THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theater, and it planned and commanded the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, followed shortly thereafter in September by the invasion of the Italian mainland and the campaign on Italian soil until the surrender of the German Armed Forces in Italy in May 1945.
OPERATION HUSKY
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis. It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat that launched the Italian Campaign. It began on the night of July 9–10, 1943, and ended on August 17. Strategically, Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners: the Allies drove Axis air, land, and naval forces from the island; the Mediterranean's sea lanes were opened; and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was toppled from power. It opened the way for the Allied invasion of Italy.
The plan for Operation Husky called for the amphibious assault of the island by two armies, one landing on the south eastern coast and one on the central southern coast. The amphibious assaults were to be supported by naval gunfire, tactical bombing, interdiction, and close air support by the combined air forces. As such, the operation required a complex command structure, incorporating land, naval, and air forces. The overall commander was the American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, as Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces North Africa. The British General Sir Harold Alexander acted as his second in command and as the Land Forces/Army Group commander. The American Major General Walter Bedell Smith was appointed as Chief of Staff. The overall Naval Force Commander was the British Admiral Andrew Cunningham.
The original plan contemplated a strong advance by the British northwards along the east coast to Messina, with the Americans in a supporting role along their left flank. When the Eighth Army were held up by stubborn defences in the rugged hills south of Mount Etna, Patton amplified the American role by a wide advance northwest toward Palermo and then directly north to cut the northern coastal road. This was followed by an eastward advance north of Etna towards Messina, supported by a series of amphibious landings on the north coast, that propelled Patton's troops into Messina shortly before the first elements of Eighth Army. The defending German and Italian forces were unable to prevent the Allied capture of the island, but succeeded in evacuating most of their troops to the mainland, the last leaving on August 17, 1943. Allied forces gained experience in opposed amphibious operations, coalition warfare and mass airborne drops. The operation was highly successful, although many of the Axis forces managed to avoid capture and escape to the mainland. More importantly, in late July a coup deposed Benito Mussolini as head of the Italian government, which then began approaching the Allies to make peace. However, Mussolini was eventually freed and the Italian Social Republic was created (1943-1945). It was the second and last incarnation of the Fascist Italian state and it was led by Mussolini and his reformed Republican Fascist Party. Mussolini's Social Republic exercised nominal sovereignty in northern and central Italy, but was largely dependent on German troops to maintain control.
INVASION OF MAINLAND ITALY
The Allied invasion of mainland Italy occurred on September 3, 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group. On September 9, forces of the U.S. Fifth Army, expecting little resistance, landed against heavy German resistance at Salerno in Operation Avalanche. In addition, British forces landed at Taranto in Operation Slapstick, which was almost unopposed. There had been a hope that, with the surrender of the Italian government, the Germans would withdraw to the north, since at the time Adolf Hitler had been persuaded that Southern Italy was strategically unimportant. However, this was not to be; although, for a while, Eighth Army was able to make relatively easy progress up the eastern coast, capturing the port of Bari and the important airfields around Foggia. Although none of the northern reserves were made available to the German 10th Army , it nevertheless came close to repelling the Salerno landing, due mainly to the cautious command of Lieutenant General Mark Clark, the Fifth Army's commanding general. The main Allied effort in the west initially centered on the port of Naples: the city was selected because it was the northernmost port that could receive Allied air support by fighter aircraft operating from Sicily.
As the Allies advanced, they encountered increasingly difficult terrain. In the most mountainous areas of Abruzzo, more than half the width of the peninsula comprises crests and peaks over 3,000 feet that are relatively easy to defend; and the spurs and re-entrants to the spine confronted the Allies with a succession of ridges and rivers across their line of advance. The rivers were subject to sudden and unexpected flooding, which constantly thwarted the Allied commanders' plans.
LOSSES
It is estimated that between September 1943 and April 1945, some 60,000-70,000 Allied and 60,000-150,000 German soldiers died in Italy. Overall Allied casualties during the campaign totaled about 320,000 and the corresponding German figure (excluding those involved in the final surrender) was well over 600,000. Fascist Italy, prior to its collapse, suffered about 200,000 casualties, mostly POWs taken in the Allied invasion of Sicily, including more than 40,000 killed or missing. Besides them, over 150,000 Italian civilians died, as did 15,197 anti-Fascist partisans and 13,021 troops of the Italian Social Republic. In the West, no other campaign cost more than Italy in terms of lives lost and wounds suffered by infantry forces of both sides. The campaign ended when Army Group C surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on May 2, 1945, one week before the formal German Instrument of Surrender.
Allied Invasion of Sicily
During the Allied invasion of Sicily, the SS Robert Rowan (Liberty ship K-40) explodes after being hit by a German Ju 88 bomber off of Gela, Sicily (Italy).