Operation HUSKY (1943)

Brooklyn Eagle (July 10, 1943)

Hard fighting rages in Sicily

300,000 give stiff battle as Allied army pours in

Invasion theater

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Allied forces were battling on Sicily today after crossing the Mediterranean bottleneck from North Africa. Landing forces traveled varying distances – 88 miles from Cape Bon and up to 150 miles from other Tunisian coast towns – and probably also came from Pantelleria, 70 miles away, and Malta, 80 miles from the nearest point in Sicily.

Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) –
The United Nations opened the battle of Europe today by sending powerful invasion forces swarming onto the beaches of Sicily, and the first eyewitness report said a bombardment by Allied warships had “started a chain of smoke and flames” stretching 10 miles into the island.

A mighty aerial umbrella aided the Allied invasion forces which were made up of U.S., British and Canadian troops. Meager and unofficial reports said the invasion aided by heavy naval support was “proceeding according to plan.”

Indications were that the Axis defenders were putting up a stiff fight.

Axis communiqués reported that the fighting was heavy on the southeastern coast of Sicily, and said decisive counterblows had been struck against the invaders. British sources suggested other and more important blows might be struck against the fortress of Europe soon.

The Allied amphibious operations under command of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower began after two weeks of mounting aerial onslaught that was continued by hundreds of airplanes up to yesterday, when U.S. Liberators from the Middle East smashed Comiso and Taormina, 30 miles south of Messina, causing heavy damage.

Fifteen Axis planes were shot down yesterday when Allied aircraft from the Northwest Africa Command encountered increased opposition, losing 10 airplanes.

A furious naval barrage that illuminated sections of the Sicilian coast opened the invasion operations in darkness as the Allied meet – including battleships – threaded through the enemy minefield and put assault troops ashore in tank-carrying barges. There was no immediate indication that Mussolini’s scattered and battered Italian fleet accepted the challenge to fight the invasion.

Designed to establish bridgeheads

The first phase of the attack on Sicily, regarded popularly as the opening move in establishment of a second front, was designed to establish bridgeheads, and strong Axis opposition was anticipated in the air and on the ground.

London reports describing the greatest Allied offensive of the war suggested that parachute and airborne troops were used by the Allies to crash through the strong Sicilian defenses, manned by an estimated 300,000 Italians and Germans. Radio Morocco reported the landings were “being consolidated” on the west coast of Sicily, but it was believed many landings had been made around the shores of the island, with the ports of Catania, Palermo and Trapani as well as Comiso, Catania and Gerbini Airdromes as the main objectives.

The reported landing at the western tip of Sicily indicated that the first Allied objectives included the important Axis air bases of Trapani, Marsala, Mazzaro, Milo and Castelvetrano, all on the western end of the island and are linked by a network of good roads with the big port of Palermo.

The Allied invasion forces, specially trained in American-built landing barges for many weeks, were reported meeting “strong resistance” in the first phase of fighting on European soil just two months after the last Axis forces were driven from Africa.

The special communique at 5:10 a.m. from Allied Headquarters said:

Allied forces under command of Gen. Eisenhower began landing operations on Sicily early this morning. The landings were preceded by Allied air attack. Allied naval forces escorted the assault forces and bombarded the coast defenses during the assault.

The crossing of the 90-mile “moat” from Tunisia to the rugged island of Sicily, which once had 4,000,000 population, was made in all types of naval craft, including special landing barges brought under their own power from the United States to strike at Italy just three years and one month after Mussolini stabbed France in the back.

There was no mention of French troops taking part in the invasion of Sicily.

For two weeks huge Allied air fleets based in Northwest Africa and the Middle East had hammered at Sicily with thousands of tons of bombs, seeking to knock out Axis air power, demolish air bases, destroy railroad facilities and’ ports and isolate the island from the Italian mainland. For the last seven days the air attack had been almost continuous, day and night.

Then the converted freighters, the big battleships, the fast destroyers, the heavily armed cruisers and the new type landing barges – heavily armed and heavily protected – were assembled by the hundreds and put out in darkness from the African coast. Crouching in the barges and jammed aboard the transports were U.S. troops that had been practicing invasion assaults for weeks and were toughened and ready for the hardest battle of their lives.

There were Canadian troops, too – the rough-and-ready soldiers who had been waiting (presumably until recently in England) for the chance to avenge their comrades who fell at Dieppe and had long been promised the honor of spearheading the invasion of Hitler’s European fortress.

The British forces, which chased Nazi Marshal Erwin Rommel across Africa and into the sea, were the third part of the Allied team which struck at Sicily in an, operation that found land, sea and air forces cooperating magnificently under Eisenhower’s command.

Crouched in the landing barges, with their heads tucked down against their shoulders turtle-fashion, the Allied troops led by engineers and sappers were off the Sicilian coast in the dark hour before dawn came over the Mediterranean.

The engineers, given the toughest job in such a hazardous operation, carried Bangalore torpedoes – a gadget about 15-18 feet long and encased in a two- or three-inch pipe – used to shove into barbed wire entanglements in order to blast open a path for the assault troops.

Big guns open up

Allied force from Malta, only 60 miles from Sicily, were presumed to have joined the invasion units somewhere off the island coast.

And then, in the last period of darkness, the big guns of the naval armada opened up.

The guns flashing out in the darkness may have been the first sign that the nervous Axis defense forces received that the battle to knock Italy out of the war had begun. But the enemy had been predicting the assault for days, reporting the massing of Allied troops and barges and trying desperately to guess where the first blow would fall.

Although the steady pounding of Allied airplanes had knocked out the main Sicilian harbors closest to Italy, there were late reports that Nazi and Fascist reserves had been rushed to the island and there was little question that the struggle for the mountainous stronghold would be a costly and probably a long one.

Resistance fierce

Preliminary reports indicated Axis resistance was fierce and that enemy airplanes were attacking desperately, often diving through their own anti-aircraft fire in their efforts to get at Allied bombers.

Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, the Nazi air expert who had commanded an air fleet on the Russian Front, was reported directing the Axis aerial defenses with the aid of Baron Wolfram von Richthofen, who had also been on the Eastern Front.

The Axis reaction by radio was also slow. The first Axis word of the invasion came from the German Transocean News Agency in a dispatch datelined “London.” It said that according to an official announcement Allied forces had started landing operations in Sicily. The same agency next flashed a Washington announcement of the landing. Berlin radio later repeated the news.

Radio Vichy told the people of France that the Americans had made “important” troop movements for an imminent invasion of Sicily.

The first great Allied assault against the European fortress was started after a coldly, scientific day-and-night aerial bombardment that accelerated steadily for two weeks.

Air assault hits crescendo

As the aerial assault reached a crescendo, fighters and fighter-bombers in large numbers joined in the attack to shoot up Axis trucks and railroad equipment in order to hinder or halt the movement of enemy forces when the invasion began.

Radio Algiers, broadcasting to Italy, said that:

The Battle of Africa is ended and the Battle of Europe has begun. The warnings of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill have come true. Italy, dragged by Mussolini into Hitler’s war, has become a battlefield. The German rearguard action is being fought on Italy’s soil.

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Algiers reports Allies 260 miles from Rome

By the United Press

The Allied forces on the road to Rome are less than 260 miles from the Fascist capital.

Radio Algiers said that the first Allied landing in Sicily was on “the rocky western tip of the island, 260 miles from Rome.”

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Descendants of previous conquerors invade Sicily

London, England (UP) –
The British troops who went ashore on Sicily followed in the steps of their ancestors who helped whip Napoleon.

Back in 1799, both Napoleon and Lord Nelson realized the strategic importance of Sicily, but the British struck first.

Sir John Stuart landed in Sicily with two infantry regiments. Seven years later, he invaded Italy across the Strait of Messina and defeated French forces at the Battle of Maida, successfully staving off a threat to the island.

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Italians here take invasion news calmly

Brooklyn residents of Italian descent took news of the Allied invasion of Sicily calmly and stoically, their chief reaction summed up in the terse statement:

Let’s get it over with fast.

Many, with relatives in both armies, expressed hope that Allied victory, uppermost in their thoughts, would be accomplished with as little bloodshed as possible.

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U.S. bombers smash at Crete; new drive in east foreseen

Isle on path to Greece is battered

Cairo, Egypt (UP) –
U.S. heavy bombers smashed the Maleme Airdrome on the island of Crete in daylight yesterday and attacked Taormina and Comiso on Sicily, a communiqué said today.

The attack on Maleme on Crete, often called an invasion stepping stone to Greece, heavily damaged sheds and grounded aircraft.

London dispatches speculated that other blows against the European fortress soon would follow the invasion of Sicily. The attack on Crete and a new order closing the Syrian border with Turkey, presumably to guard military movements by Allied troops, centered attention on the Eastern Mediterranean.

In the attack on Sicily, U.S. heavy bombers hit the headquarters of the general post office at Taormina, 30 miles southwest of Messina, and battered the Sicilian air base of Comiso.

Aerial resistance increased

Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) –
A communiqué from Gen. Eisenhower’s headquarters today said the Allied air forces “continued their heavy attack” with good results on Sicilian airfields and “vital points” in the enemy defense system during Thursday night and Friday.

The communiqué said:

Enemy resistance was on a slightly increased scale, and during air battles we shot down 15 Axis aircraft. Ten of our aircraft failed to return.

Hint at other blows

London, England (UP) –
British military observers hinted strongly today that the Allied invasion of Sicily may be followed quickly by other and possibly more important landings around the northern rim of the Mediterranean.

With apparently intentional vagueness, informants asserted that the Sicilian operation should not be regarded as “the only landing or even the (capital) landing.”

Informants described the invasion as an “operation in force” which, according to latest reports reaching London, is “going according to plan.”

On the basis of the scanty reports available, military observers said, heavy and difficult fighting is expected before the invasion force succeeds in establishing firm bridgeheads.

Apparently because other operations may be impending, these observers were reluctant to describe the Sicilian attack as the opening of a “second front.”

Axis force put at 400,000

An estimated 300,000 Italian troops plus 100,000 Germans, including a division of combat troops and Luftwaffe units, are defending Sicily, it was believed.

The Italian forces included the Italian 6th Army, commanded by Gen. Alfredo Guzzoni, formerly Deputy Chief of Staff and Undersecretary of War, military observers reported. They include units especially trained for coastal defense.

Unofficial estimates set the bombload dropped on Sicily in the last two months of concentrated Allied air attack at approximately 5,000 tons. Several airfields were believed to have been knocked out by this softening-up process.

The observers set the Axis air strength in Italy at about 500 German fighters and 800 German bombers, supported by 1,500 German planes of doubtful quality.

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Stampa Sera (July 10, 1943)

La battaglia è impegnata sul suolo della Patria: saranno respinti!
IL NEMICO INIZIA L’ATTACCO CONTRO LA SICILIA

L’azione decisamente contrastata dalle nostre forze - Combattimenti in corso lungo la fascia costiera sud-orientale - Paracadutisti e poderose forze navali ed aeree impegnati dall’avversario

Screenshot 2022-07-10 170550

La «carta» del nemico

Il nemico «deve» giocare una carta. Ha troppo proclamato che bisogna invadere il continente. Lo dovrà tentare, questo, perché altrimenti sarà sconfitto prima ancora di aver combattuto. Ma questa è una carta che non si può ripetere. Fu concesso a Cesare di invadere per la seconda volta la Britannia, dopo che un naufragio gli aveva disperso i legni coi quali aveva tentato la prima invasione.

MUSSOLINI

Trentatré aerei nemici abbattuti

Il Quartiere Generale delle Forze Armate comunica:

Il nemico ha iniziato questa notte con l’appoggio di poderose formazioni navali ed aeree e col lancio di reparti paracadutisti l’attacco contro la Sicilia.

Le forze armate alleate contrastano decisamente l’azione avversaria. Combattimenti sono in corso lungo la fascia costiera sud-orientale.

Durante le azioni effettuate ieri dall’aviazione su centri della Sicilia, le artiglierie italiane e germaniche distruggevano ventidue velivoli, dei quali quindici a Porto Empedocle; altri undici apparecchi venivano abbattuti dai cacciatori tedeschi.

Nelle acque della Tunisia nostri aerosiluranti hanno colpito e gravemente danneggiato tre piroscafi di complessive 29 mila tonnellate.

Gli aerosiluranti che hanno colpito i piroscafi nell’azione segnalata nel Bollettino odierno erano condotti dai seguenti piloti: tenente Pagliarusco Vasco, da Barbarano (Vicenza); sottotenente Degli Angeli Carlo da Cesena (Forlì); sottotenente Avantini Giampiero, da Formio; sergente maggiore Guerra Aldo, da Padova; sergente Scagliarini Guido, da Finale Emilia; sergente Gineprari Radames, da Perugia.

I velivoli abbattuti dalle artiglierie contraeree sono precipitati nelle seguenti località: 15 a Porto Empedocle, 2 a Trapani, 2 a Sciacca, uno a Villa Oliva (Siracusa), uno ad Aragona (Agrigento), uno a Falconara (Caltanissetta). Alcuni equipaggi sono stati catturati.

La grande prova

Gli avvenimenti del fronte orientale hanno influenzato irresistibilmente la situazione strategica generale. Era interesse dei russi, che premevano in tal senso a Londra e a Washington, di non essere lasciati soli a combattere sui campi di battaglia europei. Era interesse degli anglosassoni approfittare, per le loro progettate operazioni offensive, del momento in cui l’esercito tedesco è impegnato contro le armate sovietiche. Gli Stati Maggiori delle Nazioni Unite sono stati così costretti ad affrettare i preparativi, e a rompere gli indugi. Molti segni facevano presagire le decisioni che maturavano; e il silenzio improvviso della stampa nemica sul problema del secondo fronte avvalorava l’ipotesi che l’ora dell’azione stesse per scoccare.

L’Italia è messa oggi dal precipitare degli eventi di fronte alla sua grande prova. Il primo tentativo in forze dei due grandi imperi coalizzati contro l’Europa sì compie contro di noi; ed è sul suolo italiano che saranno decise le sorti del conflitto. Bisogna guardare con animo fermo, senza clorotiche paure, questa dura realtà. Bisogna che tutti gli italiani dimostrino la stessa tenacia, lo stesso spirito di sacrificio, la stessa impavidità di cui statino offrendo esempio i soldati che, sui limiti sacri del territorio patrio affrontano con le armi in pugno il nemico. Bisogna che tutti si dimostrino della stessa tempra delle popolazioni civili martellate finora dalla offensiva aerea avversaria. Le truppe inglesi e americane prendono terra in Sicilia nella convinzione di trovarci, tanto per usare una espressione coniata da loro, «ammorbiditi». Dobbiamo disilluderli. Bisogna che trovino il granito. Bisogna che sulla sponda siciliana essi sentano battere gagliardo il cuore della Patria italiana: con lo stesso ritmo con cui batté sul Piave, venticinque anni fa, in un’ora ugualmente solenne e decisiva della vita nazionale.

La posta in giuoco è immensa: si tratta dell’esistenza del popolo, di tutto il popolo. La vittoria ci schiuderà un avvenire di prosperità e di potenza, ai cui benefici tutti saranno ammessi, nessuno potrà sottrarsi alle fatali conseguenze dì una sconfitta. E’ l’ora dell’estrema solidarietà nazionale. Il nemico giuoca la sua ultima carta. Di tentativi tipo Dieppe se ne possono ripetere a decine; un’operazione come quella, che risulta iniziata stamane, non si ripete una seconda volta. Se fallirà, il nemico dovrà convincersi che l’impresa di battere l’Asse è irrealizzabile, e dovrà arrendersi ad una realtà più forte della sua volontà. E’ dunque l’esito dell’intero conflitto che verrà determinato dagli sviluppi di questa nuova fase della guerra. Senta ognuno la tremenda responsabilità del compito, e sia ogni animo all’altezza della grande ora.

Unusual to see a US report mention the Canadian contribution separate from the UK effort. It’s the first time since Dieppe that a major Canadian army unit has been committed to combat … and it probably took more behind-the-scenes arm-twisting than anyone would believe to get them shoe-horned into Operation Husky.

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The confusion is natural, and the convention at the time was to refer to Canada’s PM as “Mackenzie King” to avoid implying that it was King George being referenced in headlines and articles. It would be like a modern convention to refer to the second President Bush as “Walker Bush” to avoid confusion with his father.

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BTW, if anyone wants to translate articles like these for personal reading, use this:

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I tried that the last time you mentioned it and it does seem to provide very good quality translation … certainly more useful for longer passages than the Goolag translate tool.

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President Roosevelt’s message to Pope Pius XII
July 10, 1943

By the time this message reaches Your Holiness a landing in force by American and British troops will have taken place on Italian soil. Our soldiers have come to rid Italy of Fascism and all its unhappy symbols, and to drive out the Nazi oppressors who are infesting her soil.

There is no need for me to reaffirm that respect for religious beliefs and for the free exercise of religious worship is fundamental to our ideas. Churches and religious institutions will, to the extent that it is within our power, be spared the devastations of war during the struggle ahead. Throughout the period of operations, the neutral status of Vatican City as well as of the Papal domains throughout Italy will be respected.

I look forward, as does Your Holiness, to that bright day when the peace of God returns to the world. We are convinced that this will occur only when the forces of evil which now hold vast areas of Europe and Asia enslaved have been utterly destroyed. On that day we will joyfully turn our energies from the grim duties of war to the fruitful tasks of reconstruction. In common with all other nations and forces imbued with the spirit of good will toward men, and with the help of Almighty God, we will turn our hearts and our minds to the exacting task of building a just and enduring peace on earth.

Allied HQ, North Africa (July 10, 1943)

Communiqués

The Northwest African Air Force continued their heavy attacks on Sicilian airfields and vital points in the enemy’s defense system yesterday and the previous night. Despite indifferent visibility, good results are reported.

The enemy resistance was on a slightly increased scale, and during air battles, we shot down 15 Axis aircraft. 10 of our aircraft failed to return.


Despite unfavorable weather conditions and swells in the Sicilian Channel, the initial Allied landings in Sicily, which started before dawn, proceeded according to plan.

The many beaches and landing places used for these first assaults extended over a distance of 100 miles. By 6 a.m., under heavy fire from the covering forces of cruisers, monitors, destroyers, gunboats and other naval units, enemy opposition had been countered and the success of all landings was already assured. By 0730 hours [7:30 a.m.], our troops were advancing and artillery was being put ashore.

Fighting continues as more and more troops with their guns, vehicles, stores and equipment are landed by the Royal and U.S. Navies. Units of the Royal Indian and of the Dutch, Polish and Greek Navies are participating in the widespread operations.


In addition to attacks on the few airdromes still being used by the enemy, our heavy, medium and fighter bombers attacked roads and communications throughout Sicily. Air operations are proceeding according to plan.

While there was definitely some behind the scenes arm twisting it was almost a given the Canadians would be involved. Next to the British and Americans the Canadians had the third largest military in Britain and were well trained and equipped.

As per usual there were American commanders who questioned the Canadian involvement due to biases prevalent of the time. While the Canadian contribution has been highly understated in not only operation Husky but the invasion of Italy due to politics and the two idiots Montgomery and Patton trying to one up each other throughout both campaigns it needs to be said the Canadians not only carried more than their share of the battles they liberated more of Italy than the US and British troops combined did. Unfortunately you will rarely find this mentioned outside of Canada.

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Völkischer Beobachter (July 11, 1943)

Großkampf im Osten und im Süden –
Weitere Angriffserfolge im Raum Bjelgorod

Entschlossener Widerstand gegen anglo-amerikanische Landungsstreitkräfte auf Sizilien

vb. Wien, 10. Juli –
Der Fortgang der Kämpfe in dem großen Frontbogen zwischen Bjelgorod und Orel zeigt von Tag zu Tag deutlicher, welche weittragenden Absichten die Sowjetmacht mit ihren Truppenmassierungen in diesem Raume verfolgte: Der Anstoß unserer gewaltsamen Erkundung vom 4. Juli hat genügt, um den Feind zur vollen vorzeitigen Entfaltung seiner bereitgestellten Menschen- und Materialmassen zu zwingen. Seit diesem Tage versucht er durch rücksichtslosen Einsatz das Gesetz des Handelns in die eigene Hand zu bekommen, um seinen ursprünglichen Plan doch noch durchführen zu können. Die deutsche Führung aber nutzt ihren Anfangserfolg – eben den Stoß in die feindliche Bereitstellung hinein – mit Energie und Erfolg aus: Auch am Freitag wurde, wie der heutige OKW.-Bericht meldet, neuer erheblicher Geländegewinn erzielt und die Vernichtung der bolschewistischen. Massen fortgesetzt. Die Einbußen des Feindes insbesondere an Panzern und Flugzeugen haben bereits ein Ausmaß wie bei den großen Ostschlachten des Jahres 1941 angenommen.

Daß der riesige Einsatz von beiden Seiten – die Schlacht vor Kursk wurde gestern als Materialschlacht größten Ausmaßes bezeichnet – außerordentliche Anforderungen an den deutschen Soldaten stellt, bedarf keines Beweises. Die Verbände des Heeres, der Waffen-SS und der Luftwaffe stehen hier nicht nur einem zahlenmäßig außerordentlich starken Feind gegenüber, sondern auch einem Gegner, der hier sein bestes und neuestes Kriegsmaterial bereitgestellt hat, um gleichzeitig mit seinen plutokratischen Verbündeten den Großangriff auf Europa beginnen zu können, der seit Wochen von der Feindseite mit ununterbrochenen Trompetenstößen angekündigt worden ist.

Es besteht gar kein Zweifel daran, daß die beabsichtigte Sowjetoffensive im Abschnitt Mitte und der anglo-amerikanische Angriff auf Sizilien gleichzeitig erfolgen sollten, um eine Zersplitterung der Verteidigungskräfte Europas herbeizuführen und – worauf die jüdische Agitation des Feindbundes immer besonderen Wert legt – einen größtmöglichen „Stimmungseffekt“ zu erzielen. Dieses Programm ist durch die deutsche Initiative bei Kursk etwas in Unordnung geraten:

Aus der großen bolschewistischen Sommeroffensive ist eine äußerst verlustreiche Abwehrschlacht geworden, die wenig dazu beitragen dürfte, den Angriffsschwung der Briten, Kanadier und Nordamerikaner an der äußersten Südspitze des Königreiches Italien zu beflügeln.

Italien war jederzeit bereit

Daß unsere italienischen Verbündeten diesen Angriff erwartet und daß sie ihn jetzt erwartet haben, zeigt ein Blick in die heutige römische Morgenpresse, die noch vor Kenntnis der Ereignisse in der letzten Nacht gedruckt worden ist. So schreibt zum Beispiel Popolo di Roma:

Wo immer der Feind auch seine Landungen unternehmen mag in Sizilien, Sardinien, Kalabrien – überall stehen wir bereit. Dieser Stunde, die die Engländer mit größter Spannung und die Amerikaner mit stärkster Unruhe erwarten, blicken die Italiener mit ruhiger Entschlossenheit entgegen. Seit Tagen ist für uns jede Stunde eine „Stunde,“ das heißt, wir sind an jedem Küstenabschnitt, wo ein feindlicher Angriff erfolgen könnte, zu jeder Stunde bereit, den Feind gebührend zu empfangen. Der Kampf auf unserem Boden, dessen ist sich auch der Feind bewußt, kann nur ein Kampf bis aufs Äußerste sein.

Die grimmige Tapferkeit, mit der das italienische Volk seit Wochen und Monaten die Terrorangriffe der britischen und nordamerikanischen Luftgangster ertragen hat, kennzeichnet ebenso wie die wachsenden Abschußerfolge der italienischen Luftwaffe, mit welchem Geist das faschistische Italien der Bedrohung seines Heimatbodens entgegentritt. Seite an Seite mit den an der Mittelmeerfront eingesetzten deutschen Verbänden wird es dafür sorgen, daß die Hoffnungen der demokratischen Länderräuber, in Italien den Punkt des geringsten Widerstandes zu finden, zuschanden werden.

Juden fordern sofortige Invasion

Die englischen und amerikanischen Mütter, die nun zum erstenmal in diesem Kriege Blutopfer größten Ausmaßes zu bringen haben, können sich dafür nicht nur bei ihren verbrecherischen Regierungshäuptern Churchill und Roosevelt, sondern auch bei dem internationalen Judentum bedanken, das das Hauptbindeglied zwischen Bolschewismus und Plutokratie darstellt. Es ist bezeichnend, daß gerade gestern in Neuyork auf einer Versammlung von 42.000 Menschen, die zu Ehren einer „Sowjetischen Kulturmission“ stattfand, von jüdischen Rednern die sofortige Invasion in Europa gefordert wurde. Außer Stephen Wise, dem berüchtigten jüdischen Hetzer, sprachen als Sowjetdelegierte der Direktor des Moskauer jüdischen Theaters Salomon Michaels und der Oberst Itzig Pfeffer, die erklärten, daß die alljüdische Einigkeit eine wesentliche Vorbedingung des Sieges sei. Wir haben eine dunkle Ahnung, daß diese jüdischen Offenherzigkeiten am Vorabend des Kampfes um Italien dem nordamerikanischen Judentum dereinst teuer zu stehen kommen werden…

Im Osten wieder 119 Sowjetflugzeuge abgeschossen –
Deutsche U-Boote versenkten 51.000 BRT.

dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 10. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

In der großen Schlacht von Bjelgorod und Orel erzwangen Truppen des Heeres und der Waffen-SS gegen verbissenen Widerstand neu herangeführter feindlicher Kräfte weitere Angriffserfolge. Während nördlich Bjelgorod erheblicher Geländegewinn erzielt wurde, entwickelten sich südlich Orel schwere Artilleriekämpfe. Die Gesamtzahl der seit dem 5. Juli auf dem Schlachtfeld liegenden abgeschossenen oder erbeuteten Panzer hat sich auf 1227 erhöht.

Die Luftwaffe griff mit starken Verbänden in die Kämpfe des Heeres ein. Jagdfliegerkräfte und Flakartillerie der Luftwaffe schossen gestern 119 Sowjetflugzeuge ab.

In der Nacht zum 10. Juli hat der Feind mit Unterstützung starker See- und Luftstreitkräfte den Angriff auf Sizilien begonnen. Er traf sofort auf heftige Abwehr auf der Erde und in der Luft. Die Kämpfe sind im Gange.

Britische Bomber griffen in der vergangenen Nacht westdeutsches Gebiet an. In Wohnvierteln, besonders der Stadt Bochum, entstanden Gebäudeschäden und Brände. Bisher wurde der Abschuß von elf feindlichen Bombern festgestellt. Zwei weitere feindliche Flugzeuge wurden über den besetzten Westgebieten und dem Atlantik vernichtet.

Von Seestreitkräften, der Bordflak von Handelsschiffen und der Marineflak wurden in der Zeit vom 1. bis 10. Juli 21 feindliche Flugzeuge abgeschossen.

Deutsche Unterseeboote griffen erneut stark gesicherte Geleitzüge an. Sie versenkten in hartnäckigen Kämpfen unter der brasilianischen Küste und im Mittelatlantik insgesamt acht Schiffe mit 51.000 BRT.

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The New York Times (July 11, 1943)

ALLIES ADVANCE ON 100-MILE FRONT IN SICILY; WIN BATTLES FOR BEACHES, THEN PUSH INLAND, BACKED BY SAVAGE AIR AND NAVAL OFFENSIVE
First round is won; enemy’s coast defense shattered – men and guns pour ashore

Weakest spot is hit; new invasions hinted in Washington, London and North Africa
By Drew Middleton

Allies fight way inland from Sicilian beachheads

unknown (2)
Landing along 100 miles of Sicily’s southeastern coast, U.S., British and Canadian forces battered forward against determined opposition as Allied ships continued to pour men ashore. Axis reports said the invaders had driven to the inland edge of the plain between Catania and Syracuse (1), had taken Noto (2) and battling for nearby Pachino. These reports also told of landings at Gela (3), at Capo Boeo (4) and in the Trapani region (5). In aerial assaults immediately preceding the invasion, U.S. bombers demolished Axis general headquarters at Taormina and smashed the Comiso Airdrome. Porto Empedocle was also a target.

Allied HQ, North Africa – (July 10)
U.S., Canadian and British troops smashed forward on a 100-mile front in southeastern Sicily today, heralded by a tremendous aerial offensive against enemy communications and airfields.

The first stage of the invasion of Sicily ended successfully at 6 a.m. today, when, after three hours of savage fighting on the beaches and intensive shelling by cruisers, destroyers and gunboats, the Axis coastal defense batteries were shattered and the success of all the landings was assured.

Men and arms pour ashore

By 7:30 a.m., Allied infantrymen, their bayonets bright in the morning sun, were hacking their way inland through the enemy defenses and artillery was rumbling up the beaches to answer the Axis guns barking from the hills. Fierce fighting continued throughout the day. Fresh troops, guns and equipment poured ashore from landing craft and transport of the British and U.S. Navies.

The Allies landed between Syracuse and Catania, according to a Vichy broadcast recorded by Reuters in London. Other Axis reports, relayed from Berne, told of landings at Capo Boeo and in the Trapani area, in the western part of Sicily, and at Gela, in the southeast.

Later enemy reports located the main battle area somewhere between Syracuse and Capo Passero, to the south. They said that heavy fighting was going on at Pachino, while the town of Noto had been captured. Reports from France, quoted by the United Press, said that the Allies were in close contact with Axis troops on the inland edge of the plain between Catania and Syracuse.

In Washington, there were hints of an imminent attack on the Italian mainland itself, while London sources, according to the United Press, said that the attack on Sicily was not to be regarded as “the only landing.” An Associated Press dispatch from Allied headquarters in North Africa said that “other offensives may be in the offing.

It was apparent tonight that, although Sicily was far from conquered, the Allies had scored a signal success in the first day’s operation and that only a very strong and determined counterattack could halt their steady progress north from the southeastern corner, where they had landed on beaches and landing points extending over 100 miles.

Weather unfavorable

A heavy swell in the Sicilian Channel, where the landing craft rolled drunkenly, and unfavorable weather conditions in general did not halt the Allied attack. Almost two months after the eviction of the enemy from Africa, Old Glory and the Union Jack were planted on metropolitan Italian soil.

As the landing craft grated on the beaches, men of the U.S., British, Indian, Dutch, Polish and Greek Navies sent hundreds of shells over the beaches onto the batteries, pillboxes and rifle-pits on which the enemy defense or the bridgeheads depended. But the naval operations did not halt with the thunderous support of the landing forces. “Widespread naval operations” are continuing in the Central Mediterranean area.

The Rome radio, heard by the United Press in London, said that Italian naval forces had gone into action off Sicily and that Italian torpedo-bombers had damaged three invasion transports totaling 29,000 tons.

All the resources of the Allied navies in these waters were thrown into the support of the landing operations. As important, but less glamorous, was the work of the thousands of seamen aboard the transports and landing-craft who brought their ships through a hail of bombs to the appointed places and guided the landing-craft toward the gunfire from the coast.

Most vulnerable area

The Allies landed in what is probably the most strongly defended and certainly the most vulnerable corner of Sicily. For not only are the forces landing on the southeastern corner within striking distance of airdromes like Comiso, which is about 10 miles from the sea, but they are about 60 miles from Catania, the main port on the eastern coast; roughly 55 miles from the mammoth air base at Gerbini – one of the few still in operation – and 30 miles from Syracuse, one of the best ports on the east coast.

The resistance offered to the Allied troops today was stiff. There are a large number of Italian troops, including field and semi-static coastal divisions, and a large number of corps troops, such as coastal defense and anti-aircraft artillery, on the island. These have been stiffened by crack regiments originally intended for Tunisia, but switched to Sicily when the Germans were defeated in Africa.

Despite the fluidity of the tactical situation, it was clear that Anglo-American cooperation in the most difficult of all military operations – a landing on a hostile coast – had denied the enemy the use of Sicily as a submarine and air base and that the Allied troops were driving forward toward the airfields.

The first line of the Sicilian defenses has been pierced. The Germans must now launch counterattacks strong enough to halt the Allies before they can secure any of the large ports through which the remainder of the huge and varied Allied force can pour.

There is every prospect of harder fighting ahead, especially if the Allies push toward the northeastern corner of the island, which, since its main port, Messina, is closest to Italy, is the most important enemy supply area. Messina is guarded by a mountain chain running from east to west across the northern half of the island, a chain that appears to offer the same difficulties as the Tunisian hills.

At 3 a.m. today, U.S., Canadian and British troops, escorted and supported by a strong British naval force and a “token” American squadron and preceded by an armada of Allied planes, began what is believed to be the most important, hazardous and delicate operation yet attempted by the Allies in this war.

Vital to next moves

Not only is the invasion of Sicily the first step in the storming of Europe; its possession will give the Allies military advantages, without which further operations in the Central Mediterranean area would be almost impossible. The fighting in North Africa, for three years, was a struggle for air bases. This is again true in Sicily. Once Allied bombers are taking off from such fields as Gerbini and Comiso, the air battlefront will extend into northeastern Italy and the Adriatic.

The capture of these airfields would remove any remaining threat from the air to Allied convoys passing through the Sicilian Channel.

Hazards explained

The Allied offensive that opened this morning is hazardous and delicate for three reasons. First, the enemy has prepared the defenses of Sicily for just such an attack. Second, strategical surprise – that is, surprising the enemy by the invasion of Sicily – was almost impossible after weeks of very heavy aerial bombardment. Third, tactical surprise – that is, fooling the enemy as to the bridgeheads selected – became impossible at dawn.

There are no reports of any incident like the encounter with a German convoy off Dieppe that ended any chance of tactical surprise there. But it is unlikely that the enemy’s aerial patrols did not sight the vast armada moving toward Sicily during the night.

First reports encouraging

Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) – (July 10)
Surging ashore from wave on wave of landing craft, U.S., British and Canadian assault troops opened the invasion of Sicily at 3 a.m. today. In the first critical hours of the operation, there were no official details of its progress or even a designation of the landing points and immediate objectives. But, as the hours passed, the feeling of quiet confidence around Allied headquarters indicated that all was going according to plan and the first eyewitness reports of the attack were optimistic.

Reconnaissance photographs of the first stages of the battle, developed at an advanced airdrome, showed a spectacle hardly paralleled in this war as Allied warships laid down vast smokescreens and pummeled shore batteries while the troops scrambled onto Sicily’s rocky headlands. Barge-load after barge-load of troops drove onto the shore under a withering barrage from the coastal guns, which were also turned against Allied destroyers as they ran close inshore to cover the debarkation from transports to landing craft.

Violent aerial bombardment of Sicilian installations continued today. Allied fliers concentrated on the few airdromes still in use by the enemy, and on roads and other communications. They met little opposition.

The Allied fleet bearing the invasion army was made up of hundreds of ships spearheaded by fast destroyers and heavily-armed cruisers, and included a great many of the latest-type landing barges. Many of these latter were understood to be huge tank-landing craft that came over the high seas from Britain or the United States under their own power.

The Allies completed their initial landings without the loss of any ships, the Associated Press reported. The vessels encountered neither submarine nor air attacks.

Under the invasion plan, the first troops ashore would be engineers and sappers carrying automatic arms and Bangalore torpedoes, small pipe-like grenades for blasting breaches in the barbed-wire that the Italians were reported to have planted thickly on the Sicilian shores. The proportion of U.S., British and Canadian troops was not disclosed. Hardened for this battle in prolonged maneuvers in England, the Canadians were believed to include veterans of the bloody clash at Dieppe.

The invasion was a landing operation of a scope unsurpassed in this war or in military history. The Axis invasion of Crete was a thumbnail venture by comparison, while the overrunning of the Pacific Islands by Japan was far simpler because of the weakness of the Allied defenses.

There were no illusions here that the Sicilian campaign would end in a few hours or without a heavy cost. Some 300,000 of Italy’s toughest fighters man the island’s defenses, bolstered by a German shock force of uncertain size, but possibly as many as 100,000 men.

Preceded by day of bombing

An Allied Force Command post, North Africa (AP) – (July 10)
The Northwest African Air Forces paved the way for Allied landings in Sicily by heavy bombing of the island’s airfields, communications, radio installations and defense emplacements yesterday.

Increased enemy fighter opposition was encountered. Fifteen enemy planes were shot down and others were destroyed on the ground. The Allies lost 10 planes.

Island headquarters razed

Cairo, Egypt – (July 10)
Only a few hours before dusk yesterday, before the Allied invasion force had set sail for Sicily, a flight of U.S. Liberators made a sudden slashing attack on the Axis headquarters on the island, completely demolishing both the general headquarters and the communications buildings at Taormina.

It is probable that the Sicilian defensive nerve center was paralyzed, at least for some valuable hours.

This became known here this morning almost simultaneously with the first details of the invasion.

The bombers unloaded heavy explosives and incendiaries on the San Domenico Hotel, which is believed to house the Axis headquarters, and on the post office building, in which all telephone, telegraph and the communications facilities are established, and completely demolished both by a concentrated series of direct hits, a communiqué said. Huge fires were left burning and a mass of rubble was all that was left, according to returning pilots. The bombers also battered railway tracks at Taormina and the Comiso Airdrome.

Other big bombers attacked the Maleme Airfield, the largest in Crete, where the Germans first established their foothold during that island’s invasion. The attack came only a few days after the British raiders’ landings on Crete. Almost 100 U.S. bombers took part in these sallies and one was lost.

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Eisenhower rubs his seven luck-pieces as Allied invasion fleet approaches Sicily

By Edward Gilling

Allied HQ, North Africa – (July 10)
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower always carries in his pocket seven old coins, including a gold five-guinea piece.

As the Allied invasion fleet approached Sicily last night to begin the great assault on Europe, the general gave them one good rub for luck. In fact, as one of his aides said, he gave them several good rubs.

In the early hours of the morning, the general heard that the landing had been made and that everything was going according to plan. Gen. Eisenhower spent all night at headquarters, except for one brief period when he drove out to the coast with a small party of his staff to watch an Allied air fleet leaving.

Climbing out of his car, he stood in moonlight with his hand raised to salute the air armada. The period of waiting between the planning of the assault and its realization was over.

Returning to headquarters, Gen. Eisenhower went at once to the naval section, where he joined his staff in following closely the movement of the operations on charts. He spent some time in the Fighter Command room, from which the air umbrella covering the operations was controlled.

At 1:30 a.m., Gen. Eisenhower, apparently satisfied with the progress of operations, went to bed on a cot in a room next to the war room. He slept soundly for three hours until awakened at 4:30 a.m. by an aide who informed him that assault troops had landed and that everything was going according to plan.

The Royal Navy served the general with a cup of hot tea and he then returned to the war room, where reports were now coming in regularly. He remained there until he heard the BBC broadcast his message telling the people of France that this was the first stage of the invasion of the continent, which would be followed by others.

Gen. Eisenhower then left the war room, but only for a change of clothes. He soon returned to follow with his commanders the progress of operations.

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This taken out of context sounds very very wrong. XD

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Roosevelt sees ‘beginning of end’

President reassures Pope on sparing of churches and on respect for the Vatican
By Bertram D. Hulen

Washington – (July 10)
The Allied invasion of Sicily looks to President Roosevelt like “the beginning of the end” for Adolf Hitler and Premier Mussolini.

This was revealed by the White House today as an intimation was given that success in Sicily would be followed by the invasion of southern Italy.

President Roosevelt stated his views in a dramatic announcement when he received word of the invasion during a dinner at the White House last night in honor of Gen. Henri-Honoré Giraud, the French Command-in-Chief.

The intimation that southern Italy might be the next objective was contained in a communication given out by the White House today from President Roosevelt to Pope Pius XII.

In it, the President promised that during the invasion of Italian soil, churches and religious institutions would “be spared the devastations of war” and the neutral status of Vatican City, as well as of Papal domains “throughout Italy,” would be respected. Mr. Roosevelt assured the Pontiff that the United States was seeking “a just and enduring peace on earth.”

Mr. Roosevelt’s views concerning the campaign in Sicily were echoed at noon by Senator Tom Connally (D-TX), chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, who discussed it with the President when he called to say goodbye before leaving for Texas.

The Senator declared as he was leaving the White House:

Our forces will sweep through Sicily. Already on the land, I don’t believe they can be stopped. The curfew has rung for Italy.

Nevertheless, there was an air of caution here today until the fighting had developed further, because of reports that the Axis has concentrated in Sicily 300,000 troops, including at least two German divisions. The rest are Italians.

The Allied forces consist of British, Canadian and U.S. units. The Americans, from indications given by military experts, are grouped in the 5th Army under the immediate command of Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark, with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in overall command from North African headquarters. The British and Canadians are reported probably to outnumber the Americans.

It is considered probable that some days may elapse before definite conclusions can be reached concerning the progress of the campaign, but it is clear that Allied success would mean air and sea control of the Mediterranean and open the way for the conquest of southern Italy, Sardinia and other Mediterranean points.

Although the operation is not a second front in Europe, it could open a way for such an undertaking.

These considerations were apparently in the mind of President Roosevelt when he made his dramatic announcement at the dinner last night. The details were revealed by Press Secretary Stephen F. Early today.

The guests included Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Gen. George C. Marshall (Army Chief of Staff), Adm. William D. Leahy (the President’s Chief of Staff), Adm. Ernest J. King (Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Fleet), and other military and naval officers.

Announces news of attack

President Roosevelt began receiving reports of the invasion of Sicily at about 9 o’clock. Just before 10 o’clock, as the dinner was nearing its close, he made the dramatic announcement:

I have just had word of the first attack against the soft underbelly of Europe.

He then asked the guests to say nothing about it until midnight, when simultaneous announcements would be made in North Africa, London and Washington.

He stressed that the major objective was the elimination of Germany, for once ashore our forces could go in different directions, that it certainly was to be hoped that the operation was the beginning of the end, and it could almost be said that it was.

In a toast to unified France, he promised that while this invasion was not directed at the shores of France, eventually all of France would be liberated.

After telling of the attack and landing, the President said:

This is a good illustration of the fact of planning, not the desire for planning but the fact of planning. With the commencing of the expedition in North Africa with complete cooperation between the British and ourselves, that was followed by complete cooperation with the French in North Africa. The result, after landing, was the Battle of Tunis. That was not all planning, that was cooperation. From that time on we have been working in complete harmony.

There are a great many objectives, and of course the major objective is the elimination of Germany – that goes without saying – the elimination of Germany out of the war. And as a result of this step which is in progress at this moment, we hope it is the beginning of the end. Last autumn, the Prime Minister of England called it “the end of the beginning.” I think you can almost say that this action tonight is the beginning of the end.

We are going to be ashore in a naval sense – air sense – military. Once there, we have the opportunity of going in different directions, and I want to tell Gen. Giraud that we haven’t forgotten France as one of the directions.

Pledges liberation of Paris

Even if a move is not directed at this moment to France itself, Gen. Giraud can rest assured that the ultimate objective – we will do it, and in the best way – is to liberate the people of France, not merely the southern part of France, just for a while, but the people of northern France – Paris. And in this whole operation, I should say rightly that in the enormous planning we have had the complete cooperation of the French military and naval forces in North Africa.

Gradually the opposition cooled, and the older regime is breaking down. We have seen what has happened, or is happening at the present moment in Martinique and Guadeloupe, and becoming worse. Well, that is a very major part toward the big objective.

We want to help rearm those French forces [the President referred to the French forces in North Africa], and to build up the French strength so that when the time comes, from a military point of view, when we get into France itself and throw the Germans out, there will be a French Army and French ships working with the British and ourselves.

That is why it is a very great symbol that Gen. Giraud is here tonight – to come over here to talk to us about his military problems, toward the same objective that all the United Nations have gone – the freedom of France, and with it the unity of France.

Giraud thanks Roosevelt

Gen. Giraud, in responding, thanked the President for the support being given France and expressed gratification for American assistance in rearming the soldiers of France.

He then raised his glass in a toast to the President and “the glory of the United States,” referring to this country as:

…that great nation through which peace and freedom will be restored to the world.

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