Sicily

I would like to determine what the Allied forces had in mind when they decided to invade Sicily. I have seen many episodes on the Military channel showing the initial landing of troops invading the western part of Sicily.

Looking at a map one would think the Axis forces would have an easy escape route off the island onto the toe of Italy should they be pushed back to Messina. We could have eliminated the possibility of the Germans and Italians to fight another day.

Thank you for your thoughts.

 

Originally the Americans wanted to go straight into France but the British balked and said the Allies weren't ready for that sort of military commitment. The British wanted to eliminate Sicily so they could bring convoys straight through Gibralter and into the Med without having to go around the Horn of Africa. Arguments of this sort won the day but the American leadership was wary of British insistance on a Mediteranian strategy, thinking the British (Churchill) were more interested in their influence in the region rather than getting at the Germans. The Americans went along up to a point. They thought that a campaign in Sicily would facilitate an invasion of Italy and then they could capture southern Italy as a base of air operations on Germany and to tie down German forces. More than that, the Americans didn't want.They started with Sicily because it was closest to the air bases in Tunisia and Malta, thus affording some air cover.

I don't know why the Allies didn't do an "end run" around Messina after sucking the Axis forces into the southwest part of the island. It must be said that Allied strategy was very conservative during the war and they took very few calculated risks.

 

Firstly the History Channel was wrong - there was no landing on the Western side of Sicily.

The initial planning was done by a nobody whose name escapes me - when the big bears, Ike, Monty, Alex, Bradley plus Tedder and Cunningham et al saw the plan they were aghast. This lot were just completing the Tunisian campaign and had not had time to think about Sicily.

Quick as a flash, Monty put forward an alternative which for want of anything better was accepted - the West Sicily landing (by the Americans) was immediately abandoned - because of dispersal of forces and difficulty for fighter protection in view of Luftwafffe bases in the South of Sicily.

Messina was heavily defended by German AA and seaward guns. The Navy (and Cunningham was no coward) was very reluctant to enter the Straits without air supremacy which the Airforce would not guarantee.

 

Thank you for the excellent reference!!!

 

I am finishing up the book "The Day Of Battle" by Rick Atkinson which covers the war in Sicily and Italy from 1943-1944. It gives a definitive account of these battles and book you should read.

I will always contend one of the worst mistakes in this campaign, and maybe of WW 2, was the escape of the German Army through the Straits of Messina in August. There was no plan to smash the defeated Axis. 40,000 German and 70,000 Italian troops crossed to safety. 10,000 vehicles and dozens of tanks made it to the toe of Italy. The 15th and 29th Panzer Grenadiers, The Herman Goering Division and the deadly 1st Parachute would face the Allies later in Italy.

On August 16th an Italian Port Commander destroyed the docks at Messina without challenge.

 

I completely agree gentlemen.! There is another thread here covering this subject.ihave never been satisfied with this "titanic balls up.!,cheers Lee.

 

Thats indeed hard to understand from allied side, but i´m happy about that fact because of my Grandpa at the 1st Parachute, but thats a personal reason. That was made a few days before the allied landings.

View attachment 16034

 

Mein Gott was that at Primosole Bridge? There is a good chance that a landing at Messina would not have been necessary if Monty had broken through the German paratroopers quickly.

By the way you should read Carlo D'Este - excellent book on Sicily.

 

Maybe that he was at there. He served with a Fallschirm-Artillerie-Unit at there and went later to Monte Cassino.

 

the

got this from Wiki as usual but looks like your grandfather may have been there.

If so, you really should read up on it - virtually a re-run (or rather a prior run) to Arnhem.

Briefly Monty needed to take two bridges intact at Lentini and Primosole - so just like Arnhem, the Commandos staged a successful seaborne attack and seized the Malati Bridge at the same time our old friend Frost of the 1st British Paras took the Primosole Bridge (with only a couple of hundred paras out of 1500 landing anywhere near the right spot). Meanwhile British infantry 50 Division and 44RTR tanks were battling their way through.

Unknown to the British, the german paras had dropped into the area around the Primosole Bridge the night before. Nevertheless the Brit Para held on against impossible odds but were forced off just 4 hours before the Cavalry arrived.

Now the British had to re-take the bridge and vinefields beyond.

An incredibly bloody fight ensued. Finally the Germans were overcome but by now the momentum had been lost and the chance to make a quick dash up to Messina was lost.

 

Scipio,

my Grandpa was at there ( Sicilly) but i didn´t knew exactly where. Before Sicilly he was with Ramcke at Africa and came to Sicilly. He was a member of a Battalion of the 1st Fallschirm Artillerie Regiment. Later after Monte Cassino parts of this Regiment were sent to France to found athe 2nd Fallschirm Artillerie Regiment 2 and he was at first with Ramcke at Brest.

 

Ulrich,

If your grandpa was indeed at all those places, he is/was one lucky, lucky, man!

 

Harolds, i have his records from the WASt and he´s been at much more places and for all that he was a really lucky man! Russia, Czecheslovakia, France, Africa, Sicily, Italy, Normandy, Belgium, Netherlands and the Ruhr pocket. 3 times a POW and managed to escape two times. The third time was at the end of war.

 

Ulrich,

Your Grandpa has one heck of a service record, you have much to be proud of !!
I would like to read a summary or anything you have about him.

 

Amazing!! I second Steve S.'s request!

 

Steve and harolds,

that will be a lot of work to get all the things together in a Thread, but i will do it. Give me a bit of time.

 

I appreciate the effort and I'll bet Steve does too. Will be looking forward to it. If in your research you happen across something that tells what arty weapons they used, could you include that info also? I'm an old arty guy and am interested in that sort of thing, but please don't make a special effort finding the arty info, just if you happen to run across it.

 

Mightn't Cunninghams failure in "closing"the straits,have something to do with his experience in the Dardanelles .?