The weather in Sicily

The landing war in Sicily was a large-scale landing war in Sicily, Italy, between July and August of 1943 during the Second World War. The 38-day campaign wiped out the German and Italian troops of 165000, and achieved the campaign objectives of capturing Sicily, ensuring the smooth passage of the allied Mediterranean routes, forcing Mussolini to step down and Italy to surrender.

June 1943, 1 1, in order to gain a forward base for attacking Sicily, the allied forces were between Sicily and North Africa.

Battle picture

Landed on the island of Ban Treglia and captured 1. 1 more than ten thousand Italian troops. Opened the prelude to the battle of Sicily. Two days later, Italian troops from two neighboring islands also laid down their weapons. Allied forces bombed Sicily and Calabria strategically before landing. The allied forces dispatched 4000 planes to bomb the airports and facilities in Sicily day and night three weeks before landing.

On July 1 day, the allied forces gained the air superiority in Sicily and southern Italy, and the German-Italian Air Force 1400 planes were evacuated to central and southern Italy and Sardinia.

On July 5th, the Allied attack fleet set out from six ports in North Africa, such as Oran and Algiers, and sent troops to join forces in malta island. At the same time, the British navy dispatched large warships such as "Invincible" and "Fearless" and six battleships to cover the attack fleet. The aircraft carrier also pretended to move in the direction of Greece to confuse the enemy.

On July 9, the allied fleet assembled on the east and west sides of malta island. When preparing to land, the weather changed suddenly, the wind roared and the waves were sky-high, and the German and Italian troops relaxed their vigilance. At 2: 40 a.m. on June 5438+00, airborne troops took the lead. 5400 officers and men of the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army and the British/KLOC-0 Airborne Division set off from Tunisia by 366 transport plane and glider and flew to Sicily.

10 At 3: 45 a.m. on July 30th, Barton and Montgomery's160,000 American and British landing troops landed in the southwest and southeast of Sicily under the cover of 3,200 warships and transport ships. The Italian army on the coast was demoralized and only made a weak resistance.

By noon, Barton and Montgomery's troops had successfully landed on their respective target beaches and kept on attacking.

On July 1 1 day, Sicilian defenders began to fight back under the command of Italian Lieutenant General Guzzoni. Germany's 15 armored division was transferred from the west of the island to the east coast to prevent Montgomery's British Eighth Army from moving to Augusta in the north; Goering, a German armored infantry division, and two Italian motorized infantry divisions launched a counterattack against Barton's American 7th Army. The German Air Force dispatched 48 1 planes to bomb the allied beachhead troops frequently, and the allied planes came to intercept them, causing scuffles, and the allied ground air defense weapons shelled both the enemy and us. The fierce battle lasted for a day, and the German tanks almost advanced to less than 2 kilometers from the beachhead position of the US Seventh Army. Barton personally went to the front line to direct the American troops to counterattack, and the navy also bombarded the German tanks with heavy artillery. By the end of the war, the Germans lost a lot of tanks and were forced to retreat. American troops took advantage of this situation and occupied Gera city. [ 1]

On July 12, the Eighth Army of the British Army in the East conquered Siracusa.

After the defeat of the German and Italian armies in the first counter-offensive, Kesselring knew that the tide was gone, so he had to scuffle with the Allies, delay the time, contain the Allies, and then retreat to Calabria, Italy through the Messina Strait. Hitler personally approved Kesselring's plan to transfer the 29th German Armored Division in Calabria and the 1st 1 Airborne Division of France to Sicily. The German and Italian troops stepped up their mobilization while strengthening their forces to prevent the British Eighth Army from threatening Messina. De Goering armored division was transferred to Catania in the east; German 1 Airborne Division also airborne Catania; The German 15 armored division stopped the northward advance of the American Seventh Army near Enna; The newly transferred 29th armored division is deployed in the southwest of Edna volcano. In this way, the German and Italian troops built a solid defense line from Enna to Catania.

13 On July 3rd, Montgomery's 13 Army rushed to Catania, and the Allied 145 aircraft carried 1 900 soldiers from the British1Airborne Brigade parachuted into Catania from Tunisia to cooperate with the ground forces in a joint attack. The Germans firmly controlled the coastal highway from Catania to Messina with the tenacious resistance of Degolin Armored Division and 1 Airborne Division. Montgomery's frontal attack was frustrated, and he was forced to mobilize the 30th Army to bypass the west side of Edna volcano and attack Messina with the support of the 7th Army of the United States.

Barton didn't want Montgomery to play the leading role alone. His troops were divided into two ways: one was led by Bradley to support the British army in central Sicily, and the other was led by General Keith 1 temporary troops to Palermo, the capital of Sicily.

On July 22nd, the American army won Palermo without fighting, and captured 53,000 Italian troops. Barton's vanity was greatly satisfied, and Eisenhower was also in high spirits for the victory of the US military. Meanwhile, Montgomery got into trouble in two important directions. His 13 army was blocked in Catania, and the 30 th army, which detoured westward, was also blocked in Adrano. Six divisions can't cope with three German divisions and some Italian troops.

On the evening of August 16, the vanguard troops of the US 3rd Division arrived at the gates of Messina.

At 6: 30 am on August 17, the American contingent entered Messina. 10: 30, Barton took the command car and led a motorcycle team into the city. 1 hour later, a group of British troops also entered the city. A British officer walked up to Barton, shook hands with him and said, "This is an interesting game. I congratulate you on your success. " On the same day, all resistance on the island stopped and the landing war in Sicily ended. Allied forces occupied Sicily, and since then they have freely traveled in the Mediterranean, opening the door to landing in Europe.