Operation Husky (9 July-17 August 1943) was a large amphibious and airborne operation carried out by the Allied Powers on the island of Sicily during World War II. In six weeks, George S. Patton's US 7th Army and Bernard Montgomery's British 8th Army captured the island from fierce resistance by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and the invasion of Italy forced Adolf Hitler to divert units fighting on the Great Patriotic War front with the Soviet Union to defend Italy.
Background[]
In November 1942, the Allied Powers launched Operation Torch and took over North Africa from Vichy France, and in early 1943 the last Axis forces in North Africa surrendered at Cape Bon. As a result of the victory in North Africa, the Allies were able to strike at "the soft underbelly of Europe", Sicily. The British bombarded the islands of Lampedusa and Pantelleria, forcing the Italian garrisons to surrender to the British; this allowed for the British and American invasion fleets to reach the island. Before any American or British Commonwealth armies were to be landed on the island, the Allies decided to soften up the defenses of the island by dispatching British commandos to raid German positions. The British commandoes chose to use assault units and attack at night instead of snipers or a day attack, and the British used stealth to attack several German machine-gun positions behind sandbags. In the series of attacks, the British took out the German machine-gun positions, killed several snipers, destroyed their armor, and their Flak guns. The British killed several Wehrmacht troops in the raid, and they proceeded to set up defensive positions to assassinate the senior German officer Dieter Engelberg as his convoy drove down the road. The American soldiers engaged the German armor and infantry, and Engelberg was killed with a hand grenade. Shortly after, the British forces reached the exfiltration point, having weakened the Axis defenses. The American general George S. Patton's US 7th Army and British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's British 8th Army were transported to the island of Sicily, where the Americans would advance alongside the British and guard their flank after landing at Gela; the British would land at Syracuse.
Battle[]
British commandos fighting with German troops
Although the Sicilian campaign had been well planned-out, Patton decided to disobey orders and instead decided to race to the Sicilian capital of Palermo, which he took without a fight. People in the streets cheered on the Americans, who beat the British to taking the city. Patton decided to advance to Messina next, but he had to coordinate his advance with the advance of his former Chief-of-Staff Omar Bradley and his friend Lucian Truscott's armies, who were brought up against the elite Hermann Goering Division of the Luftwaffe and other German and Italian units. The Germans and Italians put up fierce resistance in the mountains of Sicily and tried to defend themselves from the Americans and British, but Patton broke through, having Truscott land troops at Brolo and break through. Patton and Montgomery entered Messina together, and they were ready to invade the Italian mainland next. The battle for Sicily was a great success for the Allies, who inflicted heavy losses on the Axis forces. Soon after, Italy deposed its dictator Benito Mussolini and signed an armistice with the Allies, and it would not be long before the Allies invaded the boot of Italy and opened a new front of the war.