Road to Messina - Europe 1943
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TRIDENT conference
- May 11-27, 1943 - 3rd in Washington with Churchill and Roosevelt
- 1943 was the "year of summit conferences" that shaped "alliance politics" - the series of conferences started with Casablanca, followed by TRIDENT in May, QUADRANT in August, SEXTANT in November and ending with the important EUREKA meeting in Teheran at the end of the year.
- momentum of victory in Tunesia - continue the attack in the Mediterranean & use troops already there, but where?
- should attack Corsica and Sardinia to establish air bases against Italy & S. Europe
- op. MINCEMEAT - plan by Ewin Montagu to mislead OKW with false plans for Sardinia, Greece - "Major Martin" washed up in Spain - "The Man Who Never Was"
- ULTRA had indicated Hitler would not defend Sicily or Italy - made Allies overconfident
- agreed on HUSKY, but not Italy yet
- top priority should be ROUNDUP & SLEDGEHAMMER - U.S. strategy rising over British
- date set for ROUNDHAMMER May 1, 1944 - 29 Divisions to go to England, but landing craft diverted to Sicily
- FDR threat of "Pacific Alternative" = shift all resources to Japan 1st
- FDR wanted ANAKIM in Burma, but Churchill wanted emphasis on Mediterranean
June 2 - FDR sent Stalin Trident communique, but Stalin angry over 2nd Front delay
- growing need for personal meeting to preserve allied unity - would lead to Teheran in November
June 5-11 - Pantelleria
- island had airfield, 11,000 Italian troops, guns controlling access to Sicily
- 6 day air bombardment - all 11,000 enemy surrendered without a fight
- 1st time Tuskegee Airmen "Black Eagles" flew under Col. Ben Davis, Jr.
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HUSKY
July 10 to Aug. 17, 1943 - the invasion of Sicily - only 90 miles from Africa - "greatest amphibious operation in history" - 38 day campaign - see images
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- 160,000 troops - 4000 aircraft - 7 amphibious divisions (only 5 such divisions at Normandy June 6, 1944)
- Adm. Hewitt = 580 ships & 1124 landing craft
- Adm. Ramsay = 795 ships & 715 landing craft
- LST = Landing Ship Tank (or Large Stationary Target) = held 20 tanks, or 12 deuce trucks or, if hit sand bars, could disgorge DUKWs that would go into water
- LCT = Landing Craft Tank = held 3 tanks
- LCI = Landing Craft Infantry = entire company of 196 men
- LSD was not a landing craft, but an hallucenagenic drug discovered by accident 1943 by chemist - 1st "trip" Apr. 16
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objective = Messina on NE coast, only 3 mi from Italy, vital communication center - Mt. Etna
U.S. 7th Army under Patton landed on south coast with objective to take Palermo (150 mi west of Messina)
- Patton did not like plan that U.S. only to support British
- Patton got 3rd star March 12 - now a Lt. General able to command an army, not just a corps
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Brit. 8th Army under Monty landed on east coast with objective to take Syracuse (80 mi south of Messina)
- Monty a WWI soldier of the past
- slow, failed to mass modern superior combat power
- was not a manager like Ike - a superb leader of a corps, but not an army
shortage of landing craft delayed campaign
- Gen. Lucian Truscott overloaded LSTs 100% - 450 men and 94 vehicles
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82nd Airborne Division - Gen. Matthew Ridgeway
- also included Troop Carrier Command in Waco steel-tube gliders - 14,000 made in Tryon, Ohio
July 10 - lucky bomb hit on HQ of Italian Gen Guzzoni - no communication for 24 hrs
July 10-12 - US struggled against elite Livorno Division and Hermann Goring Panzer Division
- 1st Divison "Big Red One" under Gen. Terry Allen landed at fishing village of Gela, spearheaded by Darby's Rangers
- 3rd Division under Gen. Lucian Truscott joined beachhead
July 11 - 144 allied transport planes fired on by US Navy ships
- 23 C-47s shot down, 300 paratrooper casualties
- mistakes caused reform of AF & Navy coordination
- in general, U.S. artillery very effective
- big 4.2" mortars fired white phosphorous rounds - were rifled and more accurate than 105mm
- TOT (Time on Target) - all artillery fired at once on small target (108 guns of 9 battalions)
- Navy cruiser fired 8" guns off shore
 from Newsweek 1943/09/06 |
July 13 - Brit. take Augusta
- Brit. 8th Army stalled - Monty waited 5 days on the beach before moving out
- Patton allowed by Alexander to head for Messina
- Patton had ULTRA info on German positions
July 22 - US 3rd Division took Palermo
- but Patton restaged surrender of Palermo with 2nd Armored Division
- Omar Bradley led 2nd Corps on west side of Mt. Etna - recently promoted by Marshall to 3 stars for his Tunesia victories
- Patton innovated tactics - mounted amphibious landings behind retreating defenders, but lacked landing craft
Aug. 11 - German retreat began
- Hitler took personal charge - no hold-at-all-cost order this time; rather, delay by 6 lines while troops retreated
- AAF and Navy failed to interdict Strait of Messina
- 4 German Divisions escaped (40,000) + 70,000 Italians
Aug. 15 night - patrols from 3rd Division reached Messina 1st - Monty 12 mi. away
Aug. 16 - Truscott ready to accept surrender, but had to wait 2 hours for Patton
7000 U.S. casualties but took 100,000 prisoners - British lost 12,000 casualties
significance of Sicily:
- lack of any grand strategy - decisions made by Patton and Montgomery
- American soldier took the spotlight away from the British - images 1-11
- concentrated power of TOT artillery - but shortage of ammo
- success of amphibious landings - but lack of landing craft
- lack of AAF support - planes strafed own soldiers
- WEFT (Wings, Engine, Fuselage, Tail) came to mean "Wrong Every F---ing Time" - like the dillies of Lt. Richard Osborn
- Patton careless with logistics - too eager to outrun his supplies - ignored maintenance - but tactical success of his wide flanking movement
- Patton slapped soldier in field hospital as a coward - ordered by Ike to apologize to all - but story not made public until November by Drew Pearson
- Patton was hero to U.S. public, but not allowed by Ike to command in Italy
- AVALANCHE plan approved by CCS July 20 - Salerno landing
July 11 - Edward R. Murrow radio report on CBS World News Today
July 26 - fall of Mussolini
- due to success of Sicily - also, July 19 attack by 12th AF bombers on Rome
- King Victor Emmanuel replaced Mussolini with Pietro Badoglio who favored Allies
- daring parachute drop on Rome planned for Sept 8 by Ridgeway & 82nd
- but called off at last minute, stopped by code word "Innocuous" because would have been suicide due to 40,000 Germans near Rome
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