{"id":2571,"date":"2021-07-24T08:13:25","date_gmt":"2021-07-24T08:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.learnsicilian.com\/?p=2571"},"modified":"2021-07-24T08:13:25","modified_gmt":"2021-07-24T08:13:25","slug":"operation-husky-the-allied-invasion-of-sicily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learnsicilian.com\/blog\/operation-husky-the-allied-invasion-of-sicily\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation Husky – The Allied Invasion of Sicily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

World War II played host to some of the most famous battles in history, and one of the most pivotal moments was the Allied Invasion of Sicily. In 1943, Britain and the US defeated Italy and Germany in the North African Campaign and turned their eyes to occupied Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Allied troops receiving medical attention in Piazza Duomo, Catania<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The allies decided to continue to push Axis powers back by moving their focus to Italy, with hopes that they could remove the Fascist regime there. This new focus was to start with Sicily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happened at the Allied Invasion of Sicily?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

With the successful North African Campaign, which concluded on May 13, 1943 with 250,000 Axis troops surrendering in Tunisia. The American and British troops fighting in North Africa were now free and ready for action. After some debate, the Allied forces decided to press north into Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The island of Sicily has long been a trade point and stepping stone for people and cultures moving to and from Northern Africa and mainland Europe. Sicily was the perfect next step for the Allied forces, and they would have air cover from the bases in British Malta, which is only 60 miles south of Sicily, which had only recently been freed from Axis forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operation<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The forces did not fly in guns blazing, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operation Mincemeat<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The Allied forces did not want the Axis forces to know they were going to try to force them out of Sicily next, so the Allied forces came up with a plan to fool the Germans into thinking they were going to attack in another location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British \u201crepurposed\u201d the body of a Welsh homeless man who had committed suicide by dressing the body up in the uniform of British Major Martin William. They then handcuffed a briefcase to his body that contained fake documents, seeming to reveal the Allied force\u2019s plans, and dropped the body into Spanish waters where the Germans were likely to find it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Naval identity card of Major Martin with photograph of Captain Ronnie Reed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Germans took the bait. They took the briefcase attached to the \u201cMajor\u201d and delivered the\u2014unbeknownst to them\u2014false documents to Hitler. Hitler fully bought the documents, and directed his troops away from Sicily to fortify their position on Sardinia and Corsica, two islands west of Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operation Husky<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

With Operation Mincemeat a success, the Allied forces were ready to press forward into Sicily. Operation Husky began on July 10, 1943, which was a full-frontal assault. It combined air and sea landings, which resulted in 4,000 aircraft, 600 tanks, and 150,000 troops infiltrating the southern shores of Sicily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"U.S.
U.S. and British troops landing near Gela, Sicily on July 10, 1943<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The British Army in Sicily 1943 Men of the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders advance along a road near Noto, 11 July 1943. [\u00a9 IWM (NA 4306)]<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troops only found light resistance on Sicily \u2013 Hitler had been so convinced by Operation Mincemeat that only two German divisions remained on the island. Even after he learned of the invasion in Sicily, he remained convinced that it was still <\/em>just a diversion.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Battle
Near Troina. August 4-5, 1943. Sicilian farmer showing an American officer which way German soldiers proceeded<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"American
American troops advance through a damaged street in Randazzo. [\u00a9 IWM (NA 5893)]<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The day after Mussolini\u2019s arrest, Italian forces withdrew from Sicily. Hitler also ordered his troops to start thinking about leaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By August, the Axis powers managed to evacuate 100,000 men, vehicles, supplies, and ammunition, and when American forces moved into Messina in the Northwest on August 17, 1943 expecting to have a final battle, they found that the Axis powers had vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Allies had won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Map
Operation Husky<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Operation ‘Husky’ – The Sicilian Campaign 1943 by Robin F. Finlayson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Italian
talian gunboat \u2018Geniere\u2019 lies on its side in Palermo Harbour after being hit by a bomb, 23-26 July 1943.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Allied
Wounded soldier receiving medical attention<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The HMS Wallace & Prince Philip<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

More than 3,000 ships were involved in Operation Husky, one of which was a ship called the HMS Wallace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At age 21, Prince Philip became First Lieutenant, one of the youngest in the British Navy. At the Allied Invasion of Sicily and during Operation Husky, Prince Philip was stationed on the HMS Wallace which came under heavy fire from a German bomber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A yeoman on the Wallace described the situation as dire, and that they felt like a sitting duck. He said, \u201cIt was for all the world like being blindfolded and trying to evade an enemy whose only problem was getting his aim right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Prince
Prince Phillip<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The yeoman reports seeing Prince Philip go to the ship\u2019s Captain. \u201cThe next thing, a wooden raft was being put together on deck. Within 5 minutes they launched the raft over the side, at each end was fastened a smoke float.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smoke floats started putting out spiraling smoke as soon as it hit the water, and the Wallace sped away at full speed for a few minutes before cutting the engines and sitting in silence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they next heard the approach of the bomber and the whine of the bombs, they were not close \u2013 the ruse had worked, and the saving of the HMS Wallace and its crew has since been attributed to Prince Philip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Today
Air raids during operation Husky<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In August 1943, after just 38 days of fighting, the US and Britain drove the German and Italian troops from Sicily, regrouped, and moved on to fighting on the mainland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"\/<\/a>
Operation Husky – The Untold Story O<\/a>f The Logistics Of The Sicily Invasion by James Garvey<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Welcome To Comiso – World War II and the Cold War Operation Husky & Ground Launched Cruise by Jack Baker<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Sicily ’43: The First Assault on Fortress Europe by James Holland<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World War II played host to some of the most famous battles in history, and one of the most pivotal moments was the Allied Invasion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnsicilian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnsicilian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnsicilian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnsicilian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnsicilian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/learnsicilian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnsicilian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnsicilian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnsicilian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnsicilian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}