On July 10, 1943, Allied forces launched Operation Husky, a massive amphibious and airborne assault against Axis forces on the island of Sicily. Command of the Allied 15th Army Group fell to General Sir Harold Alexander, overseeing General George S. Patton's U.S. Seventh Army and General Bernard Montgomery's British Eighth Army.
Allied planners intended to secure Mediterranean shipping routes and relieve German pressure on the Soviet Union by forcing Italy out of the war. Despite fierce resistance from German and Italian defending forces, as well as difficult mountainous terrain, the Allies secured the island after 38 days of hard fighting.
The invasion triggered a political crisis in Rome, leading to the overthrow and arrest of dictator Benito Mussolini on July 25. Sicily served as the essential springboard for the Allied invasion of the Italian mainland later that September.
Why it matters
Operation Husky knocked Italy out of the war as an Axis power, forcing Hitler to divert critical German divisions and resources to occupy Italy and defend southern Europe. It also re-opened the Mediterranean trade lanes for Allied shipping and provided valuable combined-arms amphibious operational experience later applied during the Normandy landings.
Interesting fact
Before the invasion, British intelligence successfully executed Operation Mincemeat, using a corpse carrying fake documents to fool the Germans into believing the invasion targets were Greece and Sardinia rather than Sicily.
People
- George S. PattonCommander of the U.S. Seventh Army
- Bernard MontgomeryCommander of the British Eighth Army
- Dwight D. EisenhowerSupreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean Theater
Quotes
"By taking Sicily we opened the sea route to the East."
Location
Sicily · Syracuse · Italy
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