night would halt amphibious landings and were unprepared. Not expecting a pitched battle on the beaches the Italian defensive plan was virtually non-existent, and therefore the landings were a bit of an anti-climax. The British and Canadian forces landed on the eastern coastline while the Americans landings were on the southern and western coasts.

When the airborne assault began just after midnight on the 10^th/11^th July 1943 two British and two American army airborne troops were involved attacking Sicily. Strong winds of up to 45mph (70km/h) blew the Americans off course and by the 14^th July 1943 many failed to reach their rallying point. Of the 147 gliders carrying British troops only 12 landed on target. 69 crashed into the sea, the result being the drowning of 200 men. Creating confusion wherever possible the scattered British troops were able to make contact with a platoon of the 2^nd Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment, who had landed on target. This platoon had captured Ponte Grande and repulsed counter-attacks and when the scattered paratroopers made contact there were 89 men to hold the bridge by 8.30am. A battalion of the Italian 75^th Infantry Regiment arrived with artillery support at 11.30am. The British managed to hold the position until about 3.30pm when they were forced to surrender. By this time they were down to 18 men and running short of ammunition. Despite all the mishaps of the airborne attack, confusion was created to the Italians by both British and American troops acting in isolated groups, attacking vital points on the island.

Difficult weather conditions, especially on the American southern beaches, created more trouble as many troops landed in the wrong place. However, the weakness of the Italian defensive response allowed the Allies to regroup. By the 10^th July 1943 the seven Allied assault divisions, consisting of three British, one Canadian and three American, were firmly established ashore and the eastern port of Syracuse had been captured. The expected Axis air onslaught had proved unfounded, following the preparatory bombing campaign by the Allies in the previous week. Several Italian coastal defenders fought well and inflicted considerable Allied casualties.

The Allied bombing campaign had left the Axis air force in a weakened position. Operating from Malta allied aircraft kept most of the Axis air attacks at bay. On the 16^th July 1943 the remaining Italian aircraft withdrew to the mainland after losing 160 aircraft during the assault.

Many attacks and counter-attacks from both sides occurred which resulted in many successes and defeats during the remainder of the campaign. However, on the 22^nd July 1943, the American Provisional Corps entered and captured the northern port of Palermo.

In the meantime the Germans had decided to evacuate the island and shortly after the Italians followed suit. On the 11^th August 1943 full-scale evacuation began by the German & Italian forces. On the 16^th August 1943 U.S. troops entered Messina. The Allies were in total control of all Sicily by the 17^th August 1943. The Axis Powers evacuation was highly successful with the Germans having 60,000 troops returned to mainland Italy. The Italians recovered about 75,000 troops. However, the success of Operation Husky came at a cost. The British and Canadians lost nearly 12,000 men killed, wounded, missing or captured. The Americans lost nearly 9,000 men killed, wounded, missing or captured. No figures are available for the Axis Powers troop losses.

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