O landing of allied troops in Sicily was one of the chapters of Second World War and it took place between July and August 1943. During this campaign, the Americans and British began the process of reconquering Italy, increasing the wear and tear of Germany in the war and preparing forces for the Day D, held in 1944.
Background
The landing of Allied troops in Sicily happened as a joint decision of the British and Americans – in the case of the Americans, this decision was taken somewhat grudgingly. The planning for the invasion of Sicily took place during the Casablanca Conference, in January 1943.
This conference took place in the city of Casablanca, in French Morocco, and brought together WinstonChurchill, British Prime Minister, FranklinD.roosevelt, President of the United States of America (USA), and two representatives of theFrance resistance ores, Charles de Gaulle and HenriGiraud. Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, was invited but refused to attend the conference, claiming that he needed to remain in the Soviet Union while the battle of Stalingrad was ongoing.
At this conference, the Allies debated the fighting strategy they would take for the coming months of the war. The representatives agreed on a objective: the unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan. However, there were many differences as to which path would be taken to achieve this goal.
Existing proposals can be summarized in three main axes:
Part of the American officers defended the prioritization of the attack against Japan.
Part of the American officers defended an attack against the Germans in France.
The British advocated prioritizing an attack on southern Italy.
There was some agreement that American and British troops could not stand still, as the thick of the war effort had been carried out by the Soviets since June 1941 – which generated dissatisfaction in Stalin. This view was even shared by Winston Churchill, according to a survey by Max Hastings: “Everywhere, the British and the Americans have overloaded their operational plans with so many security factors that they have become incapable of carrying out any kind of war. aggressive"|1|.
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At that time, there was a group of American officers who were interested in fighting the Japanese in the Pacific and running to the aid of the chinese nationalists. This hypothesis was promptly discarded by the British, that they didn't have that same interest. The point of greatest controversy was about where to attack the Germans in Europe.
American General George Marshall was a supporter of the idea that the Allies should concentrate their attack against the Germans in the English Channel, that is, that the attack was taken to Normandy, France. There were, however, some problems in carrying out this strategy, and these points were used by the British to defend their position. The British were against the attack on Normandy in 1943 for two main reasons:
At that time, Germany's defense forces in Normandy were very strong, and the possibility of the Allied forces being driven back was high.
The British claimed that they did not have enough vessels to land troops that could face the Germans in Normandy.
In addition, there were two other relevant factors that gave weight to British strategy: the Italians were fed up with the war, and there was very great dissatisfaction with Mussolini and with the Fascism, considered responsible for the situation in which Italy was. The second factor came from information given by Ultra (British intelligence system) that the Germans would not set up a consistent defense system in southern Italy, soon the region would be more accessible.
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With all this information, the British opinion prevailed, and it was decided that after the German forces were expelled from North Africa (which officially happened in April 1943), the Allies would gather their forces and coordinate the attack against the Germans in the territory. Italian. The Americans, for their part, only agreed to the plan with the commitment of the British to assist them in the attack on Normandy in 1944.
Landing troops in Sicily
The Allied landing in Sicily was only possible thanks to the success of American and British troops in North Africa. Landings began on July 10, 1943, and 2,590 ships were responsible for disembarking about 180,000 soldiers.|2|. Despite all the planning carried out, the Allied landing in Sicily was marred by disorganization.
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During the landings, the strong wind from the region caused airplane pilots to get lost, and paratroopers landed in the ocean. The rough seas also damaged boats approaching the Sicilian coast, which made many soldiers suffer from seasickness. Contrary to what they imagined, the Allies did not find a very stubborn resistance in stopping them.
The disorganization of the Allies in Sicily was such that Hastings sentenced the Anglo-Americans “were inexplicably ill-informed about the geographic, tactical, political and economic problems that would find” [in Sicily]|3|. On the Axis side, failures also occurred consistently.
The general responsible for the defense in Sicily was the Italian Alfredo Guzzoni, considered unprepared for the role he performed. First, Axis officials did not expect that they would be attacked on the 10th because of the ocean storm. Soon, the attack that arrived at dawn took them by surprise. Furthermore, a number of flaws were identified in the defenses led by Guzzoni: troops were deployed to too far away from the places where the Allies landed, infantry groups operated without armor support, etc.
Failures on both sides aside, the Allied presence in Sicily has increased wear and tear on the government of the fascist Mussolini in Italy and caused dissension to arise against the Italian leader. on July 25th, Mussolini was arrested and sent to a prison in the Apennines. Mussolini's fall convinced the Germans to withdraw from Sicily.
Axis forces abandon Sicily
After Mussolini's arrest, Axis forces in Sicily began a series of combats against the Allies as a way of holding back the Anglo-American forces while the rest of the German and Italian troops crossed the Straits of Messina and finally abandoned the Sicilia. In all, approximately 100,000 soldiers, including Germans and Italians, crossed into Mainland Italy from 11 August|4|.
The Allies suffered approximately 21,000 deaths|5|. The presence of the Americans in Italy, however, was essential, as it increased the strain on a Germany that was already suffering greatly from the war. One of the direct consequences of this was that the Germans had to withdraw their troops from Kursk to strengthen its defenses in northern Italy.
|1| HASTINGS, Max. Hell: the world at war 1939-1945. Rio de Janeiro: Intrinsic, 2012, p 462.
|2| Idem, p. 464.
|3| Idem, p. 463.
|4| Idem, p. 469.
|5| BEEVOR, Antony. The Second World War. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 2015, p. 559.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History