However, the Allies managed to hold the upper hand. The Germans sought reinforcements and Adolph Hitler ordered that two regiments fly from France to Sicily. However, the support services meant that the total number of Allied soldiers involved in the campaign was 478,000, who were aided by 2,510 aircraft and 2,590 ships. Lieutenant General George S Patton commanded 66,000 troops and the Seventh US Army landed in the Gulf of Gela. General Sir Bernard ‘Monty’ Montgomery led the 115,00 men of the British and Commonwealth forces, who landed in the southeast corner of the island between Pachino and Siracusa. The operation ended only five weeks later, with the occupation of Messina on the northeast coast on 17 August. Some did not make it, as ships carrying troops were torpedoed in the Mediterranean. Starting at dawn, more than 160,000 men landed along with hundreds of vehicles on the 105-mile-long stretch of coast between the Gulf of Gela and the Gulf of Noto. Some 2,700 ships and landing craft arrived in Sicily on the morning of 10 July. The invasion was also the largest amphibious operation of World War II. A subsequent airdrop on 13 July also incurred losses because it was met by Italian anti-aircraft fire and misdirected friendly fire from Allied ships. Some crashed on land and others were forced into the sea. The drop was not entirely successful because strong winds reaching up to gale force 7 blew most of the gliders off course. The invasion started on the night of 9 July 1943 when 1,600 British and 3,400 American paratroopers descended on to the island in what was the first mass parachute drop at night. Operation Husky’s landing force consisted of seven divisions – it was bigger than that employed on D-Day in 1944, which had five divisions. The Allies attack on Sicily took the Axis powers by surprise because they had been lead to believe that Greece and Sardinia were the targets for any potential attack. Pantelleria surrendered on 11 June before the Allies had set foot on the island and Lampedusa followed suit the next day. The bombardments caused little damage to the military installations hidden underground but demoralised the islanders. Air-shelters were scarce, so locals sheltered in stables, caves, grottoes – anywhere they could: in Ortigia, they took to the tunnel complex under the cathedral and in Catania, they hid in the tunnels of the Roman amphitheatre.įrom May 1943, American and British forces attacked the small islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa off the Sicilian south coast. Throughout the spring of 1943, the Allies bombed Sicily. An air and naval blockade meant that food was rationed and a black market flourished. Before the landings, Sicily was the worst hit region in Italy. They soon made peace and joined forces with the Allies. In fact, Sicily was under Nazi Occupation and the Italians put up little resistance. Morals are superficially very rigid, being based on the Catholic religion and Spanish etiquette of Bourbon times they are, in actual fact, of a very low standard, particularly in the agricultural areas." “The Sicilian is still, however, well known for his extreme jealousy in so far as his womenfolk are concerned, and in a crisis still resorts to a dagger.” They are none the less evidence of a devout faith. For example, it says: “The bulk of the inhabitants are Roman Catholic and much addicted to Saints’ Days, which take on a festival aspect. The book also contains advice with descriptions of the island, pictures of some towns and makes remarks about its people which many would consider highly questionable today. The guide warns troops about the hot, dry weather of the sirocco they were likely to encounter – and rightly so: the fierce heat combined with swampy conditions on parts of the island meant some combatants contract malaria. He wrote: “The successful conclusion of these operations will NOT only strike closer to the heart of the Axis, but also will remove the last threat to the free sea lanes of the Mediterranean.” Eisenhower was the Commander in Chief for the operation. Eisenhower, the booklet was produced to help the Allies prepare for Operation Husky: the invasion of Sicily. With a foreword written by the US Army’s General Dwight D. It is 70 years since British, American and Commonwealth troops were issued with a copy of the ‘Soldier’s Guide to Sicily’. Carol King reports on the operation and how those who lost their lives are remembered today. The Allied Forces landed in Sicily in July 1943 in a campaign that changed the course of World War II.
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