Allied invasion of Sicily
| Operation Husky | |||||||||
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| Part of the Italian campaign of World War II | |||||||||
A map of the Allied army progress during Operation Husky from 11 July to 17 August 1943. | |||||||||
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United States United Kingdom Canada Free France[1] Australia[2][3][4] | |||||||||
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The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which Allied forces invaded the Italian island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis forces defended by the Italian 6th Army and the German XIV Panzer Corps. It paved the way for the Allied invasion of mainland Italy and initiated the Italian campaign that ultimately removed Italy from the war.
With the conclusion of the North Africa campaign in May 1943, the victorious Allies had for the first time ejected the Axis powers from an entire theatre of war. Now at Italy's doorstep, the Allied powers—led by the United States and United Kingdom—decided to attack Axis forces in Europe via Italy, rather than western Europe, due to several converging factors, including wavering Italian morale, control over strategic Mediterranean sea lanes, and the vulnerability of German supply lines along the Italian peninsula.
To divert some Axis forces to other areas, the Allies engaged in several deception operations, the most famous and successful of which was Operation Mincemeat. Operation Husky began on the night of 9–10 July 1943 with a large amphibious and airborne operation, followed by a six-week land campaign that ended on 17 August.
The Allies successfully achieved their primary aims: Axis air, land and naval forces were driven from the island, and the Mediterranean was now open to Allied merchant ships for the first time since 1941. These events led to the ousting of Italian leader Benito Mussolini and the fall of his regime, which was replaced by a new government. Italy's collapse necessitated German troops replacing Italian forces in the country, and to a lesser extent the Balkans, resulting in one-fifth of the entire German army being diverted from the intensive Eastern Front, a proportion that would remain until near the end of the war.[14]
- ^ Gaujac 2003, p. 68
- ^ Royal Australian Navy – the corvettes/minesweepers HMAS Cairns, Cessnock, HMAS Gawler, HMAS Geraldton, HMAS Ipswich, HMAS Lismore, HMAS Maryborough, and HMAS Wollongong
Royal Australian Air Force – No. 3 Squadron RAAF (fighters), No. 450 Squadron RAAF (fighters), No. 458 Squadron RAAF (maritime patrol), and No. 462 Squadron RAAF (heavy bombers) - ^ "SICILY 1943 Battle Honors". Royal Australian Navy Official site.
For service in the prescribed area, 10 July to 17 August 1943
- ^ "450 Squadron RAAF Roll of Honour". Queensland War Memorial Register. 16 September 2015.
- ^ Mitcham & von Stauffenberg 2007, p. 63
- ^ a b Mitcham & von Stauffenberg 2007, p. 307
- ^ Santoni 1989, p. 400
- ^ Dickson 2001, p. 201
- ^ Shaw 2002, p. 119
- ^ a b Hart, Basil H. Liddel (1970). A History of the Second World War. London: Weidenfeld Nicolson. p. 627.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Sicily p. 305was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Santoni 1989, pp. 400–401
- ^ "La guerra in Sicilia". Sbarchi Alleati in Italia. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
- ^ Charles T. O'Reilly. Forgotten Battles: Italy's War of Liberation, 1943–1945. Lexington Books, 2001. pp. 37–38.
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