world war 2 operation husky in sicily us army

#World war 2 operation husky in sicily us army series#

In April 1943, a month before the Allied victory in North Africa, German agents recovered the body of a British Royal Marine pilot from the waters off a Spanish beach. The invasion was assisted by some subterfuge. The stepping stone to its mainland would be the island of Sicily, in part because the Allies could depend on fighter cover from air bases on British Malta, 60 miles south of Sicily and recently freed from a siege by Axis forces.ĭid you know? British Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu (1901-1985), mastermind of Operation Mincemeat, described the ingenious counterintelligence operation in his 1954 book 'The Man Who Never Was.' A 1957 film of the same name featured Montagu in a cameo as a British intelligence officer critical of the plan. With the huge Allied army and navy in the southern Mediterranean now freed for further action, British and American strategists faced two options: Transfer these forces north for the impending invasion of Europe from the English Channel, or remain in theater to strike at southern Italy, which British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965) called “the soft underbelly of Europe.” At this crossroads, the Allies, after some dissension, decided to press north into Italy. When the Allies won the North African Campaign on May 13, 1943, a quarter-million German and Italian troops surrendered at Tunisia, on the north coast of Africa. and Great Britain successfully drove German and Italian troops from Sicily and prepared to assault the Italian mainland. The Allies’ Italian Campaign began with the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The Allies decided to move next against Italy, hoping an Allied invasion would remove that fascist regime from the war, secure the central Mediterranean and divert German divisions from the northwest coast of France where the Allies planned to attack in the near future. Photo Credit.After defeating Italy and Germany in the North African Campaign (November 8, 1942-May 13, 1943) of World War II (1939-45), the United States and Great Britain, the leading Allied powers, looked ahead to the invasion of occupied Europe and the final defeat of Nazi Germany. The ‘Priest’ was a 105mm Howitzer mounted on an American M7 Howitzer Motor Carriage and was first used at the Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. A British self propelled ‘Priest’ gun in action against the town of Palazzolo. A German Panzer III Ausf M moves along a dusty road in Sicily, August 1943. Civilian resident of Misterbianco, near Catania, paints the slogan ‘Viva England’ on a wall after the village had been occupied by the Eighth Army.

Men of the 6th Inniskillings, 38th Irish Brigade, searching houses during mopping up operations in Centuripe, Sicily. British Sherman tank advancing near Catania, Sicily. Map of the advancing lines of the Allies in Sicily during Operation Husky. A 4.2-inch mortar of 1st Princess Louise’s Kensington Regiment in action near Adrano. 76/2/T”, destroyed by USS Bristol while opposing the landing at Licata. Remains of the Italian Navy armed train “T.A. Panzer VI ‘Tiger I’ in a city in Sicily, Italy. Crew from the tank “Eternity” check their vehicle after landing at Red Beach 2, Sicily. Wrecked and damaged Italian fighters outside bomb-shattered hangars at Catania, Sicily, under the scrutiny of an airman, shortly after the occupation of the airfield by the RAF. The British Army in Sicily 1943 Men of the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders advance along a road near Noto, 11 July 1943. Destroyed palace after Allied bombing in Palermo. Photo Credit.Īnti-aircraft FlaK-38 20mm and its crew near Etna, Sicily. The Sicily Landings 9-10 July 1943: A small section of the vast armada of ships which took part in the invasion of Sicily as photographed from landing ship headquarters HILARY at dawn of the first day of the invasion of the island. Although unsuccessful in achieving their primary objectives, the Airborne forces did cause considerable disruption behind the lines. An Airborne Division Horsa glider, after landing off course nose down in a field near Syracuse. Army Air Force Waco CG-4A glider (s/n 42-73623) in Sicily in July 1943.

38 Wing RAF, in preparation for the Operation Husky. 295 Squadron RAF based at Holmesley South, getting airborne from Portreath, Cornwall, towing Airspeed Horsa glider LG723 to Tunisia, during Operation BEGGAR: the transit of Halifax/Horsa glider combinations from the United Kingdom to North Africa by units of No.

#World war 2 operation husky in sicily us army series#

Handley Page Halifax A Mark V Series 1 (Special), EB139 NN, of No. A jeep is loaded onto an American WACO CG-4A glider before Operation Husky. L.S.T’s lined up and waiting for tanks to come aboard.