The Axis presence in North Africa ended with the last German and Italian units surrendering on May 13, 1943. Nearly four years of seesaw mobile battles finally ended with Axis losses of over 250,000 men. Between the earlier massive defeat at Stalingrad in Russia and North Africa, the Axis had lost over 500,000 men. From El Alamein to the American Moroccan landings, the Axis was squeezed out despite fighting tenaciously.
The Allies’ next target had already come into view: Sicily.
Casablanca Conference: January 1943
Though held even before the Axis lost North Africa, the weeklong January 1943 Casablanca Conference melded British and American goals. The first point they decided on became Operation Husky. Husky’s goal of taking Sicily would knock Italy from the war and clear the Mediterranean. The most important takeaway resulting from Casablanca was unconditional surrender. When victory came against the Axis, there’d be no negotiation, only total capitulation to the Allies, not to one country.
Planning and Deception: April 1943
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterOperation Husky represented the first big Allied go at Axis Europe using sea, land, and airborne forces. The Allies surprised their foes, who suspected they would attack Sicily but did not know when. Also, the Allies conducted an extensive ruse to keep the Axis Powers in the dark. Thus, came Operation Mincemeat, a British naval intelligence operation utilizing a homeless man’s corpse, clothed as a Royal Marine. Items placed on the body included identification papers and pictures of a fake girlfriend. More importantly, the agents planted false invasion plans for Sardinia and Greece. Left in Spanish waters, local fishermen found the body on April 10, 1943.
Operation Mincemeat proved very successful. The Germans reinforced Sardinia and Greece with scarce troops pulled from as far as Russia. These had been earmarked for the upcoming Operation Citadel.
The Air and Sea Landings: July 1943
Two Allied airborne divisions, the 1st British Airborne and 82nd Airborne flew in after midnight. Due to bad weather, the transport planes were blown all over, scattering their troop loads far from their drop zones. Behind the airborne assault, the Allied fleet carrying the British 8th Army under Montgomery and the U.S. 7th Army under Patton landed on twenty-six beaches covering over one hundred miles. All landings hit the beaches at 2:45 AM on July 10, 1943.
Using over 3,000 ships and even more planes, the Allies needed to land 150,000 troops before any Axis reaction. Opposing them, the Italians possessed around 200,000 poorly equipped soldiers of varying quality. Only one division would be genuinely mobile.
The Germans brought in 70,000 Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe troops, notably the tough Herman Goering Panzer Division. The lousy weather mostly hid the seaborne landings, surprising the Italians, who resisted, not fiercely, but the Allies established beachheads. Soon, British, Canadian, and American troops attacked inland, capturing Licata, a small harbor. The British also took Syracuse, a larger port. Several Italian or German counterattacks got repulsed, one in particular by accurate naval gunfire.
Starting on July 11, the Allies began pushing inland despite further Axis attacks. One combined Italian German attack, led by the Herman Goering Division’s tanks, including the massive Tiger tank, nearly broke through American defenses only a mile from the beach near the port of Gela! Accurate naval gunfire again broke up the attack. Axis air attacks grew rare due to Allied air superiority, which only stronger grew stronger as Sicilian airfields fell.
The Race for Messina and Victory
By July 31, 1943, the battle for Sicily became a race as the Axis fought fiercely, withdrawing slowly to avoid capture. Both sought to capture ports, especially Messina, directly across from the Italian mainland. If the Allies took this port, another North African disaster would ensue, which couldn’t happen. Patton and Montgomery each raced to take this port.
The slow Axis fighting retreat across the island into August frustrated Allied attempts to destroy the evacuation via the Straits of Messina. They grouped so many anti-aircraft guns that few air raids succeeded, and naval artillery covered the Straights, too. By August 17, the Axis finished transporting 135,000 men, including equipment, to safety. But the Allies won as Patton’s troops entered Messina first, beating his rival Montgomery.
Taking Sicily accomplished a primary Western Allied goal: knock Italy from the war. Even before Sicily fell, Mussolini’s regime was nearly over, the dictator arrested, and Italy’s days numbered.
