OPERATION HUSKY: THE ALLIED INVASION OF SICILY

DATE: JULY 09 – AUGUST 19 1943

Belligerents

Allies: Axis:

United Kingdom Italy

United States Germany

Canada

Free France

Australia

After defeating Italy and Germany in the North African Campaign, the United States and Great Britain looked ahead to the invasion of occupied Europe and the final defeat of Nazi Germany. 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. The Allies’ Italian Campaign began with the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. After 38 days of fighting, the U.S. and Great Britain successfully drove German and Italian troops from Sicily and prepared to assault the Italian mainland.

THE ALLIES TARGET 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. 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 called “the soft underbelly of Europe.” At this crossroads, the Allies, after some dissension, decided to press north into Italy. 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.

The invasion was assisted by some subterfuge. In April 1943, a month before the Allied victory in North Africa, German agents recovered the body of a British Royal Marine pilot, Major William Martin, from the waters off a Spanish beach. Documents in an attaché case handcuffed to the officer’s wrist provided a goldmine of intelligence about the Allies’ secret plans, and German agents quickly sent the documents up the chain of command where they soon reached Adolf Hitler. Hitler studied the captured plans carefully, and, taking full advantage of their top-secret details, directed his troops and ships to reinforce the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, west of Italy, against an impending Allied invasion. There was only one problem: the recovered body – which was not a Royal Marine but actually a homeless man from Wales who had committed suicide – and its documents were an elaborate British diversion called Operation Mincemeat. By the time Hitler redirected his troops in the summer of 1943, a massive Allied invasion force was sailing to Sicily.

THE ALLIES LAND AT SICILY

The invasion of Sicily, code-named Operation Husky, began before dawn on July 10, 1943, with combined air and sea landings involving 150,000 troops, 3,000 ships and 4,000 aircraft, all directed at the southern shores of the island. This massive assault was nearly cancelled the previous day when a summer storm arose and caused serious difficulties for paratroopers dropping behind enemy lines that night. However, the storm also worked to the Allies’ advantage when Axis defenders along the Sicilian coast judged that no commander would attempt amphibious landings in such wind and rain. By the afternoon of July 10, supported by shattering naval and aerial bombardments of enemy positions, 150,000 Allied troops reached the Sicilian shores, bringing along 600 tanks.

The landings progressed with Lieutenant General George S. Patton commanding American ground forces and General Bernard Montgomery leading British ground forces. Allied troops encountered light resistance to their combined operations. Hitler had been so deceived by “Mincemeat” that he had left only two German divisions in Sicily to battle Allied soldiers. Even several days into the attack he was convinced that it was a diversionary maneuver and continued to warn his officers to expect the main landings at Sardinia or Corsica. The Axis defense of Sicily was also weakened by losses the German and Italian armies ha d suffered in North Africa, in casualties as well as the several hundred thousand troops captured at the end of the campaign.

THE ALLIES ADVANCE

For the next five weeks, Patton’s army moved toward the northwestern shore of Sicily, then east toward Messina, protecting the flank of Montgomery’s veteran forces as they moved up the east coast of the island. Meanwhile, jarred by the Allied invasion, the Italian fascist regime fell rapidly into disrepute, as the Allies had hoped. On July 24 1943, Benito Mussolini was deposed and arrested. A new provisional government was set up under Marshal Pietro Badoglio, who had opposed Italy’s alliance with Nazi Germany and who immediately began secret discussions with the Allies about an armistice.

On July 25, the day after Mussolini’s arrest, the first Italian troops began withdrawing from Sicily. Hi tler instructed his forces to make contingency plans for withdrawal but to continue to fight fiercely against the Allied advance. As July turned to August, Patton and Montgomery and their armies battled against determined German troops dug into the mountai nous Sicilian terrain. The U.S. and British soldiers pushed back the Axis forces farther and farther until most were trapped in the northeast corner of the island.

AXIS TROOPS LEAVE SICILY

As Patton and Montgomery closed in on the northeastern port of Messina, the German and Italian armies managed (over several nights) to evacuate 100,000 men, along with vehicles, supplies and ammunition, across the Strait of Messina to the Italian mainland. When his American soldiers moved into Messina on August 17, Patton, expecting to fight one final battle, was surprised to learn that the enemy forces had disappeared. The battle for Sicily was complete, but German losses had not been severe, and the Allies’ failure to capture the fleeing Axis armies undermined their victory. The advance against the Italian mainland in September would take more time and cost the Allies more troops than they anticipated.

THE AFTERMATH

In the fight for Sicily the Allies suffered more than 5,700 killed, around 15,700 wounded and almost 3,400 captured.

Axis forces losses totaled around 9,000 killed, 46,000 wounded and around 127,000 troops captured or missing.

M’44 SCENARIOS FOR OPERATION HUSKY: THE ALLIED INVASION OF SICILY

Operation Husky: The Allied Invasion of Sicily includes 33 standard scenarios, 4 Breakthrough (BT) scenarios and 1 Overlord (OL) map. These scenarios chronicle the entirety of the Sicily campaign, and include only the best available in the Scenarios from the Front (SFTF) files section on the DoW website, as well as 1 official map by Jacques “jdrommel” David.

No campaign rules are included; not all M’44 players have access to the Campaign books. Instead, simply tally up the number of medals won in each scenario after playing both sides. Medal tally tables for all scenarios are included below.

1. JUN 12: Lampedusa ** 20. JUL 15: Battle at Grammichele 2. JUL 09: Battle of Ponte Grande 21. JUL 17: Primosole Bridge – Action 2 3. JUL 09: Airborne – Gela Landings 22. JUL 14 – 17: Battle for Primosole Bridge BT 4. JUL 09 – 10: Invasion of Sicily 23. JUL 17 – 18: Valguarnera 5. JUL 09 – 10: Landing at Gela 24. JUL 17 – 22: Gerbini Airfield 6. JUL 09 – 10: Landing at Gela (left) BT ** 25. JUL 18: Fosso Buttaceto 7. JUL 09 – 10: Landing at Gela (right) BT ** 26. JUL 21 – 22: Leonforte and Assoro 8. JUL 09 – 10: The Burning Shore BT 27. JUL 21 – 25: Assault on Assoro 9. JUL 10: US Landing at Licata 28. JUL 23: Capture Gino Lisa 10. JUL 10: Landing at Pachino 29. JUL 24 – 28: Battle of Agira 11. JUL 10: Resistance of the Blackshirts 30. JUL 31 – AUG 06: Battle of Troina 12. JUL 10: Battle of Gela 31. JUL 31 – AUG 06: Capture of Troina 13. JUL 10: Ponte Dirillo – Action 1 32. AUG 01 – 03: Breaking the Etna Line 14. JUL 11: Ponte Dirillo – Action 2 33. AUG 02: Regulbuto 15. JUL 11: Gela: D-Day +1 34. AUG 02 – 04: Battle of Centuripe 16. JUL 11: Counter Attack at Gela 35. AUG 04: The San Fratello Line 17. JUL 14: Malati Bridge 36. AUG 11: Brolo Beach 18. JUL 14: Ponte Primosole 37. AUG 02 – 17: Race to Messina 19. JUL 14: Primosole Bridge – Action 1 38. AUG 14 – 16: Sicily 1943 Race for Messina! OL

OPERATION HUSKY: THE ALLIED INVASION OF SICILY MEDAL TALLY TABLES

Due to the large number of scenarios in this compilation there are 4 separate medal tally tables and a final medal count table. Play each scenario from both sides then enter your total medal count in the applicable table.

PART ONE

** Scenario notes:

1. Lampedusa: if the Allied player wins by holding Lampedusa for 3 consecutive turns core the full 5 medals. 2. Landing at Gela (left & right maps): the Conditions of Victory should read 10 medals, not 20.

There are a total of 142 medals with the 3 Breakthrough scenarios included and 78 medals without.

SCENARIO (+ total medal count) P1…………. P2…………. 1. Lampedusa (10) 2. Battle of Ponte Grande (10) 3. Airborne – Gela Landings (14) 4. Invasion of Sicily (12) 5. Landing at Gela (14) 6. Landing at Gela – Left (BT) (20) 7. Landing at Gela – Right (BT) (20) 8. The Burning Shore (BT) (24) 9. US Landing at Licata (10) 10. Landing at Pachino (8) TOTAL MEDAL TALLY

PART TWO

There are a total of 114 medals for the 10 standard scenarios.

SCENARIO (+ total medal count) P1…………. P2…………. 11. Resistance of the Blackshirts (12) 12. Battle of Gela (12) 13. Ponte Dirillo – Action 1 (12) 14. Ponte Dirillo – Action 2 (10) 15. Gela: D-Day + 1 (12) 16. Counter Attack at Gela (16) 17. Malati Bridge (10) 18. Ponte Primosole (12) 19. Primosole Bridge – Action 1 (10) 20. Battle at Grammichele (8) TOTAL MEDAL TALLY

PART THREE

There are a total of 130 medals with the Breakthrough scenario included and 106 medals without.

SCENARIO (+ total medal count) P1…………. P2…………. 21. Primosole Bridge – Action 2 (12) 22. Battle for Primosole Bridge (BT) (24) 23. Vulguarnera (10) 24. Gerbini Airfield (12) 25. Fosso Buttaceto (12) 26. Leonforte and Assoro (16) 27. Assault on Assoro (10) 28. Capture Gino Lisa (10) 29. Battle of Agira (12) 30. Battle of Troina (12) TOTAL MEDAL TALLY

PART FOUR

There are a total of 118 medals with the Overlord scenario included and 94 medals without.

SCENARIO (+ total medal count) P1…………. P2…………. 31. Capture of Troina (16) 32. Breaking the Etna Line (16) 33. Regalbuto (12) 34. Battle of Centuripe (10) 35. The San Fratello Line (12) 36. Brolo Beach (12) 37. Race to Messina (16) 38. Sicily 1943 (OL)(24) TOTAL MEDAL TALLY

OPERATION HUSKY

There are a grand total of 504 medals if all scenarios are played, 480 medals without the Overlord map, and 392 medals if only the standard scenarios are played.

OPERATION HUSKY P1…………. P2…………. 1. Sicily Part 1 2. Sicily Part 2 3. Sicily Part 3 3. Sicily Part 4 FINAL MEDAL TALLY

Acknowledgments to the authors of the scenarios that make up this Operation Husky: Invasion of Sicily compilation: blackworm kamsky jdrommel Tantalon AceofSpades brummbar44 kevusmc Cpt Simon Gabrielino77 Cecchino LooneyLlama sunbeam60 secret_stratagem hester24 ronno benedetto70

This Operation Husky: Invasion of Sicily booklet was compiled by Semba